“Tea and Oranges”, End notes

[aadler]

[ Endnotes posted 31 Aug 2018 ]

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

Normally, since I’m far more knowledgeable about (and comfortable with the characters of) Buffy the Vampire Slayer than is so with Person of Interest, I myself would have expected that I focus on the events of jedibuttercup’s story from the perspective of the Slay Gang. Instead, I just automatically found myself going deeper into an alternative approach: letting the PoI people try to make sense of things that don’t make sense in their world, with we the smugly knowing audience enjoying their bewilderment. Also, there’s no denying — nor will I attempt to do so — that a large part of the underlying premise was based on my pleasure at seeing Fusco’s ‘involvement’ with real-life supermodel Karolina Kurkova in the PoI episode “Prisoner’s Dilemma” (ep. 2-12).

What was it about that one that tickled me so much? Maybe it was the echoes of “The Zeppo” from BtVS. The funniest part of that episode had been seeing Xander take over the spotlight without anyone else realizing he had done so; the rest of the gang continued their grand drama, preparing for an apocalypse and angsting with each other, only their stuff was in the background and we saw only glimpses of the highlights. Something similar was done with Fusco’s part in “Prisoner’s Dilemma”, his (mis)adventures providing background comic relief, only I actually took more pleasure and had more interest in that part than in the main story. (In fact, I don’t even remember what the main story was, even now.)

So, for my own efforts, I decided to make Fusco the main story in this particular fic.

Is there any particular meaning in the title?

Not really. It’s the title of a song (which, I have several times mentioned, is my preference when naming a remix), and it has some decent sound to it, but that’s pretty much it. If I could have, I would have based the title on lyrics from “the Girl from Ipanema”, but though the song itself is striking, I couldn’t find anything equally so in the content of the song, not without the music.

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

My favorite parts of the story are the obvious two: first, letting us watch the PoI people watch the BtVS people and try to make sense of what they were seeing (but unable, because whose mind jumps automatically to “magic and monsters”?); second, Fusco as the center of a related but distinct story, hidden from his own colleagues.

(And third, of course: Harmony! When does Harmony’s presence not add to the fun?)

As to doubtful … the fact that I was inspired by the Fusco/Karolina interaction from canon, itself meant I was aware that I was repeating something that had already been done, and the ‘ordinary’ guy capturing the sleek young beauty through the sheer power of his own specialness is an all-too-familiar cliché. I was willing to take the risk to tell the story I wanted to tell, but the risk was still there, and I remain less than utterly certain I managed to evade it.

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

For the story I told, no. Whether or not I’m right, this was what I wanted it to be.

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?

I could have done what I referenced at the beginning, retelling jedibuttercup’s story from the POV of the post-series Scoobies, or I could have done what she did in subsequent fic and expanded their initial encounter into joint activity of some kind. I was never truly tempted, though.

Any observations to add at the end?

Just one. Though I never watched enough Person of Interest episodes to get to where Sameen Shaw made her appearance, I’m a long-time fan of Sarah Shahi, and I would have enjoyed seeing some story casting her as an unactivated former Potential. I wasn’t the person to write such a story, but if anyone knows of any fics like that, I wouldn’t mind a nudge to let me know.