“All Ye Who Enter”, End notes
[ Endnotes posted 14 Aug 2014 ]
Where did the idea for the story come from?
When I first started reading Buffyfic, I quickly found favorite sites. One was that of a small group called the Sunnydale Slayers, whose fic can now be found here. I actually was an official member of the group for several years, back when I was still going by Alix Aadler in an attempt to be genderless in fanfic circles; I never left, but the group itself gradually became inactive. While it continued, however, it was a repository where some quality writing could be found, much of which served as my first impressions of the world of Buffyfic.
One of the stories there was “Let Me Count the Ways”, by Dawn Steele, which recounted many different scenarios that ended with Angelus being killed by various members of the Scooby gang and others. (Yeah, people really hated him back then.) For all the impact that made on me, it occurred to me later that Joyce Summers never got her crack at the bastard. And so …
Is there any particular significance to the title?
The actual first title was “Two Roads Diverged”, from the Robert Frost poem. For all that it met the standards that I favored then - pretentious literary reference, general cool sound - it just wasn’t quite right. Later I found a different pretentious literary reference, and that worked for me, and I stayed with it.
It also has some connections to the obvious fact that Sunnydale residents needed to be careful just who they let enter their homes … but, in the end, it was Angelus who should have abandoned hope if he was going inside there, because once he threatened Buffy his ‘life’span didn’t have much time left on it.
What is the thing I like most about this story? the thing I like least, or about which I feel most doubtful?
In those first years of fanfic writing, I had a serious case of Joyce-adoration, and one may note that she is generally presented as fairly formidable (though I really did try to keep that plausible). Even now, the thought of this woman, driven solely by desperation and the determination to protect her daughter, finding a way to take out one of the most dangerous of all the foes Buffy ever had to face … yeah, it warms the heart.
So, I most like that aspect: Joyce was outclassed in all the ways that should have mattered, but her greatest strength - which Angelus had blithely dismissed as a fatal weakness - wound up being fatal to him.
As far as what I dislike, or about which I feel some lack of confidence, there isn’t anything. This story was what I wanted it to be, and it still pleases me.
Is there anything I think I could have done better, or might do differently if I had it to do over?
Nope.
Do I have any plans to follow up on this story, or to use the character(s) or situation in a subsequent fic?
It was complete in itself, and didn’t really lend itself to any follow-up. (Although, I did have Drusilla make a sidelong reference to it in “ Tip of My Tongue”, written three years later.)
Any observations to add at the end?
Sure. Anyone who has read this story, whether enjoying it or not, is urged to read and comment on the Dawn Steele fic that inspired it. Recognition must be given!