“Hell Hath No Fury”, End notes
[ Endnotes posted 27 Dec 2014 ]
Where did the idea for the story come from?
The story was motivated by the knowledge that Buffy would be returning from the dead at any moment (it was finished something like the day before “Bargaining” aired). The inspiration, however, came quite a bit more from Greek mythology than from the Buffyverse. And the notion of the ‘heroic’ rescue of a lost love from the dead, turning out to be something else entirely, was in line with the kind of twists that I enjoyed putting into stories. (Still do, to some extent, but I think it’s lesser now.)
Is there any particular significance to the title?
Only what’s there to be seen. Except, obviously, this isn’t a woman scorned that we’re seeing.
What is the thing I like most about this story? the thing I like least, or about which I feel most doubtful?
The story has its moments, primarily in the nature of the challenges, how ‘Cale’ meets them, and what that (and his later improvisation in the final scene) says about him. Not one of my best stories - not quite - I would still call it decently representative of Classic Aadler.
Like most:
- The detail of the physical challenges.
- The juxtaposition of the protagonist’s courage, ingenuity and determination, with the growing realization that this is not a particularly nice person.
- The cost of his misconceptions. The old man told him ‘mind, body, spirit’, actually gave him the order he would be facing … but, confronted with the pugilist, he thought of it as a physical challenge, and misinterpreted not only that but everything that came after.
- His recognition at the end that he’s paying a steep price for something that isn’t really worth it, but he does it anyway. (There’s much to admire in this guy, even if one must ultimately disapprove of the total package.)
Is there anything I think I could have done better, or might do differently if I had it to do over?
The only thing I wonder about is if the tip-off regarding his actual identity really should have been put off till the end of the story. Did the uncertainty work as a distraction, or did it set things up for an effective pay-off? If I were writing it now, I would at least consider the effect of an earlier revelation.
Do I have any plans to follow up on this story, or to use the character(s) or situation in a subsequent fic?
Yes, I do, but that follow-up has already been waiting for more than a dozen years. I know what it will be, and I’ve been planning to do it ‘next year’ since, I don’t know, 2005? Still, I’m determined to get it done this next year: maybe by starting it at the beginning of the year, and continuing on even if I take periodic breaks to do other, shorter stories …
Yeah. Next year for sure.
[ That follow-up story was finally posted in 2019, “ Jack Be Nimble”. ]
Any observations to add at the end?
Two things.
First: though he need not be identified as such, I deliberately wrote the pugilist to evoke the character and capabilities of the gladiator Eugenianus, from Richard Sapir’s 1979 novel “the Far Arena”. Long out of print, it was something I enjoyed a few decades ago, and was willing to tribute to at least this extent. (And when I wrote the old man’s mention of “… one guy who gave me a little bit of a challenge, a professional stage magician and escape artist, but that was a generation ago”, I was thinking of Bill Bixby’s character Anthony Blake, from the 1973-74 TV series the Magician.)
Second: for those who read through the whole story and still didn’t get it: ‘Cale’ is not Xander and not Spike, but a vengeful, obsessive Parker Abrams. (Yes, there were people who got to the end and were still mystified. I honestly can’t figure that out, but there you are.)