“Mortal Coil”, End notes
[ Endnotes posted 07 Mar 2019 ]
Since this is a remix, what prompted the direction this story took in differing from the original?
It’s fairly easy to see that, in this case, inspiration came from the fact that soundingsea had two stories with enough thematic similarities - though focused differently - that it just seemed natural to take the one and work into it elements from the other. Another factor came from my reaction to the fatalism of the original, and my desire to give our protagonists a bit more to look forward to.
Is there any particular significance to the title?
None, it’s just workable (though I did have a vague sense of Wesley spiraling down the ‘coils of time’ to his earlier incarnation in Sunnydale).
What is the thing I like most about this story? the thing I like least, or about which I feel most doubtful?
I didn’t put a lot of myself into this story; it came out okay, but I never thought of it as a major effort, and it simply doesn’t matter to me as much as do some others. Given the understanding that my feelings, pro and con, are muted in comparison:
Liked most - I believe I did a more-than-decent job of capturing 2004 Wesley in his attempts both to follow the basic path laid out by 1999 Wesley, and correct it to avoid the worst effects of his past self’s mistakes. Very deliberate, very controlled, very self-aware (both by future knowledge and by hard-won understanding of his own weaknesses), very driven.
Liked least - Honestly, I simply don’t see this as a strong story. I picked up an idea, followed it out to a logical conclusion, brought about that conclusion … nothing wrong with it, but it didn’t seize me the way some ideas have, and as a result it carried somewhat less energy. As I indicated, I think of it as a lesser effort.
Is there anything I think I could have done better, or might do differently if I had it to do over?
I recently added a bit to the very ending of the story, just to shape the feeling of the resolution, but overall it seems to me that the ending itself lacks a certain solidity. Again, nothing actually wrong, just a general sense of incompleteness.
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 enjoyed contrasting back-in-time Wesley’s situation with that of cross-time Giles, but didn’t actually do that much with it. The same material could have had much more use made of the possibilities presented there.
Any observations to add at the end?
Just an aside that doesn’t have anything specific to do with the story. Even if this one didn’t exactly take me over, it must have had some effect on me (even if by leaving me unsatisfied); the story was done for the 2012 RemixRedux, and in its aftermath I did two separate stories for the Remix Madness phase (and wound up liking both of them better than my ‘main’ effort). Sometimes it works out that way.