“Bitter From the Sweet”, End notes
[ Endnotes posted 03 Sep 2019]
Since this is a remix, what prompted the direction this story took in differing from the original?
The original was … I don’t know, positive, hopeful. Remembering the first few episodes following Buffy’s resurrection, I had a different take on things. It just seemed to make sense.
Is there any particular significance to the title?
As is so often the case with me, I chose a song lyric as my remix title. The phrase ‘bitter from the sweet’ came from a 1982 re-release of a song called “I’ve Never Been to Me” (which, of course, was best known for its chorus line, ‘I’ve been to paradise’). That seemed to suit the story’s venue well enough.
What is the thing I like most about this story? the thing I like least, or about which I feel most doubtful?
The thing I like most is the final line; it just seems to encapsulate everything that was being shown of our girl Buffy at the time. Like least? well, there wasn’t a lot of there there; it got in, it made its point, it was done. I don’t see that as a weakness in itself, but I don’t think it would be well-suited for a regular approach.
Is there anything I think I could have done better, or might do differently if I had it to do over?
This is the single shortest Buffyfic I’ve ever done (not counting drabbles or a minor rewrite of one of sroni’s snippets), and the absolutely easiest-to-write; seriously, it took me something like an hour. It came so smoothly and naturally, it’s as if this was the story that was supposed to be, and consequently I can’t begin to imagine how else I might have gone about the whole thing.
Do I have any plans to follow up on this story, or to use the character(s) or situation in a subsequent fic?
This is one of my Backstage stories, so there are a couple of links to other tales in that series. The mention of Cromwell goes back to “ First Do No Harm”, and Kosh’tscho demons (referenced here) were mentioned in “ In Ev’ry Angle Greet” and “ And Your Enemies Closer”. Past that, nothing, and no intentions of there ever being any more.
Any observations to add at the end?
This story didn’t get the most response of any I’ve ever done, or the best response, but I’d say its profit ratio - the amount of approving feedback as compared to the amount of time or effort it took me to write it - would be the highest of all my stories. Seriously, one hour, and lots of like. That doesn’t hurt my feelings at all.