So you think I was being subtle about the Hellmouth references, eh? Glad it comes off that way - I was getting a bit worried I was overworking the repeating images there...

Playful, huh? I suppose that's fair - I mean, I am having more fun with the writing process these days, whereas at times writing "Eurotrip" or "Dirty Back Road," I was really banging my head against a wall in a way that I'm not finding myself doing here, thankfully. If that comes across in the prose without it becoming too precious, then yay for the power of practice!

On the null dimension... sorry, can't give out any hints as to what comes next, but all your guesses are pretty much what I wanted you to be thinking about at this juncture, so that's all on target. And glad you liked the thornbushes. You know me - I'm just a sucker for interesting visual detail...