“Family Skeletons”, End notes
Jul. 27th, 2009 08:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
[ Endnotes posted 15 Jun 2018 ]
Since this is a remix, what prompted the direction this story took in differing from the original?
The biggest difference, of course, is that I didn’t even try to re-tell the original, I just used a concept from it to jump off in an entirely different direction. Some of this was the nature of the source story: “Loose Ends”, as I noted in the story index, showed a single, brief event in eilandesq’s larger “Slayer Central” series, whereas I made my adaptation a one-
Because of how that worked out, in this instance the better question would be the one I pose myself in my non-remix stories: Where did the idea for the story come from? And the answer is that it came from the convoluted craziness of the Buffyverse itself (in which I include the persons and events of Angel), and my efforts to think through some of the many ramifications, puzzles, and — yes — loose ends.
Is there any particular significance to the title?
It’s just a familiar phrase, is all. In most cases I’ve tried to use a song title or lyric as the title for a remix story — a playoff on the original ‘remix’ concept — but for some reason I didn’t make the effort this time, possibly because I was at Fort Dix on my way back to Iraq, and other things kept making claims on my time. It’s a serviceable title, even if it lacks originality or deeper meaning.
What is the thing I like most about this story? the thing I like least, or about which I feel most doubtful?
What I like most is that I managed to make the story funny. I can write a comic line, or even a comic scene, but my sense of humor tends not to be reliable for larger efforts. This one was a welcome exception. I’m fairly pleased with my eventual rationale for Dawn’s and Connor’s birth/
There really isn’t any part of this story that I don’t like, or about which I feel uneasy. Doubtless a blind spot in my perceptions, but there it is.
Is there anything I think I could have done better, or might do differently if I had it to do over?
If there is, I can’t see it. (See ‘blind spot’, above.)
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 didn’t even notice till my most recent re-reading, but — though this story took place post-
Any observations to add at the end?
It may be noted that Xander and Buffy seem … particularly close, at the end of this story. Looking over my entire oeuvre, both Backstage and Independent stories, I realize that I’ve tenuously or explicitly paired Xander with many other characters — Buffy, Tara, Nina (A:tS), Faith, Joyce, Marcie Ross, Dawn, Kennedy, at least two OCs, and no less than three gender-
To clarify, Angel’s canonical relationship with Buffy was background for “Walking After Midnight”; he and Buffy had sex — but weren’t really what you’d call ‘together’ — in “Bitter From the Sweet”; and his prior relationship with Cordelia-
Does this say something about me? Well, I write more Xander than I do Angel, and I definitely like Xander better … but I’m not against Angel, I just focus on his heroic role rather than his personal life. On the other hand, I actively enjoy hooking Xander up with various women, showing that the Zeppo-
… Nah, that doesn’t say anything about me. Nothing at all.