“Curious Poses”, End notes

[aadler]

[ Endnotes posted 24 Apr 2016 ]

Where did the idea for the story come from?

It grew gradually and in the back of my mind for several years while I did other stuff. Probably the first germ of concept came when I read ludditerobot’s “Snowblind”; other things that nudged the thought along were an untitled drabble by sroni (which deird1 later used as the inspiration for a remix), and Phouka’s “Friends and Favors”. It mainly started out as ‘Xander and Kennedy are teamed, so what happens then?’, only later taking more substantial (and slightly different) form.

Is there any particular significance to the title?

Only in that the phrase just seemed like a neat one to use. (For the two or three people on earth who don’t already know, ‘curious poses’ is from one of the verses in Prince’s “When Doves Cry”.)

What is the thing I like most about this story? the thing I like least, or about which I feel most doubtful?

There are two entries in ‘like most’. First was the parallel structure, with Xander and Kennedy separately being asked the same questions, and giving answers that covered much of the same ground but didn’t (for the most part) even come close to duplicating one another. Second was Kennedy’s reasons for leaving Willow, and the opinions she offered about Willow’s sexuality and her own.

What left me feeling maybe a bit insecure about the story was its dialogue-based structure. Nothing actually happened, they just talked with the psychiatrist and then with each other. I filled some of the missing ‘action’ blanks with stories the two of them told as illustrations, but it was still quite a bit more passive than most of what I do.

Is there anything I think I could have done better, or might do differently if I had it to do over?

It hasn’t been long enough since I did the story for me to have come up with much along those lines; if I’d known a better way of going about it, that’s the one I would have used. All told, I balanced the different elements to the best of my ability.

Was there a different direction I might have wanted to take the story, and what would have been some of the advantages of the not-taken path?

Not really (see above.) It does occur to me, however, that something interesting could have been done with the reader discovering at the end that it was Dawn, rather than Faith, who was blackmailing Skudea into investigating the relationship to make sure Xander would come to no harm. Minor variation, but with some potential.

Any observations to add at the end?

As the first to read the story, sroni pointed out that I might — might — get some reader objection to my having paired Xander with emphatic girl-lover Kennedy. I recognized the possibility, but figured that if a comparable plot element in “Otherwise a Perfect Sky” hadn’t drawn any wrathful reaction, I was probably safe. I’m not making any political or sociological statements here, I just liked the idea and wanted to see if I could make it work. Even if it turns out that it didn’t, I enjoyed myself, so I’ll call it worth the effort.