Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ The Crooked Path Series ❯ Author's Notes ( Chapter 8 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

I know that it's bad form for an author to try an explain her work, but I do feel compelled to ramble on about this series. It marks a milestone, in a way, for me: it's my first SxS story, and the first fanfic I've written in a long time. And man, did it ever eat into my life.

Bear with me here. I'm tired and sleepy. ^_^

I guess my reasons for writing this series is pretty clear to those who read it off the SxS mailing list, and I'm not about to say too much about them in any case. It's more fun for you, dear reader, to decipher my intentions -- if you so choose.

I'll say, though, that a romantic relationship between Saitou and Sanosuke fascinate me. As a friend of mine described it: "Black and white coming together, forming a kind of gray." The "grayness" of their relationship is exactly what captured me -- the potential for both light and darkness.

I tried to tread the line between the two polar opposites, though those with a severe angst allergy may beg to differ. *grins* I also loved inverting the usual expectations of narration concerning the beloved boys. Getting involved with someone entirely unsuitable may seem more in character for Sano, and inflicting Saitou with it was a challenging exercise.

In the end, I don't think either of them were quite the same characters so familiar to us. I don't want them to be -- no one could go through what the experienced without changing. I also thought that they had to change to maintain a long-term relationship: Saitou needs to open up more, while Sano needs to mature.

Did they get back together? Perhaps. I hope so.

Of course, I can't write an author's notes for this monster without mentioning music, my companion in the wee hours of the night as I wrestled with words and plot. Thanks should go to Maaya Sakamoto, Moby, The Whitlams, Sarah McLachlan, Billie Myers, Portishead, PJ Harvey, Elliott Smith, Suzanne Vega and volume one of the Lilith Fair collection. "Temptation" was practically written to The Whitlams' "No Aphrodisiac", and I've already noted that the background music to "Dreams" were Sakamoto's "Kokudo" and "Into the Light". Dayna Manning's "I Want" and Tara MacLean's "Hold Me Jordan" were rather apropos for "Vigil", I thought.

And I won't even mention what Lisa Loeb's "Falling in Love" almost made me do. ^_~

Here we are, then: The End. I'll probably write more SxS, as time allows -- I love the pairing to bits, but I have university to attend. And no personal computer and Internet access while there. Yet.

Thank you for taking this journey with me.

Yasmin M.
2 February 2001

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