As usual, I have almost no time, DJ, but I liked this part a lot. I have to say that I see this Clark - or rather, this Superman - as someone who is quite different from Dean Cain's Clark and Superman in the ABC TV show. In the TV series, it was unquestionably Clark who was the real person, while Superman was the disguise, but I really don't think that that is true about the Man of Steel that we have met in the movies. I think that Christopher Reeve's Clark was too dorky for anyone to take seriously, and Brandon Routh's Clark seemed extremely shallow, only skin deep. In part one of this story, you wrote this about your version of "Movie-Clark":
Clark didn’t wear just any kind of suit, either. Half the time besides just wearing a suit, he also wore a vest with it. He layered his clothes. It was the same with the times when she’d seen him in casual clothing. He usually had a sweater on with a shirt underneath it. He used his clothing to hide and disguise the exquisite muscular physique beneath it.
And this:
When he was Clark, he was so bumbling, so awkward, so... Clark. But when he was Superman...
And in part three, you wrote this:
What would people think if she turned Richard down and insisted on going to lunch with Clark? They’d think she was off her rocker.
You have described this Clark as someone who carefully covers his body with layers of clothing, someone who is bumbling and awkward, and someone no woman in her right mind would be thrilled to have a lunch date with. This doesn't sound like "our" Clark, Dean Cain's Clark. Dean's Clark is very handsome, and many women, not just Lois, find him attractive. What about Cat Grant and Mayson Drake?
My point is that for Brandon Routh's reporter-cum-Kryptonian, Superman is the real person, the one he thinks of as himself, the one aspect of himself that requires the least amount of acting on his part. So I very, very, very much appreciated Superman's way of approaching Jason in this chapter. I'm glad he came to the boy in his superhero persona, and I'm glad he tried to instil the kind of values in his son that a young boy with superpowers must believe in. I very much liked the way he acted as a father, Superman style. Frankly, I believe this Superman has more to offer Jason than this Clark. Richard is doing a better job at being a "real" and "normal" human male than this Clark may ever do. In short, Richard may be a better
human role model for Jason than Clark can ever be, sorry to say. But Superman can offer things to the "super" side of Jason that no one else on the earth can give him. So in fact, DJ, I whole-heartedly approve of Superman's (and your) decision to make
Superman the father of Jason, rather than this Clark.
But of course I agree with all the concerned people here that Superman can't
officially be Jason's father. On the other hand, people, how easy would it be to make this
Clark the official father of Jason? How likely is it that Lois would have had a whirlwind one-night romance with Brandon Routh's
Clark that resulted in the conception of Jason? In my opinion, if the other people working at the Daily Planet don't think that Clark is much of a lunch date, they are not going to buy the suggestion that Clark turned on his Don Juan charm once and just swept Lois off her feet. If Brandon-Clark can't find a way to be more self-assured and honest-to-God
real as a person, I have a very hard time imagining him as the official father of Jason or the official husband of Lois Lane.
Anyway, I much appreciated this chapter. I think you have captured the main characters from the Superman movie extremely well, and I think we must accept that they are not the same people as the ones we saw in the ABC TV show. We should not expect this Superman and this Lois to act or think like Dean Cain's Clark Kent or Teri Hatcher's Lois. You have - what do you American's say? Caught the ball and run with it? - and now you are building a believable, fascinating and gripping story about the "Superman Returns" characters.
Wow, what a cliffhanger, by the way! So, uh, with my feelings about deathfic, surely I'm about to pelt you with rotten tomatoes now, eh? No, honestly, don't worry, DJ! This was not a bad cliffhanger at all, only a totally intriguing one (and it didn't feel like the kind of horrible situation that would lead to somebody's death).
Finally, let me just say that you are the master at commenting on other people's comments! This little snippet had me laughing out loud and sighing with envy at your absolutely incredible ability to say just the right thing at the right time, without necessarily saying anything at all, and at the same time making us even
more intrigued than we were before:
quote:
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strong impression that Jason already knows Clark is Superman, so really it doesn't have to be one or the other
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Hmm, I have a strong impression about your strong impression...
Delightful!!!
Okay, DJ, I quoted a few things even though I didn't quote anything at all from the chapter that this thread is devoted to. Ah, but honestly, the others had already said so many great things about this part, so I had little to add and preferred to get lost in the maze of my own rambling instead....
Anyway, I love your story, DJ!
Ann
