thanks for the FDK, guys. really cool to hear such good things from so many people. smile

gotta say, though.. when the first few comments came in talking about it being funny, i was rather surprised. i mean, most of the story deals with lois's traumatic childhood. i was in a relatively serious mood when i wrote it, and, in fact, prefaced the story with a warning that it wasn't going to be funny and silly.

so, when those comments came in, i decided to reread it in a more lighthearted mood, approaching it as a reader expecting something silly rather than as an author trying to get into the mind of a six year old with an unhappy life.

perspective changed a lot. a six-year-old's world can be rather silly from the outside. a solemn promise can become "just one of those things kids do..."

just thought i'd share that.

it also brought back memories of an earlier fic. there was a story written back when i was in high school, and posted to the original ficlist called " truth, justice, and the kryptonian way. " it was written over the summer between seasons 3 and 4. everyone was busy posting these stories about how awful it was for lois to be left on earth without clark. not a single one that even considered that clark was the one who had gone off to face an unknown enemy on a distant and desolate planet where he'd have no powers and which happened to be populated by refugees from his lost home. okay, sure, lois's boyfriend was gone and she was worried and whatnot, but clark was seperated from lois and had everything else to deal with, too.

so, i finally gave in and wrote clark's story myself. i threw in a few gags in passing, but i thought of it as a serious story. so, when pam told me the next day that she'd read it and had been ROTFL, i was almost offended. i asked her what she'd found so funny, and she pointed out a few of my little gags that she'd liked. i looked back at the story. "oh yeah... there were jokes in there, weren't there?" blush laugh :rolleyes:

strange how these things work out.

getting back to the actual FDK (sorry about getting sidetracked <sheepish grin> )...

tank said:
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It was very Lois. I can see her making those kind of connections as a young impressional child, yet holding on to her determination until she came to the 'epiphany' on her own.
thanks! smile that's exactly what i was going for. glad to hear it worked.

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The funny thing is that, a while back I considered writing a vignette where Lois used the idea of allowing Clark to cut her hair as a measure of her trust in him. I never really worked out the details in my mind enough to actually get to the point of writing it. Now that I've seen your story I'm glad I never wrote mine. Your story works very well.
jawdrop uhm... blush thanks!!

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I don't know who should be more afraid that we came up with similar ideas; you, me, or the gentle readers.
lol!! good question. offhand, i'd go with you. <g>

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I loved how she took a single story and equated hair with strength. But if she *really* didn't want people to pull it, she just needs to learn how to weild a pencil -- you can make a bun in about 20 seconds if you know what you're doing.
thanks, bethy. as for your suggestion.. good thought. ... uhm, that had occured to me, but i, uh... i decided that... er.. ellen would never have gotten around to teaching her how to do it, and she was too busy taking care of lucy to come up with it herself. and, uhm... besides, with two deadbeat parents, she had to scrounge for money, so she wasn't going to waste good and valuable #2's on her hair... yeah. that's it. [Linked Image]

as for males with scissors, i'm glad to hear pam, at least, has a positive tale to tell. i can't say that i, personally, have much practice, but i'd like to think i have the taste and basic skill to be trusted with a simple cut like a bob or something.

of course, not many would trust a bald guy to cut their hair...

speaking of being bald, some of you may know that i lost my hair really early. i got a bald spot in the middle of fifth grade which just kept growing (which is why i always wore a hat in public during my early-to-mid teens). it wasn't something that more conventional treatments could help with, either. (this, btw, is part of why i had trouble relating to chris's story...) it was caused, like pretty much all my medical problems, by my overactive immune system.

well, a couple months ago, my dad mentioned that there's a new thing out... it's a cream that contains a weak immuno-supressant that does not get absorbed into the bloodstream. so, you apply it topically to a specific area, and it works locally. it's tested out as very safe for other things, but they're trying it now for my little hair problem. we're not sure, but it may work. i decided to give it a shot, and, the day i posted this fic, dad came home with a box full of little tubes... i thought it an apt time. just thought i'd share that.

anyway, thanks very much to pam, wendy, elle, saskia, tank, alicia, rivka, melisma, tricia, bethy, loriel, james, chris, marnie, merry, annie, kathy, and labby.

wow, that's a lot of people! <g> sorry i didn't respond to individual comments, but i think all the "wow, thanks!"es would have gotten a little too repetitive. <g>

i really appreciate all the comments. thanks again.

Paul

When in doubt, think about penguins. It probably won't help, but at least it'll be fun.