Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic The Roads They Walked Alone Part 49 - Comments

Comments and rotten cyber tomatoes go here.

Thanks!

Rac

Hi,

Great part!


Good for Ching.

Who are the three general?


Yes!


Yes! Someone is doing the right thing.

More ASAP, please.

MAF

Parallels between the two worlds...ah

I like it. More soon.

PS: I am keeping the "hope" alive

~Lois Lane Wanna Be

*Sorry about the double posting below this one. My pc is screwy today. If an admin. can get rid of these, I would be most greatful. Thank you

No cyber tomatoes, unless they're in a nice MLT where the mutton is lean, tender and tasty.

Sorry. Obscure movie mis-quote.

Anyway, it looks like we are heading towards some political resolutions on both worlds. I just watched "Big Girls Don't Fly" again, and something either Zara or Ching said struck me. According to them, the original population of New Krypton was about a thousand, so I'm guessing you've populated your NK with a bunch more folks than that. Otherwise, the combat casualties alone would have stripped the population down to almost nothing. And frankly, I don't think a thousand people could maintain a diverse enough gene pool to keep from getting it all muddy with inbreeding.

That non-quibble aside, I'm still reading and still enjoying this great beastie. I'm amazed (because of my own writing experiences, not the quality of your writing) that you've carried it this far and maintained a consistent tone, presented believable characterizations for both the established characters and your new ones, and maintained the dual plot lines so that they haven't drifted or unraveled. Many kudos to you for your skill in working this out.

But my main enjoyment is seeing how both Clark and Lois are dealing with the worst adversity I've ever seen the two of them face at the same time. It's heart-rending to see how Kal-El is trying to be true to his ingrained morality in a situation where his opponent not only has no morals, but whose only ethic is the acquisition of power. And Lois's struggles are different, but so similar, and even though her ingrained morals and ethics aren't as strong as Clark's (due to their different upbringing), her support base of the Kents and Perry and Jimmy (don't forget little Jon) is wider and more diverse, giving her a firmer foothold for her decisions.

I sense a breaking point soon, but not a negative one. I think it won't be long before Clark comes home and has to deal with fatherhood and his nightmares and his own shattered sense of self and be totally intimidated by the new, powerful, self-sufficient Lois. I know, she isn't really self-sufficent, but I fear that's how he's going to perceive her, especially since she'll have powers and he won't, at least not at first. I only hope he gets back before he has to face Nor in a combat to the death.

Or, maybe that's exactly what he needs to do, to take Nor to the point of death, have him beg for mercy, and then grant it. That would certainly take a lot of the starch out of Rae Et's followers, wouldn't it?

I'm going to repeat what I always say at the beginning of my posts these days: I'm sorry I have so little time to give feedback....

But since I do have so little time, let me start with what is possibly my favorite part of this entire chapter, Talan's musings about Clark:

I marvel at many things when I read this: Clark's humanity, altruism and nobility, which shines like a beacon when seen through Talan's eyes. Your description of Clark's attitude to rescuing people is a narrative gem illuminating the character and idea of Superman. What he is about, why he does what he does. Here we see him, non-superpowered, having only his need to help other people to still make him better at rescue work than anyone else, except perhaps Talan. Ultimately, Clark saves other people for their sake, not for his own. And that is simply marvellous.

As you know, Rac, I have not read your story from the beginning. So I'm very surprised at the realization that Talan doesn't know that Clark had superpowers on the Earth. Apparently, she doesn't know that Kryptonians gain such powers when they metabolize the yellow rays of the Earth's Sun. It's probably a good thing that she doesn't know it, and it is, of course, an immensely good thing that Nor and Rae Et and others like them don't know it. Suddenly, though, the Earth seems more vulnerable than it used to.

Another aspect of this story that gripped, but also worried me, was that Lok Sim would become chief communications engineer in General Command. Good, but worrisome, too. Lok Sim is one of my favorites in your story. I marvel at the gentleness you have imparted to his character. I fear that his new assignment is dangerous, and I would hate seeing him killed. (Speaking about gentleness: it would be a special kind of man who would consider a book the greatest gift that somebody could give him. Interestingly, we saw that Ching seemed to have a similar relationship to books.)

For once, I don't have very much to say about the Lois parts of this chapter, even though I enjoyed them. I did like this very much:

Diplomacy is better than war, I think. Talking is better than using force.

I admired the harrowing scene at the end of this chapter, when General Rapin disobeyed his commanders rather than leaving the helpless people under his protection in the lurch. It was heartwarming to see all the General's soldiers stay by Rapin's side to protect the people of Kinwara. But at the very end of this chapter, Rapin and his soldiers have been attacked, and I certainly fear for them.

This is another great chapter, Rac. Your story is consistently fascinating, harrowing and tender.

Ann

Hi everyone! Thanks for your comments.

Maria, thanks for always taking the time to give feedback, I really appreciate it. There are definitely some positive developments here (though, to be fair, there really wasn't anywhere to go but up after the last few sections). To answer your question, the three general commanders are Daros, his subordinate, Nen Fas, and Cayis, who didn't think what Daros was doing was a good idea, but certainly didn't try to stop him.

Hi LLWB! Thanks for commenting, and for keeping hope alive. I know this story can be pretty bleak at times, so I appreciate your support and your patience. I'll be honest, I draw a lot of parallels because the story is complicated and its a lot easier to keep the storylines straight this way.

Terry, thanks for your comments. As always, they're very helpful and insightful. You're right that I ditched the canon on the issue of how many NKers there are. The show's version just didn't make much sense. If there are only a thousand survivors, Nor's faction probably doesn't account for more than half. Of those 500 people, you would assume that maybe 150 are of the appropriate age and physical condition for combat. So basically, Clark was being asked to intervene in a gang war tearing apart a society that was totally not viable, given the size of the gene pool and the difficulty of establishing a permanent colony on an inhospitable world. In the first part of this story trilogy (yes, unbelievably, The Roads They Walked Alone is only part II of III), I describe how approximately two million Kryptonians were evacuated and ended up on New Krypton.

With respect to your comments regarding Clark's return, I agree that Lois's accomplishments are pretty intimidating, especially since Clark wasn't there to see just how difficult all of this has been for her. From our vantage point, we can see just how close she's come to a total breakdown, we know she's needed therapy to deal with everything she's been through, and we know that she wouldn't have made it without the support of her family.

Hi Ann. Thank you for commenting; I really appreciate it given the fact that your time is limited. I'm glad that you liked Talan's perspective on Clark's actions. I think her vantage point is rather different from that of other outside observers, so I think it brings a good bit to the equation. As to the backstory of what Kryptonians know/don't know about Earth - I've substantially written the cannon on this issue. At the beginning of part I ("Belief and Sacrifice" for those keeping score at home), we find out that Kryptonians actually are humans and were separated from the rest of human society thousands of years ago. They know about Earth, vaguely, but they have no idea what happens to Kryptonians on Earth. Zara and Ching, having been to Earth, and are aware of Superman and his abilities, but have wisely decided to keep that to themselves.

For my part, I like Lok Sim a lot, too. He started off as a character created to serve a very specific purpose, but I grew to like him so much because of the dramatically different viewpoint he brings to the story. Everyone else in this story is extraordinarily proactive. These are the people who make things happen - they're the individuals who change a people's fate and who become legends and historical giants. Lok Sim is an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances. There's a certain stillness in his character - he doesn't get swept away by events, he stays true to who he is. He's intelligent and thoughtful and kind, and he never set out to become a hero.

Well, as I'm going to be out of town for the next four days, I'm going to post more now. Thanks again for reading and commenting, everyone!

Rac