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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 234 |
Very interesting discussions! However...I haven't seen my favorite line quoted yet.
..........
I can't help but laugh out loud. That's Lois in a nutshell! Hehee. I'm glad you liked that too. It really does show quite a bit of the source of Lois's go-get-'em attitude, doesn't it? She's certainly not one to back down from a challenge--ever! Here's hoping Lois will continue to turn Clark/Superman into someone who's *not* an earthbound nonbeliever. Clark's had a hell of a fanfic life to deal with here (since I can't remember how much time we've spanned). I think he'll tell Lois when he's ready to reach for the stars. It's been about twenty . . . five days, I think. Yeah, only that long. Can you believe it? Here, I think I have a list somewhere of when everything happened. . . <goes rummaging through notes> Ah, here it is . . . They are captured by Bureau 39 on a Wednesday around noon. They escape "a week and a day" later--on a Thursday. On Sunday Lois goes into work and Clark heads back to his apartment, meets his Mom, and finds out that his Dad is in the hospital. On Monday, Jonathan dies. Tuesday, Clark leaves for Smallville for a "two weeks and a day" "vacation" for his dad's funeral and to try and recover. Thursday is the funeral (a week since Clark's escape from Bureau 39), Friday is when Lois meets up with the shrink for the first time. The next Thursday (2 weeks since Clark escaped from Bureau 39) Clark hears the message from the globe and decides to head back to Metropolis a few days early. Friday morning he gets back and is thrown into shock when the first thing he does is get "captured" by the Primaries and McPheron. Saturday is when Clark runs off with the Flash, falls asleep, and Lois tracks down his pocketknife. Clark waits outside her door for a good long while before *flying* to save her from Luthor's thugs. They talk, plan a date, and Clark goes and waits outside Lois's hours for a few more hours, leaving only three times to take care of a few necessary rescues. Finally Lois comes out, chases him away, and Superman is busy for a couple hours before he gets his ship and heads off to build the Fortress of Solitude, where he stays for about three hours before getting back to work. Superman spends all day Sunday flying around the world helping people, and Lois busys herself getting ready for Superman to come over. So now that they're both asleep, Sunday is officially over. So Sunday just ended. Superman is back after . . . <checks> about 25 1/2 days since he disappeared, and <counts again> about 17 days since he and Lois got away from Bureau 39. I hope I did that math right, though I never have been good and counting days and whatnot. Anyway, so yeah. There we have it, leaving out a lot of details . . . Yes, it's been a short time. I told you all before how much I love to draw out stuff.  <shrugs> Oh, well. And now completely off topic: Ditto : Good freaking grief! I'm 23 years old and while I distance myself from one complete loser after another, almost all of my friends are married or in relationships that can easily turn into marriage. Where was my memo?! I tell you, I'm turning 20 years old next Friday and I am in no hurry. The problem with guys is that they fall in love with you waaaay too fast, before you can even start to like them like *that*. And because you brought it up, I decided to punish you all with my theory. <clears throat> (If you don't care, just skip this. It really is complete rambling and I need to go to bed. Now.) WARNING: COMPLETE OT: Generally in society (at least where I live) the guys do most of the "asking out" and "pursuing." Thus, in many cases a guy may be watching a girl for weeks, observing her, and realizing that he likes her enough to try and ask her out--which means he has to like her at least a little bit, because they're risking rejection and thus damage to their manly pride, not to mention a good deal of their pocketchange. Now, a good many times the girl has hardly even noticed that particular guy, especially not in that way, but she figures there's no problem with just trying to explore the relationship and see if it goes anywhere. The guys are elated--clearly she must like him too, if she's accepting a date! If the first date goes well the guys are like: "cha-ching! Girlfriend material," and the girls are like, "Potential friend material: must observe for at least a year before any further decision," because there is no way you can get to know *anyone* after just one date! But the guy wants to be serious, and so she has no choice but to shatter his heart and tell him he'd better back off and try to be "just friends" for at least a little while before he tries to become something more than that, or if he's still persistent she has to pull the famous "disappear off the face of the planet" act in order to dodge the flying roses and chocolates. Or maybe that's just how it is here, at the university where people around the world come to find that special someone. :rolleyes: Hehee. So I'm simplifying a lot, generalizing a lot, and maybe I'm exaggerating a lot . . . or maybe I'm just blindsighted every time I get a friend to confess his love for me when I never thought of anything beyond friendship <shakes head>. I'm just too much of a romantic. Or maybe it's because the second guy I ever dated or the first guy I ever went on two dates in a row with ended up mildly but annoyingly stalking me for a year (I was 17-18 years old). I tell you, it scars a woman, especially when you decide after date 2 that you'd never mind not seeing the guy again and he just WON'T TAKE THE HINT NO MATTER HOW CLEARLY YOU SPELL IT OUT! (See, clearly, I am scarred. It's been almost two years, for heaven sakes!). There's few things worse than having to break a half-brained, well-meaning, sincere boy-child's heart because he's fallen head over heels over you and you don't feel anything more than a thread of pity/annoyance, and even a bit revolted, at his every glance at you. Except when he has a heart of rubber and won't shatter no matter how many times you bang it against the concrete floor. Okay, wow. Maybe that whole rant got a little waaaay out of hand. But I really am quite old-fashioned. I always figured I'd be married around 21--the same time as my mom--and settle down and have 6 kids (again, just like my mom). So I'm not against marriage at all. It's just getting past the awkward dating stage and finding someone you can actually trust enough to let yourself like like that, and I've yet to do that--even once. Okay. I'm stopping myself here and going to bed. Goodness! You can see exactly why Darkest Dreams is over 150000 words long and has only taken 25 days! Thanks for your review, Shadow! SmirkyRaven
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Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
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Completely OT too:
It's not just your university. YOU ARE COMPLETELY AND ABSOLUTELY SPOT-ON! I have the guy-troubles to prove it!
Why ARE guys in such a hurry to hook up, anyway?
And why can't they tell the difference between love and puppy-love?
Btw, 21 is far too young for anybody of our generation to get married. I'm not getting married till I'm 30. In my culture, that's horribly old.
“Is he dead, Lois?”
“No! But I was really mad and I wanted to kick him between the legs and pull his nose off and put out his eyes with a freshly sharpened pencil and disembowel him with a dull letter opener and strangle him with his own intestines but I stopped myself just in time!”
- Further Down The Road by Terry Leatherwood.
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Joined: Sep 2006
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 234 |
Continuing on the OT: Btw, 21 is far too young for anybody of our generation to get married. I'm not getting married till I'm 30. In my culture, that's horribly old. The older I get, the more boys I date. . . the more I'm starting to realize that you're absolutely right. You can't put a time limit on that sort of thing. It will happen when it happens--there's no need for us to get stuck in an awful marriage because we want to fit into the conventional way of things. We only live once, and I intend to make sure that when I marry it's the right guy and he's not robbing the robin's nest, if you follow me. SmirkyRaven
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Nobel Peace Prize Winner
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Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Joined: Aug 2005
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Me the super-feminist should probably keep my big mouth shut... but I can't help adding my own two cents to the discussion about a woman's suitable marriage age. In case you want to marry someone when you are twenty-one, because you fear that any possible future husband of yours will consider you too old if you wait any longer... well, think of it like this. When you are twenty-one years old, you have two choices. You can die right away and leave a beautiful corpse. Or, you can stay alive, in which case you will grow inexorably older every day you go on living. Okay. So if you fear that a future husband of yours will consider you too old to marry if you are twenty-three, or twenty-five, or twenty-seven, or thirty, then how can you be so sure that he will love you when you are married to him and you have become twenty-three years old? Or twenty-five? Or twenty-seven? Or thirty? Or forty? Or... you get what I mean.
So marry for the right reasons, you youngsters out there. Marry because you are in love and trust this guy and want to share your life with him. Don't marry because you are twenty-one.
Ann
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Joined: May 2004
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Columnist
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Columnist
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This chapter was so wonderful. If this chapter is what you call fluff, then by all means, fluff away!
I don't have a whole lot to add, seeing as how the previous reviewers pretty much summed it up. I'm definitely late with the fdk. But I just wanted to let you know that I'm still reading and still very much loving this story!
Silence is golden.
Duct tape is silver.
~Saw it on a T-Shirt.
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 234 |
First of all, I just noticed Hasini posted in the middle of my reply-to-review spree, so sorry I haven't replied to that yet. I woke up this morning and had a fuzzy yet apprehensive recollection that I posted some things on the MBs at two o’clock in the morning. Usually, nothing I have to say at two o’clock in the morning that bodes well for my future, so I decided to check and see what kind of possibly offensive and embarrassing inane ramblings I had indulged myself in. It wasn’t bad actually, I sound quite rational for the most part, but this one hit my squirm-alarm:  You’re absolutely right to disagree, Smirky! Sheesh, I have no idea what I was thinking when I wrote that! If I ever argued like that in a school debate, I’d be laughed off the stage!
The actions of every character are driven by their allotted traits and qualities, and those actions in turn shape the character. You can’t really separate the two, no matter how irrational they are, any more than you can in real life. It’s ridiculous to write off the discrepancies between the established traits of a character and their path of action as being solely the fault of the writer which should not have any bearing on our perception of the character itself. lol. It's all right. I know a lot of the time I just start musing "outloud" on the keyboard and can end up with a lot of nonsensical, and even contradictory ideas. Still, they are interesting to think about, and they help put some order to the chaos of my mind, even if they make a wreak of a word document or something. So yes, Lois does have an explanation for her actions. It is their rationality that is under scrutiny. However, the point I was trying to make before my sleep-riddled mind carried me off on a ridiculous tangent, was that in a fictional, fantastic world that operates only on a given value of rationality, can we really measure the events and actions of that world by our own uncomprehending yardstick and come to a definite conclusion about anything? Can we judge the validity of such a fantastically fictional character’s motivations by contrasting them with our ideals in the real world? It’s like a cross cultural divide, of sorts. The culture of the fantastic and inexplicable against the culture of the logical and realistic. With no way of fully comprehending how such a world is supposed to work, how can we either condemn Lois’ character for her blindness or cast it as a reflection of her stupidity? We can only judge the realism of such a plot device and find it wanting.
*reads through the above paragraph and realizes it makes even less sense than before. * Of course it makes better sense. We can't judge our own realistic world, let alone a fictional one where we can literally make men fly and make dead men walk. If we're going to start getting nit-picky about how illogical the idea of Superman is, I don't think we should be picking on Lois. lol. I agree with Ann, all right?! *headdesk* A very safe road to take. Trust me. Anyway, none of this is applicable to DD. One of the reasons that this story is so completely lovable and unique is that you’ve taken the whole of the Superman mythos as a whole and instead of changing it to suit our tastes, you’ve created a setting that infuses the character’s actions with a degree of heretofore unprecedented believability and understanding. In this story, it’s perfectly understandable why Clark comes across as a bumbling idiot, how Lois could overlook him and love his alter-ego without it casting a negative reflection upon her character. And for the first time, Clark’s deception doesn’t automatically garner a barrage of rotten tomatoes from the audience. We don’t like it, but we do understand it, as we haven’t really done since that plot point was first introduced. I think you should head over to DC Comics and give them a few pointers. <blushes redder than a very *unrotten* tomato>  Oh, thank you so much Hasini! It's funny how you mention how the readers don't exactly like how Clark keeps his secret, but at least they understand. I'm kind of in the same boat. If you have any issues, talk to the two of them directly. Honestly, though, I often feel like I can't take the credit (or blame  ) for what goes on in this story. All-too-often it just writes itself, or even comes to me when I wake up like a vivid dream (which can be quite terrifying, I'm sure you can imagine). There is a little bit that at least my subconscious mind has a control in (I think). I've always loved Superman. I've always loved the Chris Reeve movies, and more recently I've been in love with LnC and, in a very interesting combination of love/hate, I've found myself at least very intrigued with the concept of SR. Picking up on fanfiction, I found tons of ideas on top of those that I loved and just couldn't get out of my head, but I couldn't find one that got rid of all the little irksome things that just *bugged* me (such as Clark choosing to be awkward, like you mentioned, how in all the stories his pursuit/hiding from Lois is never explained quite to my satisfaction, and especially in the actual movies--how cold he is, and how he daaares take advantage of Lois like some sort of savage, heartless, immoral male!). So since quite early in this story, I've found it veering this way and that to solve the very issues that have bugged me in the various movies and shows--in some cases, for years. If my fiddling around has made things more logical for you guys and not just myself, then I'm very, very glad indeed. And here's for the constant "crossing-fingers" that it keeps that way! I had initially started off with a spiel about how your Superman was as unique to you as Seigel and Schuster’s, Lester’s, Singer’s and Deborah Joy Levine’s was unique to them. But then I thought I’d scare you by sounding too effusive and cut that part out. But since Ann seems to agree with me, I thought I might as well let you know I thought that. It really doesn't scare me at all. There are so many amazing writers out there, that if I can make even the smallest little unique niche out there for myself, I feel that's enough. Your words are very, very encouraging. Thank you! Right. Nuff procrastinating! I have a history assignment due tomorrow. Oh, yeah. Homework. You know, I had a friend who knows about this story (though doesn't read it) mention how I'm writing the equivalent of a 25 page, double-spaced paper every week.  Well, it certainly doesn't *Feel* the same way, that's for sure! Oh, and I still have math to do? <looks at clock> Oh, well. I'll do it later. Uh, okay. Tomorrow morning. Or, I guess, later today, after I wake up after falling asleep . . . eventually. Btw, my fic is Woman In The Mirror and the prologue is up. A simple yea or a nay from my favourite writer would make my day. You are the one who gave me the final push, you know! I gave the final word? Oh, but I really am so excited to read it--you had a brilliant idea. I'm off to look for it right away. If I can't find it, I'll be demanding a link. Is that fair? Thank you so much for you double review, Hasini! SmirkyRaven
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Posts: 234 |
This chapter was so wonderful. If this chapter is what you call fluff, then by all means, fluff away! <bows> As you command! lol. I don't have a whole lot to add, seeing as how the previous reviewers pretty much summed it up. I'm definitely late with the fdk. But I just wanted to let you know that I'm still reading and still very much loving this story! Thank you so much for the note, Symbolicangel! It's great to know I can always expect a review from you, no matter how busy your life gets. I really do appreciate it, so--Thanks! Good luck with everything! SmirkyRaven
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Continuing on the OT . . . Ann wrote: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Me the super-feminist should probably keep my big mouth shut... but I can't help adding my own two cents to the discussion about a woman's suitable marriage age. In case you want to marry someone when you are twenty-one, because you fear that any possible future husband of yours will consider you too old if you wait any longer... well, think of it like this. When you are twenty-one years old, you have two choices. You can die right away and leave a beautiful corpse. Or, you can stay alive, in which case you will grow inexorably older every day you go on living. Okay. So if you fear that a future husband of yours will consider you too old to marry if you are twenty-three, or twenty-five, or twenty-seven, or thirty, then how can you be so sure that he will love you when you are married to him and you have become twenty-three years old? Or twenty-five? Or twenty-seven? Or thirty? Or forty? Or... you get what I mean.
So marry for the right reasons, you youngsters out there. Marry because you are in love and trust this guy and want to share your life with him. Don't marry because you are twenty-one. You're right. You know, I'm thinking of making a crusade over to Europe this summer, if I can get my plans together, since it *is* kind of late. But I *am* going to go. It's been a dream of my life, and seeing as I've grown up my whole life in the very conservative Happy Valley, though I have traveled quite a bit with my family, it's just not the same. I'm not going to become a bird stuck in a cage, considering the ability to jump between branches as the ultimate freedom. You're right on, Ann, when you say that we can chose to live, and eventually love and thus continue living, or we can chain ourselves down to mediocrity in such a way that we'll never be free of it. Anyway, that was my rant. I apologize if my soapboxes are getting on anyone's nerves. SmirkyRaven
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
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This is not a personal rant, if you were worried . In fact, I was rocking on my heels and feeling generally apprehensive about the next chapter (I guess that hopeful/terrified feeling never goes away, no matter how many chapters you post), and I realized that chapter 41 is practically done, unless I decide to scrap the whole thing and start from scratch (which is not likely to happen, since such a thing has only happened a few times). Anyway, the point is, would it matter to anyone if I posted on Wednesday, late, or possibly (though not likely) even tomorrow, instead of Thursday, as an early birthday present from me to you all of you? (I must be some odd sort of hobbit-kin, I suppose ). I mean, I know how crazy weekdays can be, and I certainly don't want to make anyone missout on homework or have to cut their reviews too short--I enjoyed reading the novel of discussion this last FDK far too much! Anyway, what do you all think? SmirkyRaven
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Joined: May 2006
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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I for one wouldn't mind it at all. In fact I would probably get really excited. LOL
Angry Clark: CLARK SMASH!
Lois: Ork!
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Posts: 37
Blogger
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Blogger
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Hi!
Happy 20th Birthday on Friday!
OT: For your birthday, make some traveling plans for the future. Traveling abroad is very exciting you'll never regret it. I've been to over six countries and have enjoyed everyone of them.
I enjoyed chapter 40, not much fluff. It was very enlightening. I like the part where Clark talked about what he had found out at the fortress. Very good! Only thing that would have made it better would have been a revelation! (Hint, Hint)
Please post early if you can. I work Thursday night and leave for the weekend early Friday morning. I was starting to think I'd have to beg someone to use their computer so I could read your new chapter.
G. Kuhn
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 3,627
Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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Hey, I'll read anytime this week! I'm free-wheeling on spring break hah.
JD
"Meg...who let you back in the house?" -Family Guy
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,797
Nobel Peace Prize Winner
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Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,797 |
Hey, I need to post more replies, seeing that the administrators have decided that 1900 posts aren't enough even for a Kerth... so let me grab the possibility to say, Rachel, that I have so very little time to comment much at all during the next three weeks, but for all of that... yes, please post the next chapter early! Ann
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
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  I'm sorry, guys! I'm in the middle of a nervous breakdown, I'm afraid. I was planning on having a couple hours between today and yesterday to wrap up chapter 41, but I ended up having to spend literally 9+ hours straight reading for my English classes yesterday, and I just barely got home from school about an hour ago after leaving home around 7 am (it's 10:15 pm now). I still have a seriously insane take-home test in abstract algebra to take care of by Friday (which I suspect will take approximately 4-5 hours), as well as about 1 1/2 hours of reading for an English class. Not that you care about the details, but I'm too fried to sort through everything for the necessary points, so bear with me. The point is, besides not having time, I don't really trust myself to make the proper edits and changes. So as much as I regret it, and sincerely apologize for building up the hopes and expectations, this chapter will not be coming tonight. Sorry. Tomorrow will hopefully be better. I hope you guys can forgive me! SmirkyRaven
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
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What?! Did my post number just drop . . . again?! I was a beat reporter yesterday . . . ?!?!?! <adds one more to her lovely little "hack from nowheresville" sign . . . > SmirkyRaven
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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Hey, no worries! You take care of school! I totally understand; I constantly disappear in spurts to get all my assignments done.
JD
"Meg...who let you back in the house?" -Family Guy
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Merriwether
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Merriwether
Joined: Jul 2006
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I really liked this chapter, but I need to read it again before I give better FDK. However, I couldn't resist commenting on the travel thing, even though it is off topic (you'll forgive me, right?)  Yes, go to Europe. Or somewhere else, as long as it requires a passport. Stay awhile, several weeks or a few months. Spend some time traveling alone. The cost suprisingly *isn't* overwhelming if you're careful. Seriously, just do it. It will change your life. And you're in college, right? If so, check out BUNAC . I did BUNAC right after graduation in 2001 (worked in London) and I don't regret it for a minute. Feel free to email me if you have any questions about it. /end OT P.S. I was married at 23. Seemed pretty old, grown-up, adult, whatever, at the time. Now I'm going on 28 and looking back I think I was too young. Or, more accurately, I wasn't experienced enough in the world at large. I am very happy with my husband but I agree you shouldn't rush into anything. (guess that wasn't the end of the OT after all )
lisa in the sky with diamonds
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Thanks everyone for the understanding. Life has been a little crazy (**understatement, of course), but . . . I have declared and oath that I am not going to bed tonight until I have this chapter finished and posted. . . or, I should also add (seeing as it's about 11:30 pm here) I'm not going to bed tomorrow morning until this chapter is edited and posted. As it is . . . look for it within the hour (if anyone's still awake)! Hopefully you'll like it! <gnaws on fingernails nervously> SmirkyRaven
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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Ehehehe, I'll be here. ^_^
Angry Clark: CLARK SMASH!
Lois: Ork!
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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Hah, I just got on, so I'll be here, too.  JD
"Meg...who let you back in the house?" -Family Guy
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