Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: Pushing Stories 2/2

I just have one question: Where is all the fruit that has to die in place of the pie maker's revived fruit? Do people in nearby businesses take out their lunches and discover shriveled up, rotting apples in place of the fresh ones that they packed?

Just wondering. Otherwise I really enjoyed this, and the writing is exceptional.

Carolyn

That's a very good question, CJ. Very logical. Wish I'd thought to ask it.

It's probably just something the writers didn't think of either. So it becomes something for the fans to explain or just ignore, kind of like the question of Superman in the comics not being able to melt lead with his heat vision. (Of course, that was perfectly explained in the outstanding story "The Girl Next Door." He can melt it. The comics were wrong!)

I would assume that the life force necessary to sustain the apples would be drawn from a nearby tree or from a bush or any plant life close enough to be "touched" by the effect. The total effect on a large tree, for example, would be negligible. Maybe there's a nearby park with spots of dead grass in it?

IolantheAlias:

I had as much fun reading this:
as I did writing my response. I really did enjoy the story once I got used to the idea. I just have an unusually low "Aieee! Run away!" threshold.

I had wondered about the fruit also. It seemed to me that to have a logically consistent universe, you would have to have a "conservation of life-energy" rule. I just figured that this was accounted for in Pushing Daisies and was explained as part of the show. Even though this is a minor point, I think I would find that irritating. I mean, it seems that they make a big deal out of conservation of animal-life-energy. How can you do that and ignore conservation of plant-life-energy?

Bob

The "conservation of life-energy" is a completely preposterous idea. Whether you believe in evolution or the Bible, you have to admit that there have been times earlier in the history of the Earth where there has been much less life, many fewer life-forms and many fewer living individuals than there are today. The fossil records very clearly speak of a time when there were no multi-cellar life forms, for example, and we can also discern an early era where there appears to have been no life on the Earth at all. Also the Bible speaks of a time when the Earth was empty of all life. The Bible also talks about the Flood, which reduced the number of living individuals on the Earth extremely drastically, and the fossil record speaks of times when the number of species on the Earth shrank dramatically. So, ergo, there is no such thing as 'conservation of life-energy'!

But not only is the idea of 'conservation of life-energy' hogwash, it is also dangerous hogwash. It is this idea which has made it seem like a good idea to practice human sacrifice. Many cultures have sacrificed human beings to the gods, the idea being that if humanity gives the gods some of their own, the gods may respond by blessing the remaining humans and making them more fertile and successful. In the Old Testament, the sacrifice of animals to God is extremely common and prevalent. Consider the story about Cain and Abel. The two brothers both make sacrifices to God, but Abel is a herdsman and can offer some really meaty and tasty sacrifices, which God accepts. Cain, however, is a farmer, and he can only offer grain and straw, which God rejects. You know the rest of the story.

The Bible strenuously forbids the sacrificing of sons, which the story of Abraham and Isaac is testament to. It forbids the sacrificing of daughters much less strenuously, and the warrior Jephthah kills and sacrifices his daughter to God while God looks on serenely, not interfering. (Alternatively, you can argue that God didn't realize what Jephthah was doing, but if God is really omniscient, he had to know. Anyway, neither God nor the Bible criticized Jephthah afterwards.)

Speaking of the sacrifice of virgins, Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring is about a primitive community of sorts which every year sacrifices one of their own, a young girl, to the gods of spring, in the hopes that these deities will bring the people fertility and propsperity.

So I'm glad that no other vegetables had to die for the apples that Ned the Pie Maker brought back to life in your fic, IolantheAlias!

Ann

Wow! Really getting some erudite feedback here!

All of you have excellent points, and I feel the same way. In the "Pushing Daisies" world, there definitely seems to be a law of conservation of life-energy. On that show, there have been numerous demonstrations of Ned's skill, and each time, after sixty seconds, an equivalent life is taken. For example, one time Ned revived some of Charlotte Charles' frozen bees (she keeps bees in beehives on the roof). The next thing you see is a disgusting infestation of bugs in the water pipes all cascading down, dead.

So, if the fruit is revived, by "The Rules", equivalent plant-life has to die.

This got by me because I plagiarized it from the TV show, and in that particular bit, the "PD" writers didn't show the plant life dying. I'll have to make an edit to the story and show that.

TOC, this is a great essay! Well-thought-out, giving good examples, and making your point.

Unfortunately, for the purposes of this story, I'm going to go with the opinions of the posters above. There will be "conservation of life energy" in this story.

I'm sorry. Other vegetables must die. I hate Brussels sprouts so I think they'll go first.

But do not be alarmed at the upcoming Brassicaceae-cide. Rather, take comfort in my profound admiration at your post. Who else could bring up ritual human sacrifice, classical ballet, Biblical exegesis, and the paleontological fossil record? In a single post? I bow in awe.

*Fifteen minutes later*

I have made edits to the story posts. The cabbage and Brussels sprouts are officially getting the chop.

(No pun intended).

Just cabbage and Brussels sprouts? Can't you whack some butterbeans and black-eyed peas, too?

Yech. I ate way too much of those when I was young. It wouldn't bother me if they were declared unfit for human consumption.

No!!!!!

Bob

Okay. I guess I'm glad it will be the Brussel sprouts that will bite the dust if you have to commit Brassicaceae-cide.

Ann

In general I don't like crossovers because I don't know most of the series and I get lost with the characters and back stories, but you wrote this fic in a way that I could understand what was happening all the time, even though I've never seen Pushing Daisies.

I felt sorry for Ned - he has the loved woman but can't ever touch her. That is very sad. But I'm happy for Lois and Clark. In the ending everything turned out right.

Andreia