Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: The Boy in Black (15/?)

Comments? Maybe they'll energize me?

Maddie didn't just argue with her dad. This is way more than that.

Lois is definitely softening up and coming around.

Wish Clark weren't such a lunkhead, blaming himself for the problems of the world.


Elisabeth

An interesting ethical dilemma in that Clark has the underlying feeling that he doesn't have the right to a normal life. Why not? What's his underlying motivation? Does he have some self-hate for the weird powers? Does he feel he doesn't deserve to be happy? I like how you painted his confusion.

Also the Maddie thing - hope you tell us what she's all in a pother about.

yay! new post!!! poor clark, so young with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Lunkhead!

You know what really scared me? While I was reading I couldn't help but worry that Clark might end up not finishing the paper on time due to his Boy in Black stuff and guilt. I mean, this is such a perfect setup. He has the perfect topic to ace this. So he just *has* to fail in order to make the author cackle with evilness, right?

Interesting that Lois is treating Clark with respect and courtesy, and that she's willing to help his "girlfriend" with her troubles (which, I agree, seem to be deeper than just one argument). And I find it significant that she's encouraging him to submit this story somewhere other than the class as a project. If he were to turn it in to his professor, he might lose the right to have it published elsewhere without the school's explicit permission. I know it often works that way with patents, but I don't know if the school has a copyright policy which would apply in this case.

On a semi-side note, I went back to earlier chapters and looked for Maddie's last name. Couldn't find it. I'm now wondering if "Maddie" isn't a rough pronunciation for her initials - M. D., or Mayson Drake?

Wouldn't that be an interesting kind of twist?

And maybe this crisis in Africa will spur Clark into finally inventing Superman. And Lois and Maddie will react to this new hero in completely different ways, and that will bring Clark and Maddie's (Mayson's?) romantic relationship to an end.

Interesting thought, although it doesn't have to happen that way. (nudge-nudge-inspire-inspire-energize-energize)

Where's that pink bunny with the drum when you need him?

Yay! I'm still awake - it's something of a miracle these days. And I think I've done all the work I can for today preparing for baby. So, I'm going to actually reply to feedback (and post the next chapter).

As always, thanks for commenting. I do appreciate it, greatly!

Elisabeth - No comment on Maddie. As for Clark, I agree he is a lunkhead, but I also don't see this as that farfetched. I mean, as a grown up he did leave his fiancee to help a world full of people he didn't know, right?

IolantheAlias - Clark doesn't have self-hate for his powers, I don't think, so much as he's still trying to determine where he fits into the world and the powers complicate that for him. And he feels like he needs to use them for good, but he hasn't yet determined how to do that and have a normal life, which in turn makes him feel badly when he doesn't help and then angry a bit that he has to feel guilty, if that makes any sense. In short, he's a teenager...

Thanks, Sarah!

Michael - I just need to remind you that compared to others on these boards, I'm virtually an amateur at evil. Along those lines, it would make me sad if Clark didn't finish his assignment. I could actually see him doing so, but it would make me sad.

Terry - I'm not sure how the article thing would work. It's just a classroom assignment so I'm not sure it wouldn't still belong to Clark. I know my husband (who is a scientist) has to sign things when his papers are accepted, promising not to publish them elsewhere, so I would think since Clark isn't signing anything, it's still his.

Maddie doesn't have a last name as far as I can tell. I did give many of the characters last names that haven't been used, thinking I might need them, but it looks like I never even did that with Maddie (must have done that exercise before I decided to make her an important enough character to deserve a last name). But I don't see her as Mayson Drake. Besides, she's an art history major. I guess she could later change her mind and become a lawyer, but right now, aside from her name, she has little in common with Mayson.

Also, Maddie wasn't even her name originally. I can't find traces of what it used to be, but in the original draft of early chapters, she had another name. I can't recall why I changed it now, but Maddie was the result of Carol and me emailing multiple names back and forth and has no significance other than the fact that we both liked the name (and it wasn't on the list of potential names for my daughter - my husband ask that I not do that for fear I would use a name he liked for a character that I didn't and then I wouldn't want to use it).

Wish I was smart enough to make it link to something like Mayson, though...

I did get more writing done in the last couple of days than normal, so maybe you did manage to send that pink bunny my way. Keep at it, though - I'm still several chapters behind where I wanted to be at this point...

It was Terri IIRC... And I kept thinking Teri Hatcher when I read it...

LOL, my first reaction was Terri Bauer

Um... okay, now I'm convinced. Professionally evil authors don't feel sadness when they torture their characters. Now, I only have to worry that you might take your sadness as an incentive to continue on the dark path. After all, if you are sad, what is your readership going to feel

Michael

Carol - I think it may have been Teri, but I'm not sure. Funny as I remember having trouble calling her Maddie when we first changed the name, but now she's completely a Maddie in my head.

Michael - Well, I don't think I'd use my sadness as incentive, but if I felt it was right for the character, I might do it anyway. In Breaking Up, it made me really sad to break Lois up from Chad, but I did it anyway.