|
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,069
Top Banana
|
OP
Top Banana
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,069 |
Yes, I shall take all the credit. This is the credit I shall take. The credit for this story -- it shall be mine. For those of you that didn't get to preview the finale, you must go back and re-read the first 9 parts. As with any time-travel, soul-switching story, the flip-flops can get a little confusing. Either that or I'm completely dense. The angle that FutureClark and FutureLois didn't continue on as an alternative universe was a little hard for me wrap my head around, but reading the parts in succession really helped me see the light. See the TOC here. I did love how compassionate and bold Lois was after she realized where/when she was. "Marry me," she whispered breathlessly. "Let's make our own future. Today. Right now. Marry me." Squee! I love it. BJ
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,837
Pulitzer
|
Pulitzer
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,837 |
YES!!! Take all the credit you want!!! Sue finished it!!! I feel like I just got a Christmas present!! Now, to go read it!!! Artemis
History is easy once you've lived it. - Duncan MacLeod Writing history is easy once you've lived it. - Artemis
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,380 Likes: 1
Kerth
|
Kerth
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,380 Likes: 1 |
At last!
Now that was a very satisfying ending.
Nan
Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,194 Likes: 1
Top Banana
|
Top Banana
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,194 Likes: 1 |
So glad to see this up. Well, Sue, you did it. You got rid of Future Lois and Future Clark, and yet I don't feel bad because you convinced me that they aren't really gone at all. They're right here in their younger selves. Well done. Now go read Foreshadowing. It'll be good for a laugh.
This *is* my happily ever after.
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 326
Beat Reporter
|
Beat Reporter
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 326 |
Great story. I enjoyed rereading it again. Kathy www.chili-everyway.com
robinson
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 700
Columnist
|
Columnist
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 700 |
I'm so glad that this story is finished! I've always loved mixed up Lois and Clarks, and this was a great story. Although it seems a little sad that future LnC are essentially erased, I really enjoyed the ending with past LnC, seeing how they interact after learning so much about the other person, yet not exactly form that other person.
Great story!
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,837
Pulitzer
|
Pulitzer
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,837 |
Awesome ending and very satisfying! Congrats to Sue and to Brenda for lighting the fuze!! Artemis
History is easy once you've lived it. - Duncan MacLeod Writing history is easy once you've lived it. - Artemis
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 581
Columnist
|
Columnist
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 581 |
That was such a great end to the story! I can't wait until I have some time to read it all at once.
I am very impressed how you managed to get rid of their future selves without any reader angst. And the bedroom standoff was so funny to envision!
It was well worth the wait. Thanks Sue!
Amber
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,797
Nobel Peace Prize Winner
|
Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,797 |
Great ending, and I'm delighted to have you back here, Sue! No time for more FDK right now, I'm afraid... Ann
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 303
Beat Reporter
|
Beat Reporter
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 303 |
I am still sad that you erased 1998 LnC-- your writing is so vivid that I can't just think of them as distant characters. it will take me a while to wrap my head around this ending.
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 8,990 Likes: 28
Boards Chief Administrator Nobel Peace Prize Winner
|
Boards Chief Administrator Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 8,990 Likes: 28 |
Now that's timing Loved the ending, Sue. Lois slowly realizing what's going on is always fun to read Good to have you back here Michael
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 377
Beat Reporter
|
Beat Reporter
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 377 |
so lets go back to future lois and clark - i mean, of course a sequel is in the works, right?
anywho - so glad you're back! i was getting worried we'd never see the end of this (even though it got me terribly confused, but its more fun studying fic than schoolwork)! love your work!
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 3,644
Pulitzer
|
Pulitzer
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 3,644 |
Way to go, Sue! I had loved reading this story but didn't think you'd be able to wrap it up in a good happy ending sort of way... but you did! I am impressed. Plus, I loved it! Gonna go back and re-read the whole thing as soon as I get half a chance... thanks for finishing this.
PJ
"You told me you weren't like other men," she said, shaking her head at him when the storm of laughter had passed. He grinned at her - a goofy, Clark Kent kind of a grin. "I have a gift for understatement." "You can say that again," she told him. "I have a...." "Oh, shut up."
--Stardust, Caroline K
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,367
Kerth
|
Kerth
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,367 |
I was nervous that it had been too long and no one would remember the story, so I was really excited to see such a warm reception. Brenda - The credit is all yours! You deserve heaps of praise! And, please, don't say you're "dense". The story wouldn't make any sense at all if you hadn't pointed out where I was being dense. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Artemis - Merry Christmas! I'm glad you found the ending satisfying. Nan - And Nan found it satisfying as well! <happy dance> Happy Girl - Yes, you got it exactly, they're aren't "gone". I'll add 'Foreshadowing' to my to-read list. <g> Kathy - Wow, you even reread it? Awesome! I'm pleased you enjoyed it. Beth - Please don't be sad! They aren't erased. As my inestimable beta put it to me, "the future wasn't an alternate timeline, it just hasn't happened yet". Amber - The "bedroom standoff" was one of the first things I wrote for this story. I just loved the mental picture of them on opposite sides of the bed and the awkwardness of trying to explain to each other how they ended up there. Hee! Ann - Awww, I'm delighted to see you, too! Joy - Oh, but they aren't really erased. They just haven't lived that part of their lives… yet. Michael - I'm so glad you liked it and that you hadn't given up on me. <more happy dancing> Sarah - I'm sorry I had you worried you'd never see the end. And a sequel? Yeesh, I'm overwhelmed just thinking about it. Thanks for asking, though. Pam - I believe I did promise that it would have a happy-ish ending. I'm thrilled to have impressed you. <wheeeee!> Thank you all for sticking with me. Half of my team at work left back in May and I've spent the past six months working double to finish a major upgrade and bring two new facilities on-line. It feels amazing to have free time again and even better to see all your happy, shiny avatars.
Lois: You know, I have a funny feeling that you didn't tell me your biggest secret.
Clark: Well, just to put your little mind at ease, Lois, you're right. Ides of Metropolis
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 101
Hack from Nowheresville
|
Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 101 |
Sue! I have seen your name on different posts for the last couple of weeks. I was hoping that you were back to play with the L&C crowd again. What a treat to see you posting the end of your story. Welcome back! Have a wonderful Holiday Season And please: Write on! Anne
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,371 Likes: 1
Top Banana
|
Top Banana
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,371 Likes: 1 |
Hi Sue, Darn. I missed the first wave of feedback. Oh, well. I read this section when it was first posted but, although I enjoyed it, I knew that I was missing too much so I waited to leave FDK until I had time to go back and read the whole thing in one sitting. Now that I've done that, I say. IT IS FANTASTIC! When I did go through it again, these two lines in Part 10 captured it for me. From Lois: I thought I was going to miss you, but you're right here. and then from Clark: It's really you, isn't it? I read this as that they had both fallen in love with their time-displaced partner and were afraid that the person that they were with was different than the one they had learned to love. To me this was their realization that each of them hadn't lost that special person at all. For me it was all wonderfully WAFFY. Bob
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 4,058
Pulitzer
|
Pulitzer
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 4,058 |
Wow Sue what a great little story. I wish I remember the Alt part 7, especially if it is like any of your other Alt story versions <g> Is there an nfic version of this somewhere? Laura
Clark: “If we can be born in an instant, and die in an instant, why can’t we fall in love in an instant?”
Caroline's "Stardust"
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,367
Kerth
|
Kerth
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,367 |
Oooo! More FDK! It's like Christmas has come early! Anne - Hi! I am back to play! We're not scheduled to do another upgrade at work until May/June. Luckily, it doesn't look like it's going to be anything like the one we just finished. <whew> Bob - You reread the story, too? Thank you! I'm deliriously happy that you liked it so much. You absolutely read the last part right - they haven't lost the person they fell in love with. I would stipulate, though, that they were both already in love, it was just easier and less risky (as Lois notes) to love their future partner. Clark had a Lois who wasn't commitment-shy and Lois learned that Clark could be trusted with her heart. Spending that much time with their future partners opened their eyes to what was already there in front of them. Laura - There's an alternate version of part 8 gathering dust somewhere. I'll see if I can finish it for you. Thanks again to everyone who's commented. I appreciate it very, very much.
Lois: You know, I have a funny feeling that you didn't tell me your biggest secret.
Clark: Well, just to put your little mind at ease, Lois, you're right. Ides of Metropolis
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,837
Pulitzer
|
Pulitzer
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,837 |
Merry Christmas to you too! Glad you came back to play with us! Yes, something on the nfic side would be a great Christmas present!! Artemis
History is easy once you've lived it. - Duncan MacLeod Writing history is easy once you've lived it. - Artemis
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,384
Top Banana
|
Top Banana
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,384 |
I am so excited to see you back! And, you finished Ricochet! Yippee!!
"Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster and what has happened once in 6,000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution" - Daniel Webster
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 9
Blogger
|
Blogger
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 9 |
Sue I have been waiting for you to post part 10 so that I could read your woderful story in one shot. It was well worth the wait.I just love stories that throw them around in time. It is so funny to see how they all react to one another and then watch as their eyes become wide open and see what they have been missing. Wonderful job and I second the idea that you write us some more Nfic. Glad your back we have missed you!
|
|
|
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 68
Freelance Reporter
|
Freelance Reporter
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 68 |
I really like how this story ended. I personally don't think the 1998 Lois and Clark will disappear. I think it would be more like the scene in Frequency where the room transforms around him and his dead parents are alive again.
"We've been sitting here all night and the longest conversation you've had with a woman was when your mom called." Leonard to Howard: The Big Bang Theory
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 470
Beat Reporter
|
Beat Reporter
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 470 |
I read chapter 10 a few days ago but wasn't where I could leave fdk.
Thank you for this wonderful Christmas present to all of us!!
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,384
Top Banana
|
Top Banana
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,384 |
I personally don't think the 1998 Lois and Clark will disappear. I think it would be more like the scene in Frequency where the room transforms around him and his dead parents are alive again. I don't know how it worked in Frequency, but I guess I could go along with the idea that Present Lois and Clark live the next 3 years, then Future Lois and Clark (who, at that point, are at the very moment this story leaves off), have their world "transform" into Present Lois and Clark's future (now present).
"Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster and what has happened once in 6,000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution" - Daniel Webster
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,367
Kerth
|
Kerth
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,367 |
More feedback! What a lovely thing to wake up to on an 18 F morning when my furnace is dying and the guy won't be here until tomorrow. The darn thing is almost as old as I am and we have a homeowner's warranty on it, but they won't replace it for free until it's well and truly dead. So we've been playing a game since October with the repair people wherein we call them when we think it's gone and they come out and resuscitate it. Eventually they're going to get tired of this game replace it like their policy says they will. Right? Right? In the meantime, we have four portable heaters and we cart them around the house. And now I have some more lovely FDK to warm me, too. Artemis - Do I have to finish the nfic by December 25? Because I don't write nearly as fast as I used to and, while this one is technically "finished", but it's terribly unpolished. No promises, but I'll try to get it done by Thursday. Vicki - Yes, exactly! They are the same people so they didn't disappear. It's like when you tell yourself, "I wish I'd known that when I was younger". They actually do know a thing or two. Also, you have the wittiest grandchildren. A grandson who wants an iPod and loves diamonds (real ones!) and now your very wise grand-daughters. Awww. LnC Junkie - Thank you! I think it does read better in one shot and I'm delighted you thought it was worth the wait. I had so much fun picturing them in my mind interacting with their future/past selves. I've missed you, too! countrygurl - I did see Frequency years ago. All I really remember about it is someone listening to the radio. Their futures selves don't disappear because they are their future selves. I'll try to explain my rationale at the bottom of this post. cookiesmom - Thank you! Thank you for reading and thank you for taking the time to reply. It really does mean a lot. Okay, now for some thoughts on Flarks and Ploises. My guiding theory when I started the story was based on the "grandfather paradox" . Simply put, you can't go back in time and kill your own grandfather before he had children. To do so would make impossible your birth. If you're never born, how can you go back and kill yourself off? It was this article in the NY Times that helped solidify the theory I was going to use. I'll quote, because it's easiest. But what about killing your grandfather? In a well-ordered universe, that would be a paradox and shouldn't be able to happen, everybody agrees.
That was the challenge that Dr. Joe Polchinski, now at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara, Calif., issued to Dr. Thorne and his colleagues after their paper was published.
Being a good physicist, Dr. Polchinski phrased the problem in terms of billiard balls. A billiard ball, he suggested, could roll into one end of a time machine, come back out the other end a little earlier and collide with its earlier self, thereby preventing itself from entering the time machine to begin with.
Dr. Thorne and two students, Fernando Echeverria and Gunnar Klinkhammer, concluded after months of mathematical struggle that there was a logically consistent solution to the billiard matricide that Dr. Polchinski had set up. The ball would come back out of the time machine and deliver only a glancing blow to itself, altering its path just enough so that it would still hit the time machine. When it came back out, it would be aimed just so as to deflect itself rather than hitting full on.So they aren't gone, they're just deflected. One little nudge and everything has changed. Luthor is dead, so there's no one to stop them from getting married before the New Kryptonians show up. Wells' theory was that Clark was altered by the NK's quantum disruptor, leaving him sterile. Now that problem is solved, too. And their future no longer includes that stupid clone/amnesia arc. One caveat, the grandfather paradox assumes that time is circular, I deliberately made it linear in this story. Otherwise, as Flois laments at one point, she would be destined to live the past three years on a continual loop. I'd much rather they just got on with their lives - together.
Lois: You know, I have a funny feeling that you didn't tell me your biggest secret.
Clark: Well, just to put your little mind at ease, Lois, you're right. Ides of Metropolis
|
|
|
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 68
Freelance Reporter
|
Freelance Reporter
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 68 |
I understand what you're getting at now. For the record, I hated the amnesia/clone arc and the NK arc, so I wont miss those in the stories.
"We've been sitting here all night and the longest conversation you've had with a woman was when your mom called." Leonard to Howard: The Big Bang Theory
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,797
Nobel Peace Prize Winner
|
Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,797 |
Hah, Sue! That's a brilliant theory! You don't kill your grandfather, you just deflect him! And the Flarks and Ploises play a lovely game of pinball deflection, resulting in the best of all possible worlds! By deflecting your annoying grandfather (or the mistakes of your annoying younger self)... ...you create this! ...the best of all possible worlds, that is! And you saved us from the clone arrghh, too!!! Ann
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,384
Top Banana
|
Top Banana
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,384 |
There's an alternate [nfic] version of part 8 gathering dust somewhere. Part 8 or Part 9? I'm confused. In Part 8, there is a bit of necking going on in the future before Clark calls it off. In Part 9, Clark has proposed to Lois in the past, and the scene ends with her 'yes'. In Part 10, Lois wakes up in bed with Clark back in 1995. While she insists that "nothing happened" in the future, Clark is silent about what happened in the past. So... who did what with whom, when? Off topic - thanks for your comment about my grandkids. They crack me up with the things they say.
"Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster and what has happened once in 6,000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution" - Daniel Webster
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 151
Hack from Nowheresville
|
Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 151 |
Love it, love it, love it! I lurk now, mostly, but I had to delurk to tell you how much I loved it. metwin1
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,837
Pulitzer
|
Pulitzer
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,837 |
Artemis - Do I have to finish the nfic by December 25? Because I don't write nearly as fast as I used to and, while this one is technically "finished", but it's terribly unpolished. No promises, but I'll try to get it done by Thursday. Well, I really meant the Christmas season. I'm flexible. Just do your usual stupendous nfic job. I have forgotten - did any of the other sections have and companion nfic? So sorry about your heater. I truly understand. Ours wouldn't work years back. It kept starting, then shutting itself off, so we did the heater dance too. So we got a new repairman, an old codger who had been around forever and still got up to go on the roof (where the heater is). He discovered the regular repair guys had never installed the manufacturers recommended updates through the years. That's why it wasn't working. He fixed it and it has worked like a champ ever since. It was the second heater on the house. So, good luck! regards Artemis
History is easy once you've lived it. - Duncan MacLeod Writing history is easy once you've lived it. - Artemis
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,367
Kerth
|
Kerth
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,367 |
countrygurl - I'm glad that made sense. And we're definitely of one mind on those late third season arcs. Anne - You're back with pictures! I didn't think the younger Clark and Lois were annoying - they were just written that way (sort of like Jessica Rabbit). Vicki - Definitely part 8. Let's just say that Lois is a lot more persuasive and Clark doesn't call things off after a little necking. Since this is an alternate version, Lois isn't lying in the original story when she assures Clark that nothing happened. metwin1 - Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm delighted to have delurked you. Artemis - Nope, no other sections have an nfic version. I'm sorry to admit that I haven't done anything towards getting it ready for posting this week. But, given what week it is, I figured you might understand. The guy did come on Monday and replace the motor on our heater. For three glorious days it worked like it was brand-new. Then, on Christmas Eve, it conked out. My brother was here and he fiddled with it and found that the new wiring has a wire loose. He got it working, but that stray wire is still there, connected to nothing. We put in a call and the guy will be coming on Monday. He doesn't work weekends and holidays, you see. I obviously picked the wrong career path. My thanks again to everyone who has commented. You've all made my holiday that much brighter.
Lois: You know, I have a funny feeling that you didn't tell me your biggest secret.
Clark: Well, just to put your little mind at ease, Lois, you're right. Ides of Metropolis
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 58
Freelance Reporter
|
Freelance Reporter
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 58 |
Very belated feedback, but just thought I'd say that I was over the moon when I saw part 10 had been posted. I think there is definite call for a sequel and an nfic version
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 156
Hack from Nowheresville
|
Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 156 |
Love and hot fudge, Bren Ren
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2024
Posts: 2
Blogger
|
Blogger
Joined: Mar 2024
Posts: 2 |
I LOVED this. Since it’s a story from over a decade ago, I feel like my future self is commenting or something. I’ve been pretending I found this story back in 2009 and I’m just now commenting.
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,008 Likes: 14
Pulitzer
|
Pulitzer
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,008 Likes: 14 |
I LOVED this. Since it’s a story from over a decade ago, I feel like my future self is commenting or something. I’ve been pretending I found this story back in 2009 and I’m just now commenting. Hi, ArcadeDreams! Are you participating in our FDK challenge? https://www.lcficmbs.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php/topics/299853/fdk-scavenger-hunt-may-2024#Post299853If so, just edit your post to include a mention of the challenge and a quote to prove this story has a time travel, and then come over to our thread to say hi.
~•~
|
|
|
|