Hi Ann! I don't know if I've told you, but did you know that I always particularly wait for your wonderful reviews after each chapter? I love them so much. I feel like not only to you give me the encouragement I need, but by thinking over the things you point out I think you're helping me become a better writer. So thank you!
I think Clark is selling Superman short. He is a bit in denial about his superhero persona, refusing to see that this superhero is himself. (Though I must admit that Clark may be less in denial about himself than Lois is in denial about Clark.)
It's true! I think one thing he doesn't realize is despite the costume, while he was with Bureau 39 *all* of his pretended facade was stripped away. Even if Lois calls the person she has fallen in love with "Superman" or "Kal-El" instead of Clark, it's the person beneath she loves. Clark is just too stuck thinking that "Oh. If Lois loves Superman then she can't love *me*." It's a mindset he certainly needs to get over. I'm glad you noticed that!
I'm glad Clark realizes that Lois has some kind of a point. (But I feel very sorry for Clark, too. Like you said, Rachel - being told these things about yourself isn't exactly going to make it easier for you to turn yourself into a better person.)
Yeah. Clark's uncertainty about himself is bad enough as it is. I was going to write more, but I'm stopping there.
Will she or won't she? As Tank put it a while ago, will Clark Kent be raised up in Lois's eyes when she learns about his Superman identity, or will Superman sink lower in her eyes? That's the sixty-four thousand dollar question.
But what about the pocketknife?
....
The idea that Lois would do anything for Clark Kent is simply wonderful. I want to believe that some part of her realizes that, yes, Clark is the man that she loves, or at least he is an aspect of the man she loves, and she just can't live without him.
Exactly. Lois is confused about Clark. Clark is confused about Lois. Pretty much, it's a big party of confusion that's going on here.
Hopefully they'll get everything sorted out soon.
Sometimes your imagery is breathtaking in the humble simplicity of its originality, and in its perfection.
Thanks, Ann! I love the English language, and I think it really has a power and spirit to carry beyond even the physical world. And I'm a bit of a nature-freak, so I have to admit that I am one of those people who like to go sit out in the rain on a summer afternoon and just breathe and try to think of a hundred different ways to describe a single thing I can see, feel, or smell. lol. Kind of strange, but I guess that's the English minor in me.
You manage to give the word "grounded" a whole new meaning.
Lol. I know. I was writing a chapter a few weeks ago and I heard my mom threatening to ground my little brother. I kind of got the chills, especially because he happened to be wearing a Superman shirt at the time . . .
The astronomy buff in me insists on pointing out that the world would look living and amazing from this relatively close up. If you could see the Moon and the Earth simultaneously (i.e., if none of these celestial bodies were located in the direction of the Sun from your vantage point) you would be struck by the visual difference between the Earth and the Moon. The Earth is much bigger than the Moon, but above all it is brimming with vivid colors, while the Moon is a dull, dark, almost monocolored gray.
Ah. Good point. I think I would have fixed that better, if I had had just one more readthrough. I think I was trying to show that if he distanced himself from humanity then the world itself lost that life by his perceptions. Hm. But thanks for pointing that out.
Beautiful. Beautiful. The only thing that would have made it even more beautiful to me is if Clark had also been aware of Lois out there in space, and realized that he nothing in the universe bound him stronger to a place than the presence of Lois Lane, and his own desperate need to be with her.
That's a good point that I wish I hadn't missed (man, you're really good at this!
) I missed Lois in this chapter, quite honestly. She's almost always my favorite part to write in this story--second only to when Clark and Lois are there together. This chapter was hard for me to write just because she *wasn't* there as much as she usually is, even in Clark's mind. But it had to be written. Next chapter is all hers to make up for her absence in this one.
Oh, wow. Henderson is smart and sharp-eyed. And poor Clark, the shame of having revealed his fear and weakness in front of Henderson. Well, now it has been confirmed - Kryptonite is real, it can hurt Superman, and it had something to do with Superman's disappearance.
And having people know that probably won't help poor Clark as he's trying to pull back up his "invulnerable alien" shield, or make his job any easier.
Well, more than half of this chapter remains, but this is where my quoting stops. The rest of the chapter deals with Clark's spaceship and the construction of his Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic, just like we saw it happen in Superman Returns, and in Superman the Movie too, if I remember things correctly. And I've got a confession to make, Rachel. Nowadays, after so many years as a Superman fan, not too much about Superman that doesn't have a lot to do with his relationship with Lois interests me anymore. Oh, it was totally appropriate and perfect to have his Fortress created in your story, too, but... well, the details don't interest me.
Hehee. Don't tell anyone, Ann, but I felt the same way.
Usually I feel really connected to each chapter--as if I'm right there, living and feeling everything. I know the characters, and every single detail is so important that I try to lay it down with utmost care. I was kind of dissatisfied with the whole style of the last half of this chapter--I guess I'm a bit of a sucker for the emotional relationship stuff myself, and I just didn't lose myself in the last part of this chapter like I usually do. :rolleyes: Oh, well. More for that later.
Disgusting! Talk about laying out your son's life for him before he has a chance to live it on his own.
.....
Ah, but - that infuriating Jor-el! I have barely stopped fuming at his nonsensical talk about galaxies than I see red at the way he wants to rule his son's life from beyond the grave.
<clears throat> Yes. Issues with Jor-El. Clark definitely already has enough on his plate. Uh. I don't really want to say too much here. . .
That talk about 38 known galaxis, which is taken straight from Superman Returns, is nonsense, I want to point out. Humanity has a reasonable knowledge about thousands of galaxies, but that doesn't mean that our knowledge about all these galaxies, including our own, isn't still rudimentary. If the Kryptonians, unlike us Earthlings, had such complete knowledge about 38 galaxies (and why only 38? And which ones, I wonder? The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds? The Andromeda Galaxy? The Sculptor Dwarf? Messier 81 and 82? IC 342? Maffei 1? NGC 253? The Virgo cluster galaxies?) then how could they remain so ignorant about the fate of their own planet that they couldn't even save themselves by escaping to one of these other galaxies which they must have had such perfect access to? The 38 known galaxies - what nonsense.
lol. You know what? I was kind of musing about that myself, but I just shrugged and put it in because of the whole movie connection thing. But you're absolutely right. Even one galaxy is quite enough, thank you!
No matter how figuratively he meant it, it was too literal for me.
And for Clark.
Gaaaahhh! Jor-el doesn't understand his son at all. Clark is gentle, loving, sincere, altruistic, noble, hopelessly in love with Lois, and a little scared. Clark is not cut out to be anybody's ruler. And Jor-El is dead. Please make Clark understand that he shouldn't listen too much to Jor-el, irrespective of the fact that Jor-El and Lara were the two people who once gave Clark life.
Nature vs. nurture, eh? Well, we'll just see what happens. . .
Fascinating chapter, Rachel, but I hope to see a lot of Lois next time.
Like I said earlier, the next chapter will have plenty of Lois, and that is the last chapter for Clark alone for. . . well, as far as my scanner can see, right now.
Thank you so much for your review, Ann! It really does give lots of food for thought. So with that food, I'm off to write!
"Smirkster" (as MR said. lol. I kind of like it. . .
)
