Davey!!! Darling!!

Have I told you that I love you? Have I told you that I absolutely LOVE this story? This premise? The writing? Well, it's amazing. All of it. What an awesome idea to have Clark with amnesia... and "remember" that Lois is his wife. Pure genius, I tell you! )

I really love this. It's so... well, I'm getting claustrophobic just thinking about it. And that "wondered again"... he's wondered more than once already, and that's just... sad.

Awesome characterization right there. Yeah, Clark lies to him all the time, but he never really was comfortable with it. It's just who he is. Irony at it's best.

Okay, I think I'm all done now...

I did mention that I love this story, right? That this premise is the most intriguing, heartbreaking, wonderful idea ever? That you're brilliant at evoking emotions from your readers?



Sara

Excellent start! I am fascinated, intrigued, and dying for more.

When will that happen? Hmm?

Wow! Superb & Magnificent!

Premise of Clark's remembering only dreams and aligning everything else to those beliefs.... gives a whole new meaning to living in a fantasy world.

Though Clark has to hurry up with coming to terms... right?

Looking forward to this story,
~Ankit.

Powerful, wonderful stuff, Dave. A great twist on ASU -- and you're making me jealous, 'cause you're so darned good at this. You're gonna make me look bad

PJ

This is such a fascinating premise, and I am thoroughly hooked! You won't believe how eager I am to see the next part. Totally loving this so far.

Yes, I agree with all that the others said before.
Really great premise. I love it. Don't worry, you definitely made justice to the teaser trailer.

Interesting twist on ASU.

To have Clark's 'dreams' intrude on his attempt to recapture his memories is quite novel, though I'm not sure why the nightmare of having Lois being pregnant would slip in there. I would think that only the happy fantasies would be the ones he 'remembered'.

Of course, there is his affair with Cat .

Looking forward to more.

Tank (who wonders if David will find a way to make Lois feel that she has to 'humour' Clark and is forced to play along with his married fantasy)

Wow!

Uh....

Wow!

Irene
who thinks she should just cut and paste Sara's post because there is no way that she can be that coherent!

Ok, I'm sending Wendy my grocery bill, must I send you one? I promise it wont be pretty.

Wow, Dave! I love this!!

The idea that he's basing his current beliefs on memories which are only dreams is fascinating. He can't remember anything about who he is, but those dreams were so important to him, and he wanted that reality so much, that they are what he remembers. And he remembers them as vividly as if they were real - again, wow!

I can't wait until Lois tumbles to the fact that he thinks they're married. I anticipate

And that instant when they arrived in the newsroom - that was all unfiltered super stuff, wasn't it? The lights, noise, his "feeling" that he could sense her heartbeat... he spent his youth learning to control those things, and so some of that control would be second nature most of the time. But not always, like if there's a lot of unexpected simultaneous stimuli... like, say, in a noisy newsroom.

More soon?? Pretty please??

~Toc

ASU rewrites - my favourite! And I love this one, Dave. Especially all the little details you've used to illustrate Clark's confusion and emotions. The scene at the police station with the claustrophobia, the emotions that Lois sparks in him and his misinterpretation of them, the confusing kicking in of his powers and his subconscious, automatic correction of them, that Janet's already mentioned.

Wonderfully observed.

Poor Clark.

Or should that be - poor Lois

Keen to find out what happens next, so post soon, you hear!

LabRat

PS - Forgot - love the title!

WOW!!! What a great idea! I love it!

Jackie

NO NO NO!!!!!

David, your slipping over to the dark side! What dark side you ask? It's called We Who Torture Clark Kent For FUN or WWTCKFF, for short!!!

Come back to the WAFFY side!


James, who will be looking forward to the next section, come what may.

Yeah, Dave!! I'm so happy you posted this.

Great description!
Beautiful. Simply beautiful.
Well, not quite, buddy.
Quite the imagination there, Clark

Even now...

And well she SHOULD be embarassed!
I love this line!


Fabulous. Despite the fact that I was anticipating this, it is still a marvelous twist. Who indeed?
You really have thought of all the details, haven't you!

Haha!

You do a great job with these little moments, Dave.

You do realize that I will now hound you mercilessly until you finish?

Woot!! I hope you have a long buffer

Jose

WOW more soon Pleeeeeeeeeease

Just so, so good.

It's no wonder that in a few short hours your comment folder is filling to overflowing, Dave. Everyone's trying to do justice to such evocative, poignant, layered writing. You don't waste words - every single word in there performs a function, sometimes several functions. Meaning upon meaning.

You get inside the head of a confused, lost and lonely soul so well. You make me feel that I'm in that holding room with Clark, pacing the floor with him, feeling the walls closing in on us, helplessly searching for any clues as to who we are.

And this para is simply amazing, vivid in its intensity and truth:

We know exactly what he's remembering, but you've done this so well that it could easily just be the troubled, panicky flashes inside the mind of someone who can't remember a thing about who he is. Especially when it's followed by this:

/me hangs up her keyboard.

Then there's the Big Misunderstanding. He remembers Lois, but his fantasies are mingled with his memories in such a way that he doesn't know which is which. As Janet pointed out, he's spent years compartmentalising himself. Learning to separate out two parts of himself - some of that is still there, still instinctive, but some of the conscious effort is forgotten, and he can't separate wishful thinking from the real thing. This is a really difficult idea to pull off, but you've written inside Clark's head so well, pulled out the real events so nicely and shown them in a different context, that it works.

Then you use the real event - Cat taking advantage of Clark's amnesia - to plant a horrible suspicion in his mind, using real memories - him in Cat's apartment, Lois's obvious resentment - and your own story - Lois awkward about holding his hand - to make this work too. So clever.

And all told with such deft skill in the writing, and such a feel for the characters, too. Lois planting an imprint on his soul. Yes. That is exactly what she did - right from the second he met her. You really do get it.

And I'm so envious.


Wendy

First, this looks like it's going to be an interesting story. Very original, which I love. The feelings Clark was going through while talking to Cat... wow.

However, it must have been too long since I've watch LnC, because I couldn't figure out what was going on for the longest time. I knew Clark had amnesia, but I couldn't figure out where all the wife, baby, Dr. visit stuff came from. I finally assumed he must have dreamed that stuff at one point.

Now, based on what other people are saying in the feedback folder, I'm getting the impression that these dreams were actually shown on an episode. I just can't remember any of the dreams or what episode they were from.

So, it took me a while to get into the story because of that. Also, I wondered why Clark hasn't asked her about the baby yet. Or made some comment about it. When my wife was pregnant, I was constantly asking her if she was all right, which drove her nuts. Even right after we first found out. One of those wierd, over protective man things I guess. She set me straight pretty early. Anyway... it seemed strange that Clark hasn't let on at least a little bit about some of these thought to Lois - which would freak her out I'm sure.

Looking forward to said freaking out time...

I can't wait until Lois finds out what Clark believes.

gerry

Jeff, I don't think the dreams per se were shown on the show... certainly don't remember any first season love-making scenes between L&C! I think Clark's taking some real memories -- kissing Lois in the plane (SV) and in the hotel (HiM), and being at Cat's place (SV) and mixing them up with his wishful thinking. I can imagine him lying in bed at night, planning how he'd like things to be... It's quite the fantasy life he's got going, there, though I think it's very sweet that in his fantasies, he's getting married and having kids.

"You don't know how many times I've thought about this... dreamt about this... well, something like this..."

PJ

And, of course, there's the precedent of him daydreaming about them having dinner together and Lois telling him to stop faffing about and get on with it (or words to that effect <g>) in...er...was it Phoenix? I know, I know, I should be ashamed of not knowing this.

From there - and just knowing Clark's character, plus that line that Pam quotes, which is rather telling <g> - it's easy to extrapolate, I think, that he probably does a lot of fantasizing about Lois in his spare time.

LabRat

Oh wow you see, I thought maybe you shifted Clark's time frame too! I was thinking wow, this is a great premis but then I thought you added in a layer of Clark, being the married Clark, going back in time because of the asteroid. I thought this Clark was not only the Clark from the present but also the Clark from the future. Wow I really had things messed up for him! LOL! So when you said he remembered that she was his wife and he remembered making love, I was thinking that he was Clark future with amnesia in the past! Oy! So now after reading the comments, it is very possible that he is the present Clark with amnesia and delusions brought on by his feelings and daydreams. Ok, I guess I will just have to see which Clark he is. Anyway, great job David, more soon. Laura

This is so original! I think it's a wonderful idea, taking Clark's confusion and having him recall bits and pieces of fantasies and daydreams and drawing just the cutest, sweetest, most naively hopeful conclusions from them. I, too, am dying to see how Lois reacts to learning Clark's assumptions. And him believing he's cheating on her. He has no memory of who he is, but he's learning that he was a man who is not as morally sound as he would no doubt like to think he is. And he'll no doubt want to make some kind of change, and become a better husband, right those wrongs, make a fresh start, a new beginning...

I cannot wait to see where you take this.

I love the writing style too. I agree that you capture those feelings of confusion and fear, uncertainty and being lost so well. Especially with lines like this, which are so clear and direct, and (as others have said), just layered with so much more, enveloping so much more in the words... And right from the beginning, when he realizes he knows what a chair is (someone else had quoted that above), is so poignant, because it shows his frustration. He can remember things that have nothing to do with who he is. Things that occupy the world that he dealt with all the time. But he can't remember his own name!

Now he still has to learn that he's the missing superhero, and I can't wait to see how you'll do that. If you'll do it like on the show w/ his parents, or instead in your own way, which will no doubt be just ingenius!

Oh, and PERFECT title for this!

Eagerly awaiting more!!!


~NICOLE

That all assumes that it really is a series of dreams, and this isn't an amnesiatic Clark from the future.

This is really good, Dave. Of course, it's all a conspiracy...a conspiracy I tell you!

OMG DAVE!

This is sooo good I love it!

~Lois Lane Wanna Be (who will have more in depth comments for part 2 )

Wonderful, wonderful, absolutely wonderful!!

I must admit, the memories of wedding, lovemaking and a pregnancy had me a bit baffled. Dreams... of course. Makes sense.

I love the writing, the idea, the whole thing, and I want to see more soon... very soon... like... TOMORROW!!! (No! Make that... TODAY!!!)

See ya,
AnnaBtG.

What a great premise, Dave!!

I just love the start to this story!! Poor sweet Clark. I really hope Lois puts Cat in her place soon!!

Can't wait for more!!

Missy

So much hype about this story and all I can say is...It was all worth it! This is awesome David and I agree with all of the other previous comments. This is very original and well set up. Please don't torture us and make us wait long!

DAVID!!!!!!!!!!

I will no longer thwap you in IRC.

much.

Unless you make me wait too long for part 2.

What a way to start a story, David!!!!!!!!! I love it! Can't wait to see how things will go between the two of them...

Post again soon!

Dave

WOW, WOW, WOW! This is fabulous. Please psot the next part soon.

Tricia

Man, I'm clearly late for the FDK party! This is such a neat idea for a story, David! I could definitely feel Clark's frustration in the beginnning. And then when he "remembered" Lois was his wife, omg, I totally clapped my hands over my face in....well I don't know. It was funny and not funny at the same time. It definitely makes sense if all Clark remembers are his and Lois' kissing escapades which have started to accumulate in numbers! And then for him to think he was having an affair with Cat...well the whole plot is great so far! I can't wait to find out what happens when and if Lois finds out what he "remembers."

Great start!
JD

Well... *ahem*. Holy freakin' cow is right. <g>

I can honestly say I never expected this kind of response. So... wow. Thank you. Everyone who took the time to read and comment.

I'm not quite sure how I should respond... I guess I'm sort of blown away. I honestly expected about 5 replies, and half of those to say 'huh?'. <g>

So... I guess I'll start with the questions that came up.

Jeff: Glad you found the story interesting, but I'm sorry my vagueness pulled you out. I probably should have mentioned something in my author's notes, but... I didn't want to spoil the surprise.

Anyway, no, the dreams weren't shown in the series. The "memories" Clark has are a mix of real events that happened in the series and his fantasies. Like Pam and Rat pointed out, the fantasies were extrapolations of some of the lines in the show. Mostly the line from the pilot where Clark and his father are talking and Clark says something to the effect of wanting to be normal - "Being human. Like you and Mom. Living, working, meeting someone... having a family."

And... actually, the baby thing is an interesting point. I hadn't written that in, since I wasn't sure how Clark could hover without giving things away, but... I may need to do some revision before this is submitted to the archive.

Laura: No, I hadn't switched Clarks, but I did think about setting ASU in season two. I ended up deciding that two dramatic changes - the time shift and the false memories - might be too many variables, and so I only shuffled the timeline slightly. I would like to see that story though, if anybody is interested. <g>


I should point out that credit for the title goes to Madam Kraft. <g>

When was I ever on the waffy side?

There was hype about this story? I guess I missed that.

But I'm glad it meets expectations.

Jen...

That made my whole weekend. <g>

Actually... I don't. <g> This will probably be a short story, but that leads me to...

Posting schedule - I was thinking... once a week. Maybe more. It depends on how fast I manage to write.

To everyone who posted a comment, Wendy, Janet, Rachel, Nicole, Pam, Mary, Missy, Sara (I love you too )... just... if I said everything I wanted to say, I'd be here all day. Your FDK means a lot, and... yes, thank you.

Dave (who'll be putting up part 2 in a little while).