Girl, this was incredible! I just spent the last three hours savoring it. It was incredibly rich in detail and characterization and I literally didn't move until I was done reading it.
I feel like I should say so much more, but it is so past my bedtime. LOL! I just had to let you know that this story totally rocked. Thank you for your hard work. This story was beautifully executed and a joy to read. Definitely on my keepers list!
Wow, that was a cool story. I enjoyed reading it a lot. I like stories that are not only relationship stories but have lots of action-adventure stuff going on, because for me that's a big part of the characters. And I liked how you handled the spectrum between resistance and collaboration with all its shades of grey.
I love your fics in general. I love how plotty they are, the level of characterization, your skill with language.
But...
I don't really buy behavior in this fic.
Clark is actually not "beating his head against the wall" during intitial invasion? He did not manage to save his dad? He did not try to get back his mom? I kept wondering if he judged that Martha was actually safer with Lionel, because he was doing something extremely subversive, but appearently not.
Lex let any Krytonians live? For any reason? Any of the hybrid kids were spared? They had a gynocidal war. They could not let any Kryptonians hang around. I keep thinking that logical conclusion to all this is Clark's death from the bioweapon together with the invaders. Or his execution after the war.
I kept wondering if my actually opinion of humanity is lower then Lex's.
Thanks for the comments. I see your first point, not so much your second (more on that in a minute). One thing about Clark's behavior is that we don't actually get to see much of it, because Lex (somewhat deliberately) doesn't know about what Clark's doing. He is, as he says, doing everything he can to alleviate suffering. But after the invasion, his situation is different. He's not the most powerful person on the planet; he's lost his family and friends (except for Lana, who you can tell I don't think counts for much); he's mistrusted by the other Kryptonians, who see him as too assimilated. I don't think, by the way, that he even knew that his dad was in danger; he only found out after the fact.
At the time of the invasion, Clark isn't Superman. He thinks in smaller terms, saving one person at a time, and his subordinate position post-invasion encourages him to keep thinking that way. What should he have done? (Your answer might be: joined the rebellion, and I can see that, but I don't think that would have been easy for Clark-at-seventeen, who is usually deferential to authority and who's just found his people. And each step down the road makes it easier to take the next steps, trying to ameliorate the effects of the invasion rather than reverse it.) It's not as if what Clark did in the story wasn't noble -- he was Oskar Schindler, doing what he could, knowing it wasn't ever enough.
As for the lack of total genocide -- I am completely untroubled by that. The hybrids, especially, are not responsible for what their parents did. Lex has particular reason to want to believe this. Ultimately it comes down to faith that blood guilt doesn't exist, or doesn't have to manifest. Given a choice between killing everyone and saving a few who aren't guilty, Lex chooses the latter. He knows it's a risk, but it's one he's willing to take. When the kids grow up, they'll probably be more powerful than pure humans, but some humans are more powerful than others.
It could have happened another way -- if there were no drugs to counter the effects of the virus, Lex clearly would have released it anyway. But given what I thought the virus did (slow down the heart by analogy to a neat virus proposed by Nancy Kress), he didn't have to kill them all, so he didn't.
I thought that Clark would do something stupid in order, say, to save his Dad (who was killed by humans, not Kryptonians), or to go really Hamlet, and try to get Lionel... but he does nothing like that. I did not really see him actively joining the rebellion, because after the alien invasion, he really was caught between two worlds.
As for second part... I feel that Lex, that sees only the results, would have endorced genocide. More importantly, I feel that the rest of the resistence would have endorced genocide.
I seem to disagree with characterisations, because I expect both Clark, and Lex to be more... sociopathic. More inclined to belive that their actions are correct, whatever the applicable morality, or reality.
Hmm, interesting. I can absolutely see Clark doing something stupid, but I like to think he's occasionally capable of thinking something through and not acting on impulse.
Endorsing genocide: I think Lex is confident of his own judgments; he doesn't feel constrained by conventional right and wrong. But in this case, the conventional wisdom might have been exactly what you said -- kill them all, let God sort them out. He took a risk -- risking the rest of the world along with himself -- by letting them live, because he has very strong motivations to believe that the children don't have to become their fathers.
And certainly there were plenty of people who agreed that they should all be killed, like Judy, who killed 18 kids who trusted her. I don't think there was unified opinion in the resistance by any means, but Lex is the guy in charge. Sure, he's about half sociopath, but the other half is capable of surprising generosity.
When you write your own, I'll be interested to see your take.
Yeah, this was so fun and ansty and new. I love when someone's brave enough to just take a leap and you landed with grace solidly on you feet. Great job. Thanks, it was lovely, Vee
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I feel like I should say so much more, but it is so past my bedtime. LOL! I just had to let you know that this story totally rocked. Thank you for your hard work. This story was beautifully executed and a joy to read. Definitely on my keepers list!
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But...
I don't really buy behavior in this fic.
Clark is actually not "beating his head against the wall" during intitial invasion? He did not manage to save his dad? He did not try to get back his mom? I kept wondering if he judged that Martha was actually safer with Lionel, because he was doing something extremely subversive, but appearently not.
Lex let any Krytonians live? For any reason? Any of the hybrid kids were spared? They had a gynocidal war. They could not let any Kryptonians hang around. I keep thinking that logical conclusion to all this is Clark's death from the bioweapon together with the invaders. Or his execution after the war.
I kept wondering if my actually opinion of humanity is lower then Lex's.
From:
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At the time of the invasion, Clark isn't Superman. He thinks in smaller terms, saving one person at a time, and his subordinate position post-invasion encourages him to keep thinking that way. What should he have done? (Your answer might be: joined the rebellion, and I can see that, but I don't think that would have been easy for Clark-at-seventeen, who is usually deferential to authority and who's just found his people. And each step down the road makes it easier to take the next steps, trying to ameliorate the effects of the invasion rather than reverse it.) It's not as if what Clark did in the story wasn't noble -- he was Oskar Schindler, doing what he could, knowing it wasn't ever enough.
As for the lack of total genocide -- I am completely untroubled by that. The hybrids, especially, are not responsible for what their parents did. Lex has particular reason to want to believe this. Ultimately it comes down to faith that blood guilt doesn't exist, or doesn't have to manifest. Given a choice between killing everyone and saving a few who aren't guilty, Lex chooses the latter. He knows it's a risk, but it's one he's willing to take. When the kids grow up, they'll probably be more powerful than pure humans, but some humans are more powerful than others.
It could have happened another way -- if there were no drugs to counter the effects of the virus, Lex clearly would have released it anyway. But given what I thought the virus did (slow down the heart by analogy to a neat virus proposed by Nancy Kress), he didn't have to kill them all, so he didn't.
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I thought that Clark would do something stupid in order, say, to save his Dad (who was killed by humans, not Kryptonians), or to go really Hamlet, and try to get Lionel... but he does nothing like that. I did not really see him actively joining the rebellion, because after the alien invasion, he really was caught between two worlds.
As for second part... I feel that Lex, that sees only the results, would have endorced genocide. More importantly, I feel that the rest of the resistence would have endorced genocide.
I seem to disagree with characterisations, because I expect both Clark, and Lex to be more... sociopathic. More inclined to belive that their actions are correct, whatever the applicable morality, or reality.
Yes, I know. I should write my own. :)
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Endorsing genocide: I think Lex is confident of his own judgments; he doesn't feel constrained by conventional right and wrong. But in this case, the conventional wisdom might have been exactly what you said -- kill them all, let God sort them out. He took a risk -- risking the rest of the world along with himself -- by letting them live, because he has very strong motivations to believe that the children don't have to become their fathers.
And certainly there were plenty of people who agreed that they should all be killed, like Judy, who killed 18 kids who trusted her. I don't think there was unified opinion in the resistance by any means, but Lex is the guy in charge. Sure, he's about half sociopath, but the other half is capable of surprising generosity.
When you write your own, I'll be interested to see your take.
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not watching SV, so, apologies for being unable to comment on your (undoubtedly recommendable) story. & :-P
Just driving by because Sally said I should lay all the blame for this (http://www.livejournal.com/users/monanotlisa/17832.html) on you...
& ;-)
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Thanks, it was lovely, Vee
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