Still not king (but gonna be)

Just succumbing to a little temptation on a Monday morning before heading off to work.


Of course, I wanted Aragorn: and was surprised not to get him! But I have no problem with Éomer, oh no, not at all. I've lusted after Karl Urban since he was Julius Caesar. There are so many lustworthy men in The Two Towers, and Eomer is - well, right up there. I wonder if he recites poetry as nicely as his uncle does.




Your lust object is Éomer! He's got that whole
tortured-on-behalf-of-his-family act down,
doesn't he? Ah well, get yourself a horse and
you can ride into the sun-set together.


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Thinking about a good story....

I love good slash, and I love good stories. Now, of course, sometimes my definition of 'good' and someone else's definition just wouldn't mesh, and goodness knows I find stories on recommendation lists that I think aren't even worth the paper they aren't written on. Right. A waste of electrons, some of them. Goes without saying.

Then there are those stories that are just right. They might be sexy or they might be thoughtful or they might be both. Suspenseful, funny, whatever, the stories where it all comes together and you're left thinking: wow. What a story. (Usually followed by "I wish I could have written that.") I can't think of much that these stories would necessarily have in common: an original idea? Good characterization? A sense of passion? Command of grammar and syntax? Things like that.

I just read one that had that kind of impact on me at lunchtime - "Found" by spyhop, at "Found" . I have never read anything by spyhop before (I don't think), and picked this story at random from the achives for something to read.

After I read it, I didn't reach for the next story on my pile, I sat and thought about it for a few minutes, trying to analyze why I liked it so much. Why I found it hot when there really isn't much in the way of sex in it. Why I found it so in character when really, it's pursuing a theme of its own that isn't pursued or evident in the show.

Maybe that is why I liked it so much: It took what we know, and went its own direction.

I always like intelligent characters, and often think the worst stories are the one where Lex doesn't appear clever. With Clark, there's - to put it kindly - leeway in the brains department: as maboroshimaki recently said to me, Clark isn't so much a Big Dumb Alien as a Big Doofus Alien. And a degree of the doofusness is a cover for his big secret; he's learned that if you act dumb, people don't pay a lot of attention when he slips up. They allow more margin for error, or at least for subterfuge. And besides which, it's endearing.

So "Found" played Clark's psychology in a way I've never seen done before. This is a strategical Clark, an analytical Clark, who studies Lex till he sees how he operates and then uses Lex's own methods for his own purposes. He out-plays Lex at his own game, and it isn't even obvious that he's doing it. The game isn't really a game here, it's everything they are.

Wow. I wish I could have written that.

Interesting use of viewpoint, fairly subtle: starts out with Lex, segues to Clark by the end, an abrupt 90-degree turn that is so smooth it's almost invisible, so that viewpoints are intertwined but distinct and Clark has the last thoughts - the climax, so to speak.

My favourite paragraph: "Of course, if you ask Clark, it's mostly just the dazzle of charisma and a strong compulsion to keep hearing the pleased Lex-voice. Clark thinks he could drive himself crazy just imagining the ways he could make that velveted voice lose just a little bit of its silken control. He wants it to hitch, become rough, register somewhere low and bold, stuttering would be acceptable, begging would be ideal."

Whew. Lots of things I love about that: one being that I find Michael Rosenbaum's voice very sexy, and Lex's even more so, and anything that focuses on it has my attention.

But more than that, it takes that voice and works in power issues, and sex, and Clark's relationship to Lex, all neatly together in a coherent thought that's fun to read, and aounds natural.

A good clean style, too.

One detail bothered me and I am not sure why: it has to do with my psychology and perception of the characters more than with the content of this story. In this story, Clark and Lex had been 'best friends' without any sexual relationship for five years. Why does that bother me? Why do I want, or prefer, a scenario where they don't wait, where the affair begins in first or second season or very soon thereafter, where Clark is young and Lex is starting out his skyrocketing career?

I hope spyhop doesn't mind my musing about her story on my LJ, and I suppose I should tell her I did it (to be fair and polite) and also send her a LOC to say 'thanks' because I don't do that nearly as much as I should.

I don't understand the title.... must think about that.

Basking in the CLex

Now, I ask you. Is anyone who knows me surprised by this result?





You're a CLexer! I bet that you see phallic symbols
everywhere, not to mention the subtextual
flirting between Lex and Clark.


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....but I like the picture.

P.S. There are phallic symbols everywhere, so of course I see them!

(no subject)

You're Chloe Sullivan. You give off the impression
of being a no-nonsense individual, but you long
for the spotlight.


Which Smallville Chick Are You?
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` ` `
My personality is nothing like Chloe's (for which I'm sure my friends are grateful) but I can really relate to her.... And yes, she's my favourite of all the Smallville women.