Fic: Outshine (Clu, PG)
Title: Outshine
Author: grey_sw
Rating: PG
Pairing/Characters: Clu
Spoilers: TRON: Legacy
Word Count: ~1700
Summary: Or: How The Leader Got His Stripes
Notes: Thanks to winzler and noctaval for beta-reading!
( Clu knew he had little time left. Still, he ran his hands through his hair. He rolled the cuffs of his jacket up, then pulled them down again. His own identity disc sat before him, a ring of white against the smooth black glass of the table, waiting. )
Author: grey_sw
Rating: PG
Pairing/Characters: Clu
Spoilers: TRON: Legacy
Word Count: ~1700
Summary: Or: How The Leader Got His Stripes
Notes: Thanks to winzler and noctaval for beta-reading!
( Clu knew he had little time left. Still, he ran his hands through his hair. He rolled the cuffs of his jacket up, then pulled them down again. His own identity disc sat before him, a ring of white against the smooth black glass of the table, waiting. )
:D Crazy awesome. The overall perspective and the way it flowed through the story was excellent, and so many nice little touches. Loved your explanation for Clu's combat victory ('cause really, the movie was very unclear on exactly how he managed to beat Tron). His inspection of his new form was a powerful moment--though I admit to a second of audible laughter where I asked "wait, his first act is... masturbation?!" XD
His whole self-rectification, and his feelings about it... gah. Beautifully, painfully, excellently done. You write Clu's perspective so well that it's hard to see past it, to figure out how much is resentment and pain, and how much... loss? Love? Is he really removing a compulsion to serve, or just trying to edit/block/hide his own admiration and caring that gets in the way of what he's trying to do? And man, the bit with replacing Flynn with himself... >.< Oh, Clu. Someone needs to hug him and shake some sanity into him. Simultaneously?
There aren't any clear answers here, and that's kind of what I love about this fandom, and these characters.
But man, the thing that hit me hardest? "Dreams of the 'real' world, images of a son Clu could never be". Aaaaaw. Just... *shakes head * -_- Seriously, is Quorra the only person Flynn didn't leave with abandonment issues? 'Cause Sam's are nothing compared to Clu's.
:D Awesome ficcery--you manage to capture Clu both sympathetically and honestly in a moment that beautifully balances his understandable striving and frustration with the aspect of just how wrong a path he's heading down.
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though I admit to a second of audible laughter where I asked "wait, his first act is... masturbation?!" XD
You have no idea how relieved I am I was not the only one to come to that conclusion. Jesus, my mind hardly ventures out of the gutter these days, good to see it's got company down there :-D.
I call GUTTER PARTY!
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And yay, gutter party!
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His inspection of his new form was a powerful moment--though I admit to a second of audible laughter where I asked "wait, his first act is... masturbation?!" XD
Well, it is a story about self-love. :P
I'm of two minds about this: you can certainly read it that way (and frankly, if this weren't a genfic I think I might've had him whip it out, so it's not just you), or you can read it as an epiphany of a non-sexual nature. The story works either way, so it's really up to the reader.
You write Clu's perspective so well that it's hard to see past it, to figure out how much is resentment and pain, and how much... loss? Love? Is he really removing a compulsion to serve, or just trying to edit/block/hide his own admiration and caring that gets in the way of what he's trying to do?
Again, this is all totally up to you. My perspective on it is that there was plenty of loss and love -- there's a reason why Clu remembers his creation even after the reprogramming is done -- but it's bittersweet at best, because it's been literally centuries since Clu could love Flynn without feeling hurt by it. It's all sort of mixed together in his heart.
Likewise, I really do think there was a compulsion to serve, or at least not to rebel... but if you'd rather see it as removing his admiration for Flynn, that works too.
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