Clouds Up, Author's Notes
This version of Lucas is tricky to write from an outside perspective. But then multiply that by 100 and maybe it'll be close to the level of difficult writing Lucas from Lucas' POV turned out to be. He's worse than Bruce, and I think that's saying something cos Bruce Wayne is. . . jacked up.
My Lucas also walks the line between OOC and OC, which just adds to the complexity. How much of his characterization is original? How much is too much, and how sparse is unintelligible?
Is any of this interesting?
Obviously I think so, or Clouds Up wouldn't exist. It'd just be summarized into two chapters of Past the Rubicon like I'd originally planned. I love Lucas, perhaps too much and too obviously (if the amount of shmoop in that finale is any indication). He is very difficult to write, but all the more fun for it. A story with a word count roughly a sixth of that of Can't Find My Way Home has been just as fulfilling to write as that same mother-story.
There's also the issue of the timeline of Clouds Up. It spans years, almost a decade, to be exact. And it's rarely explicitly stated when any given chapter/event takes place. The final section alone, chapter 15, "documents" three different times in Lucas' life. The first part there would be roughly season five of Smallville, the second two years later, and the third and final section is concurrent (maybe a week's difference) with Past the Rubicon. . . i.e. seven years after the end of Can't Find My Way Home.
Confused yet? Join the club. We have jackets.
The point is, it's supposed to be confusing. My main character, my anti-anti-hero, my narrator and protagonist has visions of the future. That's a fact. He is actually seeing future events. Also, I don't know if anyone picked up on this, but. . . Lucas is crazier than a shithouse rat. He is clinically insane. That, too, is a fact.
Hello, nonsensical! How are you this fine day?
In the end, it always comes down to what I want to see happen. I started writing because I wanted to read certain things that no one was posting. CFMWH, Lost Souls, Teenage Wasteland, Ghost In Me? Do you see the common thread there? All of them are new takes on cliché Smallville fanfic plots. Clark raised as a Luthor? There have gotta be hundreds of fics out there with that general plot. Martha and Jonathan are killed while Clark is still a minor? Check. Teenage Wasteland: Clex+additional character in threesome. Check and check. Ghost In Me? Clark-as-Kal on Red Kryptonite. Check-check-checkaroo!
The point here? Clouds Up doesn't fit the mold. It isn't cliché!fic, at least I don't think so. It also runs the risk of (and is, believe me) being read by significantly fewer people than most of my other stuff.
So be it. I think what I have here is good. I'm proud of it. I might make some little changes to wording or perhaps clarify a point or two down the line, but the core of the story is set.
It's done, and the final product is pretty damn close to my outline, which always thrills me to bits.
Hallelujah!
I'd like to thank everyone still reading this. You know who you are, and I'll get to replying to your comments in the next day or two, I swear!
Thanks to twinsarein, roxymissrose, and gildinwen especially. You ladies made this fic what it is. Ha-Ha! If it sucks, I'm pointing everyone to you and hightailing it outta here! XD
Seriously, though, I'm sad to see the end of this story. There's sweet to that bitter, never fear! Lucas gets his happy ending, and we'll see him again in Past the Rubicon and probably (knowing me) one-shots down the line, as well. I love him, and I hope you kinda did, too!
Final Word Count: 27,240.
*HUGS*