[dkstories] Thanks for Do Over Series

[W_L]

Hi Dan,

 

Thank you so much for the stories.

 

I could not stop reading your Do-Over stories from beginning to end (almost). Your story weaves itself into the fabric of history and politics very well and it has an attention grabbing nature that is awesome. It also has alot of truth about the human condition and the topic of being gay in an america that does not accept such behavior. Even, in today's world, coming out is still a pricky issue with families and your story gives the audience a wider grasp of what it was like in the 1980's.

 

I also enjoyed the first Do-Over's in depth knowledge of military capabilities and scenarios that were developed in case of a fighting war with the Soviet Union. You seemed like another tom clancy, when you were writing that story. Do-Over Redux was sad and bitter in so many ways, but I was glad Davey made one more trip back. Doing it Right says it all, except the ending, which now seems trivial with Let's Do It. A part of me wished the story ended with Doing it Right. Yet, Brian is just as interesting, when it came to time travel, but it also makes a sad point that the Davey of the trilogy is dead.

 

I really love your entire Do-Over Universe and I hate to let it go in Let's Do it, although it is a good story, too. I wish there was some way to allow the other version of Davey to brought back along with our current version of Brian. Although, you can jam a signal; it does not mean that the Signal would never have been sent or perhaps there is an infinite number of signals being sent and destroyed at the time. My mind is blowing up in proportion to all the possibilities!

 

I digress, if you continued on with all the possibilities, then instead of Do-Over, you would have to rename them "Sliders", hehe.

[dkstories]

hehe, thanks for the compliments!

 

I actually considered a plot point where we brought back the original Davey. It went like this:

 

Right after Davey's stroke, when they realized that Davey would never fully recover, Brian and Sean used the machine in an effort to send Davey back moments before his stroke and to get him to the doctor ASAP. It didn't work for whatever reason. Flash forward to Let's Do It, and THAT Sean figures out how to intercept the signal from the older, post-stroke Davey and work out the damage caused by the stroke, and thus allowing the signal to be merged with the current Davey, and voila!

 

Didn't do it though because it kind of felt like Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Yeah, I was glad to see Spock again, but it ruined the dramatic impact of Spock's deat at the end of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Frankly, I'd have been happier with the show if Spock had stayed dead. I didn't want the same feelings for Davey. Let the original Davey go out with the satisfaction of having made THAT world a better place.

[W_L]

Yeah, you're right; however, since there is still a version of Davey around with some of his qualities and memories thanks to Brian, I think you should compare the current storyline more to Star Trek IX, instead of Spock think of Data and B4, hehe.

 

Still, I would have liked to be able to know that Davey of the the three other stories is alive; just like I would want to have Data stay alive from the 2nd worst Star Trek movie in history.

 

What I was most worried that you would do would be to create an open link of events; like somehow reset the whole time line to the original and just have Davey keep doing the experience of Do-Over, Do-Over Redux, Doing it Right, and Brian with Let's Do it in a never ending loop. It would make for great sci-fi, but it would be like hell to think that they would be stuck in perpetual love, hate, and death throughout all the time. When I was a kid, I remember this old cartoon show called Might Max, which was a good show; however, they looped the last episode of the series to the first episode and it just never seems to have any satisfying conclusion. If you had done a causality loop for the stories; it would eventually be called "Done Over".

[steph]

What I was most worried that you would do would be to create an open link of events; like somehow reset the whole time line to the original and just have Davey keep doing the experience of Do-Over, Do-Over Redux, Doing it Right, and Brian with Let's Do it in a never ending loop. It would make for great sci-fi, but it would be like hell to think that they would be stuck in perpetual love, hate, and death throughout all the time. When I was a kid, I remember this old cartoon show called Might Max, which was a good show; however, they looped the last episode of the series to the first episode and it just never seems to have any satisfying conclusion. If you had done a causality loop for the stories; it would eventually be called "Done Over".

hahaha! cute!

 

They did this after the first season of Witchblade several years ago and then never renewed the series. Very annoying to have everything wiped out, I agree! I must say that the last version of the series is my least favorite because it lacks the mature Davey, but it's also cool because they all get to go back!

[W_L]

Oh! a Witchblade reference, I forgot about that one. They tried making a second season, too, but it just did not work well. Something about the actress going through rehab interfered with the shooting schedule.

 

You know that there is an even sadder version for the ending with everything being a dying dream of Davey's after he gets injected with the drug cocktail. That would be such a sad thought that everything he went through would be nothing more than wishful thinking and the second chance or third chance was just his mind trying to comfort itself with choices that he made in life. If that is how the story ended in Doing it Right, I would have been so depressed. If it was all a dying dream, then Davey's world would be a reflection of all his desires in life and all his hopes that were unfulfilled; the time travel allowed him to live his dreams and live his hopes. Yet, the story would be so sad afterward as Davey realizes where he met sean before and why he was chosen to die; it would make a deep conclusion, but it would be a nihilistic story.

 

I just realized where I got that sad thought for an ending from, since alot of people here know star trek, it would be like DS9 "Far Beyond the Stars" concept. Reality is mixed with bitter sadness and we all know that it is all fiction to begin with. It was perhaps one of my favorite episodes from the series.

 

Thank you Dan for not doing that; although, your market shares on kleenex would make you a billionaire if that happened..

Edited April 10, 2008 by W.L.

[Drewbie]

Thanks Dan again

 

Truly enjoy the 1st series, it's the only one I read so far going to read redux soon.

[old bob]

i just want to add my thanks to you.

I had today a bad day. It's now 15 days that I lost my eldest son, without any warning, and I have to stand in, to keep his own business alive. No time to grieve. So I took a breake and came to your DO saga and read the episode of the mini-battle in Berlin, how your main characters reacted at the blockade of West-Berlin. It was a lesson for me, not to let it go, and give me a new courage for the "fight" I have to win. It's funny how it helped, to change my bad mood in an understanding that the "show must go on". You will perhaps be astonished that your story gave me the peace that any other, I mean the priests I listened at the funerals, couldn't give me. But anyway, thanks a lot for the examples of the courage you gave to your characters. Maybe it comes from what you learned "on duty" and what I also learned in my own "military career".

Thanks again Dan, and have a good day.

Old Bob

[dkstories]

Bob,

 

My heart goes out to you in these trying times, and I hope that you can find the strength and will to continue onwards. The fact that you might have found some of that strength from one of my stories is a great honor to me.

 

Losing my parents in 1999/2000 was a very rough experience for me, but it was even worse of an experience for my grandparents. Parents expect that they will pass on before their children, and I think most children will remember when they realized that their parents are mortal and will one day leave us forever. For the opposite to happen, for a parent to lose a child, whatever the cause, is one of the most traumatic and difficult situations that I can imagine. I have seen my grandparents try to deal with it, and deal with it badly.

 

My grandmother lost all three of her children before she passed away, and I know it was devastating for her. Less than a month after the death of her last child, she too passed away.

 

In your situation, where you must step in to keep a business going, it must be even worse. Grief is a process that allows us to come to terms with our losses, to take stock of ourselves and decide where we go from here. I can understand why you may not have time to grieve properly, but I hope you will be able to take the time sometime in the near future to allow yourself to feel your grief, to let it sweep through you, and then to find the strength to go on. We all have our purposes in life, and the world is always a little less when the ones we love have moved on from here.

 

Take care of yourself, remember that in order to look after others you must first look after yourself, and when the time is right, let yourself grieve. One of my favorite sayings is from a sci-fi author, Marion Zimmer Bradley:

 

Only men know how to laugh, how to dance, and how to cry.

 

Let yourself cry when the time is right.

 

Thank you Bob, and strength to you and yours.

[Trebs]

I just want to echo what Dan said... It was heartbreaking when I first learned from your earlier post about the loss of your son. It's almost incomprehensible - parents we expect to lose, but not children.

 

I can only imagine the depth of your grief right now but know that we are thinking about you and your family, all of whom we hold dear in our hearts, especially at this tragic time.

 

<HUG>

 

Robert

[old bob]

My deepest thanks to both for your posts. Its a proof that GA is a real family.

As you perhaps know, I lost my daughter 5 years ago, but it was much easier, because she let it go after 19 years of fights against AIDS. It was a mature decision of her and we were fortunate to accompany her during her last days. The only advantage today is that I have some experiences dealing with death and managing all the practical problems which accompany such departures. Its the privilege or age . I like statistics, and if I count well, it happened allready 9 times in the last 40 years ! (rough humour is already a weapon I'm used to).As the head of my family (like in the old Roman times) I have to show my strengh and behave as an example. Grief will come later and time passing is also an help.

Thanks again for your words and Dan for your stories.

Old bob

[old bob]

Hey Dan,

As I said before, I'm reading again the DO saga and came in "LDI" on a typical phrase which IMO resumes best all the story and the way you bring them to us. Brian is speaking :

"Was I really that selfish ? Well ,maybe I was, but then a part of me believed that Davey had come back over and over again for me, so why shouldn't I come back form him ?"

All the DO saga is just a scenery to show the deep love of two guys, but not only. Love is what keeps the world going, and you show it in your stories and your blogs. Even your liberal political orientation is at the end an expression of love for the entire humanity. I dont know if you are aware of this background of your stories, but its how I feel it.

Take care and have a good day.

Old bob

[old bob]

Hey Dan,

As I said in another post, I

[Tiger]

So far I have only read the first Do Over. I will eventually get to the rest of them. Anyway, I really liked it, and I look forward to reading more of them.

[jamiepblaze]

i! I'm on the first Do over and I have to say its brilliant!

I really like the universe you created:)