[dkstories] Do Over Redux - Ch. 39

[LittleBuddhaTW]

That's about the ending I was expecting ...

 

Too bad we couldn't relive Davey's little wrestling match with Brian again, though ... hehe

 

LBTW

[Ikaika]

This is truly a bittersweet moment for me. The ending, as far as I'm concerned was perfect. I would like an epilogue, just to see how exactly this timeline ends, and also to see the contents of the letter that was sent to Sean. But, I realize that some things are better left to the reader's imaginations.

 

I discovered this series about a year ago on the nifty archives. It was around Chapter 15 of the first DO, and I read those 15 chapters in one weekend. Since I first found them, I hounded this site, waiting for the next DO or DOR to come out. After DO, I was very happy. When DOR first started, I wanted to kill DK! I couldn't believe what he put Davey through. But, I'm glad that he did. Davey, his family and his friends have earned their happy endings.

 

I really wish this story wasn't ending. But, I am also glad that it is. And most of all, I wish to thank DK! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I can't believe the effort that you have put into writing this story. Like I said in a comment, I think this should be published, but also hope that it can be shared forever on the internet. People can truly make a positive difference in their own and in other's lives, if they only try... but having a DO machine also helps!

 

Thank you again DK! And may you continue to write stories like this. Well, not exactly like this, cause that would be boring, but, well, stories that are imaginative, fantastic, romantic, and all around good reads!

 

>>>Ikaika

[NaperVic]

Bittersweet is the perfect word for this. I loved the ending, but I was just a little surprised that there wasn't some big war scene with Russian or Chinese Agents .

 

No seriously, it ended perfectly with Davey and newly confident Sean meeting Brian for the 'first time' again.

 

Before we got the GREEN chapters of DOR, my Brain was getting really fried with how that time line was becoming one big cluster f*ck.

 

Big thanks to Dan for continuing and finishing DOR. I've enjoyed DOR (as well as DO) immensely.

 

Yay For Brian & Davey

 

Vic

[twolf]

WOW!!! DK did it again with another great chapter. It's so sad just knowing that there is one more chapter to go.

 

Bummer, This was the final chapter

[brax]

yeah... i guess an epologue would suffice.... although... it would suck if one of the russian/chinese agents eluded the grasp of the president....

Edited March 24, 2006 by brax

[C James]

Wow.. what a ride!

 

Warning: I get into spoilers down below, so DON'T READ THIS is you have not read chapter 39!

 

My first reaction to the first sentences was literally to laugh out loud! It was all dark and he couldn't see, because he had his eyes closed!!! I was NOT expecting that one, and it set a happy tone for the rest of the chapter.

 

OK, I frankly had thought that there was no way that Dan could wrap this up at 40 chapters, let alone 39. I thought that because I didn't think there was any way to wrap up all the details, such as Brian's Uncle Rich.

I was wrong.

 

Much was left to the reader's imagination, though the setup was in place: Davey's letters. So, Uncle Rich could have been saved either by a direct letter, OR by the change in the timeline itself, or both.

 

Also, I tend to look for foreshadowing whenever I read fiction, and when Sean kept being mentioned more and more often through the last few chapters, I said "ahha!", Sean is going to play a big roll. It was becoming more and more evident that Davey and Sean were getting to be very close friends, and I was sure that Davey and Sean were going to be an "item", instead of Davey and Brian. Then, that last scene, where Brian bumps into Sean instead of Davey: I couldn't EXACTLY recall the details from DO, Chapter1,

as it's been a long time since I read it. However, I didn't recall Sean being there, and I thought it was Davey

that Brian bumped into. So, that scene really threw me for a loop, as there was just something very *different* about it. That, combined with the frequent mentions of Sean, and Davey and Sean becoming close, made me quite sure that there would be a very different outcome this time (no Davey and Brian).

However, (and I should be used to this by now) I was wrong.

 

I'll probably have more detailed thoughts later, but I just got through reading Chapter 39, and my first impressions began even before seeing the first word of it. It began with Myr's post in the announcements forum describing this as the FINAL chapter. That sent me for a loop, as I thought there were supposed to be 40 chapters, and be ending next week. The answer to this mystery is in Dan's blog entry, DKstories

 

OK, in summation, I'm still a bit shell-shocked that this was the final chapter (I've been dreading the end of DOR for a long, long time), but I have to say I loved it, especially the way everything was tied up.

 

Oh, and a note to those out there who, like myself, didn't want DOR to end: Think carefully about the ending. We still have Sean "coming back" fairly soon, and Sean knows how to build time machines.

Sure, Davey sent him a letter, but we don't know what was in it, or if Sean will follow the instructions, whatever they are. (Most likely to keep quiet, I'd guess. along with a warning that Davey might not remember anything). What if Sean's return causes him to say something to Davey that re-awakens Davey's memory?

 

So, IMHO, there is at least as much opening for a sequel here as there was at the end of DO...

I am well aware that Dan does not list such a possibility in his *present* plans, but he has not, so far as I am aware, absolutely precluded the possibility, however faint, of returning to this series at some future time if the muse strikes him to do so.

 

In any case, whatever the result, I loved the DO and DOR series, and IMHO I think it ended perfectly!

[Julian Alexander]

Well Dan You did it again (just like Dom and Chris) <Yes i have to consider both of them beacause, which of you three i prefer is only known to me.....Maybe Chris too since i might have told him, anyways.... > I like the way you ended this series, although a little un-expected. Yeah i think you should make an epilouge (sp?) or maybe you're planning another book to the series.......Hmm.

 

Well thats all i have to say, hehe

 

Jules

[C James]

I'm now re-reading all of DO and DOR. Once I'm done (and if Dan does not object) I'm thinking of starting a thread about the whole story, now that it's finished.

 

But, now that I've had a few hours to ruminate over the final chapter, and the few preceding it, I think I like the ending even more, especially where it ended, basically where it all began.

 

One other thought on Chapter 39: Davey's father has certainly changed! I couldn't imagine Davey's mother trusting his Father to live on his own at all (there was already one infidelity in this timeline) yet, though with caution, she does. That, to me, speaks volumes of the changes.

[dkstories]

I ended this story there for precisely that reason. The ending brought the story full-circle and after realizing that I had about ten chapters of material for the timespan between 1981 and 2005, I realized I really didn't want to compress all of that into one flashback chapter.

 

It really is better ending here. BTW, the new story I'm writing is now officially halfway completed (just finished Chapter 8). Seven more chapters of that to write and then I'll be starting Dawn of Tears again.

[Rad]

And the rest, as they say, is history...........

 

So ends Do Over Redux. One of the most emotional stories I ever read. At least I got emotional reading the two Do Overs The ending was good too. I think it was right to end the story by making it come full circle. After all, what happened after that fateful first day in seventh grade, we all know. Only this time without the drama of high politics

 

ANyway, it was fun to read Do Over right from the first to the last. Always guessing, hat will happen enxt, what will happen tomorrow. Who will die, who will be wounded. When Brian was dead, well, I kinda lost appetite for the story But I quickly regained it after reading the conversation with "ghost" Brian.

 

Too bad we can't see what the "normal" Davey and Brian would be like. Well, boyfriends and--after that, partners of course. But I always like the relationship betweent he two of them. Especially since Davey's dad is now an important man and his mom a millionare

 

Hower, as I already said, the story has come full circle.

 

HOORAY for dkstories!

 

Cheers!

 

Rad