leledoct

Well, it's been a long time since I contributed in those forums, but I simply hate to pester writers, and knowing that Dan have had rought times, I just waited patiently. Now I came back to see if something was up, found his new stories, and read them. And here I am, up to date. Maybe I'm getting this all wrong, but I think I'm about to go counter-current here. For the first time ever, since Mists of fate, I kinda dont'like it. I don't know hot to fully explain myself, and I hate the language barrier (me being italian), but the latest chapters I read, they feel to me... like kinda 'rushed', like if Dan wasn't really free to involve himself into his writing to his fullest extent like in the past. I don't know... I feel like I want to say 'I miss you Dan'. That's the feeling I get now, and as I said, I may be totally wrong, but that's my feeling, and I just wanted to express it. <Directly to Dan> I don't know what's really going on, as you've been very hard to track online in the last months; but if you feel, even just for a single moment, that you *have* to write, for whatever reason, well don't. Just don't. I prefer to wait three years for a *real* Dan's quality story, than... this. I'm sorry If I'm sounding harsh, blame it to the language barrier (se fossi libero di esprimermi in italiano allora potrei dare al mio discorso tutte le esatte sfumature che intendo, ma devo fare quello che posso in inglese...), but I'm just trying to express my feelings here. </Directly to Dan> As I said, I don't want to offend anybody here, but that's the feeling I'm getting here... Lele

Well, first of all because it's SF, not fantasy, so I cannot turn off my 'what if' mode... I mean, look at what Verne wrote as pure SF that mankind did accomplish for real... So, whenever I read a SF book, I usually get lost in thinking about the moral, ethical and practical scenarios that would take place if a certain situation depicted were to be real. Well, sometimes I get some very good insights that help me to better understand some aspects of real life. And I do enjoy to get lost in thinking... I'll give you an example. It's about DOH. I saw a concept behind, the premise being that it's MY concept, I'm not saying that it's necessarly right or that's the only applyable concept, but here's what I thought. Clones are a metaphor for gay people, as well as true borns are a metaphor for straight people. Oh, boy. Among the great battles, I did get lost a lot... This is, for me, what sets a good book apart from a poor one. I my opinion good books are really multilayered, like onions. If I can get nothing from below the surface of the main plotline, I usually get bored before I reach the 1st third or so of the book... That's my way of being a reader... But I guess I'm drifting OT here, so I'll cut it here, apologizing to everyone for the OT. Hi. Lele

Hmmm... guess you're right... I didn't remember very well the 1st chapter of LDI, so I read it again... Oh, well... I just made a guess... while I was thinking about it, it sounded right to me... Well, we just have to wait for LDI to unfold... Well, in DO, you know a certain key point leads to a war, you try to avoid that key point happening; except you cannot really predict the outcome of the timeline from that point on. The dynamic is different, of course, but in both cases the very general message is: messing with future is a no-no thing. Of course, it's just my interpretation... I don't know why, but even after having re-read the 1st chapter of LDI, I still have the feeling that the whole concept behind the DO saga is that messing with future is always wrong, no matter why... Lele

Oh... wow... CLAP CLAP CLAP That's another standing ovation from me to you, Dan. You know, I'm not the emotional kind of guy, and It's not very often that something brings me to tears. But that hug... It did it. It had me in tears, for real. That hug was so... I'll say powerful, as I'm not finding a better way to describe it. You managed to create a marvellous emotional climax there. I know a lot of people had already said this to you, but you really do are a great writer. Thanks, again. Now, I'll dare making a guess about LDI as a whole. IMVHO, the lesson behind all the DO series is that messing with future, if ever possible, it's a very bad thing. (Btw: the movie 'Paycheck' also is about this concept). Every change Davey had done has created a timeline that, in the short or in the long run, proved itself worse than the original one. Now, if there's a logical conclusion to the DO saga, I think it's that Brian has NOT to change the original timeline. This timeline needs not to be changed. As far as macroscale events are concerned, the original timeline was the best so far. And there has not been any evidence so far that it's really possible to steer the course of the timeline exactly where you planned to, and I think that that's mostly because of the Butterfly Effect. Another reason for that, I think is the fact that only the traveller can really compare two or more timelines, but for the rest of the world there's one and only one timeline. So, whether a 'push' is for better or worse becomes a matter of a single person, and by the Law of Large Numbers, the macroscale consequences of the actions of a single person are unpredictable. They simply can not be predicted. The knowledge that the here and now is the outcome of certain key points set in the past, thus the knowledge of that key points, it's also really useless. Because whenever you change a key point, you simply give up certain for uncertain, and nothing more. From the first change on, all the other informations you may possess become misleading, because they belong to another timeline so they never really happened. And, following these thoughts, I think this time the purpose of Brian is not to rescue the World, but just one person, whose future in this timeline is doomed: Davey. So, I'm not sure we'll see a lot of macroscale events manipulation, if any at all. I think LDI will mostly or entirely be about the rebuilding -or the building, as we are now in the original timeline- of a relationship between Davey and Brian. And if this should happen to be the case, I won't complain at all.. Lele

OH... MY... GOD!!! What a way to start the new year!!! This is just... great! (I think this is the right place to post about LDI, since DIR also was posted here...) And, I guess it's a bit of a challenge to revisit for the fourth time a plot without being repetitive, but if you can see a good day from it's morning... well... I guess you nailed it again... What a pleasant comeback! I take the opportunity here to wish everybody a happy 2007! Now, it's time to go back to ... Lele

Yes, me! I was thinking that the fact that Garret has at his disposal a full army, well-trained, well-equipped, technologically advanced even compared to the Repubblic, made of people who have a loyalty that borders into faith toward Atrix House, and above all things made of people who have the ethical concept that clones and True Borns are equally human so deeply rooted as they have... Well, I think this also will have a major role in chapters ahead. Lele

Hmmm... Starting an Editor teasing round for a misplaced letter would be mean, wouldn't it? No, in fact I was referring to: "Is this what you dream of, Frederick?" I asked him. The story is told in 3rd person. Now, while we know now that DK is identifying himself with Garret while he writes, I think this switch to the 1st person could qualify as ETWM (Editor Teasing Worth Material), that's why I hinted to it... Anyway, just kidding. To put things back into their perspective, the last EMoe's teasing round took place when we were at chapter 6 or 7, something like that. And, considering the lenght of each chapter, the percentage of slips is below meaningfulness threshold. That is to mean: EMoe, we wouldn't tease you if you weren't such a great Editor. Thanks for your work, too. Enough for the OT. Let's get back to business... Lele

Wow, Dan. Thanks for the gift. And what a couple of chapters! Assuming that everybody reading this post have already read the chapters, I have a couple of comments. First of all, I just liked everything about the bolt-hole. I guess that, to be truly effective, a bolt-hole has to be a life of its own, especially one that has been sort of 'suspended' during the period of absence of an Atrix hair. Smart trick the one of filtering info outside the bolt-hole about its true capabilities even to Atrix's staff. I liked the metareference to your own story when you described the foundation of the Great Houses. Nice touch, if I got it right! I look forward to the moment when Ada will wake up into her new, bigger body... as I look forward to the moment when Aaron will discover that 'his' Garret is bringing home a clone no less than bonded to him... Oh, and by the way: thanks for the 'double' Christmas gift: in Chapter 31, during Garret's visit to class 05-PC-83, there is 'EMoe's teasing material'.... I'll leave the hunting opened.... Hi everybody. Lele

Fully understood. Thanks for your answer. Happy Christmas to you & Robert. Hi. Lele

Hi Dan. First of all, even if it may seem a bit odd, I want to thank you for your 'strike'. As I didn't have anything new from you at the moment to read, and because I decided to refrain from reading anything else to join your strike in my own way, I just started to wander around GA much more than before in these days. Wow, didn't think this place was SO huge.... My awe for Myr has raised up four or five notches in the last days.... Anyway, wandering around I just stumbled here, and so I remembered myself that, in fact, you actually did finish DoT... Of course, I respect each and every decision you make about your stories, if anything else for the reason that they're YOURS, you share them for free and, in consequence, you owe me nothing. That said, after a couple of months, hoping that the waters are quieter than before on this shore, here's my question for you. Is there still a chance that, in the near or distant future, you may change your mind about DoT and, let's say, 'write an alternative end'? Or the matter is definitely dead and buried for you? Thank you. Lele

It's not mine. I read it somewhere something like 10 years ago, and it got stuck in my mind. Can't remember where though, nor I can remember who was credited for it. Buon Natale anche a te, and to everybody here in GA! A special Marry Christmas and a Happy New Year to Myr and the others admins, of course! I beg your pardon for the OT. Hi everybody. Lele

It was because of after : I just HAD to have more... So, I traced DK around the Web... until I found him here... Lele P.S.: Yes, Dan, I'm a backup freak...

I probably don't get the full picture of what's happening here, because I usually don't wander around the forums, I'm here in GA firts and foremost to READ stories... after all, this is Gay Authors, not Gay Bitching... But I understand that, in Myr's field, using someone else's ball, there is a bunch of people who's not playing fair. What are we talking about here? Ten people, 20 maybe? Over a total of what, three? four? THOUSANDS of registered users of GA? We, the fair players, have to remember that, out there, there are and there always will be A LOT of people who'd just LOVE to see sites like this close down permanently. They WON'T shut up. Even if you ban them, they'll come back, and there's no way to avoid them. Shutting the whole damn server down would mean letting them win. There's only one way to muffle their voices: raising ours. So, now I'm going to raise my tiny, little, humble voice. If we collect ALL of our tiny, little voices, those pricks will be overwhelmed. They WON'T win. Not this time. Myr, all the authors, and all the other people who work behind the scenes: I'm with you. Thanks, for everything. GA has made, and is making, my life better. Lele

YES YES YES....

...and to think that after reading this chapter, I was going to litterally grovel at DK's feet and BEG for an extra chapter anytime soon...

As a former student in Medicine & Surgery, I studied genetics, so I just thought to put here some 'random thoughts' about genetics. 1st of all, human DNA consists of about 3 billions of base pairs which form about 40.000 genes. And the genes cover less than 10% of the DNA. The remaining 90% was until not so long ago called 'junk DNA' because scientists thought it was just nonsense garbage. Not so long ago, somebody came out with this observation: if each and every man has the same 40.000 genes, why each and every man is a UNIQUE human being? The answer lays on that 90%. Now that scientists have started to study the 'junk DNA', they're discovering the Holy Grail of Genetics. Promoters, enhancers, suppressors, backup copies of the main genes spliced and scattered, even copy counters... And they've barely scratched the surface. Now, the question whether or not homosexuality has a gene, it is, really, a false question. Because the answer would be: of course yes. Strictly speaking, everything we are is written in our DNA. We cannot be anything else if not the expression of what is written in our unique copy of double stranded helix. So yes, I'm gay because it's written somewhere in my DNA. WHERE, exactly, now that's the tricky question. Now, this can and has raised a lot of ethical questions, such as: if we are what it's in our DNA, then there is no such thing as free will. Personally, I think that's true to some extent. As I see it, my DNA shapes the boundaries of my free will. What I will do with my life... I don't know how to express it, but it's like pruning a bush: each and every time we make a decision, consciously or not, we cut out all the other possibilities, and so decision after decision we give ourselves a shape, which contributes to shape our future decisions and so forth. Which decision we will take is determined by who we are. And who we are is nothing but a huge bunch of electrochemical connections among neuronal cells. The number, the density, the plasticity, the strongness or weakness of these connections... it's all written in our DNA. So, I may decide to live my homosexuality or to deny it, but I cannot truly fall in love with a woman however much I wish it, because it's not written into my DNA. As a matter of fact, to make another example, I quitted my study course because, even if I was strongly willed to become a surgeon, I puke everytime I see to much blood. And this weakness of mine is, again, written into my DNA. It's in this sense that I stated before that, as I see it, our DNA draws the boundaries of our free will. If you, hypothetically, take this aspect to an extreme level, you kind of have DK's clones: they are and they do what they are made to, nothing more and nothing else. Now I'm feeling I have to put a stop to my rambling; if I don't do it, I can go on for hours and hours and hours and hours....

Wow... just.... WOW! Standing ovation needed here! CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP..... DK, this is absolutely GREAT writing!

Gee, thanks! But the bare plain really true reason why I pointed out that typo is very very simple: I need a job! ...just kidding! Lele

I agree with the others: this is such a GREAT chapter of what it's clearly becoming a wonderful story! Yes, I smell a strong Gene Corps stink here... So, I think that another interesting detail is the fact that Garret commands a ship half full of clones who seems to be quite prone to follow orders coming from Gene Corps Technicians without esitation...and this could be another problem... And the battle is coming... and the AI's down (btw: I think it would be nice if Garret would give her a first name... ).... WOW... can't wait 'till saturday... (yes, time zones... ) On a final notice, if we're allowed to point out typos, in the 14th paragraph there is a 'Gary' instead of a 'Garret'. Hi everybody. Lele

Cool... I agree: the attention to these little details IMHO is what gives your stories their peculiar 'flavour'... The descriptive chapters, like DoH4, they may slow the progression of the story, but I think they're absolutely necessary. I remember, when I was reading Do Over, at a certain point which I don't remember exactly now, I was so entranced with the plot that I just skipped a 'descriptive block'. Well, after a little while I had to go back and read what I skipped because without that piece of background infos, the reading experience changed its flavour. I don't know if I managed to explain what I mean... I learned my lesson about AC & plugs about two yeaars ago. I purchased an amplifier for my bass guitar via internet from the States because it was a lot cheaper, shipping included, than the same brand and model purchased in EU. Of course it was shipped with the two-blade plug. No problem, I thought. I cut out the plug, exposed the wires, and installed an italian triple-round-pin plug. I put the plug into the socket, switched the power on, and BLAM! I was lucky enough to blow just the fuse. I forgot one tiny little detail, so I plugged a 110V device into a 230V outlet... :wacko:

Point made. Like languages, perhaps it's just a matter of habit, I guess. And thinking about these things, I just thought about another item of 'worldwide mess': AC outlets shapes. So, here's a question for DK: which shape AC outlets are in Peladon? I guess that even 4 centuries from now, if you have a portable electrical equipment, you DO have to have some sort of outlet/plug coupling, do you?

I think those descriptions of the various ships are great but .... damn... all those fu***ng feet, inches, pounds and all the others non International System metrical units... I've had to first convert all the measures in meters to be able to mentally picture all the ships. Why, oh why you Americans won't adopt once and for all the nice, ten-based International System for Pounds and Measures? Anyway, DK, I think this is another wonderful story growing up... I love the staging so far. I bow at your ability to create such a complex Universe as the background for the story... Can't wait for the real action to begin... Hi everybody. Lele (which is the italian short for Daniele...yep, it's my name... Drop the italian final 'e' and you have it. And I think it's very to share the same name with DK!! )

Hi everybody from me too. I signed up loooong ago, but real life hit very hard. Now that I've left a lot of crap behind my back, I have the time and the mood to enjoy this community and partecipate more actively. So, as to be a newbie no more, this is my 2nd post, just to say... Ciao a tutti dalla grande Milano! (Hello everybody from the great Milan, Italy!) LeleDOCt.

There is another thing that hasn't been discussed yet. This is a major thing for me, as I'm italian, so English is not my mother tongue. Sometimes it happens that an author becomes so caught up with the plot, that he changes his style, his way of writing. Readability is very important for me, as I have to put up a double effort to read a story: following the plot, and mentally translating it while I'm reading, because I'm still not so versed in English to be able to think directly in English words, I still have to translate each and every sentence to be able to mentally picture every character and situation. Sometimes it happens. You start to read a story that flows through your brain effortlessly, you fall in love with the characters, and then it happens. Reading becomes a real challenge. It gives you a headache. For two totally different reasons. One. The style becomes too much simple. I'm speaking here from an italian point of view: italian language has something like about half a million of different words. We're used to name each thing with its name. If the author's style becomes something like "That dude did that thing with the other thing", I have some problem to figure out what exactly the author is meaning, as English language is known to have completely different meanings associated with the same word, and only the context of the sentence is the key to pinpoint the exact meaning of the word. With the italian language, we're not used to this. Almost everything has it's own different name. So, too few words is bad. Two. Italian language has something like about half a million of different words, but we don't use all of them. So, if the author becames too self-aware of his deftness with lexis and the development of the plot becomes more a stylistic performance than anything else, with a new and different word for every line of text, the result is that I have to spend more time on the dictionary than on the story, and that's another headache. So, too many words is bad. Also, if the sequence of tenses is wrong, or if there are too many grammatical mistakes, that also doesn't help the mental translation, and the flowing of the reading. And that's it. This is my bit. For me it's disturbing the kind of change of the writing style, that slows down the reading too much. Maybe that's not so relevant for and English-language born reader, but if you have to translate each and every sentence while you're reading... you come to like authors that have the right ideas, and they express them in the right way, with a writing that's easy to read: accurate, not too poor and not to sophisticated. And that's another form of balance.