The Metropolitan Man
March 16, 2023 6:01 AM Subscribe
There's also a great quality audiobook / podcast version with a cast of different voices and some sound effects.
The story has excellent mechanics and is fascinating. But there is some disturbing stuff there that might not suit people looking for a fun read.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 10:15 AM on March 16, 2023
The story has excellent mechanics and is fascinating. But there is some disturbing stuff there that might not suit people looking for a fun read.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 10:15 AM on March 16, 2023
True. The ending is bleak.
It's also the best Superman (fan)fiction I've ever read though, so it's a little bit complicated to recommend.
posted by Orange Pamplemousse at 11:20 AM on March 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
It's also the best Superman (fan)fiction I've ever read though, so it's a little bit complicated to recommend.
posted by Orange Pamplemousse at 11:20 AM on March 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
By the same author as "A Common Sense Guide to Doing the Most Good" (previously)
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 2:45 PM on March 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 2:45 PM on March 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
“I want them to enact sensible legislation, curb corruption, eliminate the incentives for crime, give their people shelter, food, and healthcare, at least where the free market won’t provide. I want them to educate their children and provide a structure for progress.”
So hard to get out from under the shadow of Red Son.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 5:22 PM on March 16, 2023
So hard to get out from under the shadow of Red Son.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 5:22 PM on March 16, 2023
Geez, that was depressing.
posted by Mister Cheese at 7:28 PM on March 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Mister Cheese at 7:28 PM on March 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
I liked this a lot, especially Lois's initial reactions to Superman. Of course the actual reaction a person would have to being scooped up and flown away and having superpowers demonstrated to them would be terror and then careful, careful friendliness.
I also liked this story because you get a lot of clumsy fiction lately that's all "but what if Superman were BAD actually?" Homelander, Omni-Man, whatever the kid's name in Brightburn was. This story leaves Superman as trying to be the best person he can be but the mere fact of the power differential distorts and corrupts his relationship with the world and makes him a threat.
As soon as she knows his identity, there's no way for Lois and Clark to have a relationship untainted by the implied threat of what he could do, no matter how good a person he is acting like at the moment.
posted by JDHarper at 8:30 PM on March 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
I also liked this story because you get a lot of clumsy fiction lately that's all "but what if Superman were BAD actually?" Homelander, Omni-Man, whatever the kid's name in Brightburn was. This story leaves Superman as trying to be the best person he can be but the mere fact of the power differential distorts and corrupts his relationship with the world and makes him a threat.
As soon as she knows his identity, there's no way for Lois and Clark to have a relationship untainted by the implied threat of what he could do, no matter how good a person he is acting like at the moment.
posted by JDHarper at 8:30 PM on March 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
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Without getting into the inside baseball politics of it, if you're annoyed by how ff.net has become virtually unusable there's also an AO3 link for the same story here.
posted by Wretch729 at 9:10 AM on March 16, 2023 [2 favorites]