For the sake of completeness

[ksmith]

Last night's total:

471 words

20,164 total.

Still coasting along with dialogue, leaving the business for later. From the Shakespeare-quoting Niall:

"If you cut us, do we not bleed? If you piss on us, do we not bloody melt!"

He's not having a good day.

Comments

[juliabk.livejournal.com]

I like Niall. I want him to have *lots* of good days.

But then, I want him to have Jani, too. :-) The other guys aren't good enough for her. :-)

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

But then, I want him to have Jani, too. :-)

Niall and Jani are too much alike. At this point, or for the foreseeable future, it just wouldn't work.

The other guys aren't good enough for her. :-)

Lucien isn't, charmer though he is. John is, imo. He was the only one willing to change for her.

[juliabk.livejournal.com]

I think that's one of the things I *don't* like about John. He strikes me as too needy (and I realize I may be alone in that feeling :-).

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I don't see him as needy, because to me the word implies a degree of submission I don't believe John possesses.

[juliabk.livejournal.com]

Digressing from John for a moment (it's been too long since I read CI to go into much depth without either sounding completely stupid or just plain wrong :-), the idea of being willing to change oneself for another person implies submissive and needy to me. At least in general. I'll have to reread CI with that in mind and see what hits me (oh, gee, now there's a hardship cuz, y'know, I'll have to reread all of them to make sue I don't miss any of the details). On the other hand, I am quite willing to accept that it's my own personal bias toward Niall that colors my attitude toward John. :-):-) And... don't get it into your head that I'm complaining. :-) You haven't disappointed me yet. I don't expect you will. You're much too good at what you do. :-)

Possible CI spoilers--read at your own risk

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

the idea of being willing to change oneself for another person implies submissive and needy to me.

Depends what one changed. John needed to temper certain domineering tendencies. I don't see that as submissive and needy. I see that as curtailing destructive behaviors that threatened to drive off the woman he loved.

He also needed to learn a little...humility? Again, not the same as submission. His actions were responsible for setting Jani on a path that would eventually lead to the two of them not being able to relate as human beings anymore. John decided that there was only one thing for him to do in order to be able to continue a relationship with her.

I think it boils down to what he considers immutable. I don't see him ever falsifying data to help Jani, frex, or risking his reputation as a scientific innovator. But altering *himself*? As someone who spent his life altering others, I don't believe he sees that as as great a step.