From: "L-Soft list server at Indiana University (1.8d)" To: "ARTF@MemoryAlpha.nil" File: "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L LOG9910D" ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1999 23:13:18 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Cynthia Haste Subject: Re: S5, Eps 1 and 2 review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Debby wrote: > At 04:49 PM 10/20/1999 -0700, you wrote: > >Hi Tara, > > > >Have you ever read Debby's Arc? It's in the archive, and posted on her site > at > >ftp://ftp.swcp.com/pub/users/dstark/Stories/. I think it's the best > series on > >the Arc I've read, and Clois survives with a twist. > > > >Cindy > > Next time you might sorta wanna put "SPOILER AHEAD!" and some space, Sorry, I didn't think of it as a spoiler that she lives, since Tara specifically asked for an Arc in which Clois survives. Cindy -- He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. - Nietzsche The Rules of Chocolate: Chocolate covered raisins, cherries, orange slices & strawberries all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 04:51:06 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: fic fact check MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Can't sleep, so might as well.write. Have been bothered by some details: 1. My recollection is that the only thing we know about Lois' birth date from LACTNAOS is that she was born in 1967 'cause that's written on the tombstone she and H. G. Wells are looking at in "Tempus, Anyone?" In "Contact" she tells Star that she's a Libra, but nothing more specific. So if I give her a birthday in the first half of October I'll be within the mythos, right? 2. I know this was mentioned just recently, but I failed to make note of it. What is the date for LNC's anniversary? Any and all help appreciated. Jude. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 07:23:17 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: sharper Subject: Re: fic fact check MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > 1. If I give her a birthday in the first half of October I'll be within the > mythos, right? Right. > 2. What is the date for LNC's anniversary? Oct. 6, 1996 Sheila (hard to believe that all the events of season 4, S5, and S6 took place within less than 3 years--and that that was as long as everything that preceded it. Time sure flies when you're having fun :) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 06:45:32 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: Re: fic fact check MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sheila, Multae gratitudinae (and they said foreign languages weren't my strength). Jude ----- Original Message ----- From: sharper To: Sent: Friday, October 22, 1999 6:23 AM Subject: Re: fic fact check > > 1. If I give her a birthday in the first half of October I'll be within > the > > mythos, right? > > Right. > > > 2. What is the date for LNC's anniversary? > > Oct. 6, 1996 > > Sheila > (hard to believe that all the events of season 4, S5, and S6 took place > within less than 3 years--and that that was as long as everything that > preceded it. Time sure flies when you're having fun :) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 10:19:28 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carolyn Schnall Subject: Re: Medical Advice/Macho Advice/Dick Francis In-Reply-To: <0.5c4b5aa2.2540e30f@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi Hazel and Maureen: You are both correct and I am happy to report that the Dick Francis novel where he includes the disclocated shoulder scene is Knockdown (1974?). It's a wonderfully written, memorable scene and I consider Francis one of my heroes. That's in addition to the fact that he is British and being a slight Anglophile (sp?), I appreciate that as well:) Thanks, Carolyn cschnall@mail.med.cornell.edu P.S. Francis, from that land that gave us Shakespeare, author of the Merchant of Venice. >In a message dated 10/21/99 1:56:29 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >zis-s@ACTCOM.CO.IL writes: > ><< As to shoulders -- well, Becky told her story, but I can also mention that > there's a Dick Francis novel in which the main character suffers from a > weakness -- his right shoulder is easily dislocated. At one point in the > story, the shoulder pops out of the socket and, clearly in agony, he has to > talk a woman through the process of putting it back in place. Once it was > fixed, though, it seemed okay. Francis is surely not a medical doctor, but > he does have a history for researching any subject very thoroughly before > he writes about it. Becky's story is personal, though, so you might want to > trust that one more. :) > > (Sorry I don't know the title! Maybe someone else can help by supplying it?) > > Hazel > >> >Wow, finally pulled out of lurkdom -- by Dick Francis! I know I've also read >that particular novel, but like Hazel can't remember the title. As to >research on the subject, he had quite a bit of personal experience with >shoulder dislocations. Dick Francis was a famous steeplechase jockey in the >1950's, and became an author (he's written about forty novels as of this >fall) after he retired from racing. In his autobiography The Sport of Queens, > he spends a few pages (p. 191 through 193 in the paperback) telling about >his own experiences with dislocated shoulders (both of them -- about six >times each), and goes into a good bit of detail about the whole process. This >may not help, but I just couldn't resist. :-) > >Maureen (a long time Dick Francis fan) > >MoesyL47@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 09:20:44 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Re: Comments on Doppleganger Intro and Part I MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thanks for your comments and suggestions on the story, Sandy. I don't know if it has ever come up, but I definitely do like constructive criticism like yours, because it helps improve my writing. Public, or private, I don't mind it (You should hear my husband's remarks--brutal, but they keep me on my toes, and I know it's because he wants the finished product to be a credit to the writer). Anyway, I'm glad that you liked it. There's plenty more to come, and the baby isn't the only mystery they have to solve. Just wait. It gets more complicated. Nan Sandy McDermin wrote: > Nancy: > > Although we haven't gotten very far in your story, I must say it's quite > an interesting one thus far. > > Taking what you say in your introduction, > > >There have been all kinds of explanations for the baby who appeared > >magically at the end of "The Family Hour", most of them involving H.G. > >Wells. But what if H.G. Wells had nothing to do with it? What if there > >was another reason for the appearance of the mystery child? What if it > >was all part of a sinister plot? Taking that "what if" rather than the > >conventional one, I had a whole new set of possibilities to play with. > > and from Part I, I must admit some healthy puzzlement -- you devil, > you. Considering that the child is supposed to be the spitting image of > Clark and that "the fate of the world" depends on entrusting him to L&C, > it seems we're being led to assume that the child is either baby Kal-El > from Tempus Fugitive or a future child of Lois and Clark's. (After all, > you only say that H.G. Wells has nothing to do with the child's > appearance, *not* that all our other assumptions, i.e., that the baby is > *theirs," are untrue.) However, what could you mean by sinister plot? > That the baby's appearance is a sinister plot? Or that the mystery > person who delivered the baby is trying to thwart a sinister plot? If > the first, then perhaps this baby is not the blessing one might assume > -- perhaps he's a clone.;) If the second, we're back to square one. > > As for the writing style itself, I found very little to suggest.:) I > only have a couple of slight questions regarding sentence structure: > > > At Melon Street Lois turned right, and almost immediately right once > > more into the parking lot of Antonio's. Dinner was going to be take-out > > Italian tonight, since she was so late, from the authentic little > > Italian family restaurant Clark had found last month. Fettucine > > If I may, in the sentence starting with "dinner," you might consider > moving the phrase, "since she was so late," to the front so there's not > an unnecessary pause and the idea is clearer. > > > the order. The little man was Antonio's brother-in-law, Lois knew. The > > restaurant was very much a family affair, Clark had told her, and Lois > > As above, I wondered if you might flip the parts of these sentences > around as the phrases after the commas sound like they belong in front > ... or they're afterthoughts.... Maybe it's just me. > > > Lois picked up the bag, with care for the fragrant contents, and > > returned to the Jeep. Stashing the food in the back, carefully braced > > against spillage, > > "The back" was carefully braced against spillage? Ahhh, I know, I > know. It's the food. > > > she settled CJ into his car seat again, mind returning > > to Giuseppe's remark about him as she slid behind the wheel again and > > started the engine. > > Whose mind was returning? > > > The light in front of her turned yellow as she went through the > > intersection and then instantly red. That light was always too short, > > she knew. The squeal of tires and a chorus of honking behind her caused > > Another sentence which strikes me the same way as those above -- "That > light was always too short, she knew." Why not "She knew that light was > always too short?" > > ******************* > > And, I'll say right now, your characterizations are right on the mark > ... um ... oh. Yeah baby. > > -- > Sandy > smcdermin@erols.com > http://www.erols.com/nightsky/Sandy/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 11:27:26 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Another inquiry-Aviation nuts need apply What is the fastest airship available to the US Government? How long would it take to get from say Nevada to Cuba? ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 11:53:08 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Another inquiry-Aviation nuts need apply II The second question had the first question in mind. James ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 10:33:30 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Bev Clark/Steve Gallacci Subject: Re: Another inquiry-Aviation nuts need apply In-Reply-To: from "James Tull" at Oct 22, 99 11:27:26 am MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > What is the fastest airship available to the US Government? > How long would it take to get from say Nevada to Cuba? > Well, currently, the US Gov doesn't own any proper airships, if you mean a rigid motorized lighter-than-air craft (like a Zepplin). However, historically, the old airships of the 1920s and '30s might do up to 100 mph or so, and the Nevada/Cuba trip is about 2500 miles. (just peeking into my wife's L&C traffic and don't know if there is any context to the question otherwise) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 13:51:27 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Guy or Lesley Hilliard Subject: Re: Another inquiry-Aviation nuts need apply MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit It depends on the number of people that you want to fly. There are a number of Fighter planes (and I assume you mean planes and not airships :) ) that go over Mach 2 (Twice the speed of sound or approximately 1400 miles an hour (or this might be Kilometers per hour someone please correct me) so if the journey is about 2500 miles this would take two hours give or take a little bit. HTH Ladyhawke -----Original Message----- From: James Tull To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Date: October 22, 1999 12:27 PM Subject: Another inquiry-Aviation nuts need apply >What is the fastest airship available to the US Government? >How long would it take to get from say Nevada to Cuba? ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 11:04:15 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Bev Clark/Steve Gallacci Subject: Re: Another inquiry-Aviation nuts need apply In-Reply-To: <000c01bf1cb6$10fe7380$43e4a1d1@ns.idirect.com> from "Guy or Lesley Hilliard" at Oct 22, 99 01:51:27 pm MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > It depends on the number of people that you want to fly. There are a number > of Fighter planes (and I assume you mean planes and not airships :) ) that > go over Mach 2 (Twice the speed of sound or approximately 1400 miles an hour > (or this might be Kilometers per hour someone please correct me) so if the > journey is about 2500 miles this would take two hours give or take a little > bit. However, with the exception of the SR71, nothing handy has the range at hi-supersonic to do it. Any other type would need at least one refuel at maximum speed (if in fact, it could tolerate continued flighting at hi Mach) More likely would be a fast cruise, say at 1000mph or less. > > > >What is the fastest airship available to the US Government? > >How long would it take to get from say Nevada to Cuba? > ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 20:14:54 GMT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Anige Subject: Re: The Black Circle part 5 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed argh! you just LOVE cliff-hangers, don't you? (: please finish this story... i really like the whole idea of maggie. and don't worry about it if you don't get loads of feedback. for every person that actually takes the time to comment, there's probably 20 more that feel the same way. -anige (: ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 16:21:24 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Tara Smith Subject: Re: The Black Circle part 5 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Of course, I love cliff-hangers! They're my way of trying to make sure people come running back to read more! :-)(echoes of evil laughter!) Don't worry, the story is finally flowing, so I'm planning on posting parts every 2-3 days until I finish it :-) Thanks for responding :-) too, I live for feedback. Tara ------Original Message------ From: Anige To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Sent: October 22, 1999 8:14:54 PM GMT Subject: Re: The Black Circle part 5 argh! you just LOVE cliff-hangers, don't you? (: please finish this story... i really like the whole idea of maggie. and don't worry about it if you don't get loads of feedback. for every person that actually takes the time to comment, there's probably 20 more that feel the same way. -anige (: ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com "Always give generously--a small bird or rodent left on the bed tells them, "I care."" from All I need to know about life I learned from my cat. ----------------------------------------------- FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 16:37:41 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Tara Smith Subject: Re: OT - (Re: Combo post .. medical advice and endearments "yeah Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit You know, I think I heard somewhere that Patrick Stewart started losing his hair fairly young. He apparently used to wear wigs a lot to hide that, but after he played Captain Picard, he stopped. Tara ------Original Message------ From: "Ann E. McBride" To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Sent: October 21, 1999 10:33:23 PM GMT Subject: Re: OT - (Re: Combo post .. medical advice and endearments "yeah In a message dated 10/21/99 7:30:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time, nightangel@HOME.COM writes: << I know, I know.. Shatner still has all of his own hair, though. I suppose he gets bonus points for that in compensation. ;) >> Does he, though, or does he have a great toupee maker?:) Ann ( who never could make herself watch much of any Star Trek because of the discount store pajama costumes. ) ----------------------------------------------- FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 22:29:59 +0200 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicole Wolke Subject: First Draft: Gossip... Pt 1/5 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit TITLE: Gossip has it that... PART: 1/5 AUTHOR: Nicole Wolke NKWolke@eifel-net.net RATING: PG FEEDBACK: It's a "work in progress" so any kind of feedback, comment and editing in any way, public or private is really appreciated. SUMMARY: Jimmy reflects about Lane and Kent, the "hottest team in town" while fighting is nervousness during a Kerth Award Show. Gossip has it that... by Nicole (Ckgroupie on IRC) Jimmy shifted nervously in his seat as the next speaker went to the podium. 'O man, will this torture *never* be over?' he thought. He felt miserable, his suit was uncomfortable, his mind blank and actually this side of the seat didn't turn out to be any better than the other had been only seconds before...he shifted again. Suddenly he felt a cool and calming hand on his intertwined fingers. Lois, of course. She smiled reassuringly and bent a little forward to whisper in his ear: "Don't be so nervous, Jimmy. Everything will be just fine, trust me. "She squeezed his hand and Jimmy tried to calm down a little bit. It wasn't easy though. He could swear that he had never been this nervous in his whole life...well, maybe except the day when he had had his interview for the job at the Daily Planet... ***** It was not that the offered job was this exciting. The grim looking Chief-editor Perry White had told him very bluntly that they were looking for somebody who was willing to do all the minor work the star-reporters didn't have the time to. And this included buying Donuts and going for coffee as well as doing the research for the other reporter's stories, but Jimmy wanted this Job desperately. He had always dreamed of working as a journalist for a big newspaper, but he didn't have the educational background to start as a reporter. Life hadn't been easy going for Jimmy so far. His parents split when he was twelve and it came to Jimmy as a terrible shock. He always had adored his father, a successful businessman, although he always seemed to be too busy for spending much time with him Then suddenly his father left them and almost never called or spent a visit. It was a very hard time for Jimmy. He started to have problems in school, to get the wrong friends and more and more he drifted into bad company. When his father had left, Jimmy had searched for the reason by blaming himself and he took the fact that his father didn't pay very much attention to him anymore as a prove for his own failure. What could he possibly be worth when even his own Dad didn't care about him! Being with the "guys" brought him back a little self-confidence. They were cool and they were strong and by being in the same gang with them Jimmy suddenly felt cool and strong, too. But one evening his image of this ideal friendship with his gang-members was completely shattered. They had had this "cool idea" of breaking into a garage, stealing the car and making a trip, but they were caught in the act and while the others managed to escape, they left poor Jimmy alone with the police and a lot of trouble. It was not only the fact that the gang had left him standing there that made Jimmy think about his friends, it were the phonecalls and threats of his "blood brothers", who swore to kill him if he would "sing". Three months in the juvenile detention home helped Jimmy to find out that this was definitely not what he had wanted to do with his life and when he returned to his normal life he was determined to make a new start. To his luck one of the social workers at the juvenile detention home knew about this job at the Daily Planet and he made Perry White to interview Jimmy. With this interview everything changed for Jimmy. Apparently Perry White got a good impression of him, because he gave him the job and so one day a few years ago Jimmy Olsen started his work for the Daily Planet. Jimmy had never seen a more exciting place than the news-room of the Daily Planet and he instantly fell in love with it. Sometimes it seemed to be a chaotic place, with all the people running around, yelling, talking and laughing, reporters next to photographers, research people and workers down from the press-machines. But there was this special atmosphere of importance, of knowing what was going on in the world, that fascinated Jimmy more than anything ever had done before. And the people who worked there! The Daily Planet's reporters were known all over the world, almost celebrities who were constantly nominated for the most honored Journalism awards you could go for. And the best of those reporters was a woman: Lois Lane. ***** Jimmy smiled inwardly, when he thought about his first days at the Planet and his first impression of Lois. He turned his head and watched the woman in the seat next to his own. He still thought, that she was one of the most fascinating people he had ever met. Beautiful, smart, educated and ambitious. But nobody, who could see her relaxed and happy like she was today, would have believed, that she was once known as complicated, domineering and pigheaded and that it had been almost impossible to get along with her. ***** When Jimmy started his first day at the Planet and before he even was introduced to her, everybody used to warn him about Lois Lane. "Mad dog Lane" was what they called her and they told him, that she was "extremely dangerous". "Never talk to her, when she's in a bad mood" another research worker said, "and if you have to work for her, then you must be *really* fast, or you're a dead man!" So horrible was the picture they made him from the Planet's star-reporter, that in his imagination Lois had formed to some kind of monster or dragon, ugly of course, middle-aged and obsessed with her work. Never smiling, no friends in the whole world... How big was his surprise when he saw her for the first time! This vivacious, beautiful, tiny little woman, with her sparkling eyes and this incredible smile should be so dangerous? Jimmy couldn't believe it and instead almost instantly got a big crush on her. And it must be said, that Lois never treated Jimmy as bad as her other colleagues. Whether it was because Perry had told Lois some parts of Jimmy's past, or just because she liked his loyal admiration and his open and friendly behavior Jimmy didn't know, but for one reason or another Jimmy and Lois became friends. During the first months of their friendship Jimmy had to fight hard against his feelings for Lois though. Boy, had he thought that he loved her! But he also knew from the start, that this case was absolutely hopeless and so he tried his best not to blush when she talked to him and to stop thinking too much about her. Much to his own amazement it didn't take him very long to get over her. Only four moths after he started working at the Planet Celia came into his live and Jimmy found himself totally lost again. To be honest, there had been a lot of Celias in his life since then, but Jimmy was sure that Lois would always own a certain place in his heart and even now that he knew her for years, his heart still showed the tendency to beat a little faster when she gave him her special smile. ***** Another speaker climbed the podium. There seemed to be no end! But letting his mind wander had already helped Jimmy a little. At least he wasn´t feeling so uncomfortable now. Even the unfamiliar tightness of a tie around his neck wasn't so hard anymore. Jimmy absently studied the pattern of his new bought tie. He thought it was pretty decent. It brought his thoughts back another couple of years to some interesting tie-patterns of another colleague, the man sitting on Lois' other side. His best friend: Clark Kent. ***** Jimmy would never forget the day, Clark Kent arrived for the first time at the Daily Planet, asking for a job. It was a busy day, business as usual, but early in the morning this strange scientist Dr. Samuel Platt had stormed into the news-room, waving around with a package an yelling for Lois Lane and that "it" was going to explode. Naturally some of the woman had panicked and cried out loudly, that he had a bomb in the package and Platt was dragged out of the news-room by a safety-guard. Of course they was no bomb, he just wanted to tell his theory about manipulations at the space-station Prometheus project, but there was a big uproar the whole morning and that was just the moment, when Clark Kent arrived for his interview. What happened behind the closed door of Perry White's office nobody knew for sure, but Clark didn't get the job. Jimmy saw him leaving only 10 minutes after his arrival, with a depressed expression on his face and he thought: 'Well here goes another one.' , expecting to never see this man again. News-room gossip had it that Perry was looking for a new reporter for months now, but good reporters were obviously hard to find. It turned out, that Jimmy and the "Chief" had been totally wrong, because only one day later Clark Kent returned to the Planet with a great story about the demolition of an old theater and Perry White was impressed. So Clark got the job after all and his first assignment was that of a task force for Lois Lane, who was working on a story about Dr. Platt's theory. ***** Jimmy glanced cautiously to his left side, where Perry White was sitting. He wondered if the Chief had had any clue, what he was about to do, by putting Clark at Lois' side. Even the chief couldn't have known, that Lois Lane and Clark Kent not even were destined to get into the annals of the Daily Planet as the best reporting team the world had ever known, but also as the most exciting gossip topic for the next years, could he? ***** At first things seemed to go their usual ways. Lois showed herself from her worst side, calling Clark a "hack from Nowheresville" and treating him like the inexperienced "farmboy" she thought that he was. Clark on the other hand did what every man in the news-room had done when being confronted with "mad dog Lane" for the first time. He got this sheepish expression of total adoration in his eyes whenever he looked at her. Gossip knew what would happen next of course. Lois would treat him badly and Clark would do everything for her just to please her, but one day in the future she would push too far and the male ego would return to the surface, turning the loyal slave into her worst enemy. Clark would join the club of broken hearts among the male members of the Daily Planet staff and he would have his revenge by enjoying to watch the next guy falling under Mad dog's spell. Some of the female colleagues already thought about a way to be the one who would help Clark over his bad experience with this "witch"! Jimmy even remembered a cat-fight like scene in the conference room, when Jill from research and Sylvie the Chief's secretary had almost gone at each other's throats about who would be the lucky woman, that would have the privilege to give Clark Kent the traditional Christmas-gift this year. Not that the gift was this exiting, but the donation usually went with a shy kiss placed on the colleagues cheek and *this* was what Sylvie and Jill were looking forward to. So when they found out about the other woman's intention to steal this long dreamed of experience from her, they both went ballistic and could only be stopped by a very astonished Perry White who demanded to know, what in Elvis' name was going on here! Of course nobody told him the truth. Everybody just mumbled something about "personal reasons" and rushed back to work hastily, avoiding to meet Perry's gaze for the next few days. But the Chief wasn't the Chief because of his ability to yodel. He must have sensed something... As a matter of fact neither Jill nor Sylvie gave Clark his present on Christmas. The Chief asked Annie to do it, probably the only woman in the news-room (except Lois, of course), who wasn't making go-go-eyes over Clark. She was almost 50 years old, happily married and far too reasonable to fall for a nice man 20 years younger than herself. So when Christmas arrived most of the woman of the Daily Planet's news-room had to watch with torture in their lonely hearts, that Annie not even gave Clark the obligatory kiss on the cheek, but received a warm hug and a friendly smile from this to-die-for-guy in return! And Jimmy was sure he heard all of them letting out a sigh of deep disappointment. As things were, odds were bad for Clark as a partner and maybe more for Lois Lane. In fact nobody in the crew gave him any chance and only the *real* gamblers bet on him, just for the excitement. But weeks went by and the adoration in Clark's eyes didn't vanish. Not only that, it was also joined by some tender amusement and something soft and special that was hard to describe but unmistakable to read and the staff members really started to shake their heads about this guy from Kansas. Gossip said that he had to be either stupid or masochistic to put up with Lois! Of course Jimmy defended Lois against the others, saying that Lois wasn't so bad after all and that the colleagues just didn't know her well enough to see her good sides, but even *he* wondered sometimes about Clark's obvious feelings for Lois. How could he be so patient with her, so calm and friendly, when she not only treated him like a schoolboy, but also made it perfectly clear that there was only one man she was interested in: Superman. ***** Jimmy looked over to the couple, sitting next to him. What did *they* think about these times a few years ago, when Superman, the famous son of the planet Krypton, the mysterious hero, blessed with unbelievable powers and driven by an incredible goodness appeared in Metropolis for the first time and stayed there until now, fighting for truth justice and the American way. After all, Lois and Clark were known as the two people who knew more about the Man of Steel than anybody else. ***** continued in Part 2 ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 22:31:11 +0200 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicole Wolke Subject: First Draft: Gossip... Pt 2/5 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit TITLE: Gossip has it that... PART: 2/5 AUTHOR: Nicole Wolke NKWolke@eifel-net.net RATING: PG FEEDBACK: It's a "work in progress" so any kind of feedback, comment and editing in any way, public or private is really appreciated. SUMMARY: Jimmy reflects about Lane and Kent, the "hottest team in town" while fighting is nervousness during a Kerth Award Show. ***** Actually it was a story about Superman, that had brought the first big change in the relationship of Lois and Clark and it had also brought a big change in Jimmy's life. It was only a few weeks after Clark had started working for the Planet. He had worked with Lois on the story about Space-station Prometheus and Perry was very satisfied with this story. Now Perry demanded more stories about the mysterious, flying man and assigned his whole team to it. Lois was furious of course, because *she* had been the one who wrote the first article about Superman and *she* wanted the rights for the Superman-story, but Perry only shrugged his shoulders when she complaint about it and said that Superman was a "too big deal" to let only one reporter work on a story about him. So Lois was very mad and she did something unforgivable. When she arrived too late for a scoop on Superman saving two suicides and found Clark had beat her there, she stole the story and wrote it in her own name. Boy, had Clark been mad about that! Gossip was delighted of course. That was it, that was the occasion that would open Clark's eyes about Lois and turn the crush into enmity! The staff members couldn't wait to see a fight between Mad Dog and the shy guy from Kansas. She would shred him into pieces of course (poor boy) but to see Lois in action was always interesting for the greedy audience! Jimmy remembered Clark's hurt expression when Lois told him bluntly that he shouldn't have been so naive and trust her. Nobody should trust anybody these days and now he had learned his lesson. "Is Lois always like this?" Clark had asked him and Jimmy, though a friend of Lois and always ready to defend her couldn't deny that the name "Mad Dog" wasn't so far fetched. He had had his own trouble to this time. Perry White seemed to see him only as some kind of slave. He never gave him any chance to work at something newspaper related. He had known that he had to do the minor work when he took the job and he was ready to do that, but he had also hoped to get a chance to do some newspaper-work like all the other research workers! The only man who seemed to notice his desperation was Clark Kent. He told him to go to Perry and to talk with him about it, but Jimmy was afraid to do this. Man, Perry White was the Chief-editor of the biggest newspaper in the world! He couldn't just go to him and complain about his job, could he? Clark shrugged his shoulders: "If you're unhappy with your job and you think you could do better you have to stand up and tell him. It doesn't matter if he's the chief or just Mindy from research. You need a little more courage, Jimmy." Jimmy thought about this a lot and even started one try to talk with the chief, but he couldn't go through with it. After all it was easy for Clark to tell him he should just go to Perry! *He* wasn't the one who had to face it! It was always easier to give good advice than to act them out! But then Clark showed him that *he* had this kind of courage! He had been still mad about Lois stealing his story and he managed to teach her a lesson she wouldn't forget soon. He not even got the next big Superman-story, he also showed Lois that it wasn't wise to get too biased with a story. Lois had been a "mad dog" like never before. She was so obsessed with Superman that she forgot about everything else and every professional pride she had to get this story. So she stole Clark's story and used ideas from other coworkers to find Superman until one day a mysterious package was sent to her apartment. Normally Lois would have been much too suspicious to just follow the advice in that message that lead her to the canalization of Metropolis, but Lois was so obsessed with her story that she blindly went into the silly trap Clark had laid out for her. Clark later admitted that he had been so sorry afterwards and that he even had tried to stop the package before Lois got it, but she hadn't listen to him, when he tried to tell her. So Lois literally crouched through the mud of Metropolis, searching for Superman's spaceship only to find a very silly Godzilla-figure in red Briefs at the described location! Gossip was excited like never before. Lois defended by a coworker! Never had something like this happened to her! Who had thought that this Clark Kent had it in him?! Boy, now she would be mad! Now she would run ballistic! Now he had the worst enemy on this world! Watch out Clark Kent if Lois Lane hated you there was no silver lining in *your* future! And he could be so proud! He was the first man in the staff who managed to make Lois speechless! What would happen now? What would she do? How would she take revenge and how would he respond? But then it turned out that they all had been wrong. Clark didn't revel in the feeling of his victory about the arrogance of Lois Lane. Nobody heard one bad word about her from him. His expression was as soft and gentle like it had been before when he looked at her and Lois on the other hand did the unimaginable. She not only forgave him, she even started to behave more friendly towards him. Obviously he had earned her respect. She knew she had deserved it and that was one of the amazing sides of Lois' personality. She *could* admit her faults. She also had to pay Clark respect for the way he treated her after taking his "revenge". She realized that she had underestimated Clark Kent. This man was *not* a hack from Kansas. He was a good reporter and he was also a nice guy who didn't want to be her enemy but who wasn't afraid of her either. She had only the choice to work against him or to work with him and to her own surprise she suddenly found it hard to take the first option. ***** Jimmy chuckled inwardly when he remembered how impressed he had been about Clark and how brave he had felt when he took the first opportunity to speak with Perry White. To his big surprise the chief not only didn't fire him, Jimmy couldn't help the feeling that Perry even had *wanted* him to stand up and express his feelings about the job. He didn't give him any stories to work on of course, but he suddenly gave him the opportunity to learn a lot about the work of an journalist. After another year Jimmy could tell himself without exaggeration the best researcher in the city. Lois and Clark for example never wanted to work with anybody else! After that first Superman-incident Perry White partnered Lois with Clark. At first Lois protested of course, but only half heartily because inside she probably had figured out that Lane and Kent could really become a good team. And Perry had been right. They got nearly *every* important story in Metropolis. Numerous editors from the other newspapers made them more than generous offers just to get these two in their own staff and they won award after award during the years. Had Lois been famous as a reporter, it was nothing against the credits she got after being partnered with Clark. Lane and Kent almost immediately became a synonym for high quality journalism. ***** Gossip of course wasn't so interested in the professional relationship of Lane and Kent. The staff members were very disappointed that Clark turned out to be so loyal to Lois. It was like cheating! No spectacular fights, no jealousy, no intrigues?! What left that for those who were so eager to get a little entertainment?! How could a man just be friend with a woman, didn't they watch Harry and Sally? Speaking of women, *that* was another aspect of Clark Kent's mysterious personality Jimmy was sure he would never understand: Clark and his constant ignorance of the women who fell for him! Nobody could deny that Clark was an attractive guy. Jimmy didn't think that *he* was an expert about what made men attractive, but even he noticed that Clark was extremely good-looking. Tall with broad shoulders and a smile that according to a sighing coworker "made icebergs melt" he was quite impressive. Jimmy secretly envied Clark a little for his strong physique. Most girls seemed to go crazy about a muscled male body and poor Jimmy wasn't as blessed as Clark. Sometimes he wondered about where Clark found the time to work out so much when he used to work nearly ten hours every day for the Planet! He had to admit though, that his remarkable exterior wasn't the only thing that made Clark's coworkers sigh. He also was always polite and nice to everybody. No rude behavior or harsh words, always friendly and cheerful. So it was no wonder that there were many women who were obviously interested in Clark. And of course the staff members expected some nice romances sooner or later, but... The first woman who noticed that Clark was a "cute guy" was Cat. She was the gossip-columnist of the newspaper and Jimmy thought that she was one of the sexiest woman he ever saw. Let alone her clothes, which sometimes could pass as close to illegal, especially for a newspaper, she had a voice that made Jimmy shiver. Deep, husky and provocative. And those Cat-eyes! They sure didn't call her Cat for nothing! Of course she wasn't as naturally beautiful as Lois, or as classy and smart, but she definitely was hot, *very* hot. And she was good in her job, too. Nobody had better stories than Cat Grant! Gossip had it that she got *all* her stories first hand, because there was no male celebrity in the city who hadn't had an encounter with the Cat-woman and although Jimmy thought that an exaggeration he had to admit that he never saw Cat with the same man twice so there could be *some truth* in it! Anyway, Cat detected that her new colleague was a cute guy and almost immediately started her seduction. She never waited for a man to take the first step, that was not her style. If she wanted a man, she showed it and she got him. But not so Clark. Jimmy couldn't believe it, but Clark not even showed no sign of encouragement, he also told her to stop it! Lisa from research overheard a conversation between the two, shortly after an incident when Cat had spread out the rumor that she and Clark had had a wild orgy at Cat's place. Lisa said that Clark was really angry about that and that he told Cat to stop those rumors. Denying Cat? How could he do this? Didn't he have any hormones? Jimmy couldn't understand him. The next woman was Linda King, an old college mate from Lois, who came into town as a reporter from the Metropolitan Star and who turned out to be a big challenge for Lane and Kent. Not with fair play as they found out later, because her boss, the owner of the newspaper, had created several accidents and disasters to sell more papers. Linda didn't know that though and she even helped Lois and Clark tracking the Publisher down. Obviously Linda was *very* attracted to Clark. She was a good-looking blonde woman with a lot of self confidence and a brilliant career. There were photos of the two, dancing at a party, she invited him to have lunch with her and you could see her attraction when she looked at him. She wasn't as boldly as Cat, but she wasn't shy to show it either, it would have been so easy for Clark! But again, Clark didn't encourage her in any way. He was as friendly to Linda, as he was to Cat or to anyone else for that matter. What was wrong with him? Finally Mayson Drake arrived at the scene and again here was a woman who was beautiful, brilliant and successful and who was very attracted to Clark Kent. She proofed to be very consistent and for the first time Clark showed a little interest. He really seemed to like her. But as it had been before, nothing came out of it. Jimmy even remembered one incident when Mayson invited Clark for a weekend in the mountains. God, *that* had been a day for the staff gossip! A romantic weekend with a woman like Mayson Drake that was what most men only could dream of! But guess what happened? Clark didn't show up! Was he insane, or what? It would have been easier for Jimmy to understand Clark, if there had been the slightest chance that he and Lois could end up together one day, but there seemed no way that this could ever happen. Sure, Lois and Clark had become friends over the months and years they worked together, but Lois still was in love with Superman and she didn't seem to notice Clark as a man at all. He was "just Clark" for her, the same way Jimmy was "just Jimmy". Sometimes Jimmy tried to talk to Clark about woman. He wanted to find out what Clark really felt about this all, but those conversations always ended up with Jimmy talking about *his* experiences and *his* problems while Clark didn't really say anything important. He didn't have to say anything about his feelings for Lois though, they were obvious. He was in love with her the whole time. ***** Jimmy stirred from his thoughts when suddenly the scenery of the ceremony changed. The speakers had finally come to an end and the announcement of the winners started. There would be numerous of them and Jimmy drifted back to his review without really paying attention to what was said at the podium. ***** Clark had been almost one year at the Planet when that whole Lex-Luthor affair had taken place. Nobody who worked at the Planet to that time would ever forget those weeks. It all started with financial problems of the big newspaper. Suddenly there weren't enough advertisers anymore a problem totally unexpected from the Daily Planet's owners. Later it turned out that Lex Luthor, the third richest man in the world and the most powerful man in Metropolis was behind all this. Lex was in love with Lois Lane and they started dating earlier that year. He hoped to win her by a devilish plan: He asked her to marry him and to the same time he destroyed her whole life, the Planet exploded and she was taken away from her friends until nothing was left and Lex finally was the only one she could turn to. Confused and hurting she said yes. Jimmy didn't really know what had happened between Lois and Clark to this time, but one morning Clark had come to his place, an expression on his face that you could only describe as "totally defended". He didn't talk much, just sat there staring holes in the air for a few hours. When Jimmy asked him what happened Clark only said: "Lois is going to marry Lex Luthor." and then he sent Jimmy a gaze that showed clearly he didn't mean to talk about it. Jimmy couldn't believe his ears! He knew that Lois and Lex had been dating for a while, but marriage?! Finally he asked: "But Lois is in love with Superman, isn't she?" That caused a bitter laugh from Clark. "Yeah, *Superman*..." he said between clenched teeth. He left a few hours later without saying anything more, leaving Jimmy with mixed emotions, not really sure whether he should be happy because Clark had turned to him, or sad, because he hadn't been able to offer any help for his friend. The following weeks had been a total mess. Jimmy didn't find a job and had to give up his apartment. He knew he could have asked his friends to help him, but he was too embarrassed to go to them. And they were too busy with their own problems to notice what had happened to him. But then, by accident, he met Jack, another researcher from the Planet who also was a friend of Clark and together they decided to find out what had caused the Fall of the Daily Planet. They arrived at Clark's place just in time to see Perry White arriving, who obviously had had the same idea. Together they investigated and they found out that the man behind all this and almost every other crime in Metropolis was no other than the honorable Lex Luthor! Meanwhile the day of the wedding had arrived. Every tabloid in the country had covered this event for weeks. There were pictures of Lois everywhere in the city. The friends had avoided this topic during all their conversations, but Jimmy couldn't help noticing that Clark was totally depressed. He never had seen his friend so sad and miserable. The well known smile that had made him so popular with the ladies almost had vanished from his face and one day Jimmy found Clark staring at a photo of himself and Lois in the "National Whisper" and the expression on his face told it all. So Jimmy wasn't surprised when Clark didn't show up the day of the wedding. He probably couldn't bear to see anyone that day. Perry and Jack asked for him a few times, but obviously Clark wanted to be alone. What Clark didn't know, was that they finally had found the evidence of Lex Luthor's crime! So they called Inspector Henderson and arrived at Lex-tower just in time to stop the wedding! It turned out that Lois had jilted Lex at the altar just the second the police arrived. Obviously she couldn't go through with it and Jimmy was sure her love for Superman was the reason for this. She was devastated though to find out what Luthor had done and that she had been so blind to trust him. To shield her from the greedy reporters, Perry lead her through a little side entrance of the building when suddenly Clark was there, pale and trembling. It only took a second and they were in each others arms. Jimmy saw Clark holding her tight and closing his eyes when she clutched to him. They stood like that for a long while and Clark buried her face in his neck when Lex Luthor finally ended his wild flight from the police dramatically and jumped from the building. ***** continued in part 3 ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 22:32:38 +0200 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicole Wolke Subject: First Draft: Gossip... Pt 3/5 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit TITLE: Gossip has it that... PART: 3/5 AUTHOR: Nicole Wolke NKWolke@eifel-net.net RATING: PG FEEDBACK: It's a "work in progress" so any kind of feedback, comment and editing in any way, public or private is really appreciated. SUMMARY: Jimmy reflects about Lane and Kent, the "hottest team in town" while fighting is nervousness during a Kerth Award Show. ***** Clark bend to Lois, sitting next to him and Jimmy heard him whisper: "We should go behind the scenes, Lois. The next announcement is our turn." Right, they had to announce the winner of the award for best young columnist! He had almost forgotten. Lois nodded and they stood up. Jimmy watched them leaving. The tall man in the tux and the small, beautiful woman in a long burgundy dress. Burgundy? That reminded him of another story... ***** During the big Lex-Luthor-affair the staff members had been much too busy with their own trouble to pay very much attention to their favorite gossip topic, Lois and Clark. But when the staff returned after the Planet was bought by Franklin Stern and business as usual found it's way to Newsroom again, the gossip resurrected, too. And there was enough to talk about! Of course all his colleagues wanted to hear the story of Lex Luthor's fall from Jimmy and they didn't want to hear the common known facts, they wanted *all* details about Lois' reaction! Jimmy didn't say much but unfortunately the tabloid reporters weren't as nice as he was. Lois' photo was the front-page of almost every Metropolitan newspaper for the following weeks again and the favorite shot was the one that showed a crying Lois in the arms of her partner, Clark Kent. Jimmy knew that Lois was hurting, but he was impressed how she dealt with it. She didn't show any sign of humiliation or embarrassment. She took no time off, but started working as soon as the Planet printed newspapers again and she behaved as professional as always. She didn't talk much though, even not to him or Perry. The only one she seemed comfortable with was Clark. The months after that incident went by without a change in the relationship between Lois and Clark and the colleagues were a little disappointed. Of course they hadn't *really* thought that Clark and Lois would come together, but just to think of it, a romance would have been so exciting! They were best friends, closer than ever before, but they also started quarreling and fighting like they had done before. Gossip had it that it was most likely they would behave like this for the next ten years and odds for Clark went down again. But then suddenly and totally out of nowhere Clark asked Lois *out*!! Nobody had seen this coming and when the rumor came up some of the staff members even laughed. "Come on Ralph, Clark didn't do that!" Brady the first photographer exclaimed. "He never did that! I don't believe it!" But Ralph, a new reporter, with not much talent but with ears everywhere, claimed his information to be true. "She will never accept a date with him, of course...", he said, because he was still in the "Mad-dog-adoration-phase" and was very jealous, "...she could have *every* man. She doesn't have to go out with this Mr. Slow-top!" Bets were taken immediately if Lois would accept a date with Clark or not and surprisingly, in the opinion of more than the half of the crew, Clark was the winner. All women and most of the men thought that Lois would accept the date and ...they were right! Although it took Lois and Clark another couple of weeks to finally go out with each other! Whoa, the date-thing! That had caused a rumor to these times! The only living persons who were absolutely oblivious to the sensation they created were the main-characters. *They* had trouble to finally do it. First Lex Luthor raised from the death and they were extremely busy to get him into prison, then Diana Stride from "Top copy" claimed Clark Kent to be Superman (would you believe it?) and then Mayson Drake started another offensive to get the attention of Clark. Between all these events Jimmy got arrested for murder, but this is another story. So anyway, one nice day they *really* went on that date and this would probably be one of the most memorable days in the history of Newsroom gossip. Of course Lois and Clark tried to keep it secret, but Ralph, who no longer was in the "adoration-phase" but the "revenge-phase", because Lois had given him one of her well known turn-downs, managed to overhear a conversation between them... "And *this* is hot news, guys..." Ralph told his greedy audience. "Clark mentioned that he had always dreamed of seeing her in *burgundy* and guess what? She instantly rushed off to buy a new dress!!!" "No!" the coworkers exclaimed. "She really did that?! It's amazing!" "And here's another thing..." Ralph whispered. "I saw them touching each other's hands earlier this morning and it's *a lot of* electricity there, guys, a real lot!" "Ha!" Sylvie exclaimed. "Much more electricity as you guys might think. *I* can tell you that the chief had to pay for a broken lamp and a bottle of C-h-a-m-p-a-g-n-e when Lane and Kent had their latest undercover assignment, you know the one where they were in this little house at the bay last week? I ask you, what are you doing with a bottle of champagne at an assignment and how did the lamp got broken, hm?" "Wow." Brady said. "I never thought that Kent had it in him. You know, Lois always was a hot little...well..." He trailed off and the other men in the round whistled knowingly. At this point of the conversation Jimmy decided to leave. Come on, you don't like hearing that stuff about your friends, do you? The last sentence he heard was Ralph's suggestion if the burgundy dress would be really a dress or maybe... ***** At this point Lois and Clark appeared on the stage in front of Jimmy and interrupted his drifting thoughts. Jimmy watched them as they easily made slight conversation and charmingly announced the winner of this category. The winner actually was a good friend of Jimmy, another Daily Planet employee (of course), from whom Perry said that he was promising to have a brilliant career. Lois presented him the award and gave him a kiss on the cheek and Clark patted him friendly on the shoulder, the winner said a few touching words about his Mom and all his colleagues and then all three of them left the podium again. Jimmy looked at his watch. There was still so much time until...well he *didn't* want to think about that, right now. So he decided to look back again... ***** Jimmy could swear he was able to feel the excitement inside the news-room, the day after that date. Clark arrived first and every head in the room turned at his entrance. Of course everybody tried to look busy immediately, but it had been an embarrassing moment. To his own luck, Clark didn't seem to notice it, though. He did what he always did when he came to work. He got himself a coffee and a donut and went to his desk to switch on his computer. On his way there he greeted everyone like he always did. Jimmy tried to see his face and read his expression. Had it been nice? Had it been a success? Would they go out with each other again? He wasn't able to figure it out until Lois came in. She didn't storm inside like she usually did, but stopped when she came out of the elevator and her gaze fell on Clark, sitting at his desk reading. He raised his head when he heard the sound of the elevator and looked up. Lois immediately looked away and hastily went through the room towards Perry's office. Jimmy could hear her asking: "Perry, got a second?" and the door closed behind her. Clark sighed and stared at the pencil in his hand. "He blew it, Jimmy" Jimmy heard Ralph whisper in his ear. "It's obvious!" Jimmy nodded. It really seemed so. He decided to ask. He strolled over to Clark and patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, CK, how was the date?" he asked casually. Clark sent him a confused glance. "Actually it was great, Jimmy." "*Really*!" Jimmy beamed "But that is wonderful! Man, shouldn't you dancing around now or something?" Clark chuckled softly, but sobered almost immediately again. "Dancing around? No, I don't think so...that's not quite my style...and..." "And?" Jimmy asked tentatively. Clark shook his head. .Through the window he could see Lois pacing up and down in front of Perry's desk. He sighed. "Well Jimmy, I think I don't want to talk about it right now. Things are kind of complicated, you understand?" Jimmy nodded and patted him on the shoulder. "Sure CK." He said. As Jimmy left Clark, he left him with the depressive feeling that it would take at least another couple of months to bring them together again, but as it turned out it only took a few hours. They had a busy time that day and the three of them ended it sitting in an abandoned warehouse, tired on a machine and alone with a nuclear missile that was ticking. Jimmy was too afraid to get everything clear what happened next, but one thing he noticed: Lois said to Clark: "Clark, I'm sorry about what I did on our date." Then everything went so fast that Jimmy wasn't able to think anymore. Somehow Clark had managed to get them free and Jimmy felt himself running away as fast as he could. At first he could hear Lois running behind him, but suddenly she was gone and Jimmy stopped confused. Where was she? As he later heard, Lois had returned to the warehouse because she couldn't find Clark. Inside there was Superman and he saved the day as usual and destroyed the nuclear bomb. They found Clark a few miles down the street. Obviously he had gotten a little lost in the dark! Jimmy didn't know first hand what happened next, but Sylvie who left late that evening swore to God that she had had an amazing view when she drove along the street between the Planet and the courthouse. " I tell you: Lane and Kent kissing up a storm, right in front of me!!!" she told everyone who wanted to hear it. So the date did not end as a scandal after all, but with a happy couple. At least for *some* time. The only thing Jimmy would probably never know , was *what* Lois really had done on the date. But okay, the guys had to have *one* secret after all. ***** The lights in the big hall went on. "Oh no..." Jimmy sighed "Now there's a break, too?" Perry White chuckled. "Are you nervous, son?" he asked. Jimmy shrugged: "Stranger things have happened." Perry laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "Come on Jimmy, I'll buy you something to drink, you'll feel better then." Jimmy followed his Chief into the hall that filled slowly with excited chatting people. It wasn't easy to get near the buffet, but Perry was a well known man in this business and many journalists respectfully went aside when they recognized who was coming along there. So Perry was able to provide Jimmy with the promised refreshment only a few minutes later. Jimmy thankfully nipped on the expensive cocktail and tried again to forget about this whole award-thing. Being nominated for the "best journalism rookie of the year" was so much more than he had ever expected and it made no sense at all to even think about actually *getting* the award! No, he wouldn't think about it, no, no, no... "Ah! Look at them!" The voice of Erica Stockwell from the music-department of the Daily Planet interrupted his thoughts. She sighed and Jimmy followed her view to see about whom she was talking. He chuckled. Lois and Clark, of course! Clark had laid his hand on Lois waist and was whispering something in her ear, his eyes sparkling. Lois laughed softly and reached out to stroke a lock of hair out of Clark face. Then she leaned towards him and placed a little kiss on his lips. "They are *so* much in love. That is *so* sweet!" Erica sighed again. Then she chuckled, too. "And who would have thought that a few years ago, hm Jimmy? Do you remember that time after their first date?" Jimmy nodded grinning. Of course he remembered. ***** Sylvie's news from *the* kiss left the whole crew breathless in anticipation for what was about to follow. How would they behave now? How would Perry react if he found out that his favorite news-team was in love with each other? How long would this whole thing last and what would happen to them if they broke up? Everyone couldn't wait to see them arriving at the Planet next morning, but they got a big disappointment That Mayson Drake woman had chosen right *that* evening when Sylvie had caught Lane and Kent kissing, to get herself blown up by a car bomb! As they heard later, Clark had been the first who arrived at the death scene and Mayson obviously had died in his arms. So Clark called in that morning that he would take a few days off until Mayson's funeral. Lois came to work, but she too seemed to be sad and there was no sign of a happy romance in her behavior. She didn't even call Clark from work and he never showed up to see her home or have dinner with her. Nobody of the colleagues was really sorry about poor Mayson's death, actually they were mad at her. She hadn't been very popular and even her death had been a lousy timing. They couldn't forgive her to chose that particular moment of all moments to die! When Lois and Clark came to work after the funeral, they behaved as if that kiss had never happened. In fact they seemed to be partners again, like always and even those shy looks they had sent each other over the past few weeks when they thought nobody had watched them, were gone. Did they want to pretend that nothing had happened? Did they want to keep the romance a secret? Or had Sylvie told a lie? Sylvie insisted that she really had seen a kiss between them and that there was no doubt about it! It hadn't been just a "normal kiss", it actually had been "a really passionate, wet kiss, you know, that kind of kiss you won't forget!" And she couldn't explain Lane and Kent's strange behavior either. As a matter of fact the romance seemed to be gone before it had really started and neither Lois nor Clark showed any sign of disappointment about this situation. But then Dan Scardino arrived on the scene! He was an DEA agent and that this guy had the hots for Lois right from the start was obvious to everybody with eyes in his head. He came to see her with lame excuses nearly every day. Flowers and other (very strange) gifts arrived regularly and her phone message box nearly dwelled with messages from agent Scardino. At first nobody paid much attention to the man. He was good looking, of course, but not as handsome as Clark, at least not in the opinion of the female staffers. "Come on!" Greta the new photographer laughed, "No woman with a little sense in her head would go after Scardino if she could get Kent! Just look at these crazy shirt's he's wearing and this strange haircut! I mean he is tall, but Kent...", she whistled pointedly "...Kent has buns of Steel!" But more and more it became obvious that Lois was indeed flattered by Scardino's attention and that Clark must had some kind of "woman neurosis"! Because how else could you explain his behavior? He did nothing! He just ran around with a torn expression on his face and watched this guy making his advances to Lois! Jimmy heard from Sarah a young psychology student, who was at the Planet to that time because of a murder threat and who stayed with Lois for a few days, that Lois actually had talked about the date-thing to her. She told Sarah that Clark had kissed her and that it was wonderful and then Clark had never mentioned it again. Was he insane?! What the hell was wrong with that guy? Jimmy knew Clark Kent better than anyone else in the Newsroom and he of all people knew how much Clark was in love with Lois. So why didn't he go now for the woman he always had dreamed of? Jimmy was so concerned that he even dared to mention it to Perry White. It turned out that the Chief had had his suspicions all along and he promised to do some kind of "man to man talk" with Clark but things didn't look good for at least three weeks. But then, one day the two of them arrived together one morning at the Planet and the smile on their face was big enough to lit the whole Newsroom. Something must have happened, that so far was obvious. It was also obvious though that to find out what had caused this change of demeanor in the famous couple, it needed a super-investigative staff! ***** to be continued in part 4 ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 22:35:09 +0200 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicole Wolke Subject: First Draft: Gossip... Pt 5/5 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit TITLE: Gossip has it that... PART: 5/5 AUTHOR: Nicole Wolke NKWolke@eifel-net.net RATING: PG FEEDBACK: It's a "work in progress" so any kind of feedback, comment and editing in any way, public or private is really appreciated. SUMMARY: Jimmy reflects about Lane and Kent, the "hottest team in town" while fighting is nervousness during a Kerth Award Show. ***** A group of ballet dancers appeared on the stage. Normally a reason for Jimmy to pay more attention, but not today. There was only one category left before they would come to the "rookie of the year" and the butterflies in his stomach fluttered without rest now. He couldn't concentrate on what was going on around him or he would get even more nervous. Daydreaming was good. It had helped him through the first part of the evening, it should help him through the rest, too. Where was he? Ah yes, the amnesia thing... ***** At first everything went fine with Lois treatment at the Metropolis brain-center. More and more she detected glimpses of her memory and Clark was positive that it wouldn't take long and she would be back to her old self. Jimmy chuckled when he thought about one particular morning. Clark had come into the Newsroom whistling and he greeted his friend with the words: "Isn't it a beautiful day, Jimbo?" It wasn't, actually. The weather was lousy and the news were slow, so Jimmy figured that there had to be another reason for this sudden sunny mood of his buddy and in Clark's case that could only mean: Something good had happened with Lois. So Jimmy just raised his eyebrows and waited patiently for a further explanation. He didn't need to wait long. CK was about to burst from Euphoria. "Lois, thinks I'm a jerk." he said happily. Jimmy chuckled. "Well... that's eh... good, CK." He said, not really knowing what to make out of this. "She came to my place yesterday..." Clark explained. "We talked, even argumented a little bit... It was like old times!" He beamed at Jimmy. "Wow, Clark; that's great! So she knows who you are now?" Clark shook his head. "No, not yet." he said sobering for a moment. "But I'm sure it is on the tip of her tongue now." Maybe it was, but again there were other evil forces that had planned to destroy the love of Lois and Clark. In this case Lois' doctor, Dr. Maxwell Deter was the evil force. He had fallen in love with his patient and he shamelessly used his power to take Clark and Lois apart. Clark was not allowed to visit her regularly, he wasn't allowed to talk to her about something personal or something related to work. Deter told him that his kind of talk could easily cause an emotional trauma for the patient and that he just had to wait and see. So Clark had to watch helplessly how Lois became more and more attached to the doctor. After weeks of treatment in the hospital Lois finally returned to the Newsroom. Huge parts of her memory, especially the memories about her personal relationships were still gone, but she was feeling better and hoped to find back in a normal life by doing things she was used to do. Clark was totally worn out. "What am I supposed to say to her?" he asked Jimmy helplessly. "I can't just sit here and pretend that I don't have feelings for her... I *can't*! I love her, I want to marry her. I haven't been able to take her in my arms since we were separated on our wedding day. I just want to hold her..." he trailed off and ducked his head. "God, I don't know how long I can't do this." Jimmy tried to cheer him up, but he, too was at loss for words. What should he tell his friend? That everything would be fine? It sounded hollow even in his own ears. The truth was that he didn't know what to do either and he didn't trust this Dr. Deter any more than Clark did. It was good from the Chief to say that this guy was a doctor and that he knew what he was doing. But Jimmy had seen Lois and Dr. Deter together and the expression in the eyes of that young man had nothing to do with a normal doctor-patient relationship. This man had the hots for Lois, he could smell it. But there was one thing that Deter had underestimated: The love that Lois felt for Clark. It was only a matter of time that this love would shine through and that Lois would find her way back to him. When Clark confronted her with his feelings one day, she was shocked first, but she also recognized something deep inside her and it didn't took her much longer to find out what was behind Deter's sinister scheme. It was a happy day when Lois and Clark arrived at the planet, holding hands again, reunited and beaming with love for the other. There weren't still not married yet, but everybody who saw them that day, knew that it wouldn't take them long to finally tie the knot. ***** The big moment. He wasn't far away now. The happy winner of the "best sport's column" had just finished his acceptance speech and once again the announcer stepped to the podium. The next award was the "rookie of the year" and it was his category. Why in god's name had he done this? Why had he written this story? This whole evening was pure torture. He would never live through it! Of course he knew why he had done it. It had been his chance to prove that he was more than just Jimmy from research or Jimmy the junior photographer. He had it in him to be a reporter, he was sure of it. Lois and Clark had encouraged him to do so and Superman had been so nice to give him an exclusive. He had said that it was an honor for him to give Jimmy the story, because it had been his research after all that cleared his name in the Lois-Lane scandal. ***** A few months after the turbulent first wedding, Lois and Clark did it again and this time it was for real. Jimmy would never forget the happy faces when the minister said the magic words: "Lois and Clark, I now pronounce you husband and wife." and even if he tried his best to show a manly face, he was deeply touched at the wedding vows of his friends. They were so much in love, they had gone through so much and Jimmy was so happy for them. He wondered if he would ever be able to find someone with whom he could share a relationship as wonderful as that from Lois and Clark seemed to be. For him they were the perfect couple. But only a few months later a dark shadow showed up over that oh-so-perfect marriage in form of a photograph that showed Lois Lane and Superman in a passionate embrace. It was in every tabloid of the country and Jimmy was shocked when he saw the picture. Lois cheating on Clark? Never! He had never seen a couple more in love than those two! But on the other hand... Lois *had* been fascinated with Superman from the beginning and the Man of Steel had always shown much more interest in her than in any other human being in Metropolis. So could it be the truth? Jimmy didn't know what to think. Lois was an honest person. If she would have been secretly in love with Superman, she would never have married Clark, or would she? And Superman was not only a good friend of Clark, he was a synonym for honesty and truth, he wouldn't cheat on Clark with his wife, would he? Jimmy decided to believe his friends and since Clark stayed to Lois during the whole affair he felt convinced in his opinion, but a little nagging voice wasn't so sure. Somehow the behavior of his friends was odd. Of course Clark trusted his Lois that was obvious and it was to be expected, but Jimmy had been the one who showed him the photo and there had been no sign of doubt, no glimpse of jealousy at all! Wasn't that odd? How could he be so sure of Lois' affections for him? He, of all people knew how much Lois had been in love with Superman only a few years ago. Was it unbelievable that someone could trust another person so completely, without the shadow of a doubt? Lois on the other hand didn't make any attempt to find the laboratory that had to be responsible for faking the photo. In fact, when Jimmy did some research on his own, she startled him with the question: "You mean, this could be a fake?" as if this thought was totally new to her. Bur if she hadn't an affair with Superman the photo logically had to be a fake! So what was she thinking? She tried to correct herself later on this, but Jimmy was pretty sure that her first spontaneous exclamation had been what she really meant and he was now more confused than ever. At first he thought about if the photo maybe could be from an earlier date. Maybe Lois had had an affair with Superman once before she fell in love with Clark and Clark knew about this. But her hairdo and clothes destroyed that theory. Lois had lost weight during the time when she was abducted by Lex and she had changed almost her whole wardrobe. The clothes she wore on that picture were not from the time before she became engaged with CK, that was sure. Furthermore her hair was short and she also cut it shortly before she became engaged with Clark. Had this been some kind of game or something? Jimmy knew a whole bunch of wild party-games but this embrace seemed to be far beyond what was acceptable under the cover of a game. Gossip was in seventh heaven during this time, of course. What a scandal! Not only did it involve the famous couple, it also involved Superman! Nobody doubted the photo to be true. "Kent is wonderful, but Superman..." Greta said and trailed off pointedly. "He's a god." Liz sighed and nodded. "No woman in town that is not dreaming of a night with the man of steel." They were very sympathetic with Clark though. "The poor boy", Greta wondered "he must be so devastated!" So they decided to make some homemade fudge for him and tried to show him their sympathy as open as they dared in front of Lois. Lois on the other hand got the cold shoulder. *Understanding* her was one thing, but liking her was another and since all the women were secretly jealous they reveled in the feeling of having a right to show her their power. Jimmy still couldn't make anything out of this whole affair and more out of lack for other imaginable explanations he finally returned to the fake-theory. So he did some research and found a laboratory that was specialized for exact this kind of thing. It was no big deal for him and Lois to break into that laboratory and make copies of all the evidence they needed. The photo had been a fake. There was no doubt about it and Clark and Lois were once more happy and reunited. But Jimmy still thought that he had been right about Lois' reaction in the first place. She had been astonished that the photo was a fake and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know what lied really behind this scandal. He told himself that it wasn't his business after all and if Clark was okay with it, why shouldn't he be? But sometimes he wondered about Clark Kent. He was nice and great and all, but he was also very weird... ***** "The nominees for the best "journalism rookie of the year" are: David Malcolm, Metropolis Star for his expose about the food quality in Metropolis' prisons, Sue Norrington, Gotham Gazette for her story about the growing medication abuse in city families and James Olsen, Daily Planet for his exclusive interview with Superman about his charity activities." The voice of the announcer was totally calm and emotionless. Jimmy sank down in his seat. Was it only him, or sounded his story suddenly pretty dumb? If there had been only one tiny little way out of this room right now, he would have taken it. But suddenly there was Lois' cool hand on his own again and when he looked up, he found Lois and Clark smiling encouragingly at him. "And the winner is..." the speaker made a dramatic little pause, "...James Olsen, Daily Planet!" It took a while since Jimmy realized what had just happened. He had won the Kerth-Award for best journalism-rookie of the year! It was unbelievable, it was magically, it was... wow. He sat there stunned and couldn't believe it. But before he could think much about it, he found himself surrounded by cheering coworkers. Lois hugged him, Clark patted him on the shoulder and everybody wanted to shake his hand. But suddenly the voice of Perry White raised above the excited crowd around Jimmy. "Olsen, up on stage now!" he bellowed and Jimmy winced. He had almost forgotten that he had to go getting his award. Going turned out to be more difficult than he had expected, because his knees buckled from excitement. But he managed to climb on stage without stumbling and found himself suddenly face to face with the mayor, who was to present him his award. Then he was pushed forward to the podium for his acceptance speech. He cleared his throat, that was awfully dry suddenly and blinked into the lights that blended him. "This is a great honor," he started, "and frankly I don't know what to say. I'm grateful beyond words and I want to thank everyone who helped me on my way to this story. Superman, that he was so kind to give me this interview, Julie, who helped me doing the research and Lexi who took the photos. I also want to give a special thank you to my great friends and colleagues Lois Lane and Clark Kent, who not only helped me a lot with this story but without whom I would have never found the courage to give it a try. You guys are my idols and I can't thank you enough for your support." Jimmy saw Lois smiling at him and shyly smiled back. But then he sobered and looked to the Chief. "Last but not least, I want to thank Perry White. You have always trusted me to become a reporter and you have given me a chance to prove that you were right. I'm so proud to have the opportunity to work for the Daily Planet. Thank you very much, Chief, you're the best." EPILOG It was much later that evening. Again Jimmy was standing at the wall of the room, watching the crowd of people chatting and dancing. But this time it was different. He wasn't nervous anymore. This evening, as frightening as it had begun had become the best evenings he'd ever had. He still couldn't believe that he was an award-winning reporter! Who would have ever thought this five years ago when he had his interview with Perry? He saw Ralph coming towards him, a little insecure on his feet. Obviously he had drunk way too much of the good champagne they served here. "Hey Jamesy!" he yelled. " Congrats, buddy!" He patted him on the shoulder. "I knew you had it in you." "Thanks, Ralph." Jimmy answered politely. It was amazing to hear from everybody that they had had so much trust in your abilities over the years. Obviously people thought that this was something they were expected to say. "Listen, Jamesy..." Ralph said, bursting to tell him something. "Did you hear the news yet?" He leaned towards to Jimmys ear and whispered. "Gossip has it that Kent got Lois Lane *pregnant*! I'd say 'Clark, my man!' What do you think?" He didn't wait for an answer, but strolled over to a few other staff members of the Daily Planet. Jimmy could see him whispering with them before he left again to find his way around the room to other colleagues. Within a few minutes Lois and Clark were once more the center of attention without even noticing it. Heads were turned, necks were bent, eyes followed them and agitated whispering was heard from the people around them. Jimmy shook his head, a grin on his face. He raised his glass of champagne towards the oblivious couple. 'To Lane and Kent.' he thought. 'Still the hottest team in town.' THE END ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 22:36:22 +0200 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicole Wolke Subject: First Draft: Gossip... Pt 4/5 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit TITLE: Gossip has it that... PART: 4/5 AUTHOR: Nicole Wolke NKWolke@eifel-net.net RATING: PG FEEDBACK: It's a "work in progress" so any kind of feedback, comment and editing in any way, public or private is really appreciated. SUMMARY: Jimmy reflects about Lane and Kent, the "hottest team in town" while fighting is nervousness during a Kerth Award Show. ***** Jimmy chuckled inwardly when he remembered that story. That had been so much fun! He nodded when Erica asked him if he had his acceptance speech prepared but tried to forget about this unwelcoming thought as soon as she left him to talk with other colleagues. Did she have to remind him of the award? Whoa...how should he make it through the night? What had he done to deserve such torture? He saw Clark turn around, searching for someone. When his gaze fell on Jimmy, leaning against the wall, pale with a glass in his hand he started to smile. He bend down to Lois and whispered in her ear. She grinned and together they made their way through the crowd and towards Jimmy. "Hey man," Clark greeted his friend. "What are you doing here so alone?" Jimmy shook his head. "Actually I'm not feeling very well." Lois took his hand and smiled: "Everybody is nervous the first time. I remember when I was nominated for the Kerth the first year, I suddenly had a really bad case of...you know...bladder-problem. I thought I had to go to the toilet almost every five minutes. People in my line of seats already stared at me!" "Yeah..." Clark chuckled " *I* also felt *so* sick the whole evening when I was nominated my first time, and it was such a pity because I had my absolute dream-date that evening and then I wasn't able to enjoy it! At least not until the ceremony was over. *Then* I could but I wasted so much hours of this precious evening for just feeling bad!" "Uh uh", Jimmy said momentarily distracted "Your dream-date, CK? Who was it?" Clark grinned. "Guess who." he said and winked at Lois. "It was our first date, but of course we couldn't admit that then. We just confirmed each other that we went as friends and partners." "Hmm." Lois smiled. "And it was a wonderful evening." Jimmy sighed. "Well unfortunately there's no dream-date for me tonight that I could worry about, only this monster-show and me. Penny and I broke up a month ago. Turns out that she's not over her Superman-fantasy. So I'm single again. I really hoped that this relationship would actually lead somewhere..." Clark padded him on the shoulder. "Look at me, Jimmy. It took me almost 30 years to find the woman of my dreams. You'll find her, too. I'm sure of it." Jimmy nodded. Yes, Clark had found the woman of his dreams and the look in Lois eyes told that she loved him as much as he did. There was no way one could live without the other. Funny that everyone had seen it, but only the two of them... ***** "Jimmy could you please work on these files for me?" Jimmy jumped up, when he heard Lois voice behind him. During those last weeks since the "date-disaster" as gossip called it now, it had been not a good idea to make Lois wait more than a second. She had been in a really bad mood lately. So he was surprised to find her smiling at him and hadn't he actually hear her say: "please"? He wasn't able to recover quickly enough though, before he got the next shock: His astonished ears picked up a very surprising sound. Clark Kent whistled softly while he switched on his computer for work! A smile spread on Jimmy's face. Lois friendly? Clark whistling? That could only mean one thing: The hottest Team in town had solved their relationship-problems! Well that was good news! And that was *interesting* news! He was dying from curiosity now. What happened? He watched Clark as he started working on a few files on his desk. It was obvious. He seemed to be in seventh heaven this morning. Jimmy grinned when he noticed Clark absently staring on the papers in front of him, a silly grin on his face and a dreamy expression in his eyes. When Lois appeared at her desk again, Clark looked up and sent her a secret smile. Lois smiled back. Their eyes locked and Jimmy saw Lois blushing a little. **Wow**, he thought. Now the two of them had gotten it really bad! His chance for an investigation in this special case came around lunch-time. Lois was out, meeting with a source and Jimmy took the opportunity to ask Clark if he would go to Barney's with him to grab something to eat. When the friends sat across each other at a table in their favorite corner of the coffee bar, he asked casually if Clark had also watched this amazing documentary about the animal's love life on the national Geographic channel last night. Clark shook his head. "No, I didn't." he said. "Actually I started, but then..." he smiled and got this dreamy expression again. "What?" asked Jimmy. "Well...then Lois showed up." Clark explained. "And we talked, you and well.." he trailed off and blushed slightly. Jimmy chuckled. "Hey man, don't be embarrassed about it. It was pretty obvious today that you guys didn't just *talk* yesterday." Clark grinned ruefully. "So it was, was it?" He looked down on his hands. "God Jimmy, she's so wonderful... I can't believe she really chose *me* to be with." Jimmy smiled. "What's so weird about that, Clark?" he asked friendly. " You are a great guy. *I* know that and if anybody is good enough for Lois, then it must be you." Clark was touched. "Whoa... Jimbo, thank you." "I'm only happy, you finally did something! I was afraid you would let her go with that Scardino guy!" Jimmy grimaced and Clark nodded. "I didn't want to pressure her", he explained apologetically, "I guess I was an idiot, was I?" "Absolutely." Jimmy answered dryly. "You should have asked *me* what to do. *I* could have told you." Clark grinned. "And what would your advice have been?" Jimmy looked at him pointedly. "Just *kiss* her you idiot." "Hmm...", Clark murmured, "probably a very good idea." ***** Jimmy chuckled softly at this memory and a few people around him stared at him surprised. They had left the hall and had taken their seats again, but the ceremony hadn't started yet. So Jimmy had time enough to think about how Clark had taken his advice very seriously that time shortly after Lois and Clark had come together. ***** There had been a *lot* of kissing between Lois and Clark during the following weeks and Jimmy somehow always ended up interrupting them. It wasn't fair though that they showed him such a reproachful face every time he showed up. It wasn't *his* fault after all that those two seemed to be unable to keep their hands from each other. It was not that Jimmy *liked* to interrupt them. It just happened! One incident he remembered was particularly embarrassing. It was during that time when those "frozen Nazis" had planned to take over the world. Lois and Clark had been investigating on that story and he, as usual had done the research for them. One evening he had brought some material over to Lois apartment where Lois and Clark were working. He left them with a bunch of papers and was on his way when suddenly he remembered that he had forgotten to tell them about one really important information. He went back and knocked at the door. At first nothing happened, so he called. "Lois?! It's Jimmy! I forgot something." He heard ruffled laughter and then Lois' voice. "Just a minute!" Jimmy got nervous. What were those guys doing? They should have been working... "Am I interrupting something?" he asked. "No! No, not at all, is he Clark?" he heard Lois' voice answering a little too fast and Clark's confirmation sounded somewhat strangled in Jimmy's ears, too. Jimmy was now really embarrassed. After a minute Lois opened the door. One look at her slightly flushed cheeks and her disheveled hair showed Jimmy that his friends sure hadn't been working. At least not on the story. He wasn't sure, but hadn't Lois' blouse been slightly different only 15 minutes before? Jimmy started to feel uncomfortable and got even more embarrassed when he noticed that Clark also was in a state of mild undressing. He even had to zip us his open fly! Well, if Jimmy had once wondered about Clark's hormones... he now was absolutely sure that his buddy had some! ***** Jimmy glanced sideways at the intertwined fingers of the couple next to him. They were holding hands and Clark's thumb absently stroked Lois' hand. They were still a "hot couple", Jimmy thought chuckling and he still had the bad luck to interrupt them in bad moments. He saw the diamond on Lois' wedding ring blink in the light. Oh dear, the wedding. *That* had been another highlight in the planet's gossip history. ***** It had taken Lois and Clark more than two years to find together, but once they had admitted their mutual love, it was clear that the way lead straight to the altar. Only a few weeks after their first kiss they were engaged and gossip was delighted about the upcoming wedding. But the wedding day wasn't supposed to be the most beautiful day in the life of Lois and Clark. It more likely was to become the worst day in the history of their relationship. Of course, everybody was very surprised, when Lois showed up at the Daily Planet the day after the wedding. She should have been on her honeymoon with Clark by then. Jimmy was a little embarrassed to meet Lois, because just the minute before she arrived he had detected a secret novel of hers among her computerfiles and he wasn't so sure if he should tell her that he had read that file. When he did, she didn't seem to mind though, acted only a little surprised and actually she didn't even seem to remember that she had written a novel at all. That was weird, but Jimmy couldn't think about it any longer, because suddenly CK stormed into the Newsroom , his expression as furious as nobody had ever seen him. "Where is she?" he snapped and Lois stepped back at the tone in his voice. "Where is Lois?!" Jimmy shook his head. What was Clark talking about? Lois was there standing right in front of him! "You're not my wife!" Clark yelled angrily and grabbed her arm roughly. Lois burst into tears. She seemed to be really frightened now and Jimmy stepped forward to protect her. What in heaven's name was going on here? He had never seen Clark behaving like that. His normally so gentle face was pale from anger and his fingers that held Lois' arm trembled. "What have you done with her!" he yelled when suddenly the Chief cut in, obviously as astonished as everybody else. "Now Clark, what is going on here?" he asked and pushed Clark away from his wife. "Chief, this is not Lois!" Clark said in a calmer tone, but his voice still cracking with anger. Jimmy and Perry exchanged a look and shook their heads. What was the man talking about? "Clark..." Perry finally managed to say. "What makes you say a thing like that?" "Yes, Clark." Lois repeated under tears. "What makes you say a thing like that?" Clark didn't answer. He pressed his lips together and gave Lois another hateful glance before he turned on his heels and left. The coworkers just stared at each other stunned and speechless. Emotions were known to run high on a honeymoon, but this? This had been very, very weird. They couldn't ask Lois about it though, because she left almost immediately after her husband had stormed to the elevator. "Wow you guys, have you heard that? I knew it wouldn't last!" Ralph exclaimed as soon as Perry White has left the room. "This will be one of the shortest marriages ever! How much you bet that they're gonna be divorced faster than a speeding bullet?" "How can she be so dumb?!" Liz from research asked. "God, she could be on her honeymoon with this really wonderful man now and she doesn't know better than to make him mad?" But this time most of the staff members weren't on Clark's side. They were disgusted how he had yelled at his obviously frightened wife and it was one of the rare occasions that Lois Lane had called the protector in them. Everyone agreed that this fight between the former 'lovebirds' Lane and Kent had come out of nowhere and that the marriage was about to break up before it had even begun. Nobody could imagine the truth though, because the truth was completely unimaginable. The truth was that Clark wasn't married to Lois at all. The Lois that had been in the Newsroom that day hadn't been the real Lois but a Clone. And when Clark yelled at her, he had just found out that Lex Luthor, who had broken out of jail on their wedding day, had replaced his bride with the clone and that Lois was held hostage by him. The following weeks had been an emotional torture for Clark. First he had no idea where Lois was. Superman and every cop in the city where on the search for Lex and Lois night and day, but they found nothing. Then Luthor showed up and it turned out that he had lost Lois, too. Somehow she had managed to escape from him but she never made it to Clark. What they didn't know was that Lois had lost her memory in a car accident and was working as a singer in a bar. She didn't remember her name, she didn't remember her friends and so, when Luthor finally found her, he could persuade her to go with him. It followed another week of anxiety and desperate searching for Luthor and Lois. Finally Superman found them in a tunnel under the underground. Luthor made an attempt to kill him and caused an explosion with it. Superman, too weak to save everyone somehow managed to get Lois out of the danger and flew her to the nearest hospital. She hadn't found her memory back. She didn't even remember that she was engaged to Clark Kent and Dr. Deter, the brain specialist who treated her strictly forbid Clark to tell her in fear of an emotional trauma. Jimmy winced at the memory of that time. For once the colleagues hadn't secretly enjoyed the bad fortune of their favorite gossip-topic. Even they sensed that this was too much to bear for a normal couple and everybody was very sympathetic. Clark went around like a ghost. Nobody dared to ask about Lois, but it was common knowledge that her case was difficult and that there was a chance that she might not recover. When Jimmy tried to warn Clark not to raise his expectations too high he found himself brusquely cut off by his friend. "That possibility doesn't exist." Clark said determined. "You hear me? It doesn't *exist*!" Jimmy was afraid. What would happen to Clark Kent if Lois would not recover? Without Lois Clark had no reason to live and the expression in his friend's eyes told him that there was only the hope of her recovering that separated Clark from a complete breakdown. And his tortures were not over yet. ***** to be continued in part 5 ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 22:38:02 +0200 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicole Wolke Subject: First Draft: Gossip has it that... Introduction MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit TITLE: Gossip has it that... PART: Introduction AUTHOR: Nicole Wolke NKWolke@eifel-net.net RATING: PG FEEDBACK: It's a "work in progress" so any kind of feedback, comment and editing in any way, public or private is really appreciated. SUMMARY: Jimmy reflects about Lane and Kent, the "hottest team in town" while fighting is nervousness during a Kerth Award Show. ***** INTRODUCTION The following story has been on my keyboard for more than a year now. I never wanted to bother my editor with it, because I felt so unsure about it. Although it has a beginning and an end, I still think it's unfinished and unsatisfactory. When people started posting stories "in progress" on the list lately, I thought that would be the perfect opportunity for me to finally come to terms with this story. I hope you guys will be able to help me out of my dilemma. My problem with the story is: I don't see the point! When I started to write, I thought the premise could be interesting and that it could be funny to watch the love-story between Lois and Clark through another person's eyes, but when I wrote it, and even more when I finished it almost a year ago, I wasn't so sure anymore. I think that maybe too much of it is too well known to the readers. Jimmy's perspective doesn't seem really "new" to me and I'm afraid most of the readers will just "scroll down" and think: "Okay, and where is the *new* stuff now?" So I thought I'd ask you all: Is there a point in this story? Is there a reason to read it? What could I do to spice it up a little bit? What could I bring in that would be new and interesting to read? Or, if you think nothing could spice it up, then please tell me so, too, because I really want to know honest comments here. I thought about throwing the story into the garbage more than once. On the other hand, it was a lot of work and the first story I wrote completely in English so I *felt* a little bit attached and didn't want to give up on it so easily. So if maybe someone had a really great idea how I could improve the story, I would be extremely grateful! Nicole -- AKA CKgroupie on IRC NKWolke@eifel-net.net ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 17:35:05 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: OT - (Re: Combo post .. medical advice and endearments "yeah MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/22/1999 4:38:03 PM Eastern Daylight Time, jilectan@EMAIL.COM writes: << You know, I think I heard somewhere that Patrick Stewart started losing his hair fairly young. He apparently used to wear wigs a lot to hide that, but after he played Captain Picard, he stopped. >> Well, his son was in one of the eps and his hair was pretty thin... --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 18:24:32 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Tara Smith Subject: Re: OT - (Re: Combo post .. medical advice and endearments "yeah Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Eew! Gross! I'm sorry, but the thought of Nick Cage as Superman has just totally grossed me out! Yuck! I can't understand how anyone could consider him a good pick for the part! Jonathan Frakes on the other hand . . . just joking. :-) Tara "Thou shalt remember the Eleventh Commandment and keep it Wholly." Robert A. Heinlein ----------------------------------------------- FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 18:04:57 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: NEW FANFIC: Doppelganger (Part Three) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit A neighbor had called the police when they noticed a suspicious person hanging around the townhouse, Henderson told them as they entered their home. The officer who came to investigate discovered that the kitchen door had been jimmied. They walked through the house, looking for anything that might have been taken. They found nothing until Lois glanced into the den. "Clark, did you leave the file cabinet open?" "No." Clark came up behind her. "What..." "The file drawer is open. Somebody's been going through our records." "Now, what the dickens..." Clark stepped forward, lifted his glasses casually and scanned the files. "Nothing seems to be missing." "How can you be sure?" Henderson asked. "Go through them and find out for certain and let us know. Is there anything else in here that appears to have been disturbed?" "I think somebody's been messing with the computer," Lois said, uncertainly. "The monitor's at the wrong angle. And I always push the chair under the desk when I leave, since the room's so tiny, anyway. You weren't using it were you, Clark?" "Not since yesterday morning." "Are you sure?" "Yeah. I was busy all last evening, remember?" "You suppose someone was trying to access our computer?" Lois asked. "I guess they might try. They aren't going to get through the system of passwords, though," Clark said. "What do you suppose they wanted?" "It looks like they were after your records," Henderson said. He shoved his hands into his pockets. "I think that's obvious," Clark said. "But which records, and why?" There didn't seem to be an answer to that. Upstairs, the mystery deepened. Nothing in their bedroom had been touched, but CJ's room had been thoroughly searched, and Lois was willing to swear that his hairbrush was missing. At least it wasn't where she had left it but, in the light of the attempt to run Lois off the road the day before, Henderson seemed inclined to take the situation more seriously than he otherwise might have. "Look," he said finally, as they left the chaos that was now CJ's room, "you may have a stalker, or there might be something else going on here. I'd advise you to be especially careful of CJ's safety, since there seems to be some special interest in him, judging by the condition of the nursery." His normally mournful expression deepened slightly. "There isn't much I can do at this point except advise you to be careful. If my people find anything we'll let you know." He glanced at the man who came to the foot of the stairs. "Anything, Winslow?" "No, sir. Everything's been wiped clean." Henderson sighed. "You two are trouble magnets, did you know that?" Lois looked indignant. "But we didn't do anything this time!" Henderson gave her a sour smile. "You don't have to. You attract trouble without any effort at all. I'm going to tell the cruiser that covers your street to keep an eye out, just in case. We'll contact you if anything turns up." "Thanks, Inspector," Clark said. "We really appreciate the trouble you're taking for us." Hendereson grunted. "Think nothing of it. I figure if I hang around with you two long enough, sooner or later I'll make the most spectacular arrest of the century and my career will be made. Maybe I'll run for senator or something and quit working for a living." * * * * * Lois called the day care center where CJ was currently enrolled to check on his safety and to ask the staff to be especially alert. She was assured that they took every precaution with all of their charges and Lois hung up, slightly reassured. Back in the newsroom a short time later, Clark worked on finishing his article covering the fire at the Stafford Building the night before and the tragic explosion that appeared to have claimed the life of prominent attorney Adrian Bender, while Lois concentrated on her own research concerning the situation she had been investigating which involved the Mayor and the City Council, and the possible misuse of city funds. She was slowly accumulating evidence which could cause a major embarrassment to the current city government, if it panned out. The Mayor's performance yesterday at the press conference hadn't convinced her of Her Honor's innocence in the least. She was just finishing a phone call with one of the witnesses when she saw Clark tilt his head with "that look" on his face. She brought the conversation to an end and glanced inquiringly at him. He leaned over her chair. "Earthquake in Japan. I need to go." "Go. I'll cover for you." He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and strode quickly toward the stairs. Lois read over the article on his computer, finished the last paragraph, then LANned it to Perry, wondering again if, as she and Clark had already speculated, there was a connection between the fire in Bender's law office and the explosion of his car. Someone apparently wanted him dead. Of course, he *was* a lawyer, but even that wasn't a good reason for killing him. The mysterious "Project Doppelganger" might be behind it all, but what on Earth could be so important about a project once engaged in by a defunct company? A chill passed over her at a sudden thought. She and Clark had never considered the meaning of the word "doppelganger". Could that have been the clone project? And, if so, was someone trying to resurrect it? They now knew that Lex had been directing operations from his prison cell the entire time he had been incarcerated at Stryker's Island. He had been in contact with Mamba, Asabi and other members of his organization, and directed the creation of the Lois clone, the clones of the President and the head of the Secret Service, as well as the two into which he had intended to shift himself and her in order to escape the law and Superman. Could someone from his organization have been behind this? "Jimmy!" she called. "Yeah?" Jimmy answered from behind her. He was holding a stack of files which appeared in imminent danger of collapsing onto the floor. "Can it wait just a minute?" "Sure. Just come back right away. There's something I need you to do." A few moments later she was issuing directions to Jimmy in typical Lois Lane style. "I need you to find out the whereabouts of Dr. Isaac Mamba--is he still in jail (I hope) and where--and Luthor's body servant, Asabi, and anyone else they tied in with that clone project. I think it was mostly Mamba, but there were one or two others involved in it, or so Clark said." "Sure," Jimmy said. "He looked doubtfully at her. "Are you all right, Lois?" "Of course I'm all right. What makes you think I'm not?" "Well, I mean, the clones. You had a pretty bad time with them, and, uh..." His voice trailed off as she fixed him with a hard stare. "Jimmy, that was nearly two years ago--well, over a year and a half, anyway. This is about a story. I need the information, so get to it, will you?" "Uh, sure." Jimmy gave her another worried look before he turned to obey. Lois glared at his retreating back for a moment. Wasn't she *ever* going to be allowed to forget that business? She dug in the bottom drawer of her desk for a moment, muttering under her breath about interfering busybodies, a description which she knew, underneath, didn't really fit Jimmy at all; but just now it seemed as if that whole, lousy incident was being dragged back to haunt her. Finally, she turned up one, lone double fudge crunch bar and ripped the wrapping off of it with vengeful fingers. A huge bite of the inoffensive candy bar made her feel better, however, and she finished the chocolate with unladylike speed. She was wiping her fingers on a tissue when the phone rang. Hurridly, she dropped the chocolate-smeared item in the trash can and picked up the receiver. "Lois Lane." There was no answer. Like the call last night, there was complete silence on the line. Lois frowned. "Hello?" No answer; then suddenly there was sound, as if someone had released the mute button. "Hello?" Lois said, again. "Lois?" The word was whispered. Just the one word. Then, as suddenly, she was listening to a dial tone. The caller had hung up. ________________ (to be continued) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 21:31:40 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Lori Llorence Subject: Re: NEW FANFIC: Doppelganger (Part Three) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Oh Man-you cut it off just as it was getting really good! I am just now picking myself up off the floor where I fell from the edge of my seat!!! PLEASE don't keep us waitng much longer for the next installment!!! Lori (who is going back to read this part again!! :-) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 21:46:44 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Demona (Angel Of The Night)" Subject: Re: OT - (Re: Combo post .. medical advice and endearments "yeah In-Reply-To: <382436186.940631072594.JavaMail.root@web07.pub01> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="=====================_78551623==_.ALT" --=====================_78551623==_.ALT Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Tara Wrote: (regarding who should play Superman): >>>Jonathan Frakes on the other hand . . . just joking. :-)<<< LOL! Well we have a home team advantage on that one already.. ;) We had a chance to see "Tim Lake" in the super suit, and I think we can all agree on the fact that: "There ain't no way..!" Demi ___________________________________________ Demi aka Demona nightangel@home.com http://fantasia.simplenet.com/lcfantasy/ http://www.destinyy.com/boards/ for the lcnfanfic email list, see: http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/lcnfanfic "Sometimes I think I understand everything, then I regain consciousness." --=====================_78551623==_.ALT Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii"
Tara Wrote: (regarding who should play Superman):
>>>Jonathan Frakes on the other hand . . . just joking. :-)<<<

LOL!  Well we have a home team advantage on that one already.. ;)  We had a chance to see "Tim Lake" in the super suit, and I think we can all agree on the fact that: "There ain't no way..!" <bg>

Demi



___________________________________________
Demi aka Demona

nightangel@home.com
http://fantasia.simplenet.com/lcfantasy/
http://www.destinyy.com/boards/

for the lcnfanfic email list, see:
http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/lcnfanfic

"Sometimes I think I understand everything, then I regain consciousness." --=====================_78551623==_.ALT-- ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 19:30:02 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: TA Merrill Subject: Re: OT - (Re: Combo post .. medical advice and endearments "yeah MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Tara, you have a very sick sense of humor! :) TerriAnn --- Tara Smith wrote: > Eew! Gross! I'm sorry, but the thought of Nick Cage as Superman has > just > totally grossed me out! Yuck! I can't understand how anyone could > consider > him a good pick for the part! > > Jonathan Frakes on the other hand . . . just joking. :-) > > Tara > > "Thou shalt remember the Eleventh Commandment and keep it Wholly." > Robert A. Heinlein > ----------------------------------------------- > FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com > Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com > ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 23:23:29 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rachel Madden Subject: NEW: Stuck With the Truth (2/3) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Stuck With the Truth Part 2 of 3 by Rachel M. Rating: PG Feedback: This story isn't finished yet, so whatever comments you have are very, very welcome, whether they're public or private. Summary: Lois and Clark investigate drug dealing in a local neighborhood, and Lois finds out something "special" about Clark when they end up trapped on a stakeout. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The day started out pretty normally, even with the 7-foot snow drifts outside the Daily Planet building. The whole staff was moving in slow motion, figuratively and literally speaking. In his office, Perry White was disappointed with his two star reporters. He had expected them to rush into the newsroom at 9:00, grab two boxes full of research and a dozen pages of notes in 30 seconds flat, give a hurried explanation to Perry as to where they were going and what they were going to be doing while there, and be back in the elevator at 9:01. As Perry had readied himself for the Lane and Kent rumble that usually interrupted slow news spells at some point or another, the two had arrived separately, both extremely calm and contained for two people with news that would turn Metropolis upside down, and had sat down at their desks with no noticeable rush to get a front-page, 32-point headline for the Daily Planet. It slowly dawned on Perry that there *was* no front-page story for the paper...he had a feeling that this spell would set a record for being the longest one yet seen at *this* establishment. And he was thoroughly disappointed. "Lois! Clark! My office!" He really didn't like himself when he was frustrated about something. Lois told Clark about Superman's appearance at her apartment the night before as they walked over. "...and then he said, 'In some way or another.' Don't you think that's kind of...weird? I mean, Superman isn't usually so mysterious when he's talking to me, and I really don't want to think about all the possibilities for those words." She paused. "But still, that's weird, huh?" Clark wanted to kick himself. What he had said last night hadn't been so great after all. Now Lois probably thought Superman was some sort of Peeping Tom. "Clark?" He jerked back to reality. "What?" "Are you OK? Because you're being really...not here." Clark had to admit, he was still thinking about how dangerous the snow and ice were to commuters, especially in the western part of the city, where hidden stop signs seemed to take over easily seen traffic lights. "Yeah. I'm okay." Lois gave him a long, hard look. "I don't believe you." Clark sighed inwardly and looked toward heaven for help. Leave it up to Lois to find the kink in his suit of armor. Well, suit of spandex. "No, really, I'm okay. I'm just a little stressed out, just like everyone else in this room. Just like everyone else in this city, at that." Lois continued staring at him, and Clark began to feel uncomfortable. As great as it was to have Lois focus all her attention onto him for once, he still didn't like it when people bored holes in his head with their eyes. Nobody likes that feeling. She finally looked away, seemingly satisfied, and Clark breathed a sigh of relief as they reached Perry's office after what had seemed like an eternity. "OK, you two. What gives?" Lois and Clark gave their boss blank looks. "What do you mean?" Lois asked. "I'm asking, what gives? There has been absolutely no action in or around this city for five weeks. How come?" "How would we know, Perry?" Lois said. "Maybe all the criminals are hibernating." Lois turned to look at Clark while Perry stared at him from across his desk. The boyish grin on Clark's face faded as he realized he desperately needed to work on his lines. "Maybe they are, Kent. That suggestion would go right along with - " Perry held up the Metropolis Inquiry and pointed at the headline. "'Jimmy Hoffa Alive Somewhere in the Gobi Desert', or - " He held up another tabloid. "'Aliens Abducted My Unborn Baby'! C'mon, people! We're not a ragtag piece of junk like *this!*" Perry slapped the magazine down on his desk for emphasis. "I want some real answers! I want a scandal! I want a break-in! At this point, I wouldn't care if some little green men came along and dropped a damned nuclear bomb on our heads, so long as the story was on our front page! Got it?!" Lois saluted, a very risky maneuver at this point, Clark thought. He backed up, expecting some sort of explosion, whether it be Perry's head or one outside that had heard Perry's tirade and had decided to follow orders. But Perry simply sat back in his chair and stared at the two as they scurried out, nearly bumping into Jimmy as they went. Jimmy entered the room and almost winced when he saw the look on Perry's face. "Uh...hi!" Jimmy smiled, but it didn't have any effect on Perry White's famous glowering look. "So...do I take it you still want to take a look at my pictures?" The Editor-in-Chief's face turned three different shades of red, and Jimmy suddenly had the urge to run and cower in the corner. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Clark swore he heard a cat shriek in Perry's office. But his mind was concentrated on much more important things right now, so he dismissed it. He sat as his desk pretending to work, but was, in reality, sneaking glances at Lois every now and then. She looked beautiful today, just like every day. Her hair was in its usual perfect state, her face carefully fixed with just the right amount of make-up, and an outfit that was within the dress code limits but still made every man within two miles turn their heads at the slightest movement. And Clark was one of those helpless men. Perhaps the most helpless of them all. His thoughts were interrupted by an annoying ringing sound, and it took Clark a minute to realize that it was his desk phone. He sighed. It was like it had known he was daydreaming and had decided to take the responsibility of jolting Clark out of the most pleasurable moments of his whole day. "Clark Kent." His voice made him sound depressed, he knew. He hoped that he didn't sound *too* bad, otherwise he could lose something big. First impressions were everything in the news business, especially at Clark's level of reporting. He listened to the person on the other end of the line for a few seconds, then muttered a few choice words as he scrambled for a pad of paper. Even mild-mannered reporters get frustrated sometimes. After he hung up, he walked over to his partner's desk. "Hey, Lois - " "What! What is it? Did you get a lead? Are we on to something big? Is it Kerth-worthy? Clark grinned. She was jumping out of her skin. It was entertaining, in a way "I'm going to be bald soon from all the hair I've pulled out if something doesn't happen *fast.*" "Well, I *do* have something big..." Lois' face lit up with hope. "*But* it's not life or death. So don't get excited." Lois, patiently waiting, which was something very unusual for her, stared expectantly at Clark with a look that said, "Get on with it." So he did. "I just got off the phone with my source in Golden Springs, and - " "Golden Springs? What kind of story can someone possibly find in Golden Springs?!" Clark held up a hand. "You asked, I'm delivering." Lois slumped in her chair, defeated. At least for the moment. "He told me that *supposedly* there's some big drug dealing going on there, and that the next big deal is tomorrow night. Maybe we could - " "Plan a stakeout? Drop in unnoticed and tape everything? Bust them up the next day with a front-page headline on the Daily Planet? I love it!" "Well, actually, I was thinking that the police would probably be better - " "Oh, quit worrying about trivial details, Clark!" Lois bounded out of her chair. "Let's tell Perry!" She hurriedly walked over to Perry's office, but then seemed to stop, maybe to think twice about stepping back into the line of fire. "On second thought, maybe we should wait until tomorrow..." Clark just nodded, since there was no point in trying to pacify Lois now. She was already on the rampage. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 23:23:10 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rachel Madden Subject: NEW: Stuck With the Truth Intro MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey everyone - I haven't posted anything in a while, so I thought I'd just wing it and see how this fic goes through with you guys. I haven't been working on this story for very long, and it's not finished. I decided to try it out before I wrote an ending...I guess I'll just have to see how things go. I won't make this a long intro...I'm not here to write essays. I just wanted to let everyone know that this could be a good, ok, or bad fic! And I'll never know if I keep it in my filing cabinet! So whatever you think...let me know! Thanks! -Rachel :) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 23:23:36 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rachel Madden Subject: NEW: Stuck With the Truth (3/3) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Stuck With the Truth Part 3 of 3 by Rachel M. (LnCSwing@aol.com) Rating: PG Feedback: This story isn't finished yet, so whatever comments you have are very, very welcome, whether they're public or private. Summary: Lois and Clark investigate drug dealing in a local neighborhood, and Lois find out something "special" about Clark when they end up trapped on a stakeout. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Absolutely not!" "Oh, c'mon, Perry, it'll be great! Front-page story! That's what you've been whining about for the past week, isn't it?" "Yes, but I didn't mean a front-page story and two obituaries for my star reporters! I was talking about something exciting, but a little less of the tempting fate business that you seem to enjoy!" "It's part of my job, Chief. You, above all people, should know that!" Perry couldn't really argue against that. He looked desperately at Clark, searching for intervention from the more rational half of the team. But unfortunately it seemed that the young man had already given in to the inevitable, so all Perry received was a shrug, along with a slight frown. The editor knew he was just putting off fate, so he made a decision so that the people who were forming a line outside his office could have their turn. "All right, Lois. But don't come crying to me when Clark gets gunned down and you've got a head wound the size of Cleveland." "Thanks, Chief." Lois grinned. "I knew you'd see it my way." As the two left, one slightly faster than the other, Perry murmured to his desk calendar, "I always end up seeing it her way." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ As Clark had so eloquently put it, he was heading to the supply closet to get some "Uh...pencils" when Lois shouted at him en route to the elevator. "Clark! Remember to leave early so you can let me into your apartment! We need to get ready for that stakeout!" But Clark didn't hear her. His superhearing had tuned into a radio newscast, and he was already on his way to a flood in Egypt. An annoyed Lois boarded the elevator and pushed the button for the lobby. She didn't pay much attention to the other man on board until he tapped her on the shoulder. As she turned around to face him, she noticed that he had a gun, and he was attempting to reach around her to pull out the red button that would stop the elevator. Not even thinking, Lois kicked out at him, but was surprised as he dodged her foot nimbly and then grabbed her arm. He forced her up against the elevator wall and clamped a hand over her mouth. "Lois Lane, I presume?" Lois struggled, but was held fast, with both of her arms stuck between her body and the wall. "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you. That would be messy, therefore a waste of my time. I'm here to warn you about tonight. If you show at Golden Springs tonight...well, let's just say I won't mind being messy there...I can let the donut-boys handle that." "Yeah, well you can bet that we'll bring Superman along. We won't even need to come, because he'll bust you up so fast, there'll be nothing left to report." The man hesitated. But then he seemed to come to a decision that *he* was going to be in control of the conversation. "One more word out of you and I might changed my mind about not killing you." Lois knew that she was in a very dangerous situation. And when a gun is pointed at one's head, one would usually not argue with the person holding it. But Lois Lane will be Lois Lane, and she yelled, "Help, Superman!" as loud as the expanse of her lungs would allow. The man pulled the gun away from her head and pushed the red button back in, his previously confident face now contorted with panic. He got off at the very next floor the elevator reached. As he stepped off, he turned back to Lois. "You'll pay for that. I'd kill you now, but Mr. Man in Tights is going to be here any second. Remember what I said - if you come tonight, you're one dead broad." Lois was left alone in the elevator...for about five seconds. Superman pried the doors open. Clark, arriving late after hearing Lois' calls, was afraid he had been *too* late when he couldn't detect her familiar heartbeat and breathing pattern at first. Fortunately, his superhearing had kicked in to allow him to hear her rapid breathing in the elevator somewhere around the 11th floor. Breathing his own sigh of relief, he sped up the stairs, passing an apprehensive young man on the way, and pried the elevator doors open when he was certain he was on the right floor. Superman, composing himself to hide his Clark-like concern, asked if Lois was all right and if she knew where her attacker had gone. Breathing heavily, Lois told him that she was fine and then pointed into the room where the man had escaped. But even after searching the whole floor thoroughly, all Clark found was a slip of paper that read "1130 Broadview Dr." When he returned to the still-busy newsroom, Lois was pacing nervously by her desk. "Did you find him?" The few people left in the newsroom had been a little surprised to see Superman walk into the room, but not particularly surprised to see Lois demanding answers from him. She did it to her partner, so why not do it to the most popular, most caring, most handsome guy around? "No. He got away." "Ooooo...when I get my hands on him, I'll expose him, flay him, rip his ears off, and then bury him alive!" "Lois, maybe you should calm down just a little bit..." "No, I will not calm down! That man attacked me, and nearly broke my arm off!" "But you're still alive." Lois stopped pacing. "True." "I don't think going on that stakeout tonight is such a good idea after all." Lois looked up at him from her desk. "How did you know about it?" Inwardly, Clark panicked. Outwardly there was no noticeable change in expression except for a slighty surprised look. "Uh...Clark told me about it." Point for Kent... ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I know, it kind of ends awkwardly, but my mind is blank...I have no idea what to write next. I've tried many different ideas...but none of them seem to work. I know that there are people out there who can do this better than me, so if *any*one has a suggestion, please let me know. I'll try not to leave this story just hanging out there! Thanks! -Rachel :) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 23:23:18 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rachel Madden Subject: NEW: Stuck With the Truth (1/3) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Stuck With the Truth Part 1 of 3 by Rachel M. Rating: PG Feedback: This story isn't finished yet, so whatever comments you have are very, very welcome, whether they're public or private. Summary: Lois and Clark investigate drug dealing in a local neighborhood, and Lois finds out something "special" about Clark when they end up trapped on a stakeout. ------------------------------------------------------------------- It seemed to Clark Kent that the only time bad guys emerged from the shadows was during the darkest hours of the night when he was drowsy and incapable of coherent speech. At least that was how he felt when he had to leave his warm bed to fly out into the cold December dawn...for the fifth time. He gritted his teeth as he noticed that there was a storm brewing in the Northeast, which would inevitably lead to snow. Metropolis hadn't seen this much snow in 20 years, and frankly, Clark was sick of it. It made both of his jobs a lot harder, and he was sure that it hadn't been too peachy for his partner, either. She had been on her last nerve yesterday evening...Clark hoped that she would be fully recuperated when he saw her later this morning. Clark acknowledged the storm, almost as if he were giving it permission to proceed, since, of course, winter always ends in some way or another. Lightening flashed in response, and Clark continued on his way to unearth some more cars that were buried beneath mounds of snow. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Lois Lane peered out the window at the threatening clouds and wondered how Superman was doing. She shivered just thinking about it. After the sudden snow that had seemed to drop from the sky like a thick blanket, surely there were still plenty of commuters trapped on the Interstate, among other places. Superman was probably out there, drenched with freezing cold rain, trying to save hundreds of strangers when he could be with her, cozily sitting in front of her fireplace. As for Clark, Lois had tried calling him to ask him if he knew exactly where Superman was, but he had not answered his phone. 'Ha! Kent wouldn't answer the phone, would he? He's probably sitting around his own fireplace with Mayson Drake, the amazing Duckgirl!' Lois was still mad at him for not being there for Superman, his supposed "best friend," when the superhero had been blind for two days. 'Well, let them! I don't need Clark to find Superman! I'll find him myself!' Lois hastily threw open the window to yell for the Man of Steel, then immediately regretted it. A harsh wind blew into her apartment and sent her latest story flying into the kitchen. A squeal escaped from her lips instead of her intended words, and suddenly, Superman was standing before her. "Let me clean that up for you," he said. Lois could only stare, dumbfounded, as he supersped around her apartment picking up the strewn papers. "What...how...?" "I was on my way to see you anyway. You're getting Superman's Maid Service as an added bonus." Superman flashed his teeth in a wide grin as he halted on the exact spot he had been on not three seconds ago. "Oh," was all Lois could say. She mentally hit her head against the wall as she realized that Lois Lane, world-famous investigative reporter, was at a loss for words...in front of a *man,* no less! She smacked speechless Lois in the face and threw her out the window. "Would you like something? Food?" Lois walked over to her refrigerator and opened the door. "I have a few containers of...oh, yuck." Lois attempted a meek smile and threw it in Superman's direction as she shoved the containers to the back of the fridge. "On second thought, how about something to drink?" "That's all right, I just dropped in to see how you were doing. Clark told me that you're pretty stressed out about the weather - " "I know, can you believe it?" Lois asked him, exasperated even after that tub of chocolate ice cream. "My Jeep got stuck yesterday, despite the four-wheel drive, and it just so happened that I was on my way to an incredibly important interview, so I had to *walk* the rest of the way there, since I couldn't find a cab that was actually working and I was really late, and when I got there I was *soaking* wet from the amazingly cold rain that you'd *think* would be snow, and I made a very bad impression, and furthermore - " "Whoa, now, slow down, Lois." Lois pouted and held up her pinkie finger. "I slipped and hurt my pinkie." Clark chuckled. At the office, he had gotten used to the patented Lane-babble, but when he appeared as Superman, the babble was upped to a different level altogether. "You think that's funny!?" Lois asked incredulously. "So I picked the wrong shoes to wear on a snowy day, but - " This made Clark laugh even harder. "No, Lois, I wasn't laughing at *that!*" Lois crossed her arms and stared at Superman. "You're not very convincing." "I've never really been all that convincing," he said softly. After a short pause, he continued. "But I really must be leaving now. I have a lot to do before the sun rises and Metropolis wakes." "Of course, Sexy - whoops, I mean, Superman." The sheepish look crossed Lois' face again. "Will I see you again before Christmas? I'm going with Clark to his parents' farm in Smallville, since Lucy is in Japan, my dad is in the Congo looking for some exotic plant, and my mother absolutely refuses to take part in any Christmas celebration whatsoever." "Probably...in some way or another." Clark congratulated himself on that one. It was his method of being subtle and ironic at the same time. Lois just gave him an inquisitive look. "Bye," he said as he disappeared into the inky blackness. "Bye," she replied, still wondering what he meant by his last statement. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 22:49:42 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: NEW: Stuck With the Truth (1/3) In-Reply-To: <0.cdde14ba.25428426@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Rachel, I have no suggestions for where the story should go, sorry. But I do want to say that I really enjoyed reading what you have so far, and I hope your muse comes out of hiding and you find a direction for the story. The only (very minor) thing I found confusing was the fact that you switch between snow and rain, when describing the weather. Usually if it's cold enough to dump that much snow, the city won't also get rain, or if it does, the rain tends to melt the snow. So if you want to keep the freezing rain, you might want to embellish a bit more. Now, that said, I have to quote you: > "Oh," was all Lois could say. She mentally hit her head against the wall >as she realized that Lois Lane, world-famous investigative reporter, was at a >loss for words...in front of a *man,* no less! > > She smacked speechless Lois in the face and threw her out the window. >"Would you like something? Food?" This is one of the best lines I've seen all year!! LOL!!!!! That is just priceless! Nice writing, Rachel ... very descriptive and smooth ... I hope you figure out how to finish it! Kathy ______________________ Kathy Brown kathyb@springnet1.com kathyb@lcfanfic.com KathyB on IRC ______________________ ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 02:34:38 -0500 Reply-To: truitt22@flash.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: timothy truitt Organization: tnt technical services Subject: Re: NEW: Stuck With the Truth (2/3) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Rachel, I'm not much of a critic - I just know what I like, and I like your story. Don't stop, continue and finish it. I'm not a writer either - but I appreciate what you folc fanfic writers are able to do and it amazes me. Please continue this - I enjoyed the first 3 parts very much. merry truitt22@flash.net Rachel Madden wrote: > Stuck With the Truth > > Part 2 of 3 > > by Rachel M. > > Rating: PG > Feedback: This story isn't finished yet, so whatever comments you have are > very, very welcome, whether they're public or private. > Summary: Lois and Clark investigate drug dealing in a local neighborhood, and > Lois finds out something "special" about Clark when they end up trapped on a > stakeout. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > The day started out pretty normally, even with the 7-foot snow drifts > outside the Daily Planet building. The whole staff was moving in slow > motion, figuratively and literally speaking. In his office, Perry White was > disappointed with his two star reporters. He had expected them to rush into > the newsroom at 9:00, grab two boxes full of research and a dozen pages of > notes in 30 seconds flat, give a hurried explanation to Perry as to where > they were going and what they were going to be doing while there, and be back > in the elevator at 9:01. > > As Perry had readied himself for the Lane and Kent rumble that usually > interrupted slow news spells at some point or another, the two had arrived > separately, both extremely calm and contained for two people with news that > would turn Metropolis upside down, and had sat down at their desks with no > noticeable rush to get a front-page, 32-point headline for the Daily Planet. > It slowly dawned on Perry that there *was* no front-page story for the > paper...he had a feeling that this spell would set a record for being the > longest one yet seen at *this* establishment. And he was thoroughly > disappointed. > > "Lois! Clark! My office!" He really didn't like himself when he was > frustrated about something. > > Lois told Clark about Superman's appearance at her apartment the night > before as they walked over. > > "...and then he said, 'In some way or another.' Don't you think that's > kind of...weird? I mean, Superman isn't usually so mysterious when he's > talking to me, and I really don't want to think about all the possibilities > for those words." She paused. "But still, that's weird, huh?" > > Clark wanted to kick himself. What he had said last night hadn't been so > great after all. Now Lois probably thought Superman was some sort of Peeping > Tom. > > "Clark?" > > He jerked back to reality. "What?" > > "Are you OK? Because you're being really...not here." > > Clark had to admit, he was still thinking about how dangerous the snow > and ice were to commuters, especially in the western part of the city, where > hidden stop signs seemed to take over easily seen traffic lights. > > "Yeah. I'm okay." > > Lois gave him a long, hard look. "I don't believe you." > > Clark sighed inwardly and looked toward heaven for help. Leave it up to > Lois to find the kink in his suit of armor. Well, suit of spandex. > > "No, really, I'm okay. I'm just a little stressed out, just like > everyone else in this room. Just like everyone else in this city, at that." > > Lois continued staring at him, and Clark began to feel uncomfortable. As > great as it was to have Lois focus all her attention onto him for once, he > still didn't like it when people bored holes in his head with their eyes. > Nobody likes that feeling. > > She finally looked away, seemingly satisfied, and Clark breathed a sigh > of relief as they reached Perry's office after what had seemed like an > eternity. > > "OK, you two. What gives?" > > Lois and Clark gave their boss blank looks. "What do you mean?" Lois > asked. > > "I'm asking, what gives? There has been absolutely no action in or > around this city for five weeks. How come?" > > "How would we know, Perry?" Lois said. > > "Maybe all the criminals are hibernating." Lois turned to look at Clark > while Perry stared at him from across his desk. The boyish grin on Clark's > face faded as he realized he desperately needed to work on his lines. > > "Maybe they are, Kent. That suggestion would go right along with - " > Perry held up the Metropolis Inquiry and pointed at the headline. "'Jimmy > Hoffa Alive Somewhere in the Gobi Desert', or - " He held up another > tabloid. "'Aliens Abducted My Unborn Baby'! C'mon, people! We're not a > ragtag piece of junk like *this!*" Perry slapped the magazine down on his > desk for emphasis. "I want some real answers! I want a scandal! I want a > break-in! At this point, I wouldn't care if some little green men came along > and dropped a damned nuclear bomb on our heads, so long as the story was on > our front page! Got it?!" > > Lois saluted, a very risky maneuver at this point, Clark thought. He > backed up, expecting some sort of explosion, whether it be Perry's head or > one outside that had heard Perry's tirade and had decided to follow orders. > But Perry simply sat back in his chair and stared at the two as they scurried > out, nearly bumping into Jimmy as they went. > > Jimmy entered the room and almost winced when he saw the look on Perry's > face. "Uh...hi!" Jimmy smiled, but it didn't have any effect on Perry > White's famous glowering look. "So...do I take it you still want to take a > look at my pictures?" The Editor-in-Chief's face turned three different > shades of red, and Jimmy suddenly had the urge to run and cower in the corner. > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Clark swore he heard a cat shriek in Perry's office. But his mind was > concentrated on much more important things right now, so he dismissed it. He > sat as his desk pretending to work, but was, in reality, sneaking glances at > Lois every now and then. She looked beautiful today, just like every day. > Her hair was in its usual perfect state, her face carefully fixed with just > the right amount of make-up, and an outfit that was within the dress code > limits but still made every man within two miles turn their heads at the > slightest movement. And Clark was one of those helpless men. Perhaps the > most helpless of them all. > > His thoughts were interrupted by an annoying ringing sound, and it took > Clark a minute to realize that it was his desk phone. He sighed. It was > like it had known he was daydreaming and had decided to take the > responsibility of jolting Clark out of the most pleasurable moments of his > whole day. > > "Clark Kent." His voice made him sound depressed, he knew. He hoped > that he didn't sound *too* bad, otherwise he could lose something big. First > impressions were everything in the news business, especially at Clark's level > of reporting. He listened to the person on the other end of the line for a > few seconds, then muttered a few choice words as he scrambled for a pad of > paper. Even mild-mannered reporters get frustrated sometimes. After he hung > up, he walked over to his partner's desk. > > "Hey, Lois - " > > "What! What is it? Did you get a lead? Are we on to something big? Is > it Kerth-worthy? > > Clark grinned. She was jumping out of her skin. It was entertaining, in > a way > > "I'm going to be bald soon from all the hair I've pulled out if something > doesn't happen *fast.*" > > "Well, I *do* have something big..." Lois' face lit up with hope. > "*But* it's not life or death. So don't get excited." > > Lois, patiently waiting, which was something very unusual for her, stared > expectantly at Clark with a look that said, "Get on with it." > > So he did. > > "I just got off the phone with my source in Golden Springs, and - " > > "Golden Springs? What kind of story can someone possibly find in Golden > Springs?!" > > Clark held up a hand. "You asked, I'm delivering." > > Lois slumped in her chair, defeated. At least for the moment. > > "He told me that *supposedly* there's some big drug dealing going on > there, and that the next big deal is tomorrow night. Maybe we could - " > > "Plan a stakeout? Drop in unnoticed and tape everything? Bust them up > the next day with a front-page headline on the Daily Planet? I love it!" > > "Well, actually, I was thinking that the police would probably be better > - " > > "Oh, quit worrying about trivial details, Clark!" Lois bounded out of > her chair. "Let's tell Perry!" She hurriedly walked over to Perry's office, > but then seemed to stop, maybe to think twice about stepping back into the > line of fire. "On second thought, maybe we should wait until tomorrow..." > > Clark just nodded, since there was no point in trying to pacify Lois now. > She was already on the rampage. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 05:28:33 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: NEW: Stuck With the Truth MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Rachel, You definitely have a way with words. There were too many great, funny lines in this for me to even begin to quote them. I giggled my way through the whole story. I love where you seem to be heading with this. I'd be happy to privately toss around suggestions with you if you wanted to email me at sirenegold@yahoo.com Irene ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 10:16:28 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Felix E. Sung" Subject: Sample Family Tree MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Like Clark, I'm "a pretty thorough guy when it comes to details." I've read the debates on ages of our supporting characters. Since I used to be sort of a family historian for my family, I thought I'd create a Lois & Clark family tree for "future reference" (read: should I ever write a story of my own). If you want to use it as part of your story, go ahead. If you want to comment on this, go ahead. Everything is subjective, anyway. If this was a dissertation, then my "oral defense" follows. Jonathan Kent (b.1935-04-24) = Martha Clark (b.1940-01-09) m.1962-06-02 1. Clark Jerome Kent (b.1966-02-28) Samuel Lane (b.1936-09-14) = Ellen Roberts (b.1939-06-17) m.1965-08-28, div.1979-05-04 1. Lois Lane (b.1967-09-23) 2. Lucy Lane (b.1974-01-07) Clark Jerome Kent (b.1966-02-28) = Lois Lane (b.1967-09-23) m.1996-10-06 ... Perry White (b.1944-03-13) James Bartholomew Olsen (b.1974-02-15) Comments: 1. Jonathan's middle name was never mentioned. I also picked a birthday for him arbitrarily. 2. Everyone knows that Clark was named after Martha's middle name. Martha's middle name was never mentioned. Martha's birthday just happens to be the same as K Callan's (though not the year). 3. Jonathan and Martha's wedding date came from "Toy Story" (35th wedding anniversary) and I'm ignoring all other references to their anniversary (in Ides of Metropolis, almost 30 years; in another episode I can't remember: almost 40 years) 4. Clark's birthdate is without dispute. 5. I hope the age is right for Sam, since he is a doctor. Sam's middle name was never mentioned. His birthday (but not the year) is the same as Harve Presnell's. 6. Ellen's middle and maiden name was never mentioned. I randomly picked a birthday for her. 7. I made up wedding and "divorce made final" dates for Sam and Ellen. 8. Lois' middle name was never mentioned (although I think it's "Joanne" in the comics. Can anyone verify?). Created Lois' birthday from three episodes: (1) unaired scene from Pilot, where it was mentioned that Lois was 26. (2) Contact, where Lois was a Libra. (3) Tempus Anyone?, where it shows 1967-1993 on her tombstone. If the events of the Pilot occured in early to mid Sept. 1993, then Lois is not quite 26 yet, but I'm close enough. 9. Lucy's birthday was made up. I like to think of her as being Jimmy's age. 10. Lois and Clark's wedding date is without dispute. 11. Perry's date came from Vatman, when he just turned 50 (March 1994). Jimmy's date came from the Baron Sunday episode. I'm ignoring other references to his age (Pilot: 21, Target Jimmy Olsen: 20 in April 95?) 12. I also have death dates for everyone, names and birthdates of Lois and Clark's children and grandchildren, but that's definitely overkill. Besides, you can make your own dates up. What do you think? I know, I had a lot of time on my hands. :) But at least, if I write a fic, then I'LL be consistent, unlike the L&C writers Felix ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 10:38:51 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kate Crane Subject: Re: NEW: Stuck With the Truth (3/3) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Rachel, I find your style of writing absolutely delightful. Wish I could be helpful with ideas, but I'm not a fanfic writer, just a reader ;). Kate ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 11:46:15 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: Sample Family Tree MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/23/99 10:28:01 AM Eastern Daylight Time, fsung@FREEWWWEB.COM writes: << . Lucy's birthday was made up. I like to think of her as being Jimmy's age. >> I think that at some point in the show it comes up that Lucy is five years younger than Lois, which would make her birthdated 1972. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 11:09:01 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: Sample Family Tree In-Reply-To: <3811C33C.F0EEEBA7@freewwweb.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 10:16 AM -0400 10/23/99, Felix E. Sung wrote: >8. Created Lois' birthday >from three episodes: (1) unaired scene from Pilot, where it was >mentioned that Lois was 26. (2) Contact, where Lois was a Libra. (3) >Tempus Anyone?, where it shows 1967-1993 on her tombstone. If the >events of the Pilot occured in early to mid Sept. 1993, then Lois is >not quite 26 yet, but I'm close enough. Felix, this looks wonderful. Nice job. One minor point ... the events of the pilot actually took place in May 1993, not September. Yes, it aired in September, but we find out in "Super Mann" that the month was May. This new information actually makes other things make a lot more sense -- like the "Smallville Corn Festival" taking place in the summer (July-ish?) instead of late fall! Not sure if your timeline needs to change with this new info or not. Ann commented that she thought Lucy was 5 years younger than Lois ... I thought from the Pilot (the script maybe?) we were told it was 4 years apart. But I don't have anything specific to cite to back that up. Kathy ______________________ Kathy Brown kathyb@springnet1.com kathyb@lcfanfic.com KathyB on IRC ______________________ ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 09:07:02 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Re: NEW FANFIC: Doppelganger (Part Three) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Glad you like it, Lori. It gets more complicated before long. Nan Lori Llorence wrote: > Oh Man-you cut it off just as it was getting really good! I am just now > picking myself up off the floor where I fell from the edge of my seat!!! > PLEASE don't keep us waitng much longer for the next installment!!! > > Lori (who is going back to read this part again!! :-) ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 12:19:24 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Charlotte Fisler Subject: Re: S5, Eps 1 and 2 review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/21/99 7:05:53 AM !!!First Boot!!!, jilectan@EMAIL.COM writes: << I'll have to check it out. Thanks! I'm thinking of writing something about it, myself, after I finish the Black Circle (if I finish it! /me closes eyes "I think I can, I think I can! ) Tara >> Keep saying that to yourself Tara until it's done. You have to finish it. I can't stand the suspense. Charlotte ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 12:31:06 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Charlotte Fisler Subject: Re: Revealing Cruise pt. 2 comments MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I am going to respond just once to all your responses to the 'baby question.' To: Irene and Wendy and any one else who doesn't like the word 'baby.' I'm sorry you got upset, but as you can tell from my explanation, I simply don't look at this endearment in that manner, also MHO. And I said in my explanation that I think it is perfectly in character for Clark to use it to Lois, privately in what is a stressful situation. You can disagree if you like, but that is my opinion. I do not think the word, most words anyway, are offensive unless the context is offensive. First season Lois probably would have slugged Clark for using baby, honey, or any other term of endearment. By late second, I think she would have been more interested in the emotion behind the term than the term itself. And that is, I think, what she is telling him when she says she never thought of herself as a honey, but she likes it. Personally, I tend to think that context rather than the word used is more important. Ex. I am much more offended by salespeople who lean over and smile and call me honey or dear. I'm not their honey and don't want to be. I think the endearments that two people use privately to one another are their own business. RE: Canon. What canon? The show messed around with its own canon all the time and I wont even say what it did to the Byrne canon with the whole New Krypton arc. Great parts in it, but how do you reconcile that with 'Superman - the LAST son of Krypton.' I have said it before and I will say it again. The arts, whether they are performing, visual, or even literary are at minimum, a two-way street. We, the audience bring our own beliefs and experiences to it, and as a result, we each see a unique Lois and Clark. Mine is no more nor no less valid than anyone else's. <> And Anne tops every one. Now who can argue with this? In a message dated 10/21/99 2:47:59 AM !!!First Boot!!!, kathyb@SPRINGNET1.COM writes: << You lost me -- if it's your story, who do you think is going to remove it? Editors only have power to suggest, not dictate. It's up to the author whether to take editors' suggestions. An exception would be within the Archive, if we feel something in a story is offensive or beyond PG-13, but then it is always up to the author whether they want to rework that section of the story or pull the story from consideration. But regardless, using "baby" instead of "honey" is not something that is going to make the story rejected from the Archive! >> Thanks, Kathy, fro the clarification. I do understand that editors suggest, but given the back and forth nature of criticism, I would be inclined to respond to an editor (okay I called it 'protest vehemently' Mea Culpa). I think that if an editor brings up a point even if the suggestion is not one I agree with, he or she deserves a response, not to just be ignored. I do try to take seriously any and all criticisms, even if I decide not change my story after all. (Exception - I just accede to any punctuation criticisms because Chemical Librarians aren't very good at punctuation - at least I'm not) Case in point. I did not have my single use of baby take place in a public setting, but a private one in which Clark is trying to comfort a distressed Lois. Yet after reading all the comments, I am tempted to remove it. Why? Because of the example given by Anne from your own fiction. <> I thought she/you convinced me he wouldn't use it in a less intimate but still private conversation. Still what's the alternative? "Ms. Lane, let it go." Nah!!! "Lois, you have to let it go" "Who are you to tell *me* to let it go" - and she slugs him. uh uh. As you can see I'm still waffling. Oh what a taut and tangled web we weave. And thank you to everyone else for your comments as well. Most of you critique well and kindly. Please, please everyone, do it kindly. I still remember the rash of comments on Sounds of War. I myself was tempted not to read that because of the war theme-Superman at war, I thought, no way- even if it was an obvious elseworlds story what with Eisenhower being president. But when I did read it, I found it to be a wonderful story. Maybe not Lois and Clark, but the final scene was so well done, it reminded of the magazine and newsreel photographs of the end of WWII and of my mother's description of the day when the war in the pacific finally ended. A tough subject but beautifully done, if only one gave the author a chance. 'I'm learning all this for the first time.' - CK Charlotte PS. I am sorry it took me two days to post this. Truth to tell, I haven't been able to post anything else, just leaving my comments in my send later box. But I do owe you all, especially Kathy, a response so here it is. Two comments are on other topics, so that I guess I wont even send them. No one is missing anything. The third I will post since I want authors to know when I like their stuff. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 09:35:50 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Re: NEW: Stuck With the Truth (3/3) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Rachel Madden wrote: > Stuck With the Truth > > Part 3 of 3 > > by Rachel M. (LnCSwing@aol.com) > > > I know, it kind of ends awkwardly, but my mind is blank...I have no idea > what to write next. I've tried many different ideas...but none of them seem > to work. I know that there are people out there who can do this better than > me, so if *any*one has a suggestion, please let me know. I'll try not to > leave this story just hanging out there! > > Thanks! > > -Rachel :) My advice, take a little break from it. Your subconscious will keep working on it, believe me, and the answer will come to you eventually. I do that all the time. This has the potential of being a very good story. (this from somebody who struggles with her own plots constantly and never thinks they are good enough.) Nan Smith ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 09:47:20 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: Revealing Cruise pt. 2 comments MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Charlotte, I am so sorry. I feel I misrepresented myself a little bit. It is true that I don't like the word 'baby' as an endearment, however, I would never dream of telling anyone that they could not use it. I find it distracting and it disturbs my concentration on a story, however, it would never prevent me from reading or from enjoying a well written story which yours tend to be. I feel I must apologise. It was not my intention to step on any toes. The subject came up, I responded to it, but I did not have the intention of making anyone feel that they were under attack for disagreeing with me. Irene --- Charlotte Fisler wrote: > I am going to respond just once to all your > responses to the 'baby question.' > > To: Irene and Wendy and any one else who doesn't > like the word 'baby.' > > I'm sorry you got upset, but as you can tell from my > explanation, I simply > don't look at this endearment in that manner, also > MHO. > > And I said in my explanation that I think it is > perfectly in character for > Clark to use it to Lois, privately in what is a > stressful situation. You can > disagree if you like, but that is my opinion. > > I do not think the word, most words anyway, are > offensive unless the context > is offensive. First season Lois probably would have > slugged Clark for using > baby, honey, or any other term of endearment. By > late second, I think she > would have been more interested in the emotion > behind the term than the term > itself. And that is, I think, what she is telling > him when she says she > never thought of herself as a honey, but she likes > it. > > Personally, I tend to think that context rather than > the word used is more > important. Ex. I am much more offended by > salespeople who lean over and > smile and call me honey or dear. I'm not their > honey and don't want to be. > I think the endearments that two people use > privately to one another are > their own business. > > RE: Canon. What canon? The show messed around with > its own canon all the > time and I wont even say what it did to the Byrne > canon with the whole New > Krypton arc. Great parts in it, but how do you > reconcile that with 'Superman > - the LAST son of Krypton.' > > I have said it before and I will say it again. The > arts, whether they are > performing, visual, or even literary are at minimum, > a two-way street. We, > the audience bring our own beliefs and experiences > to it, and as a result, we > each see a unique Lois and Clark. Mine is no more > nor no less valid than > anyone else's. > > < wants ;)>> > > And Anne tops every one. Now who can argue with > this? > > In a message dated 10/21/99 2:47:59 AM !!!First > Boot!!!, > kathyb@SPRINGNET1.COM writes: > > << > You lost me -- if it's your story, who do you think > is going to remove it? > Editors only have power to suggest, not dictate. > It's up to the author > whether to take editors' suggestions. An exception > would be within the > Archive, if we feel something in a story is > offensive or beyond PG-13, but > then it is always up to the author whether they > want to rework that section > of the story or pull the story from consideration. > But regardless, using > "baby" instead of "honey" is not something that is > going to make the story > rejected from the Archive! >> > > Thanks, Kathy, fro the clarification. I do > understand that editors suggest, > but given the back and forth nature of criticism, I > would be inclined to > respond to an editor (okay I called it 'protest > vehemently' Mea Culpa). I > think that if an editor brings up a point even if > the suggestion is not one I > agree with, he or she deserves a response, not to > just be ignored. I do try > to take seriously any and all criticisms, even if I > decide not change my > story after all. (Exception - I just accede to any > punctuation criticisms > because Chemical Librarians aren't very good at > punctuation - at least I'm > not) > > Case in point. I did not have my single use of baby > take place in a public > setting, but a private one in which Clark is trying > to comfort a distressed > Lois. Yet after reading all the comments, I am > tempted to remove it. Why? > Because of the example given by Anne from your own > fiction. > > < about their daily > activities, he occasionally used other words, too, > words like honey and > sweetie. But, *baby*, that was reserved for the > bedroom or other private > times like this. '>> > > I thought she/you convinced me he wouldn't use it in > a less intimate but > still private conversation. Still what's the > alternative? "Ms. Lane, let it > go." Nah!!! > "Lois, you have to let it go" "Who are you to tell > *me* to let it go" - and > she slugs him. uh uh. > > As you can see I'm still waffling. Oh what a taut > and tangled web we weave. > > And thank you to everyone else for your comments as > well. Most of you > critique well and kindly. Please, please everyone, > do it kindly. > > I still remember the rash of comments on Sounds of > War. I myself was tempted > not to read that because of the war theme-Superman > at war, I thought, no way- > even if it was an obvious elseworlds story what with > Eisenhower being > president. But when I did read it, I found it to be > a wonderful story. > Maybe not Lois and Clark, but the final scene was so > well done, it reminded > of the magazine and newsreel photographs of the end > of WWII and of my > mother's description of the day when the war in the > pacific finally ended. A > tough subject but beautifully done, if only one gave > the author a chance. > > 'I'm learning all this for the first time.' - CK > > Charlotte > > PS. I am sorry it took me two days to post this. > Truth to tell, I haven't > been able to post anything else, just leaving my > comments in my send later > box. But I do owe you all, especially Kathy, a > response so here it is. Two > comments are on other topics, so that I guess I wont > even send them. No one > is missing anything. The third I will post since I > want authors to know when > I like their stuff. > ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 13:39:08 -0400 Reply-To: hess2@mindspring.com Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Claire Hess Subject: Re: Sample Family Tree In-Reply-To: <3811C33C.F0EEEBA7@freewwweb.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Date sent: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 10:16:28 -0400 From: "Felix E. Sung" > Like Clark, I'm "a pretty thorough guy when it comes to details." > I've read the debates on ages of our supporting characters. Since I > used to be sort of a family historian for my family, I thought I'd > create a Lois & Clark family tree for "future reference" (read: should > I ever write a story of my own). If you want to use it as part of > your story, go ahead. If you want to comment on this, go ahead. > Everything is subjective, anyway. If this was a dissertation, then my > "oral defence" follows. Oh, Felix, and I just sent my genealogy and story to the Archive, but I'm watching this and the answers for my sequel. I made the assumption that we could use Clark as Martha's maiden name as well. Thanks for the work, and thanks Ann for the additional comment. klair El hess2@mindspring.com ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 16:04:48 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rachel Madden Subject: Thanks, everyone! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi - I just wanted to thank everyone for the great comments that everyone gave me...you certainly gave me a ton of ideas! You guys are great! I'll have the ending out as soon as possible, or I'll probably go stir-crazy just thinking about all of this stuff! Again, thank you so much! -Rachel :) ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 13:38:27 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: Family tree MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Felix , I liked your family tree. However, I;m writing a story in which I have given Lois a birthday in October and for my purposes it will have to stay there. She is a Libra and l967 is right too. Jude ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 17:31:55 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: The Zoomway Subject: Re: Revealing Cruise pt. 2 comments MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/23/99 11:45:00 AM Central Daylight Time, sirenegold@YAHOO.COM writes: << I am so sorry. I feel I misrepresented myself a little bit. It is true that I don't like the word 'baby' as an endearment, however, I would never dream of telling anyone that they could not use it. I find it distracting and it disturbs my concentration on a story, however, it would never prevent me from reading or from enjoying a well written story which yours tend to be. >> A lot of issues came up that reminded me of something Dana said of fanfic on the IRC, that it is a form of fiction where the writer willingly accepts certain parameters established by others (canon). If I were writing comic book fanfic, for example, I would have Clark call his parents "Ma" and "Pa", because he does not call them "Mom" and "Dad" in the comics. For a Lois and Clark fan, though, that would really be distracting to read. I would not, however, confuse comic book canon with Lois and Clark canon. The two mediums, though similar, are *not* the same. It was obvious in the pilot episode that Lois and Clark was not going to attempt to adhere to comic book canon. Clark already showed up in Metropolis wearing glasses long before he decided he needed a "disguise", he didn't go to the University of Metropolis, Lois' parents were divorced, Cat Grant did not have a child (thank heavens ;) and Perry was from the South and loved Elvis. All of that just from the show's first season, and all of it running contrary to the established comic book canon of the era. Maybe Lois and Clark was an "Elseworld" version of the comics ;) I must say I was thrilled that Lois figured it out for herself that Clark was Superman on the series rather than having to be told. Now, having said all that, write what you want Seriously, if you're not getting paid to write and don't have an editor as your boss (or a network), then do what you like. Not everyone will agree with it and some will even tell you so, but unlike being a writer for the show, they won't accuse you of being a "hack", "idiot", "only writes for the money and doesn't care about the characters", "should be fired", and those are just some of the cleaner things I remember being said by some fans over the years regarding various L&C writers;) The best part is, you didn't have to hear what the writers said about fans who wrote such appraisals Always keep in mind that advice is merely that -- advice, and *only* welcome if a writer *asks* for that advice. If, for example, you ask "does this seem in character for (whoever)" and you get some who say it is, and some who say it isn't, don't sweat it. However, if several people say it is out of character, then consider changing it since you asked for that particular bit of input and so it must have been important to you. It's like the old saying "if one person says you don't look well, don't worry, but if five people say it, call your doctor". If canon isn't a high priority, then don't adhere to it, however, If canon gets too abaft of the beam, you may hear a comment like the one that was brought up on IRC about an old fanfic, "That was a well-written story, and what a coincidence, the main characters were named Lois and Clark" ;) With something like endearments, if it works for you, then it works for you even if it might be distracting to others. I remember in the comics when Lois and Clark would occasionally call each other "babe" and I hated that. It *really* grated on me, yet it was canon ;) Thankfully, I never wrote comic book fanfic or I'd have been faced with the dilemma of giving them new endearments or just having them call each other "Lois" and "Clark" Zoom (PS: I used "you" in this post meaning "any writer" basically, I'm not addressing a specific writer) ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 17:41:18 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: comics endearments (Was Re: Revealing Cruise pt. 2 comments) In-Reply-To: <0.f3b7f629.2543834b@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 5:31 PM -0400 10/23/99, The Zoomway wrote: > I remember in the comics when Lois and >Clark would occasionally call each other "babe" and I hated that. It *really* >grated on me, yet it was canon ;) Don't they also call each other "lover"? That one always cracked me up. ;) Kathy ______________________ Kathy Brown kathyb@springnet1.com kathyb@lcfanfic.com KathyB on IRC ______________________ ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 20:07:27 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: The Zoomway Subject: Re: comics endearments (Was Re: Revealing Cruise pt. 2 comments) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/23/99 5:39:57 PM Central Daylight Time, kathyb@SPRINGNET1.COM writes: << Don't they also call each other "lover"? That one always cracked me up. ;) >> Yes, and "hon", which sounds completely "Father Knows Best" to me I'd even prefer "lunkhead" as an endearment ... in the best sense of the word, of course ;) Zoom (and Lois calls Clark "Smallville" in the comics like in the animated series. Heaven forbid it be something like "farm boy" ;) ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 18:20:28 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: NEW FANFIC: Doppelganger Part 4 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Summary: Everyone always assumed H.G. Wells was responsible for the magical appearance of the baby in "The Family Hour". But what if he wasn't? Doppelganger: Part 4 by Nan Smith Lois put the phone down with a hand that was suddenly trembling. What was going on here? All these weird things had been happening to her in less than twenty-four hours. Did they really have a stalker, as Inspector Henderson suggested? "Lois? What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost." Perry was standing beside her desk, looking down at her with concern. "Oh, nothing." Lois made a face. "Another crank phone call." "'Another' crank phone call? Has there been more than one?" "Yeah." She debated for a moment. "There was one last night. And some car tried to run me off the road yesterday evening. Henderson thinks we might have a stalker." "Judas Priest! Why didn't you tell me before?" "What could you have done?" Lois shrugged. "Henderson's investigating." Perry looked somewhat at a loss. "Yeah, well, Clark knows, doesn't he?" "Of course he knows, Chief. It was all I could do to get him to leave me by myself long enough for him to run to the grocery store last night. I'll be all right. Don't worry about it." Perry clearly wasn't convinced, but he allowed the subject to drop. "Jimmy tells me you have him checking up on Luthor's old cloning buddies." Lois tried to subdue a flash of irritation. "Why does everybody get worried when that subject comes up? Clark and I are running down leads on the fire in Adrian Bender's office last night, and the bomb that blew up his car, that's all. There might be a connection with a file the police think was stolen from his office and the old cloning experiments. Does that make everybody happy? Good. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to drop the matter of my involvement with the whole clone thing and get on with my job." Perry held up his hands, placatingly. "Okay, okay. Sorry, honey. I won't say another word about it." "Good." She took a breath. "Sorry, Perry. I don't mean to get mad, but all this weird stuff happening to us since last night has been a little upsetting. CJ was in the car with me when that nut tried to run me off the road, and somebody broke into our house this morning and searched his nursery. I'm more worried about him than anything else." Her editor nodded. "I can understand that. I don't want anything happening to my godson, either. You know, I've said it before, but if you ever need somebody to watch him for you, well, Alice and I would love to do it. There's nothin' she likes better than babies, and I was pretty good with a diaper pin in my day, too." He paused, then added, "And if you feel like you need to put him somewhere safe, sometime--just until this thing's cleared up, you know--well..." "Thanks, Chief," Lois said. "Clark and I might take you up on that sooner than you think." She looked past him as Jimmy approached. "Did you find what I needed, Jimmy?" "Some of it." Jimmy glanced at Perry with a worried look. "I don't think you're going to like it, though." "What is it?" "Well..." Jimmy set the printout he carried on her desk. "Asabi's got this little mysticism shop over on Birch Street. He was never even arrested. Nobody could prove he'd had anything to do with the clone thing. They didn't consider your statement to be convincing evidence." "No kidding," she said, unhappily. "How about Superman?" "Well, he never really saw Asabi, you know. Hearsay isn't considered admissible." "Yeah, I know. I guess it never occurred to me to ask about him. I kind of had my mind on other things. How about the others?" "The lab workers claimed they didn't really know what Mamba was up to, that he did all the high tech stuff, and that they didn't know Luthor was giving the orders. The charges were dropped." "Of course," Lois said. "And Mamba? I hope he's still in prison, at least?" Jimmy shook his head. "Sorry. His lawyer got him out on a technicality, last May. He disappeared right after that. Nobody's seen him since." "Why not?" She threw up her hands. "So everybody walked away scot-free. It figures." "Well, except Luthor," Jimmy pointed out. "At least he got what he deserved." "Not in my book," Perry said, with uncharacteristic venom. "If I'd had my way he'd have roasted over a slow fire. People like him never get what they deserve." Lois felt her eyebrows rise. She'd had no idea Perry felt so strongly about Lex Luthor and his misdeeds. It made sense, though. Her editor had always been more like a father to her than her real one, and was more protective of her than anyone else except Clark, sometimes to her vast annoyance. And, of course, there was what Luthor had tried to do to the Planet. "It's probably just as well you didn't have your way, then," she said, lightly. Perry gave an embarrassed grin. "Yeah. Well, better get back to work. You let me know if anything else weird happens, you hear?" "Sure, Perry." She turned back to Jimmy. "See if you can track down Mamba. I don't like the fact that he's vanished like that, especially with this thing about Bender. He could be behind it. I'm going to try to get hold of Bobby Bigmouth, too, and see what he can find out." "Well, I'll try," Jimmy said. "Don't get your hopes too high, though." "Hey, look at that!" Lucille Evans's voice said suddenly. The young intern was pointing at the newsroom monitors. "Superman's in Japan!" Lois turned to watch with the rest and was rewarded with the sight of her husband carrying a young woman out of the wreckage of a building. The announcer was saying that this was a hospital in Kyoto, which seemed to be one of the main casualties of the quake. Amazingly enough, the hospital was one of only four structures that had received much damage, and that only to one wing. Lois hoped there wouldn't be many casualties, not only for the sake of the victims but for Clark's as well. Clark might be virtually invulnerable, physically, but emotionally was another story. Superman's heart was surprisingly soft, and she suspected that being unable to help someone in need hurt him more than he would ever admit, even to her. With a sigh, she turned back to her desk. She phoned Bobby Bigmouth, who promised to try to discover the whereabouts of Mamba, but told her that since his release from prison, upstate, there had been no word of him at all. * * * * * Since CJ had entered their lives, Lois had formed the habit of leaving work on time instead of staying until all hours, so she was ready to leave at four in the afternoon. She and Clark had been lobbying the people upstairs for a day care center in the Daily Planet building itself for several weeks now, but so far the powers-that-be had remained adamant. Lois figured that eventually they could be worn down, but in the meantime CJ spent his day at the Little Cherubs' Day Care Center. Lois couldn't imagine who had thought up such a name, but the staff was competent, and genuinely loved children, so she and Clark, after researching just about every such facility in the vicinity of the Daily Planet, had chosen it for CJ. Now she exited the Daily Planet's underground parking lot from the rear of the building and turned out onto the street. It had been a stressful day, not so much in the physical sense, but emotionally--well, she didn't want to have to repeat it. Bobby Bigmouth called back, eventually, with the unsurprising news that no one he knew had a clue as to Mamba's whereabouts. Jimmy had come up as dry. And then the bouquet of a dozen long-stemmed red roses had arrived for her. At first she had been pleased at the thought that Clark must have sent them. Only, the writing on the card was not her husband's. It said merely, "Love," with no signature. Lois unhesitatingly threw the card in the trash and bestowed the roses on the fashion editor, to that lady's blank astonishment. Now, as she turned left onto the side street, the thought of picking up CJ and heading for home to a hot bath and dinner was uppermost in her mind. Clark would probably be back this evening. The reports of the Kyoto earthquake were more reassuring than they had been earlier. Casualties were minimal, and Superman and the city emergency services apparently had gotten the situation well under control. She hoped it wouldn't be long before he got back. She was tired, and the thought of spending the evening alone, except for the baby, wasn't appealing. She had gone no more than three blocks before she noticed the car that was following her. --------------------- (to be continued) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 01:23:26 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Tara Smith Subject: The Black Circle part 6 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ok, here is another segment of my ever-evolving story (actually, I think that describes a lot of stories being written now :-) Like always, let me know what you think, whether it is good, bad or neither. The Black Circle part 6 Eric crouched at the edge of the rooftop, peering down at what had been the Black Circle's headquarters. "Now what'll we do?" he moaned. "Without our altar . . ." "We don't need the altar, stupid! It was just a prop! We can make another one." She dropped the cigarette butt and twisted it out with one heel. She had been chain-smoking since they'd been forced to flee their hideout a few hours ago. She turned to their leader, Stapleton Love, who had been silent while they watched the police. "Right, master?" "What? Right," he nodded sharply. "The altar is not necessary." He paused in consideration for a moment. "The time is only a few days away. If we are to have the necessary power we must hurry." Marge lit another cigarette. "Tell us what to do, Master." "Get your acolytes and go gather more subjects. Marge, take the south quadrant. Eric, take the east. I will take the north. Make sure they are good ones and meet me at the alternate meeting area at midnight tomorrow night." He cast a disgusted look at his two underlings. "Be careful. They will be looking for us, now. If you are caught . . ." The two paled in fear before hurrying out of their master's sight. Stapleton strode over to the edge of the rooftop to stare down at a certain figure in red and blue. "Success will be ours!" ------------- "Maggie! Are you in? Open the door!" Lois pounded on the door to Maggie's apartment. The day was appropriately gloomy, with menacingly dark clouds overhead, and a prediction of heavy rains. This suited Lois' mood well. "Maggie! Open up!" She peered in through the windows, trying to get a glimpse of the interior of the apartment through the blinds. Finally, the door opened to show an extremely sleepy looking Maggie. She was dressed in a bathrobe and had a steaming mug in one hand. "Lois?" Lois pushed her way past and into the apartment. "Close the door, Maggie. We've got a problem." Maggie did so, then followed Lois into the kitchen. "What's wrong?" Lois turned and strode nervously around the small room. "Did I say problem? I meant a minor problem. Actually, more like a minor confusion. A really, really small one." Maggie looked confused. "Lois? What's the matter?" Lois turned to face Maggie. "Clark's missing." "What?" Maggie put her mug on the table. "He didn't come home last night and nobody's seen him since early yesterday afternoon." Maggie nodded slowly. "You want me to take a look around for him?" "Yes. There's just one little thing you should know, first." Lois took a deep breath. "Clark is. . ." "I know, Lois," Maggie interrupted. She drew a "S" across her chest with one finger. "When did you . . .how did you . . ?" "Come on, Lois. Did you really think a pair of glasses and some hair gel would fool me for long?" She smiled briefly. "Give me a minute to change and I'll go look." Lois nodded and leaned back against the counter, relieved. She'd talk to Maggie about Clark's secret later. Maggie ran out of the room, then blurred back into the kitchen wearing her black skin-tight outfit. She brushed some lint off of the small S-shield she wore on her left shoulder and grinned tightly at Lois. "I'll meet you at the Planet in two hours if I don't find anything." Lois nodded and ran for the door. Behind her, she heard the familiar whoosh as Maggie went out the window. ---------------- "Ms. Lane," a strange woman said as she came up to Lois' desk. She was dressed professionally in a way that said 'official' to Lois. She was also holding out an FBI badge. "I'm Special Agent Cindy Reed. I'm Agent Sowell's partner. May I speak with you for a minute?" Lois paused in the act of sitting down. She reflexively hid the Double Crunch Fudge Bar she had been unwrapping in her purse. She had just gotten back from sending Maggie out to search for Clark. She had intended to tell Maggie that Clark was Superman to make her search a little easier, just as she and Clark had agreed to do if the need arose, but had been surprised by the revelation that Maggie already knew. She'd have to ask the girl how she'd figured out Clark's secret later, when they had time for a long talk. She had come directly back to the Planet after meeting with Maggie, hoping that Clark would have come back to the Planet, or, if nothing else, she could call her sources and find out if Superman had been sighted anywhere since the night before. Instead, she was going to have to talk to this FBI agent. She quelled her resentment at the interruption and nodded perfunctorily. "Of course." Lois waved Agent Reed to a chair. "Somewhere private?" Lois looked around the busy newsroom and nodded. "This way." She led the agent to one of the conference rooms. Once they were in, she closed the door firmly and pulled the blinds, ensuring their privacy. Agent Reed motioned Lois to a chair and sat on the edge of the conference table. "Ms. Lane, have you seen Superman recently?" "As in the past five minutes? No." "Superman may be in grave danger, Ms. Lane. Have you seen him since last night?" Lois shook her head. "No, I haven't. But he's Superman. How could he possibly be in danger?" "From the Black Circle." At Lois' look of disbelief, she elaborated. "The Black Circle has done some . . . hard to believe things in the past. You might even term what they do magic." "I refuse to believe magic could be real. It's fantasy!" "Ms. Lane, magic, or at least what we call magic, is very real. I can prove it to you." "Please, do." Lois folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. Agent Reed stood and removed her jacket, revealing a short sleeve blouse underneath, as well as a shoulder holster. She also removed her wristwatch and placed it and her jacket on the table. "What are you doing?" Lois asked. "I'm proving magic is real." Agent Reed turned to face Lois. She shifted her stance slightly, so that she was standing completely straight and held her hands before her, palms out, and closed her eyes. For a minute nothing happened, then something shadowy began to form between them. Lois stared in stunned silence as a figure began to take shape. After another minute, Lois began to make out details in the form. Then it came completely into focus. "That's me!" Agent Reed opened her eyes and lowered her hands. Abruptly the image vanished. "An illusion of you, to be precise. Something like a hologram, only with me as the projector. Now do you believe me?" Lois nodded. "But if that's all they can do . . ." "Its not. That's all I can do without any preparation. I specialize in banishings and lower planar entity containment. They can do much, much more. That's why Superman is in danger. They were going to cast a spell on him of some kind. I wasn't able to find out much before I was forced to blow my cover to rescue my partner last night." She picked up her watch and jacket and put them back on. "Now, I ask you again, have you seen Superman recently?" "When I saw Superman last night, he was acting . . . strangely." "Strangely? How?" "Well, he was extremely rude to Sara, and he acted like he didn't know me at all when I went to talk to him." "That's right, you and your husband are friends of Superman. Can we get in contact with Sara?" "She's out searching for Superman right now. She told me she was planning on calling in if she found anything." "Ms. Lane, she could be in danger right now. Is there any way you can contact her?" Someone rapped on the conference room door then opened it. Jimmy Olson poked his head through the opening. "Lois, call for you on line 3." "Thanks, Jimmy." Lois picked up the phone and punched a button. "Lois Lane." "Hi, Lois. Its me." "Sara? What have you found?" Agent Reed moved closer to the phone. "I didn't find Superman, but I did find something unusual. Joy Sowell has left the hospital." "What? When was this?" "I'm not sure. I spotted her talking to this guy with the Black Circles symbol tattooed onto his wrist." She paused for a moment, then said, "I've gotta go. She's on the move. Remind me to get a cell phone after this, ok?" "What's going on?" Agent Reed asked. Lois spoke quietly to the FBI agent. "Agent Sowell has left the hospital. She was seen talking to a man with a tattoo of . . ." "The symbol of the Black Circle on his wrist." Agent Reed paled. "We've got more problems than I thought." She chewed her lip for a moment. "Can Sara grab Joy and bring her to us?" Lois spoke into the phone again. "Sara?" "I heard. I think I can. Where should I bring her?" "My brownstone. We'll meet you there." "Sure. See you there." "Be careful, Sara. These people are dangerous." "You got it, Lois." There was a click as Maggie hung up. "Let's go," Lois told the agent. The left the conference room and headed for the elevators. tbc . . . ----------------------------------------------- FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 01:28:12 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Tara Smith Subject: Re: S5, Eps 1 and 2 review Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Don't worry! I will finish it! It is the will of . . . just a minute here (rummaging through a mountain of paper and holding up one piece in triumph) . . . the Will of the *Readers* that I finish it! Tara ------Original Message------ From: Charlotte Fisler To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Sent: October 23, 1999 4:19:24 PM GMT Subject: Re: S5, Eps 1 and 2 review In a message dated 10/21/99 7:05:53 AM !!!First Boot!!!, jilectan@EMAIL.COM writes: << I'll have to check it out. Thanks! I'm thinking of writing something about it, myself, after I finish the Black Circle (if I finish it! /me closes eyes "I think I can, I think I can! ) Tara >> Keep saying that to yourself Tara until it's done. You have to finish it. I can't stand the suspense. Charlotte ----------------------------------------------- FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 09:48:35 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Tara Smith Subject: Re: First Draft: Gossip has it that... Introduction Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I really don't have any suggestions on how to improve the story--don't worry I'm sure some people here will!--but I did want to let you know that I liked it. It was nice to see some of these events from Jimmy's pov. He's kind of one of my 2 favorite characters on the show, after all :-) Tara ------Original Message------ From: Nicole Wolke To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Sent: October 22, 1999 8:38:02 PM GMT Subject: First Draft: Gossip has it that... Introduction TITLE: Gossip has it that... PART: Introduction AUTHOR: Nicole Wolke NKWolke@eifel-net.net RATING: PG FEEDBACK: It's a "work in progress" so any kind of feedback, comment and editing in any way, public or private is really appreciated. SUMMARY: Jimmy reflects about Lane and Kent, the "hottest team in town" while fighting is nervousness during a Kerth Award Show. ***** INTRODUCTION The following story has been on my keyboard for more than a year now. I never wanted to bother my editor with it, because I felt so unsure about it. Although it has a beginning and an end, I still think it's unfinished and unsatisfactory. When people started posting stories "in progress" on the list lately, I thought that would be the perfect opportunity for me to finally come to terms with this story. I hope you guys will be able to help me out of my dilemma. My problem with the story is: I don't see the point! When I started to write, I thought the premise could be interesting and that it could be funny to watch the love-story between Lois and Clark through another person's eyes, but when I wrote it, and even more when I finished it almost a year ago, I wasn't so sure anymore. I think that maybe too much of it is too well known to the readers. Jimmy's perspective doesn't seem really "new" to me and I'm afraid most of the readers will just "scroll down" and think: "Okay, and where is the *new* stuff now?" So I thought I'd ask you all: Is there a point in this story? Is there a reason to read it? What could I do to spice it up a little bit? What could I bring in that would be new and interesting to read? Or, if you think nothing could spice it up, then please tell me so, too, because I really want to know honest comments here. I thought about throwing the story into the garbage more than once. On the other hand, it was a lot of work and the first story I wrote completely in English so I *felt* a little bit attached and didn't want to give up on it so easily. So if maybe someone had a really great idea how I could improve the story, I would be extremely grateful! Nicole -- AKA CKgroupie on IRC NKWolke@eifel-net.net "Thou shalt remember the Eleventh Commandment and keep it Wholly." Robert A. Heinlein ----------------------------------------------- FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 08:43:53 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: PJ Piasecki Subject: Re: Revealing Cruise pt. 2 comments MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/23/99 11:31:25 AM Central Daylight Time, Cdfisler@AOL.COM writes: << And that is, I think, what she is telling him when she says she never thought of herself as a honey, but she likes it. Personally, I tend to think that context rather than the word used is more important. Ex. I am much more offended by salespeople who lean over and smile and call me honey or dear. I'm not their honey and don't want to be. I think the endearments that two people use privately to one another are their own business. >> Delurking here, just for a moment, to add my two cents. My husband and I have a few names we call each other in private (frankly, *baby* is one of the least silly of the names we use ) that are special to us. We don't use them in front of anyone else - that's what makes them special. BTW - I, too, am offended when a salesperson calls me honey or sweetie or any of the other patronizing names I've been called. It's tacky. Piper ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 14:01:32 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Subject: Fanfic Recommendation: The Reluctant Superman MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Yay!!! Richard Mobile gives us part two of his wonderful Elseworld series Life In A Different World. S P O I L E R S P A C E If anything - and I would have said this was impossible after reading part one - this is even better than the original. And that's saying something! I was enthralled throughout. Richard's characterisations are beautifully worked. I've rarely met a Clark that I've so wanted to hug or slap in total frustration or feel sorry for. I felt so happy for him when he got the call from Martha and was almost in tears myself when it all went so tragically wrong. And Lois - even as an alternate - is spot on. Her badgering of poor Clark and her determination to make him become Superman was wonderful to read. There were so many scenes in this one that made me LOL. Especially Clark's reactions to Lois continually interrupting him with a new rescue to attend when he wanted to write up his story instead. Then there was Clark's 'punishing' of Lois and his attempt to show her he could *too* be a 'real' Superman : ******* It was with great triumph that Superman floated gently to the ground after dousing a fire at the gasoline station on 21st Street several hours later--his fifth super feat during that time. Taking care to land directly in the path of the intrepid reporter Lois Lane, he nevertheless did not look in her direction. "Yes, miss?" he said, gesturing toward a pretty young blond reporter. "What was your question again, please?" ******* Which is, incidentally, followed by a classic, blistering put-down by Lois. That'll teach him. And: ****** "Get up!" said Lois briskly. "You should go home and get some sleep." You mean I'm allowed to sleep? "Mfffnnn." "You've got to have strength to come out again tomorrow." Clark shook his head and buried his face in his arms. "I'm not doing this tomorrow," he said, his voice muffled. "Yes, you are," said Lois. "No, I'm not." "Yes, you are!" said Lois, her voice rising. "You have to! We *need* you!" *********** LOL. Guess who won? All of this, packaged into a world which, as before, is complex and detailed and works seamlessly. I can't wait for part three! As for those of you who haven't caught up with this one and its predecessor yet - dash over to the Archive now and do yourselves a favour! You won't regret it, trust me! LabRat :) Doc. Klein's LabRat labrat@starlabs.fsnet.co.uk PLEASE NOTE MY NEW EDDRESS! "Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative" - Oscar Wilde "Conscience is the inner voice that warns us someone may be looking." -- H. L. Mencken ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 13:07:49 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yael Kfir Subject: Re: So... That's What You've Been Hiding Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey, better late than never! :c) Christine, I'm not really good at writing reviews, but I remember that authors complained they're not getting any feedback about their stories. Someone suggested that if you liked a story, just write something like: "It was wonderful. I really had a great time." So here I go - it was really wonderful, and I did have a great time reading it. Fics that deals with pre-relationship and newly-together Lois and Clark are my favorites, and yours join to my personal hall of fame. Yael. ---------------------------------- If knees were backwards, what would chairs look like? __________________________________________________ FREE Email for ALL! Sign up at http://www.mail.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 13:17:12 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yael Kfir Subject: Not completely OT: Star Trek coincidence Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit 1 reason why Star Trek: The Next Generation is better then Star Trek, The Original Series - It has Teri Hatcher as a guest star! I was watching old eps of ST:TNG today, and suddenly I realized the lieutenant at the transporter room looks really familiar. (It was an episode from 1988.. ) Yael (who always liked TNG better, and not just because of Picard's *amazing* body... Yeah Baby!) --------------------------------- Early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese! -------------------------- Why is the word abbreviation so long? __________________________________________________ FREE Email for ALL! Sign up at http://www.mail.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 10:27:47 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Melisma Subject: Re: Not completely OT: Star Trek coincidence In-Reply-To: <390296334.940785432225.JavaMail.root@web20.pub01> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 01:17 PM 10/24/99 -0400, you wrote: >1 reason why Star Trek: The Next Generation is better then Star Trek, The >Original Series - > >It has Teri Hatcher as a guest star! > >I was watching old eps of ST:TNG today, and suddenly I realized the >lieutenant at the transporter room looks really familiar. (It was an episode >from 1988.. ) > > >Yael (who always liked TNG better, and not just because of Picard's >*amazing* body... Yeah Baby!) Yep yep - second season's The Outrageous Okona, Yael. Hilarious ep! Melisma ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 11:50:09 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: another fic fact check MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In his genealogy chart, Felix gave Ellen Lane's maiden name as Roberts. I don't know shy, but that doesn't ring true to me. For some reason I have thought of her as Ellen Curtis which would continue the L K sounds that the series writers were so fond of. Anybody know anything definitive from some specific episode? Also was Ralph's last name ever mentioned? What was it? Jude ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 16:14:51 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Clarissa Kent Organization: @Home Network Member Subject: Re: Fanfic Recommendation MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I just went over to the archives and read both of Richard Mobile's "Life in a Different World". They were two brilliantly written stories that have alot of meaning to them. I would just like to say congratulations to a job well done! Who ever has not read these stories, I suggest you do! I am really, looking forward to a sequel! (hint, hint!) :) Clarissa ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 16:22:40 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Tara Smith Subject: Re: Not completely OT: Star Trek coincidence Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hmm, I wonder if they could get Dean to guest star in Voyager . . . :-) ------Original Message------ From: Melisma To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Sent: October 24, 1999 5:27:47 PM GMT Subject: Re: Not completely OT: Star Trek coincidence At 01:17 PM 10/24/99 -0400, you wrote: >1 reason why Star Trek: The Next Generation is better then Star Trek, The >Original Series - > >It has Teri Hatcher as a guest star! > >I was watching old eps of ST:TNG today, and suddenly I realized the >lieutenant at the transporter room looks really familiar. (It was an episode >from 1988.. ) > > >Yael (who always liked TNG better, and not just because of Picard's >*amazing* body... Yeah Baby!) Yep yep - second season's The Outrageous Okona, Yael. Hilarious ep! Melisma "Always listen to the experts. They tell you what you can't do, and why. Then do it." Robert A. Heinlein ----------------------------------------------- FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 16:26:06 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Tara Smith Subject: Re: Fanfic Recommendation: The Reluctant Superman Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I have to second this one! I, too, want to see what happens next! ------Original Message------ From: LabRat To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Sent: October 24, 1999 1:01:32 PM GMT Subject: Fanfic Recommendation: The Reluctant Superman Yay!!! Richard Mobile gives us part two of his wonderful Elseworld series Life In A Different World. S P O I L E R S P A C E If anything - and I would have said this was impossible after reading part one - this is even better than the original. And that's saying something! I was enthralled throughout. Richard's characterisations are beautifully worked. I've rarely met a Clark that I've so wanted to hug or slap in total frustration or feel sorry for. I felt so happy for him when he got the call from Martha and was almost in tears myself when it all went so tragically wrong. And Lois - even as an alternate - is spot on. Her badgering of poor Clark and her determination to make him become Superman was wonderful to read. There were so many scenes in this one that made me LOL. Especially Clark's reactions to Lois continually interrupting him with a new rescue to attend when he wanted to write up his story instead. Then there was Clark's 'punishing' of Lois and his attempt to show her he could *too* be a 'real' Superman : ******* It was with great triumph that Superman floated gently to the ground after dousing a fire at the gasoline station on 21st Street several hours later--his fifth super feat during that time. Taking care to land directly in the path of the intrepid reporter Lois Lane, he nevertheless did not look in her direction. "Yes, miss?" he said, gesturing toward a pretty young blond reporter. "What was your question again, please?" ******* Which is, incidentally, followed by a classic, blistering put-down by Lois. That'll teach him. And: ****** "Get up!" said Lois briskly. "You should go home and get some sleep." You mean I'm allowed to sleep? "Mfffnnn." "You've got to have strength to come out again tomorrow." Clark shook his head and buried his face in his arms. "I'm not doing this tomorrow," he said, his voice muffled. "Yes, you are," said Lois. "No, I'm not." "Yes, you are!" said Lois, her voice rising. "You have to! We *need* you!" *********** LOL. Guess who won? All of this, packaged into a world which, as before, is complex and detailed and works seamlessly. I can't wait for part three! As for those of you who haven't caught up with this one and its predecessor yet - dash over to the Archive now and do yourselves a favour! You won't regret it, trust me! LabRat :) Doc. Klein's LabRat labrat@starlabs.fsnet.co.uk PLEASE NOTE MY NEW EDDRESS! "Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative" - Oscar Wilde "Conscience is the inner voice that warns us someone may be looking." -- H. L. Mencken ----------------------------------------------- FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 13:40:15 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: Fanfic Recommendation - The Reluctant Superman MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Just a word to those who have been enthusing about Mobile Richard's newest story, Life in a Different World Part 2 - The Reluctant Superman. The author is not a member of this fanfic list so you would be well advised to send a private email of praise and feedback. I have already because, as everyone has said already, this is one fantastic story! Irene ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 16:56:07 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: The Zoomway Subject: Re: Not completely OT: Star Trek coincidence MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/24/99 12:17:22 PM Central Daylight Time, zaglembia@MAIL.COM writes: << 1 reason why Star Trek: The Next Generation is better then Star Trek, The Original Series - It has Teri Hatcher as a guest star! >> Oh, that's right, she played a bimbo of some sort, didn't she? At any rate, the number one reason Star Trek the original series is better is because Dean Cain narrated the Star Trek classic segment on Science Fiction A Journey Into the Unknown. His introduction: "It's been said that few ideas in the history of television have inspired more passion and allegiance than Star Trek, which was created by Gene Roddenberry. Week after week devoted viewers were intrigued by the multicultural crew and enticed by the show's optimistic view of the future, which reflected the idealism of the 60s." And, at the end of the segment, "On June 3, 1969, Star Trek's original mission ended. Their mission continued in reruns, and soon everybody knew what their devoted fans had known all along, that Star Trek would become the cosmic cornerstone by which all other science fiction shows would be measured." Zoom (another coolly cosmic thing? Leonard Nimoy did the narration for the Lois and Clark segment! ;) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 17:17:54 -0500 Reply-To: truitt22@flash.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: timothy truitt Organization: tnt technical services Subject: Re: Fanfic Recommendation MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit DITTO CLARISSA merry Clarissa Kent wrote: > I just went over to the archives and read both of Richard Mobile's "Life > in a Different World". They were two brilliantly written stories that > have alot of meaning to them. I would just like to say congratulations > to a job well done! Who ever has not read these stories, I suggest you > do! I am really, looking forward to a sequel! (hint, hint!) > :) > > Clarissa ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 19:23:20 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Charlotte Fisler Subject: Re: Revealing Cruise pt. 2 comments MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I haven't read any posts since Saturday's, (except one yet), but I'm going to open my big mouth ahead of time and say I'm sorry I got upset over such a trivial matter that it bothered me for three whole days. I tend to be super sensitive sometimes, for no earthly reason and no one said anything to cause my over reaction. I'm sorry I did that. I'd like to blame it on stress over my car's transmission, but that's just an excuse. Also for those of you wondering about why I brought up Sounds of War, It's because I have always felt guilty for not speaking up at the time or writing that author to tell her how and why I loved her story so much. My mother-in-law, wise lady that she is, pointed out the obvious solution. Look her up and e-mail her now. And I will do so as soon as I check the archive or my copy of that piece. Charlotte ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 18:43:03 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: New Fanfic: Redemption - Introduction MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii A few months ago, there was a great deal of discussion on the list about a fanfic idea that involved Claude, Lois and the AIDS virus. The idea intrigued me a great deal. At the same time, I was not interested in writing a Claude story where 1. Claude returns to Metropolis, and 2. Lois and Clark get revenge on him in some way, shape or form. For one thing, in real life, there generally is no black nor white, but only shades of gray. In other words, no one is completely and irredeemably evil (although I've heard of some who come pretty close!). I wanted to write a story where it would be understandable that Lois had once had feelings for Claude, and I also wanted to explore the motivation for why Claude stole Lois's story. I also wanted to explore what the ramifications of that would be for Claude. Finally, maybe I'm a bit of a Pollyanna or something, but even though this story deals with very adult themes, (sexual abuse of a minor, AIDS, dying, etc.) at the same time, I wanted to write something which would be uplifting, and inspiring. Pretty big ambitions, I know. I hope that I've succeeded at least in part. Irene P.S. For the information of those who have been asking for Parts 9 and 10 of Starfire and Sunstorm, this is what I do when I have writer's block. I work on something else instead! ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 18:43:39 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: New Fanfic: Redemption Part 1 of 12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Title: Redemption Author: Irene Dutchak Parts: 12 Rating: PG13 Summary: Claude returns to Metropolis, suffering from the AIDS virus. Clark has a run-in with a victim of sexual abuse. Feedback: Both public and private is welcome, either to the list or to sirenegold@yahoo.com This fanfic is in no way, shape or form, related to any of my previous works. Please be warned that this is a much darker story with very adult themes. I would like to thank Charlotte, AKA Daydreamer 80 for giving me permission to use her story 'Just like Claude' as background material. I would never have been able to come up with a back-story about Claude and Lois as good as this one. I would also like to thank Nan Smith for her help relating to medical matters. Big thanks go to my fantastic editor Laurie. Additional thanks go to Ann McBride, and Diyan for their assistance with the French dialogue. Ann provided me with the correct accents for my French dialogue, however, I've been told that some word processing programs can't handle the accents so I have deleted them. This error is mine, not hers. Thanks also go to Lisa and Elena for their help with the Latin and English version of Last Rites. Thank you to my honorary editors, Carol Malo, Wendy Richards, Karen Ward, and Melisma for their great encouragement and feedback when I sent them incomplete versions of this story. And finally, thank you to all those who frequent both the fanfic list and the message boards for all your encouragement and feedback. Feedback to sirengold@yahoo.com please. All standard disclaimers apply. Redemption Irene Dutchak The young barely teenaged boy stepped out of the shower. His body was slender and hairless. Only his height held any promise of the man he should become. He grabbed his towel, wiped the steam from the mirror over the sink and dispassionately surveyed his naked form. Suddenly he whirled, grabbed the shampoo bottle, and hurled it at the mirror. Glass exploded outwards, covering his face and body with a thousand tiny nicks. Blood slowly trickled down, mixing with the moisture still on his body from his shower. He fell to his knees sobbing, heedless of the tiny shards of glass covering the floor. "No more! No more! No more!" he chanted as he beat his fists impotently against the floor. *** Clark Kent leaned back in his chair and sighed contentedly as he watched his wife work. He smiled to himself when she unconsciously caressed her stomach. Under her clothes, there was a tiny, perfect bulge, too small to be noticed by an ordinary observer. Lois was nearing the end of her third month of pregnancy. Clark had almost persuaded her that it was time to share the news with their friends but she wanted to wait until she was completely done her first trimester. Although Dr. Klein had told them that everything was progressing normally, they both couldn't help but be worried about this pregnancy that was so long hoped for. Clark's head snapped upright. He jumped to his feet before he fully realised the gravity of what he was hearing. And what he was hearing sounded serious indeed. Screams. Lots of them. Coming from kids at the nearby high school. He caught his wife's eye as she reached for her ringing phone. Making a quick, unobtrusive hand gesture to her, he darted from the room, dashed up the stairs, emerged on the roof and, almost simultaneously, spun into his suit and launched himself into the air. If Clark had been a minute later leaving, he would have seen Lois turning white as a sheet as she listened to the voice from her past on the other end of the telephone line. *** As Clark neared the high school, he could see a steady stream of teenagers, mixed with the odd adult, pouring out of the school. The police hadn't arrived yet. He caught sight of an older black woman by the main doors. He recognised her from previous goodwill visits as the Principal, Mrs. Phillips. She seemed to be directing the kids as they emerged. He landed lightly in front of her. "Superman, thank God you're here!" Her face was pasty and sweaty. He could hear her heart beating raggedly as she struggled to calm down. "What's going on?" he asked. "Just a minute, Superman." She snagged an older man as he came through the doors. "Mark, take over here, please. I want to talk to Superman." She stumbled as she started to move away from the doors. Clark offered her his arm, which she took with a weak smile. "I think you need to sit down. Look. We can sit down right over there." He led her to the nearby bench and watched as she sat down shakily. "What's going on?" he repeated. "A student with a gun. He just marched in and told everyone in the hall to get out." "Did he say what he wanted?" "No. But Superman, I don't understand. Corey's a good kid. He could never hurt anyone. I know this kid." The exodus of children from the school had slowed to a trickle. A young girl stumbled out and caught sight of the two of them talking. She ran towards them waving her arms frantically. "Mrs. Phillips, Superman, I have to talk to you." *** Sitting in his office, out of the corner of his eye, Perry caught sight of Clark darting out of the newsroom. "Where in Sam Hill is he going now?" he muttered to himself. He pushed himself to his feet and emerged from his office in time to see Lois turn white as a ghost. She was clutching her phone so tightly he could see her knuckles jutting out from her skin. As he made his way over to her, she turned pale green and started to gasp for air. He knew that look. He started to run and got there just in time. She slammed her phone down, turned to get up and immediately retched into the garbage can he held under her chin. She was thoroughly sick. Finally, her paroxysms slowed to a stop. She looked up at him shakily. "Perry, I'm sorry." "It's okay." He patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. "Do you feel better now?" "Not really. But I think I'll live." She glanced around the newsroom, looking to see if anyone else had witnessed her agitated state. Fortunately, no one seemed to have noticed. Or, if they had, they were making a point of looking away. "What happened, Lois?" Perry asked in concern. "You got some news, I can tell. That's not just the stomach flu." "I can't talk about it, Perry. I ... I'm sorry. I just, I just can't talk about it." Lois got to her feet and started hesitantly moving towards the elevator. "I have to go. Tell Clark I went home." "That's okay, honey. You're obviously not feeling well. Do you want me to drive you?" "No, thanks. I'll be fine." She pushed the elevator's call button. Perry eyed her dubiously. She still looked very pale and was obviously very shaky. But he couldn't force her to accept help. As the elevator doors closed behind her, Jimmy ran into the newsroom. "Perry, there's a hostage situation at JFK High." "What are you waiting for? Get your camera and get going." Jimmy turned tail and headed for the stairs. Perry muttered to himself, "Judas Priest, I have two award winning journalists on staff. One is sick and the other one's gone ... again." *** "It's Corey, Mrs. Phillips! He ran into the science lab and told all the kids to leave. He's there alone with Mr. Collins." The young girl gasped for air as she imparted her information to the Super-hero and the older woman. Over her shoulder, Clark could see Inspector Henderson approaching. He ignored the police officer to focus on the young teenager. "What's your name?" he asked. "Julie. I'm a good friend of Corey's. I don't know what's going on, or why he would do this." Tears spilled from her eyes as she spoke. Clark took her hand and sat down with her on the bench beside Mrs. Phillips. "Julie, are you sure you don't know anything about this?" "I know he didn't like Mr. Collins. He tried to quit science, but Mr. Collins and Mrs. Phillips wouldn't let him." Her eyes darted from his face to Mrs. Phillips. Mrs. Phillips explained, "It's true, Superman. Corey did want to quit but I don't just let kids quit and have a gap in their curriculum. They have to replace one course with another. It was too late in the semester for Corey to pick up another class so he was informed that he had to stay in his science class." Clark frowned as he thought this over. "Okay, Julie, Mrs. Phillips. Thanks for your help. I have to talk to the police now and give them this information." Julie gasped and started to cry. She clutched at the Principal who wrapped her arms around the young girl. "Please don't let the police hurt him, Superman. He's my friend." Mrs. Phillips nodded and agreed, "He is a good kid, Superman. I just don't understand this at all." The Super-hero nodded at them in acknowledgement of their words, and got up from the bench. He walked rapidly over the grass towards Inspector Henderson. *** Lois stumbled out of the elevator. She looked blindly around the lobby of the Daily Planet building. She set off out the doors of the Planet building, focused on her self-imposed task. *** Clark quickly filled Inspector Henderson in on the scant information that he had gleaned from his conversation with Julie and with Mrs. Phillips. "I have a bad feeling about this, Superman. This sounds like a personal vendetta against the teacher - what was his name - Keith Collins?" "I agree. I think it would be a good idea if I took a quick scan to see what's going on in there. Do you want me to go in?" "Head in if the situation warrants it. Otherwise, I would prefer you to wait for our negotiator to arrive." Clark stepped back from the police officer. He flexed his knees to launch himself in the air when he was interrupted. "Superman, Superman! I forgot to tell you something." Julie waved her arms trying to regain his attention. "What is it, Julie?" "Corey's a huge fan of yours. He's kept every newspaper article ever printed about you. He showed me. He has a big scrapbook full of stuff about you. I think he would listen to you more than he would someone from the police." Clark looked at Inspector Henderson. "I guess this changes things, Superman. You're hereby approved to begin negotiations." "Thanks, sir. I'll do my best." Clark turned, zoomed up the steps and entered through the main door of the school. *** Lois drove over-cautiously to Star Labs. Normally an intuitive driver, she forced herself to focus completely on the road. When she looked back on this drive later, she had no idea how she had managed to get to Star Labs without having an accident. *** ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 18:44:10 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: New Fanfic: Redemption Part 2 of 12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Title: Redemption Author: Irene Dutchak Parts: 12 Rating: PG13 Summary: Claude returns to Metropolis, suffering from the AIDS virus. Clark has a run-in with a victim of sexual abuse. Feedback: Both public and private is welcome, either to the list or to sirenegold@yahoo.com Clark scanned the science room. Inside he could see a young blond boy training a gun on a cowering adult. Corey and Mr. Collins, he presumed. He paused for a moment, preparing himself mentally, before he would swoop in and disarm the child. Scanning the room again to double-check the positioning of the two people, he noticed something he had missed the first time. Sighing in relief, he smiled grimly. That changed everything. He tapped on the door and waited patiently. "Who is it?" the young voice quavered. "It's Superman." "Come in." He opened the door, entered the room and calmly surveyed the scene in front of him. A male teacher, Mr. Collins, sat at his desk. He wasn't a very attractive sight. His eyes darted wildly to and fro, and his mouth worked constantly as he swallowed nervously. He was a big man, muscle gone to fat, about fifty years old, and balding. Like so many men scared of losing their youth, he had carefully plastered his few remaining hairs over the top of his bald patch. His face was pale. His eyes locked on Clark, and he looked pleadingly at the Super-hero. The young boy holding the gun to the side of the teacher's head was a sorry sight. He had tiny cuts and nicks all over his face and his arms. Clark presumed they continued under the child's clothing. The boy had obviously made a slight attempt to clean his cuts up but he still had dried blood streaked all over. He looked like he was wearing a mask. His eyes were those of a frightened deer trapped in headlights, waiting for the truck to hit. His hands were shaking but he managed not to let the gun shake too much. "Don't come any closer, Superman," he warned. His voice wavered and broke, suddenly jumping from a shaky treble to a deeper timbre and back again. Clark had no desire to laugh at the incongruity however. This child looked like he was about to snap, and Clark did not want to be the one to make that happen. "It's all right. Relax. I'm not going to come any closer." The Super-hero sat down, floating in mid-air, facing the two of them. "Mr. Collins, are you all right, sir?" "Ye-e-s," was the shaky response. "Okay, Corey, can you tell me why you're doing this?" "You should be asking him, not me. Go ahead, Superman, why don't you ask him?" "Okay. Mr. Collins, sir, do you have any idea why Corey's holding you hostage?" Clark asked calmly. The teacher's eyes flicked back and forth between the angry student and the implacable Super-hero. He gave a quick shake of the head. "He's lying, you know, Superman. He knows exactly why I'm doing this." Corey spoke calmly. Clark could tell that the child was maintaining his control only with a great deal of difficulty. "Come on, Mr. Collins. Tell Superman why we're spending this quality time together. I'm sure he'd be fascinated. Don't you think so, Mr. Collins?" the boy taunted. Sweat trickled down the teacher's brow but he remained silent. "You mean, you don't want to tell him that you love me, that you want to spend time with me, that I'm everything to you?" The child spat his words out defiantly. "Is that true, sir?" Clark asked sternly. "Don't call him 'sir'! He doesn't deserve your respect! He's a pervert and he has to be stopped!" The Super-hero sat up straight. "Corey, did this man molest you?" "Ha," the child snorted. "Define 'molest'. If you mean he told me to stay after class every day 'just to talk', if you mean he rubbed his body onto mine every chance he got, if you mean he never let me have a minute's peace... If you mean all that, then yes, he molested me." "Did anything more happen?" Clark's expression turned even grimmer as he glared at the heavily perspiring teacher. "No, but I could tell it would have. I'm not stupid. He was getting worse all the time, trying to touch me more and more. I guess I just snapped." Corey waved the gun around illustrating his point. "I finally had enough. He wouldn't listen to me say 'no' so..." He shoved the gun back under the teacher's chin. "Are you listening now, Mr. Collins?" The teacher's head jerked in a quick nod. "Good!" Corey spat out sarcastically. "Didn't you report it?" "Yeah, that was a crock. I told Mr. Rumson. He didn't do anything." "Who's Mr. Rumson?" "The Vice-Principal." "He should have told the police." "He did. A guy named um, MacDonagh came to see me. He didn't do anything either. And I talked to a guy on the school board, Mr. Albertson. He didn't believe me either." This didn't sound kosher to Clark. He knew that normally this kind of complaint was taken very seriously and that the police normally bent over backwards to investigate this kind of complaint. Something else jumped out at him about all this too. *** Inspector Henderson wasn't just waiting patiently for Superman to do his job for him; he was busy deploying officers to deal with the half-hysterical students. In the midst of that chaos, he attempted to interview the Principal, Mrs. Phillips, and the Vice-Principal, Mr. Rumson. "Did either of you have any occasion to speak with this kid, uh, Corey..." He looked at his notes quickly. "...Vandenburg?" Hmmm, Vandenburg, Vandenburg, the name rang a bell, but he wasn't sure why. It was a common enough name. Mrs. Phillips shook her head. "Other than telling him that he couldn't drop science, which I've already explained to you, I didn't really talk to him that much other than to say 'hi' in the halls." "I only ever spoke to him about his science class too," Mr. Rumson replied as his eyes darted back to the school building. Inspector Henderson didn't know why but he was really picking up on some weird vibrations from this character. He didn't exactly suspect him of anything but... A Metro cab pulled up to the police barrier, and an obviously distraught woman clambered out, and looked around frantically, searching the crowd. Mrs. Phillips waved her arms to get the woman's attention. "It's Mrs. Vandenburg," she said under her breath. "Corey's mother." Inspector Henderson dispatched one of the uniformed cops, Officer MacDonagh to go and escort the woman through the barriers to him. As the pretty, strawberry-blonde woman approached, Inspector Henderson realised why Corey's last name was familiar. *** "What about your parents, Corey? You should have told them." Corey's composed veneer cracked. "My dad's dead. He was killed last year. My mom's been kind of a mess ever since. I couldn't tell her. She's worried enough about everything. How could I tell her?" Corey got more and more agitated as he spoke. "Oh, God!" he continued. "This is going to kill her. What have I done?" As Clark watched, the young boy pushed himself violently away from the science teacher, and slumped to the floor sobbing. Mr. Collins bolted for the door. Clark stopped him with a hand on the arm. "Don't go too far, Mr. Collins. Don't make me come looking for you," he said as he fixed the teacher with a steely glare. The man turned even paler but nodded in resignation. Clark let him leave, and then moved over beside Corey. The boy knelt on the floor, rocking back and forth, keening out his anguish. Clark knelt down beside him, gently pulled the boy into his arms, and rocked him like a baby. "Shh, Corey, it's going to be all right." "How can you say that? I pulled a gun on a teacher." "A gun with no bullets." "How...?" Corey stuttered. Clark smiled bleakly, half-amused in spite of himself. "I scanned the room before I knocked. You know, you're lucky I came through that door and not the police. They wouldn't have been able to tell the gun was empty, and things would have been a whole lot more serious. No, I looked and when I saw the gun was empty, I realised there was more going on here, and that I better listen to you." "I...I shouldn't have done this. This is going to kill my mother. I shouldn't have done this but I couldn't handle it any more. I just wanted it to stop. And no one believed me. Superman, I just wanted it to stop," Corey sputtered and half-sobbed. "That's the part that really bothers me, Corey. Someone should have believed you. I have two friends, reporters..." "Lois Lane and Clark Kent." Corey interrupted getting calmer as their conversation proceeded. Clark was shocked. In his experience, most teenagers didn't read the paper, and avoided hard news like the plague. "They write about you all the time, so I read their stuff," Corey explained. "Oh," Clark paused, embarrassed at the blatant hero worship, "anyway, I'd like to tell them what happened and have them look into why you weren't believed if that's okay with you." "Yeah, I guess." Corey paused, thinking hard. "What happens next?" "Next, we're going to walk out of here calmly. I'm going to hold on to the gun, and you and I are going to talk to Inspector Henderson. He's a good guy. He'll treat you fairly. I'm sorry to tell you that he will have to arrest you; he's not going to have a choice in the matter." Clark's heart went out to this poor misguided teenager. How horrible it must have been to have no one believe him. He had tried to report the molestation to the police, and the school. The big question, the question that caused all the bells and whistles to go off in his reporter's brain was why didn't anyone believe Corey. "How much trouble am I in, Superman?" "That's going to be up to the judge. There are extenuating circumstances, but you did bring a gun into the school. I know it wasn't loaded, but still ... We'll have to wait and see. I'll talk to the judge." "You will? Thank you." Corey roughly swiped his sleeve across his eyes, and snuffled a couple of times. "I think Clark and Lois will be a big help to you too. They can investigate Mr. Collins, and also try to find out why no one took you seriously." Corey nodded, and then pushed himself to his feet. "I guess this is it, right?" "Yes, are you ready?" Corey nodded and the two of them headed to the door. *** Dr. Klein became more and more agitated as he listened to Lois. Normally, when she was upset she delivered information in a rapid-fire manner, but today, she talked in fits and starts, with lots of awkward pauses. She finished and, eyes downcast, waited for his response. He thought for a long moment. He wasn't comfortable with clinical work, thinking that he could be too blunt for patients. He didn't want to be blunt now, as he was very much aware of Lois's fragile emotional state. Picking and choosing his words with care, he began. "Lois, I won't deny that it's a possibility. I never thought to check for that when I did the blood tests. I mean, I never knew that I had a reason to. I think, before we start speculating here, and getting all worked up, I should take more blood. Luckily I can do the test here. We don't want to send your blood out to an independent lab. They might pick up on some uh, anomalies caused by the baby and its unique... heritage. It'll take a about a week to process. Then we'll know. Okay?" She nodded sombrely as she rolled up her sleeve. *** ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 18:44:58 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: New Fanfic: Redemption Part 3 of 12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Title: Redemption Author: Irene Dutchak Parts: 12 Rating: PG13 Summary: Claude returns to Metropolis, suffering from the AIDS virus. Clark has a run-in with a victim of sexual abuse. Feedback: Both public and private is welcome, either to the list or to sirenegold@yahoo.com "Mrs. Vandenburg, I'm Inspector Henderson." The lanky police officer moved quickly to the side of the attractive, yet very distraught woman. "Where's Corey? I heard there's a kid in the school with a gun. Is Corey a hostage?" Inspector Henderson took both of her hands in his and spoke calmly. "Listen to me. Corey brought a gun to school today." She gasped in disbelief as he continued. "He hasn't fired it. He let all the other kids leave, and he's holding a teacher." "Why? Why would he do something like this?" "We don't know. But I don't want you to worry. Superman's here and he's gone in to talk to your son and to check on Mr. Collins. You know Superman's reputation. He doesn't want anyone to get hurt, and from what your son's friend told us, Superman's a hero to Corey. He'll defuse the situation. You'll see." As the police officer continued to talk in soothing platitudes, Mrs. Vandenburg cried quietly. The crowd noises suddenly got louder, alerting them that something had changed. Inspector Henderson looked up in time to see an adult stumble out the front door of the school. He was pasty-faced and sweating, and seemed to have trouble putting one foot in front of the other. Officer MacDonagh hurried to his side. The two men exchanged a couple of sharp words leaving Officer MacDonagh looking very unsettled. Inspector Henderson's eyes narrowed in thought as he watched MacDonagh head over to Rumson, and speak to him. Now Rumson looked upset. Inspector Henderson could tell something was up! He was about to approach his officer to ask what was happening, when even louder noises arose from the crowd. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Superman and a young boy emerge from the school. The Super-hero had his arm draped lightly around the young boy's shoulders. Before he could even start to move towards the two of them, Mrs. Vandenburg had run past him to her son's side. *** Clark flew quickly back to the general vicinity of the Planet. He was going to enjoy filing this story. Inspector Henderson had been more than sympathetic to Corey. Henderson had taken Clark aside and filled him in privately as to the details of Corey's father's death. Much as Clark was distressed that the boy had lost his father, this story would definitely make any judge more sympathetic. Inspector Henderson had already started asking hard questions about Officer MacDonagh's involvement in the whole situation, and he was also talking of interviewing the board member, Mr. Albertson. Mr. Rumson had been asked to make a 'voluntary' statement about his actions too. From the look on Mrs. Phillips' face, there would be more hard questions being asked after Rumson was done talking to the police. Good. They should have taken Corey's complaints seriously. Clark already had his suspicions as to what exactly had been going on with Collins, Rumson, MacDonagh, and Albertson. A pedophile ring. A conspiracy. Inspector Henderson suspected it too, but now the fun for the detective and the reporter would start - looking for proof. Clark could hardly wait to get back and tell Lois and Perry about this story. It had Kerth award written all over it. Thank heaven Corey had not been seriously abused. What he had suffered had been more than enough though. At least that was over for him. Clark landed in the convenient alley behind the Planet. He scanned the area, saw no one and spun quickly back into his street clothes. Bounding through the door of the Planet building, he felt too impatient to wait for the elevator, instead taking the stairs at a gallop. *** Lois sat on the window-seat in the living room, looking at the street outside the window. How could things have changed so quickly? They had been so happy this morning. How would she tell Clark? She dreaded his return; she didn't want to have to see the look in his eyes when she told him. *** Perry was on the phone when Clark approached his office. He could tell from the look on his reporter's face that he had a good story. He waved Clark in, and motioned to a chair while he finished his phone call. Perry hung up, and focused all his attention on Clark. Clark was so excited about this that all his words were tumbling out, one on top of the other. Clark was normally pretty enthusiastic about his work, but this was exceptional even for him. Perry could tell from the sounds of it that this was going to be a big story though. Clark's furious torrent of words slowed to a trickle and then to a full stop. He paused to catch his breath and then asked the inevitable question, the question that Perry was surprised he hadn't asked right away. "Where's Lois?" "She, uh, she wasn't feeling too well, Clark. Not sure if she had the stomach flu or not. She was pretty nauseous but I'm not sure, I think she was upset about something too." Clark smiled to himself. Lois had been feeling pretty ill at times ever since she got pregnant. This was the first time that she hadn't managed to hide it at work. Maybe he should go home and check on her. Clark thought about transcribing his notes first but, at second thought, decided to head home right away. *** Inspector Henderson was just leaving his precinct after a very long and tiring day, when he heard a sonic boom. He saw a streak flash straight up, disappearing from sight in literally a blink of the eye. Henderson put the minor mystery of what Superman was up to, out of his mind as he reflected on the events of the day. The whole incident could have ended so differently. Not for the first time, Henderson thanked his lucky stars that Superman had ended up in Metropolis. Corey Vandenburg was one good kid who had made one huge mistake. Henderson wasn't surprised that he actually liked the kid. Any child of Klaas Vandenburg's was bound to be a good kid. Henderson thought back to the circumstances surrounding Klaas's death. After it was all over, there had been no doubt in anyone's mind that the man was a bona-fide hero. Even though he was a Fire fighter, no one would have blamed him if he hadn't gone into the burning building. He had been off duty, and he hadn't had any of his bunker gear with him. For Vandenburg to dash unprotected into that building had been a real act of courage. He had got the kids out though, literally tossing a baby out of the flames and into the arms of a waiting police officer. And not just any police officer. It had been Henderson who had winced as he watched the beam crash down, pinning Vandenburg in the flames, condemning the man to a cruel and painful death. He hadn't been able to reach Vandenburg to save him, and he still blamed himself for it. Vandenburg wasn't directly part of today's situation, but the whole thing must have been pretty hard on Corey and on his mom. Henderson's expression softened as he thought of Mrs. Vandenburg. She had been so concerned for her son, and so horrified at what Collins had been doing to him. Henderson couldn't bring himself to condemn the woman for not noticing her son's problem. She was obviously still devastated by her husband's death. Poor woman. Now she had this on her plate as well. He resolved that he would speak to the judge in Corey's favour. Maybe present him with the facts about the boy's father's death - privately of course. Hopefully, with his help, and with Superman's help, the kid would just get a smack on the knuckles and nothing worse. Hmmm. Perhaps he should start going around and visiting the Vandenburgs from time to time. It would do the boy good to have a father figure to confide in. Henderson wondered if Mrs. Vandenburg would be glad of his help or not. Oh well, he could only ask. Once again, Henderson reflected that things might have unfolded very, very differently without Superman's help. The kid could very well have been killed if the situation had escalated. The big guy must feel pretty good about himself right now, knowing that he had quite possibly saved that child from serious harm. *** Clark had never felt so terrible in his whole life. He flew faster and faster. In only a split-second, he reached the outer edge of the atmosphere and screeched to a stop. He floated, not part of the stars and not part of the world below, but for the first time, this position in the sky brought him no comfort. This wasn't what he needed right now. He needed... He needed... He didn't know what. It had taken every ounce of his love for Lois to keep him in their home until she had fallen asleep. Every molecule in his body had been screaming at him to fly away, as fast and as far as he could. But he had stayed, fighting to get in control of his adrenaline rush, and she had cried herself to sleep in his arms. All he had been able to offer were lame and meaningless words, and no real comfort. He had thought that he had felt pain before - anguish at the separation from Lois when he left with the New Kryptonians, desolation when he thought Bad-Brain Johnson had killed her, sorrow when he feared that she would choose Scardino over him, and panic when Lex Luthor had kidnapped her and replaced her with a clone. But he had never felt anything even remotely similar to the fierce, primal emotions that coursed through him now. He was too agitated to keep still for long, and without even planning it, he found himself in the arctic, screaming inarticulately as he smashed at a glacier, again and again and again, until it was a mass of splintered ice. This, this destruction, this was what he needed right now. It was the force of his emotions that brought him to his knees in the ice and snow, moaning in anguish as he relived that terrible moment when Lois had told him. He had gone home, happy, content, and secure in his love for her and her love for him. He had been oh, so complacent and proud of the actions that had potentially saved a child from a violent confrontation with the police. He had been so smug! Everything had turned to ashes in only a few tense moments, with only a few terse words. When he had got home, he had announced himself, as always, and gone looking for Lois, as always, expecting her to cheerfully greet him, as always, but that hadn't been what had happened. He had found Lois sitting in the living room on the window seat. One look at her still, frozen face, and he had known that something earth shattering had happened. Throwing himself on his knees in front of her, he had taken her hand in his, only to feel her flinch at his touch. "What happened?" he had asked. He hadn't expected the halting recitation that had followed. "I had a phone call today, just after you left," she had said slowly. "It was from Claude. Do you remember me telling you about him?" At his silent nod, she had sighed and continued, "He phoned to tell me, to tell me... Oh, Clark! He phoned to tell me he has AIDS!" she had finished her sentence in a rush. "He doesn't know when he got it, but he thinks it was before he was with me, because when he phoned the girlfriend that he had before me, she was already sick." "But that means..." Clark had heard himself say in a panic as he had dropped her hands, and jumped to his feet. "I went to see Dr. Klein right away," she had told him." And he took some blood to test. It's going to take about a week to get the results... Oh God, Clark! I don't want our baby to die!" "But we don't know that you have it." "No, but Dr. Klein looked worried." And she had looked at him with those big, dark eyes brimming over with tears. He had never felt so helpless as he wrapped his arms around his wife to hold her close. He had envied her the salt of her tears, as she cried piteously in his arms. He had never been able to experience that release. Even in the grip of the strongest emotion, tears refused to come to him. Clark had rocked Lois, crooning tunelessly to her, until her ragged breathing smoothed out, and slowed as she fell into a restless sleep. He had waited, stroking her back lightly until she was more deeply asleep before he had gently disengaged her clutching arms. And now he found himself here, sprawled in the snow, hugging the cold to him, wishing it could freeze his heart, and feeling in need of someone to soothe him, to rock him, and to comfort him. For one brief moment, he thought of his parents, but he couldn't bring himself to tell them about this. They were so happy about the baby. He couldn't bear to watch the light of anticipation die in their eyes. Oh God! He wished he could cry! Finally, he pushed himself slowly to his feet. He should go home. Lois might wake up and she would need him. But for the first time in the course of their marriage, he only wanted to be alone. He didn't know what to say to her. He didn't know what to do. *** ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 18:45:32 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: New Fanfic: Redemption Part 4 of 12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Title: Redemption Author: Irene Dutchak Parts: 12 Rating: PG13 Summary: Claude returns to Metropolis, suffering from the AIDS virus. Clark has a run-in with a victim of sexual abuse. Feedback: Both public and private is welcome, either to the list or to sirenegold@yahoo.com Lois didn't look so good, Perry thought. Neither did Clark. He knew that it hadn't been just a stomach flu that had sent Lois running out of the newsroom the other week. And whatever the problem was, it was affecting Clark too. He watched them interact with each other. They were stiff and formal with each other, but he didn't think angry. As he watched, Lois got up, walked to Clark, and handed him a file. They exchanged a couple of short words, and then Lois went back to her desk. No, definitely not angry, but there was something going on. They hadn't touched each other spontaneously in days. Perry normally liked watching them, seeing that easy camaraderie, and those light affectionate caresses. Not even today's news that they were nominated for another Kerth Award had cheered them up. He continued to watch, worried about his two protégés. *** Clark surreptitiously watched Lois as she worked. He flinched, and hastily looked away as he saw that she was unconsciously caressing her stomach. He had wanted her to take a few days off, but she had refused. It would have driven her crazy to stay home alone, waiting for the test results, with nothing else to think about but the terrible news she had received. It wasn't much better here though. Whenever he looked at her, she flinched under the weight of his gaze. And the raw emotions in her eyes made him turn away from her. He had never felt so apart from her, so isolated. Not ever. He just couldn't seem to make himself break through the barrier that was separating him from her. Her phone rang and they both jumped. She grimaced and picked up the handset. As he watched, Lois listened for only a second, turned white, and shouted, "Leave me alone!" into the phone before slamming it down. Clark moved to her, stood behind her, and asked, "Who was it?" "It was him, Claude." "What did he want?" "I don't know. I don't want to know. I don't want to talk to him ever again." Clark only nodded silently in agreement, and moved back to his desk. He didn't want his wife to associate with that man either. A wave of raw primal anger washed through him, his whole body tensing in reaction to it. It scared him how much he wanted to kill that man. *** Inspector Henderson waited impatiently outside the courthouse. It was almost time for Corey to appear in front of a judge and Superman had promised that he would be there. He figured that between the two of them, they would have a huge influence on the judge, and the kid would get the break he deserved. He checked his watch again - 5 more minutes until it was time for the court appearance. Where was he? Henderson sighed. He had no choice. He reached into his pocket for a quarter and went to find a pay phone. *** "Clark Kent." "Kent? Henderson. Any chance you could contact the big guy for me? I'm at the courthouse, and he promised to be here for that kid he helped out the other day." Clark was shocked. He had totally forgotten. "I'll get him there; don't worry." He hung up the phone, and walked over to Lois. "Lois," he said softly, "I have to go to the courthouse and help that boy I told you about. I'll be back in a little while. Are you going to be all right?" "I'll be fine, Clark. You go." He brushed his lips lightly across her cheek, paused for a moment as if about to say something, but then silently left. Lois watched him go. Two tears rolled slowly down her face. *** After the hearing with the judge was over, Inspector Henderson reflected that he had never seen Metropolis's resident Super-hero looking so grim. He didn't know what was wrong, didn't even know how to ask the man what was wrong, but something was obviously up. Even so, Superman had made some powerful comments about what had transpired in the science room and about the unexpected twist that had occurred in the hostage situation. The judge had been properly horrified by the revelation that Corey had been molested by his teacher. She had also been very sympathetic to the kid for having lost his father in such a devastating way. Her Honour had not dismissed the charges; she couldn't in light of all the evidence against Corey, but, she had had the choice of treating him as an adult or a juvenile, and she had chosen juvenile. Therefore, these charges wouldn't go into his permanent record. Also, Corey would not have to spend any time behind bars, but would have to receive counselling. It had helped too, that both Inspector Henderson and Superman had volunteered to check in with the boy and his mother from time to time. The judge had been impressed that the two of them felt he merited their personal attention. The detective and the Super-hero spoke briefly after the hearing was over. Henderson filled Superman in as to what was going on with his investigation of the pedophile ring. It looked like it consisted of only the four men, thank heavens. Henderson had heard of other rings that were a lot larger. All four men were under arrest. Superman asked, as was his wont, if he could pass on the information to Clark Kent and Lois Lane, and Henderson acquiesced as he almost always did. He was always grateful that Superman asked permission first, but it really wouldn't matter if Henderson declined. The two reporters were incredibly good at ferreting out the truth, but at least, were pretty ethical in their use of the information that they garnered. Henderson respected them both greatly. He didn't always trust them; they were reporters after all, but he did respect them. The two men idly spoke for a few more minutes about the case, and then Superman took off. Henderson couldn't help but think about Superman's reactions. They had been off, different from his norm. He had winced when Henderson had commented that life was sometimes not fair. He had been speaking about Corey, and about how he had suffered the loss of his father, and been maltreated by his teacher, but he got the feeling that the Super-hero was personally relating to his words. After Superman flew off, Henderson was left feeling as if he should have volunteered to help. To help with what, he didn't know. But Superman had looked very troubled, and very grim. The detective was reminded anew as to just how much he didn't know about Metropolis's resident Super-hero. *** Clark slowly flew back to the Daily Planet. He didn't want to go back to work, but he couldn't leave Lois there by herself. If only they could bring themselves to talk about all this, but as of yet, they couldn't. It was too raw for both of them. He had all these feelings swirling around inside him and yet, he couldn't even figure out what he was feeling. He still hadn't told his mother and father about this most recent development. He couldn't bring himself to do it. He had no desire to inflict what he and Lois were currently going through on anyone else. He landed on the roof, and surveyed the city, looking for trouble - hoping for trouble. Nothing. He sighed heavily, and headed for the stairs. He had only descended half a flight of steps when he heard a thin thread of sound. Lois. Crying. He half-ran, and half-flew the rest of the way, and barrelled through the door into the newsroom. She wasn't at her desk. It didn't take him more than a split-second to locate her in Perry's office. The editor was patting her awkwardly on the shoulder as he plied her with tissues. Clark didn't bother with knocking; he didn't have time for the social niceties. "What happened?" he asked, as he barged into the room, his eyes ablaze and his fists clenched. Lois looked up with a gasp. "It was him again. Claude. He came into the newsroom, and tried to talk to me. I...I couldn't even face him. I heard his voice, and I hid in the supply room. Thankfully Perry threw him out." She gave the editor a wan smile of gratitude. Her boss smiled bleakly back at her. "He gave me no choice, Lois. I couldn't have him acting up like that in here." Clark could feel his fists curling up even tighter, his fingernails digging into the palms of his hands. "Acting up like what?" "Harassing your wife. She told him not to bother her, and he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. Kept insisting that she had to listen to him. Well, I wasn't going to have one of my top reporters talked to like that. It wasn't like I owed him anything. The man hasn't worked for the Daily Planet in quite a few years." "I appreciate it, Perry. Hopefully, he won't be bothering Lois anymore, but if he does, I hope he does it when I'm here," Clark replied grimly. He eyed Lois in concern. She looked pretty pale, and she was shaking. "Are you okay?" "I will be." Lois thanked Perry, got to her feet, and headed back to her desk. Clark followed a moment later, after awkwardly expressing his own thanks to his boss. It was hard for them to settle back to work. Lois kept jumping every time the elevator dinged, signalling its stops. And after she had knocked over three cups of coffee in a row when her phone rang, she finally gave up on drinking it. Her phone rang yet again. This time when she jumped, she sent her pen flipping out of her fingers towards her husband. He caught it without any show of his usual panache, got up from his desk, and humourlessly handed it back to her as she answered her ringing phone. "Lois Lane." She caught at her husband's sleeve as he started to move back towards his desk. "Yes, Dr. Klein. Okay, we'll be right there." Lois hung up her phone and got to her feet. "He wants to see us." "Did he say . . .?" Clark asked falteringly as they started to move to the elevator. "No." "How did he sound?" "I . . . I couldn't tell at all. Non-committal I guess." Clark and Lois entered the waiting elevator. They stood side by side, shoulders not quite touching, staring straight ahead as the elevator slowly descended. Lois glanced at her husband's stony profile, his face pointedly turned away from her, and her eyes filled with tears. ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 18:46:08 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: New Fanfic: Redemption Part 5 of 12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Title: Redemption Author: Irene Dutchak Parts: 12 Rating: PG13 Summary: Claude returns to Metropolis, suffering from the AIDS virus. Clark has a run-in with a victim of sexual abuse. Feedback: Both public and private is welcome, either to the list or to sirenegold@yahoo.com Dr. Klein got to his feet as the two reporters entered the room. If he was aware of the focused attention he was receiving as the two of them tried to assess his mood, he didn't show it. He shut the door behind them, and perched on the edge of his desk facing them. Lois sat in front of him, clutching at the arms of her chair, white-knuckled, unable to articulately formulate a question. Clark glanced at Lois in worry, and then focused all his attention on Dr. Klein. "What did the test show?" "I'm sorry. I wish I didn't have to tell you, but Lois, you have measurable quantities of the HIV antibodies in your blood. I wish I had better news for you, but I don't. I'm so sorry." "Oh." Lois spoke in a still, small voice. "I was really hoping... I was counting on..." "Lois has AIDS?" Clark couldn't bring himself to understand what Dr. Klein had just said. Dr. Klein sighed heavily. "First of all, Lois does not have AIDS. She has no symptoms. She is however, HIV positive. It's not an automatic death sentence like it was a few years ago. There are drugs that slow things down, and in many cases, seem to prevent HIV from developing into AIDS. Also, there is a treatment available, AZT, for your child that would be administered before birth that would decrease the likelihood of your baby ever developing AIDS." Lois sighed heavily. She studied her hands as they lay limply in her lap. "I know all this stuff; I've done stories on it. But now that it's personal, now that it's about me, I've forgotten everything I ever knew about it. I feel so hopeless, like there's no chance for me and no chance for my baby. I can't help but feel violated, and dirty, and ashamed. This is my fault. I did it to myself. And I did it to our child." Tears rolled slowly down her cheeks. Dr. Klein didn't hesitate. He knelt in front of her, took both of her hands in his, and focused on her completely. "Lois, listen to me. You are a good woman, and I can tell from watching you and Clark together, you are a good wife. I know you're going to be a good mother. This is not your fault. You did nothing wrong. You need to remember this." He released her hands, and stood back up. He looked pointedly at Clark as he repeated himself. "Lois, you did nothing wrong." Lois sat beside Clark, shocked, and distraught. She didn't want to believe it. For the last two days, she had been riding on a wave of despair and self-loathing that had just swamped her. She had no emotional defences for this blow. Dr. Klein was kind, and said kind things to her, but his words weren't enough to assuage her guilt. And, over the last week, her husband had clearly showed by his behaviour how he now felt about her. After his initial shocked reaction to her news, he had turned himself into some kind of unfeeling automaton. He could barely look at her. And he didn't touch her any more. She didn't want to face him; she didn't want to see his condemnation of her in his eyes. A tidal wave of emotion swept over Clark, destroying his hard-won composure. He could still hear Dr. Klein's words echoing inside his head. 'You did nothing wrong.' Dr. Klein was right. Lois hadn't caused this. She hadn't done this to their baby on purpose. She had done nothing wrong. Why hadn't he seen it? Why had he not said anything? Was he that prejudiced and judgmental that he would blame Lois for having this illness? What kind of monster was he? Although she desperately wanted to shield herself from Clark's scorn, Lois couldn't help but turn to him, needing to see how he was reacting. She was shocked to see her husband start to tremble, and then to shake. His mask of indifference shattered, allowing his anguish to show. "I'm sorry," he gasped. He inhaled a great, deep shuddering breath, and exhaled noisily. Sliding bonelessly off his chair, he knelt in front of her, and laid his head on her lap. "I'm so sorry, Lois. I've been so wrong, I've been blaming you, and it's not your fault. You did nothing wrong. You would never do anything to jeopardise our baby. Oh God, Lois, I'm so sorry. I was so angry; I thought I was angry with you, but I really wasn't. I was just so ... our baby. I want our baby to be okay. Oh, Lois, I'm so scared. I don't want to lose you." "Oh, Clark, I thought you hated me." "I could never hate you, not ever. I love you. Lois, you can't leave me. I don't want to be alone. I need you. Please, Lois, tell me you won't leave me. You're the only ..." Dr. Klein scooted out of the room, and closed the door behind him. He smiled sadly. At least they were talking. He could hear Lois's muted sobs, and the quiet murmur of her voice, interspersed with Clark's halting deeper tones. He hovered outside the door, not listening to their words, but listening to the cadence of their speech. As soon as it was obvious that they were done talking, that they had made up, he tapped lightly on the door and re-entered the room. Lois pulled herself out of her husband's embrace and sat down again. Clark sat beside her. Dr. Klein was gratified to see that their hands automatically reached for each other, their fingers intertwining. "Are you two feeling better?" In spite of her blotchy teary expression, Lois smiled. Clark flushed shamefacedly, and then nodded. "Thank you for giving us some privacy to deal with your news." It took an obvious effort, but Clark managed to look Dr. Klein in the eye. "You're welcome, Clark. I could tell you needed it. Now then," he continued briskly, "Lois, I'd like to take more blood and run more tests. There is one big unknown in all this. We don't know how the baby will react to the virus or to the AZT. I don't want to get your hopes up, but, if the baby's immune system is more Kryptonian than human..." Lois and Clark looked up at him, their eyes shining. Dr. Klein groaned inwardly. He had known he shouldn't say anything. He just hoped he hadn't given them false hope. *** Lois sat at her desk, working calmly. She felt much better today than she had a few days ago. She and Clark had started to talk things out - they weren't done by a long shot - and she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she had his full support once again. She supposed she should have been angry with him for his reaction, but she couldn't bring herself to blame him. She had been scared out of her skin too. She still was. But she was too grateful that she had her husband back to start trying to lay blame. Besides, he was beating himself up enough for the two of them. It had been Dr. Klein who had forced them both to confront the fact that she had not been to blame for her condition. And he thought that maybe their baby would be okay! Lois smiled to herself, then forced those thoughts out of her head. She didn't want to get her hopes up, only to have them dashed if the news were bad. The elevator dinged. Lois looked up, hoping to see her husband emerge, back from dealing with an emergency. Instead she saw a young boy step out and tentatively look around the newsroom. He approached Jimmy and asked a question. She couldn't hear the conversation but she figured out who the boy wanted to see when Jimmy pointed in her direction as he spoke. Lois got up, smoothed the wrinkles out of her skirt and approached the adolescent. "Hi, I'm Lois Lane. Can I help you?" He smiled, and awkwardly thrust his right hand at her. "Hi. I'm Corey Vandenburg." "Oh! You're Corey. Come on into the conference room and we can talk." The two of them sat down opposite each other. Lois smiled broadly, seeking to put the boy at ease, and asked her first question. "What can I do for you?" "Um, my mom wanted me to come here and ask you or Mr. Kent to thank Superman for me. I wanted to come here too. He saved my butt, both at school and in court." "I can do that." "Thanks." He lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. "How are you doing, Corey?" He looked away from her. "Okay, I guess." "You and your mom are okay?" No reaction from him. "Yeah." "Counselling's okay?" Still nothing. "Yeah." "How about school?" Bingo! He flinched and his hands tightened into fists. "It's fine," he mumbled. "Your other teachers are being understanding?" He nodded. "And Mr. Rumson's not there anymore, right?" "Yeah. He's under arrest." "What about the other students, and your friends? Everything okay." Corey's eyes welled up with tears. He roughly brushed them away. "Damn." "Hey, Corey, it's okay. You can talk to me. I won't tell anyone." Lois reached across and laid her hand lightly over one of his. He fidgeted in his chair, swallowed, and started. "They all act, I don't know, different around me. I don't know how to explain it, but when I walk into a room..." "...they stop talking," Lois continued. "Yeah! And they look at me differently." "And they don't know what to say to you," Lois said. "Exactly! They act like it's my fault that Mr. Collins hit on me." "Like you did something to entice him." Corey and Lois stared at each other intensely. He suddenly grinned at her. "How do you know what I'm feeling?" "I had something bad happen to me too. It was a long time ago. It wasn't like what happened to you. But I was taken advantage of. I've been thinking about it a lot recently." "Did you ever feel, I don't know, like it was um, your fault?" "Yes, and sometimes I still do," Lois replied grimly. "How do you handle it?" "You just do. It's either deal with it or give up. I don't give up. I won't give up." Corey smiled at her. "I never thought of that. I guess I won't either." "Good!" Lois was pleased. There was something about this kid that she really liked. "Corey, you're welcome to call me any time, or come here and talk to me about this stuff. I'd like to help." "Thanks!" Corey fidgeted and looked a little uncomfortable for a minute. "Um, there is something I want to ask you if that's okay." "Sure. Go ahead." "Um, that cop, Inspector Henderson, is he an okay guy? He keeps hanging around our house, and talking to me and my mom. He's not another pervert, is he?" Lois couldn't help but giggle. "No, he's not. I think he just wants to help. He's not very good at the touchy-feely emotional stuff, is he?" Corey grinned. "No, he's not!" "Well, to be fair, sometimes I'm not either." Her smile faded. "But this is something I can talk to you about, anytime you want." "Yeah, well, thanks again, Ms. Lane." "It's Lois, Corey." "Thanks, Lois." *** ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 18:46:32 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: New Fanfic: Redemption Part 6 of 12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Title: Redemption Author: Irene Dutchak Parts: 12 Rating: PG13 Summary: Claude returns to Metropolis, suffering from the AIDS virus. Clark has a run-in with a victim of sexual abuse. Feedback: Both public and private is welcome, either to the list or to sirenegold@yahoo.com Corey ended up being a frequent visitor of Lois's over the next week. He and Clark got along well too, but he and Lois just seemed to bond. Despite his relative youth, Lois was beginning to count him as a true friend. Clark enjoyed his company too. It was almost like having a younger brother. *** On the eve of the Kerth Awards, Clark lounged on the bed smirking. A silvery grey beaded dress came flying out of the closet and landed on the bed beside him. "No luck?" he asked with a repressed chuckle. "I can hear you laughing. You think I can't but I really can. Don't you laugh at me, Clark Kent. This is not funny!" A black evening dress came zinging out and added itself to the heap of discarded clothing. Thump! Thump! Thump! She was attacking the closet walls now; this was not a good sign! Clark got off the bed, and gingerly looked into the walk-in closet. "Are you okay?" Lois sat on the floor surrounded by numerous empty clothes hangers. "Do I look okay to you?" She kicked the wall again in emphasis. "Um, no. I guess not. Doesn't anything fit?" "No, and the awards are tomorrow night. What am I going to wear?" she wailed. "Honey, I know you wanted to wait, we haven't told anyone yet, but, um, you've kind of er, blossomed recently and it looks like we have to go and buy you..." "A maternity outfit." Lois concluded glumly. "Is that so bad?" Clark sat down on the closet floor beside her. "No, not really," she admitted. "But I was hoping, I want..." "You want to hear the results of Dr. Klein's tests before we tell anyone about the baby," Clark said softly as pulled her close. "Yeah, I do. I thought he would have had an answer for us by now, but he just keeps running more tests and taking more blood from me. I'm starting to feel like a pincushion." Lois leaned her head against his shoulder. He kissed her forehead gently. "It's going to be okay. I just know it." "Oh, honey, I hope you're right. I just keep feeling, oh, I don't know, I just keep feeling responsible for all of this, like it's all my fault." "Honey, you can't blame yourself. When you and ..." Clark cleared his throat. "...Claude were together, people had barely even heard of AIDS. You didn't plan this. It's not your fault." This was a conversation the two of them had had repeatedly in one form or another over the last little while. Lois sighed as she snuggled even closer in her husband's embrace. He echoed her sigh with one of his own. Lois glanced up at him in time to see one of 'those looks' come over his face. "What is it?" she asked as she sat up straight. "Sounds like an apartment fire. I better go." Clark jumped to his feet, grasped Lois by the wrist and pulled her up. He gave her a quick kiss, and ran. By the time Lois emerged from the closet, he was gone. Lois glumly surveyed the pile of discarded clothes on her bed. She supposed she should hang them back up again, she thought reluctantly. As she made her first tentative move towards them with a hanger in her hand, the phone rang. Saved by the bell! *** It was late. Clark was very weary in both body and spirit as he flew back to his home. It had been a busy evening. He had segued from the apartment fire to a major car accident to a mugging to a rape situation. People had died, both at the fire, and in the car accident. This was the kind of night that he dreaded, and this was the kind of night where he needed Lois the most. But she had been so tired recently from the pregnancy, and from worrying, that he felt he just couldn't wake her up to talk. It wouldn't be fair. When he saw his house lit up like a Christmas tree, with candles glowing in every room, he literally came to a stop in mid-air. What the...? Puzzled, he scanned the house quickly, and smiled, his mood miraculously brightening. Lois was sitting in the living room, and she was wearing what was obviously a new dress - a maternity dress. It made her look very pregnant! Clark quickly circled the house as per usual, and when he saw that the coast was clear and that there was no one about who might possibly see him, he zipped through the open bedroom window, and spun into his regular clothes. He bounced down the stairs, dashed into the living room, and came to a stop in front of his wife. Lois looked up at him with a smile that illuminated the far corners of the room. She glowed. She hadn't looked this happy since they had found out she really was pregnant. A bottle of red wine, a glass of milk, and a wineglass were on the coffee table in front of her. "Lois, honey, you look beautiful. Very pregnant but very beautiful. What is all this?" She got up from her chair, poured a glass of wine and handed it to him. It was all done with a very mysterious smile on her face. "We're celebrating! The wine is for you, and the milk for me." "What are we celebrating?" "No, first I want to make a toast." "Okay." Lois held her glass of milk in front of her. "To Clark Kent. You are my support in bad times, and my joy in good. You're my husband, my partner, and my lover, the father of my child. I love you more and more with every passing day. You're the only man in or out of this world for me, and I look forward to growing old with you." "Growing old? You mean? Dr. Klein called?" Lois nodded happily. "What did he say?" "Everything's going to be fine, Clark. I didn't really understand all the details, you know how he gets sometimes, but, well, he noticed that my antibody count was down on my second test, and so he did another, and it was less again on my third test, and less again on my fourth test, and well, he thinks that the baby has your immune system, and is filtering my blood through its body. Plus, he thinks its immune system is helping my T-cells, whatever they are, become resistant to the virus, and ... Oh, Clark! He couldn't find any trace of antibodies in my blood on my last two tests. "You mean..." "I'm no longer HIV positive. He says I'm cured. I'm going to be fine, and our baby is going to be fine!" Clark carefully took the glass of milk out of Lois's hand, and placed it and his wineglass on the table. He gently wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her tenderly. The kiss quickly escalated, becoming more and more passionate. A minute later, they broke apart, each one panting slightly. She tugged at his hands. "Let's go upstairs." He smiled. "In a minute. I have to do something first." "What?" "This." He pulled his hands from hers, and picked his wineglass up once again. His voice was husky with emotion. "To Lois Lane. You're my wife, my partner, my lover, and the mother of my child. I love you more and more each day. You're my heart and my soul. I look forward to growing old with you." He took a sip from his glass and then put it down before gathering her carefully into his arms. Kissing her all the while, he tenderly carried her up the stairs. *** ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 18:46:58 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: New Fanfic: Redemption Part 7 of 12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Title: Redemption Author: Irene Dutchak Parts: 12 Rating: PG13 Summary: Claude returns to Metropolis, suffering from the AIDS virus. Clark has a run-in with a victim of sexual abuse. Feedback: Both public and private is welcome, either to the list or to sirenegold@yahoo.com Lois and Clark paused in the lobby of the Delaware Hotel. The stately building looked festive tonight, in honour of the Kerth awards. Clark turned to his wife. "Are you ready?" he asked. She nodded firmly. "Let's do it." He grinned and helped her off with her coat. It only took him a moment to check it in at the cloakroom and then he was back by her side. He proffered his arm to her, she took it, and side by side, they entered the large hall where the awards ceremony was being held. It didn't take long for the entire room to fall silent. All eyes were on them. Identical looks of astonishment were on their peers' faces. Even Perry and Jimmy were frozen in place. Lois grinned cheekily, and pulled her arm out of Clark's. "What's the matter with everyone? Haven't you seen a pregnant woman before?" She twirled in place, showing off her maternity dress. A hubbub of noise started. Lois and Clark beamed as they acknowledged the congratulatory shouts. Jimmy and Perry rushed to their side. Jimmy was grinning from ear to ear as he gave Clark a friendly clout on the shoulder. "Way to go, CK!" Catching sight of Lois's mock glare, he back-pedalled furiously. "Oh, yeah. Um, way to go too, Lois," he finished lamely. "Lois, honey. Clark. I can't believe you two kept this a secret. Why in Elvis's name didn't you tell us?" Perry kissed Lois's cheek and pumped Clark's hand furiously. "We wanted to wait until we were sure there weren't any problems, Chief," Clark responded as he tried to get his hand back from his boss. The pair of them fielded many more compliments as the cocktail hour progressed. Clark didn't know how Lois was handling it. All the attention was wearing him out, and he had the superpowers in the family. How in the world was Lois coping? Lois was having the time of her life. Her exhilaration at Dr. Klein's news, combined with her true excitement over the baby, gave her a feeling of euphoria and triumph that she had never experienced, ever. She was enjoying working the room like she never had before. All too soon, it was time for everyone to take their seats and be served their dinners. The conversation at the Planet table was lively. Everyone was thrilled by Lois and Clark's news. Finally, the moment of truth arrived. The awards presentations commenced. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the press. We are gathered here together to honour those of our peers who have achieved true excellence in journalism. Too many remember the 'who, what, where, and how' and forget to ask 'why'. Too many..." Blah, blah, blah. Lois tuned out the master of ceremonies opening speech. She had heard it all before. He caught her attention again, only near the end of his opening remarks. "...discovered an error to be corrected. There will be a special presentation at the end of the awards ceremony to rectify this grievous error." "What was that all about?" Lois whispered to her boss. "I'm not sure. No one told me about anything out of the ordinary," Perry whispered back. As the night proceeded, it became clear that tonight belonged to the Daily Planet. Jimmy won the Photojournalism award for his dramatic photo of Superman performing a mid-air rescue of a hot air balloon that had sprung a leak and started heading for some power lines. Clark had to smile as he remembered that rescue. The passengers had been frantically trying to lighten the balloon's load, and as he swooped up from under the basket, he had been pelted with champagne bottles, picnic baskets, shoes, and other items of clothing. He had laughed at the time, wondering exactly how much a bra really did weigh. Ralph won for his coverage of the Supermodel scandal. Much as Ralph could be a total boor in person, he was a surprisingly good writer. Lois smirked as he accepted his award. Who had told him that a plaid cummerbund was a good fashion statement? He had also brought his mother as his date. Again. But he really had done a surprisingly good job on his story about underage Supermodels being exploited by being forced to work incredibly long and rigorous hours only to have their parents pocket their pay. Clark and Lois won too, of course. They grinned triumphantly as they accepted the award for their story on the international baby smuggling ring that they had uncovered. Finally the last award was handed out, and the master of ceremonies stepped back up to the podium. "Ladies and Gentlemen. Nine years ago, a grievous error was made by the Kerth Awards committee. It was made in all innocence. The committee had no idea until this year that the error had been made. Nevertheless, we at the Kerth Awards are grateful for this opportunity to right a wrong. I would like to introduce someone to you, who last stood upon this stage nine years ago to accept an award, and left Metropolis soon after. Without further ado, please give a round of applause to Monsieur Claude Parizeau." Lois's hands made it up out of her lap to applaud, before she fully comprehended what she had just heard. She stopped mid clap. It took Clark a moment longer before he realised who had been introduced. He half rose out of his chair. Perry grabbed his arm, and tried to haul him back down again. Lois glanced at Clark in shock. His face was dark red, congested with blood. She had never seen him so angry. She pulled on his other arm, and hissed, "It's okay, honey. Remember, he can't hurt us ever again. Everything's okay." She could feel Clark's muscles relax under her hand as he sat back down to her and Perry's relief. A very skeletal stooped over man stepped out onto the stage and shuffled to the podium. A thin murmur of sound arose from the audience to greet his appearance. Lois could feel some of the oldtimers who had known about her relationship with Claude, turn and focus on her. She felt trapped by the weight of their attention. She would have preferred to leave, and not have to sit there listening, but it didn't seem to be an option. "Good evening, Mesdames et Messieurs. It is a plaisir to be here with you this night. Pardon my English s'il vous plait, it has been a long time since I have the language spoken." Lois was shocked at his cadaverous appearance. He had been so handsome, so debonair. It was impossible to look at this wreck of a man and see any shadow of who he once had been. She had barely registered his appearance at the Planet the other week; she had been so upset that she hadn't even been able to look at him then. "I am here tonight to correct une erreur that happened it is nine years ago this night." "Imagine, if you please, I was working at the Daily Planet it is more than nine years ago. I was working, and the Daily Planet, it was hiring a woman, who was younger, and meilleure, I mean better than me. I was hitting a time with no stories, how do you call it, a dry spell? And this tres jeune, very young woman, she is finding a story. Such a story. Safety violations were having been covered up at the nuclear generating plant of Metropolis Power and Light. All of this, it has been done just for to save money. Pas d'autre raison. I hear about this story, and me, I know, this story will win an award, it will win an award not for me, but for this very young woman. I did something then, something vraiment horrible. I stole this story. I was a thief in the night, and I took it, and me, I won the award." Claude paused and looked at Lois for the first time since he entered the room. "I stole this story from Lois Lane. I am here to ask her to me pardonner, forgive me for cette insulte horrible. I apologise to you, Lois Lane. And I apologise to the Daily Planet who were having been my employers. I apologise to the Kerth Awards, and I apologise to everyone here tonight." He looked back at the audience. "I am coming to the end of ma vie, my life. Soon, I shall be dead. I am sick. It is a thing vraiment horrible, to look back over your life, and to see beaucoup de choses terribles, terrible things, that you wish had not happened. I am here tonight to try to be fixing one of those horrible erreurs that I had been making in my life." Claude paused and nodded at someone offstage. The master of ceremonies returned and handed him a Kerth statuette. Claude turned back to Lois and addressed her once again. "Lois, I do not think you can be forgiving me, but one thing I can be doing is this." He extended the statuette towards her as she sat frozen and unbelievingly in the crowd. "Lois, this is belonging to you. I want you to be taking this from me. It is yours, not mine." The crowd cheered loudly and enthusiastically. One of the Metropolis Star reporters who had had a few too many was the first to start but it didn't take the rest of the audience long to join in. "Lo-is, Lo-is," they chanted as they clapped in time. Lois looked around helplessly. Perry jumped to his feet. He grinned from ear to ear and smacked his two hands together as hard as he could. Jimmy was a split second later following, and that was enough to set the rest of the room off. It only took a few seconds for the entire room to stand, and give Lois a standing ovation. Lois turned and looked at Clark. His earlier anger was gone. He smiled at her tenderly, an oasis of calm in the midst of the chaos, and laid his hand gently against her cheek. She searched his face carefully, looking for any remnant of his earlier fury, but found nothing more than approval and pride. He got to his feet, and extended his hand to her. Feeling as though she were in a dream, Lois grasped his hand and allowed him to pull her to an upright position. She turned to face the stage, and had to consciously tell her feet to move, one foot in front of the other. The crowd parted reluctantly in front of her. Her friends and colleagues were jostling each other, trying to get closer to her, and pass on their congratulations, but Lois felt curiously untouched by all of them. It seemed to take forever for her to reach the stairs leading up to the podium, but she finally arrived, and carefully started to ascend to the stage. Clark watched his wife as she made her slow progress towards the podium. His heart was so full of love for her, he felt as though it would burst. He alone of all the people in the room, knew exactly what this moment meant to her. As she climbed the steps, the crowd of wellwishers fell back, and she walked alone, straight and proud. Clark turned his eyes to Claude Parizeau. He admitted to himself that he was curious. Lois had long ago told him the whole story of her failed relationship with him, and Clark had wondered many times what kind of man Claude actually was. He had told himself in the past that in spite of everything, there must have been something good about him for Lois to have had feelings for the man. Clark watched as Claude's eyes focused on Lois's expanded waistline. A look of horror came over the man's face, and what little colour he had in his cheeks drained quickly away. "Enceinte? Elle est enceinte? Ah non, pas encore. Mon Dieu, qu'est-ce que j'ai fait?" Clark could clearly hear the strangled whisper and his mind automatically translated it into English. Clark was hemmed in at his table; everyone was still standing and applauding, and he could only watch helplessly at the man collapsed limply onto the floor of the stage, looking like nothing so much as a heap of discarded rags. *** ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 18:47:25 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: New Fanfic: Redemption Part 8 of 12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Title: Redemption Author: Irene Dutchak Parts: 12 Rating: PG13 Summary: Claude returns to Metropolis, suffering from the AIDS virus. Clark has a run-in with a victim of sexual abuse. Feedback: Both public and private is welcome, either to the list or to sirenegold@yahoo.com "He's in the end stage of AIDS, Ms. Lane, Mr. Kent," Dr. Aaronson said. Clark glanced at his wife in worry. She was very pale, and subdued. "How long," she asked softly. "A month, maybe two." Dr. Aaronson folded his hands together, and stared down at his entwined fingers. "You know, having to tell someone that they are going to die, that's my least favourite part of the job, but it wasn't hard with this man. He seems ready to go, somehow - as if he's made his peace with the world." He looked back up at the reporters. "Do you know if he has any family that we should contact?" Clark shrugged and looked at Lois. "I don't know. He ... I... Uh, he's an old ... friend from a long time ago. I haven't seen him for nine years. I don't remember him saying anything about a family." "Don't worry about it. We'll ask him about it when he comes to," the doctor said briskly as he got up from his desk, tacitly bringing the meeting to a close. Lois and Clark spent the next half hour sitting at Claude Parizeau's bedside. Their conversation couldn't help but be stilted. Lois studied the sick man's face, and thought back to her relationship with this man. Once he had meant everything to her, but try as she might, she couldn't remember what that had been like or how she had felt. Clark watched Lois watch Claude. He knew that his wife returned his own feelings with her whole heart and soul, but he couldn't help but be curious as to what she was feeling now for the man on the bed. Finally Claude rallied a bit, and opened his eyes. Lois got up from her chair, and moved to the side of the bed. "Hello, Claude," she said softly. "Lois?" His eyes shifted from her face to her abdomen. He tentatively stretched out a shaking hand towards her, and his eyes shifted back to her face again. Tears shone in his eyes. Lois responded to the silent question on his face. "Claude, I'm okay. I'm not HIV positive." It wasn't the whole answer to his question, but it was what he needed to know. She watched in alarm as the man buried his head in his hands, and started to sob. "Mon Dieu! Merci! Je te remercie. Tu as bien repondu a mes prieres." Lois gently placed her hand on his shoulder only to recoil in alarm from his panicky screech. "Ne me touche pas!" He repeated the words over and over. Lois looked blankly at Clark, not understanding what Claude had just said to her. "He doesn't want you to touch him," Clark told her in a subdued tone of voice. "I think he's afraid of infecting you." "Oh." Lois looked helplessly at Claude for a moment, and then moved back to her position on the chair beside Clark. Her heart was wrenched by the pitiful sobs coming from the prone figure on the bed. After a few minutes, when the sobbing showed no sign of abating, and in fact was getting worse, Clark moved. He got up from his chair, went to the supply cupboard in the corner of the room, and rummaged inside. He matter of factly pulled on a pair of disposable plastic gloves, and poured a glass of water. He moved back to the bed, and placed his hand on Claude's shoulder. "Monsieur Parizeau?" "Ne me touchez pas! Ne me touchez pas!" "Monsieur! Regardez moi. J'ai des gants en latex." "Attendez-moi. Vous devez vous arreter de faire tout cela." "Voila, un verre d'eau. Alors, permettez-moi de vous aider a boire. Claude raised his tear-ravaged face out of his hands and reached out a shaking hand for the glass. Clark gently pulled him upright, and supporting him with one arm, carefully placed the water glass against the man's lips. Claude sipped at the water, but choked, sputtered and coughed, spraying his mouthful of water liberally all over himself. Lois started to move towards the two men, but Clark warned her off with a glance. It took a few more uncomfortable moments, but Clark finally had Claude calmed down and sipping his water. Clark returned to the supply cupboard, and got out a clean hospital gown. "Lois, would you mind waiting outside? I'm going to help Monsieur Parizeau change into a dry gown, and then I'll call you back in." Lois nodded, and turned to leave the room. She didn't move fast enough though. As her husband started to strip off the sodden gown, she saw that Claude's emaciated torso was covered with red, raw looking lesions. She felt a pang of remorse and pity shoot through her heart. Lois waited in the hallway. She could hear her husband's voice murmuring soothingly, interspersed with emotional outbursts from Claude. What were they saying to each other? She pressed her ear against the door, only to discover that they were conversing in fluent, rapid-fire French. Lois pushed herself away from the door with a muttered curse. It was hard for her to believe that the man in the hospital room had once been her lover, her first lover - in fact, her only lover prior to Clark. There wasn't much about him that she recognised other than his speech. His English had always been broken and stilted. His written English was surprising a lot better but it was only because he had been an excellent investigator that the editing staff had put up with the extra work he had provided for them. Clark opened the door to the room, and gestured to Lois to come back in. She entered to find Claude in a semi-upright position, wearing a clean gown, with the sheets straightened on the bed, and pillows behind his head. Not for the first time, she thought that Clark would have made a good nurse. He was always wonderful when she was sick. Lois sat back down beside the bed. Clark stood behind her, resting his hands lightly on her shoulders. She patted one of his now gloveless hands, thankful for his support. "Claude, I want to thank you for what you did at the Kerths tonight. I never expected... I never thought..." Claude smiled wanly at her. "I needed to be doing it, Lois. I needed to be making my peace with you before I die." "That's what you wanted to say to me, isn't it? When you phoned, when you came to the Planet?" "Yes, but I do not be blaming you for not wanting to talk to me." Clark spoke up. "Can't they give you the heavy duty antibiotics? I heard they've had good results with the combination therapy." "Non, I am allergic to the drugs. They would be making me dead sooner." Claude looked back at Lois with a sly smile. "Lois, I am liking your husband. He is a good man. A much better man than me, non?" "No, I mean, yes, he is, Claude." Lois giggled and smiled back at him. How strange it was for her to be sitting here talking to this man in front of her husband. It didn't feel real to her. Claude closed his eyes, and leaned back into his pillows, a small smile still playing about his lips. He spoke without opening his eyes. "I prayed to the bon Dieu, Lois. I prayed that you were not getting sick, that I had not been giving you this illness. I am so happy for this, and so sorry for what I have been doing to you before." "Why did you do it, Claude? Why did you steal my story?" Lois leaned forward in her chair, watching him intently. He frowned, then opened his eyes to face her. "I don't know, Lois. I feel like I was being a different person then. When I got sick, I was changing my thinking. I think I was afraid. Afraid that you were being passing me by, that you were being meilleure, better than me. Toute ma vie, all my life, I have being scared, first of this, and then of that," he gesticulated wildly as he spoke, "and then of this again. Now that I know I am not being of this world for much longer, I am stopping being scared." Lois's eyes filled with tears. "I'm glad that you're not scared, Claude." "Merci, Lois." Clark spoke up again. "Do you have any family that you want us to contact for you, Claude? Are you married?" Claude sighed heavily. "Ma mere et mon pere sont morts. Yes, I am married. But my wife, she will being cheering if you are calling her. She is hating me." "I'm sure that she doesn't..." Clark started to protest. "Mais oui," Claude interrupted. "She is hating me since the time mon petit fils, my son, he is dying..." Claude sat up and grimly looked Clark straight in the eyes," of the AIDS." "Oh." Lois's hand fluttered up to cover her open mouth. A tear slowly slid down her cheek. She had expended so much time and energy hating this man, but she had never imagined anything like this. Claude turned back to Lois. "Mon petit Michel, he is waiting for me, Lois. Do not being sad for him or for me. I want to be seeing my Michel again." He leaned back again, and closed his eyes once more. Keeping his eyes closed, he continued, "Et maintenant, Lois et Clark, je suis tres fatigue. I am very tired." Lois jumped to her feet. "Oh, yes," she said awkwardly. "I guess I'll say goodnight then. Thank you, Claude." "You are welcome, Lois." "Good night, Claude," Clark said softly. "Bonne nuit, Clark. It was a plaisir, a pleasure to meet you. You are a good man. That is what Lois is deserving." "Thank you." The two reporters moved to the door. Lois paused and looked back at the sick man on the bed. "Claude? I... Thank you, Claude." He opened his eyes and looked at her. "You are welcome, Lois. I am being very sorry." "I know. I... It's all right. Good night, Claude," Lois repeated. "Good night, and goodbye, Lois." *** ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 18:47:58 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: New Fanfic: Redemption Part 9 of 12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Title: Redemption Author: Irene Dutchak Parts: 12 Rating: PG13 Summary: Claude returns to Metropolis, suffering from the AIDS virus. Clark has a run-in with a victim of sexual abuse. Feedback: Both public and private is welcome, either to the list or to sirenegold@yahoo.com Lois and Clark entered their home, locked the door behind them, and hung up their coats. They moved in silence to the living room, and there they each put a Kerth Award down onto the coffee table. Lois looked at the Kerth she had been carrying. It still bore the inscription 'Awarded to Claude Parizeau'. "Clark, for nine years, I knew... I knew that this award really belonged to me. I told myself, and anyone else who would listen that this had been stolen from me. But Clark, I never wanted to get it like this. I never wanted Claude to go through such pain." Clark stood behind her, and wrapped his arms tightly around her. "I know, sweetie, I know." "It's strange, you know. I've hated that man for nine years. I've built him up in my head to be this evil monster who was bent and determined on making my life miserable, and he's just a man, an ordinary man." "I know. He's not bad per se, he's weak." "Exactly. Or rather, he *was* weak. He's not like that now. It must have taken him so much courage to come here, first to warn me, and then to ..." she gestured at the statuette, "...to do that!" "You know something? I actually liked him, a little bit." Lois twisted in Clark's arms to face him. "So did I. Does that bother you?" Clark smiled at her tenderly, and kissed her forehead gently. "No, of course not. So, honey, how do you feel right now?" Lois looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure, Clark. Like I just said, I've thought about Claude as this evil person for years now, and suddenly I feel sorry for him. I'm very sad for him. It must have been horrible for him, to lose his son, and his marriage. I'm grateful that I'm not going to have to go through anything like that. I feel ... I feel very, very mixed up." A huge yawn took her by surprise. "And very tired. Clark, more than anything, I feel very tired. It's been a long night." Clark carefully scooped his wife up into his strong arms and headed for the stairs. "Allow me, honey. Door to door service. That's my motto." Lois laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes blissfully. "Mmm, my hero, thank you. You're so good to me." "I try. I love you." "I love you too, Clark," she mumbled into his neck. *** The next day, Clark managed to drag himself out of bed at seven a.m. to call Perry. His boss was very understanding when he was told that his two star reporters were taking the morning off. Clark then crawled back into bed with his wife. Lois was so tired that she didn't even stir at his movements. A few hours later they had slept themselves out, but neither one felt particularly well rested. The events of last night had been such an emotional roller coaster, they were both still exhausted. Clark had one of his patented, high-speed showers as per usual, and then made breakfast while Lois washed and got dressed. By the time she came down the stairs to the kitchen, the table was set, and Clark had just finished making oatmeal. "Good morning, sweetheart," "Morning, honey." Lois pecked her husband on the cheek as he dished out a couple of bowls of food. "Mmm, oatmeal. My favourite." Lois appreciatively inhaled the steam rising from her bowl. "It's one of the few things that I know how to make, but somehow, your's always tastes better than mine." Clark hurriedly turned away, valiantly trying to hide his smile at her words. He poured two glasses of orange juice while Lois used the controller to turn on the small TV set. "...And now in local news, last night's Kerth Awards was the scene for unprecedented human drama..." Clark and Lois exchanged shocked looks, as he moved quickly back to the table. Their oatmeal grew cold while they watched the rest of the story. LNN handled the story well, reporting accurately on what had actually happened, but it didn't make it any more comfortable for Lois and Clark to see their faces plastered on the TV screen. When the story was over, Lois looked down at her uneaten, cold oatmeal. "Honey, would you mind?" she asked gesturing at the bowl. "Huh? Oh, yeah, right." Clark's eyes took on a slight red tinge for a split second, and then steam starting wafting gently out of her bowl. Lois picked up her spoon, and started eating slowly, while thinking furiously. "It wasn't a bad story, was it?" "No," Clark replied. "And they were fair, weren't they?" "More than fair, I thought." "They were very nice, talking about the error that had been made." "I agree." "And they said great things about my reporting skills." "Yes, they did." "So...I guess this is one time where I should be happy that I was on the news." Clark grinned at her. "I guess so. Honey, I'm so proud of you." Lois tried to lean over the small kitchen table to kiss him, but caught her slightly bulging belly on the edge. "Ouch!" "You okay?" "I'm fine." She patted her stomach. "It's just going to take me time to get used to this." In a flash, Clark scooped her up, and settled her onto his lap. Caressing her stomach, he said, "I'm already used to it. I love how you look. I can't wait to see you get bigger and bigger." Lois smiled. "Will you still feel that way when I'm like a beached whale?" He waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively. "Hey, if you're beached, you won't be able to get away from me." She giggled. "As if I wanted to." Lois wrapped her arms around Clark possessively. "I love you, Clark." "I love you, Lois." He kissed her tenderly before standing up, and dumping her off his lap. "Hey!" "It's getting late. I told Perry we would be in by noon. You go get ready, and I'll clean up in here." "All right. But I have to tell you, it's a real shock to the system. One minute you're kissing me, and the next you're talking about ..." Still grumbling, Lois left the kitchen. Clark grinned in appreciation, and then flashed around the room, cleaning and tidying. Less than 10 seconds later, the kitchen was immaculate. *** Work almost seemed like a sanctuary by the time they got there. It had been a huge shock to the system when they had left the safety of their house. Clark had held open the front door for Lois in his normal courtly fashion. Consequently she had been the first to emerge into the maelstrom. Cameras flashed, and questions were hurled at the two reporters from the small group of tabloid photographers camped out on their front sidewalk. Top Copy had a camera crew there as well as "In Your Face with Barry Dunning". Barry Dunning himself hurled questions at her along with the others. "Is it true, Ms. Lane, that Mr. Parizeau has infected you with AIDS, and you, your baby and your husband are all going to die a horrible, lingering death?" Lois flushed red, and then turned white with repressed fury. Clark prudently wrapped his arms around his diminuitive warrior woman, and held on tight. He shouted, "No comment!" as he dragged his wife away from the camera crew. By the time the two intrepid reporters reached the newsroom, they were absolutely livid. They had stopped at the kiosk downstairs, and purchased as many tabloids as they could find - all featuring stories about Claude, Lois and Clark. The headlines were lurid, and the stories ranged from the three of them having been in a love triangle together and now they all had AIDS, to Clark and Claude duelling it out over Lois, to having the parentage of Lois's child questioned. The only bright spot to the whole thing - thankfully, this was one occasion where the tabloids hadn't dragged Superman into the mix. Lois and Clark were too furious and involved in their reading to note the worried faces of their colleagues who scattered when they saw the two of them approaching. Perry approached them, his own copies of the tabloids in hand when both their phones rang. Perry motioned that he would be back in a minute as they answered their calls a split second apart. Clark only had time to hear, "Calm down, Mother!" before saying, "Clark Kent." "Mr. Kent?" said the soft, quavering, feminine voice on the other end of the line. "It's Jen Vandenburgh, Corey's mother. Did he...is he there by any chance? With you and Ms. Lane?" "No, why? Isn't he in school?" "No. I'm worried about him. He's been really upset since, well, since he read all those articles about Ms. Lane and Mr. Parizeau. He stormed out of here. I don't know where he went." "Maybe I could contact Superman, and he could go out..." Clark's voice trailed off into silence as he spotted the object of their conversation getting off the elevator. "Never mind, Mrs. Vandenburgh. He's here, just walked in." "Thank God! Would you talk to him for me? He just won't talk to me. I think he'll open up to you two more." "Of course, and Lois and I will make sure he gets home okay. We'll drive him, all right?" "Thank you, Mr. Kent." Clark could hear the sincere relief in her voice. He said goodbye quickly, and got to Lois's desk at the same time as Corey did. Corey was extremely agitated. Without even waiting for Lois to get off the phone, he blurted out, "I read he's dying - that man who hurt you - of AIDS. Are you dying too?" The noise level in the newsroom plummeted away to nothing. Clark could see Perry frozen in place on the other side of the room. Jimmy looked on, whitefaced. Even Ralph looked upset. Lois's jaw dropped. She looked helplessly at Clark, and then at the receiver still clutched in her hand. "We'll have lunch, mother. Got to go," she managed to sputter into the phone before she got up from her desk. "Come on, Corey, Clark. Let's move this discussion someplace more private." She led the way into the conference room, with Corey following blindly behind her. As Clark closed the door, he smiled reassuringly at Jimmy, Perry, and their other colleagues. Their expressions lightened, although they still looked quite worried. Lois braced her hands on the table, and faced Corey. "No, I'm not dying. And yes, he does have AIDS." Corey inhaled a great shuddering breath. "Thank God. I was so worried about you. I was afraid." Lois sat down, and motioned to the chair across from her. "I'm okay. Really." Corey threw himself down into his chair. Clark sat down beside Lois, taking her hand in his, content to silently watch the interaction. Corey looked at her with an odd, tight expression on his face. "You must be happy." "Yes, I'm very glad that I'm okay. We were worried. I could have contracted the illness, but," she looked at Clark, and squeezed his hand tightly, "thankfully, I didn't." Not the whole truth, she reflected, but only what she was willing to share. "No, that's not what I meant." At Lois and Clark's identical questioning looks, Corey continued, "You must be so happy that he's going to die! I'd be happy if I were you. I wish Mr. Collins would die. I hate him so much!" He pounded the table in emphasis. Lois looked at Clark, speechless, completely overwhelmed by the depth of Corey's emotions. Clark managed to pull himself together, and earnestly addressed the boy, "We don't hate Claude, Corey. He asked Lois to forgive him, and she did." Corey jumped to his feet. "How could you? After all the things he did to you? He hurt you! It was in all the papers. I figured it out, you know. I figured out that he's the one you talked about before." "Yes, he is, Corey, and yes, he did hurt me, but a lot of how I felt after, it was my own fault." Even Clark looked a little askance at Lois as she struggled to verbalise these thoughts. "Corey, please sit back down, and listen to me. I told you a little of what happened. This man, Claude, he and I had a personal relationship with each other, and he stole my story, and set me up to look as though I were lying when I accused him of it. Well, that's not all that happened. I closed off from people, stopped trusting them, stopped trusting myself. I lost a lot of my confidence, and I honestly don't know if I would have recovered it on my own. Clark was the one who broke through my defenses, and got me to face my fears." Lois smiled lovingly at her husband before continuing. "I won't deny that Claude did a really horrible thing. In fact, *he* doesn't deny that he did a really horrible thing, but that didn't mean that everyone was going to do the same thing to me. I was the one who isolated myself from the world, not Claude. I was responsible for my own actions. I've been thinking about this a lot since yesterday. And I'm going to tell you something else. I can see again just why I had feelings for him. And I can see that he's not a monster, but just a man. Does that make sense to you, Corey?" "No! It doesn't! I don't understand! He did something bad to you, and he needs to pay for it. I'm glad he's dying. I hope he burns in hell, and I wish he would take Mr. Collins with him." Corey jumped to his feet and fled the room. Lois watched him leave with tears in her eyes. "Oh, Clark, he's so young. He just doesn't get it." Clark cupped her cheek in his hand. "He might not get it but I do. You're amazing." He bent his mouth to hers and kissed her lightly. "I better run. I promised his mom on the phone that I would make sure that he got home okay. I think Superman better go and make sure that happens. Don't worry about him. Right now, he's upset because he's identifying with you, and you're not reacting the way he wants you to." He dashed out of the room, and headed for the stairs. Lois emerged from the conference room, only to find herself face to face with a sea of worried faces. Perry stepped forward out of the crowd. "Lois, honey, is there, uh, is there something you need to be telling us?" *** ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 18:48:27 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: New Fanfic: Redemption Part 10 of 12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Title: Redemption Author: Irene Dutchak Parts: 12 Rating: PG13 Summary: Claude returns to Metropolis, suffering from the AIDS virus. Clark has a run-in with a victim of sexual abuse. Feedback: Both public and private is welcome, either to the list or to sirenegold@yahoo.com "...I'm telling you, Lois. If I hadn't felt so sorry for Corey, I would have laughed. You should have seen Henderson in the middle of it all. The man was positively glowing, which I have to say, is a look I've never seen on him before. He has it bad for Mrs. Vandenburg, and what's even more surprising, I think she's got a thing for him too." Clark snuggled a little closer to Lois's back. Lois giggled. "I just wish I had been there. I can just picture Inspector Henderson hovering around Corey's mom, worried that Superman was horning in on his territory, all jealous and anxious." Lois pushed at the covers, feeling too hot. She had been feeling too warm ever since she got pregnant. It was worse in bed with Clark supplying her with an ample amount of body heat - in more ways than one. Clark responded to her unspoken plea, and lightly blew a cooling breeze over her. "Oh, thanks, honey! I'm glad that Henderson is taking an interest in Corey though. Do you think he'll open up to him?" Lois twisted and shifted about until she was comfortable, with Clark in just the right position around her, his hand resting lightly on her tummy. "I'm afraid not. Even 'Superman' wasn't able to get through to him, and you know how he feels about him, er, me." Clark closed his eyes and nuzzled Lois's hair. He was tired. So was she. It had been an emotional couple of days for the two of them. ~~~~ "What was that?" Clark asked, as he spread his fingers wide across Lois's stomach. "You felt it too?" They fell silent again, concentrating on that brief, fluttery motion that they had sensed more than they had felt. ~~~~ Lois twisted to look Clark in the eyes. "It is! It's our baby!" Clark grinned from ear to ear. His eyes shone with emotion as he kissed his wife passionately. Suddenly, he didn't feel so tired anymore. And from the abandoned way Lois was responding to his embrace, neither did she. *** Clark was thankful that he and Lois both had the next day off. The two of them still felt emotionally exhausted. Their emotions had been on a wild roller coaster ride, and now it was time to regroup, and replenish their energy. Clark positively loved the domestic routine that they had established early in their marriage. He normally did the grocery shopping on his own; it just wasn't something that interested Lois. Plus, Clark sometimes took advantage of his special abilities, and did some of his shopping in more exotic locales than Metropolis. But they did dust and vacuum together. Clark would either float up to the tops of cabinets and bookcases or he would scoop a laughing Lois up and she would do the honours. Clark always made a point of doing some of the less glamorous housework himself, cleaning the bathroom and washing the floors. After all, it only took him a few seconds and he would have had to give up Lois's company for a lot longer if she did that kind of work. His favourite shared household chore though, was folding the clean laundry. It was a very cozy activity. Clark liked to tease Lois as they folded her lingerie, all wisps and snippets of lace and satin. Admittedly, things had changed in that department recently. Her underwear was industrial sized and plain cotton now - not as exciting in one way, but very satisfying in the other knowing that it was their baby that had precipitated the change. As he folded a pair of her new underwear, he opened his mouth in preparation for teasing her, but thought better of it when he saw the pensive look on her face. "What's wrong, honey?" Lois looked up with a start. "What? Oh. I'm sorry, Clark. I was just thinking..." "About what?" Lois looked away from him for a moment, before turning back to him, her expression resolute. "I think... I want to go and visit Claude." She visibly braced herself, obviously prepared for a negative reaction from her husband. "I think that's a great idea, honey," Clark replied mildly. "You do?" Clark nodded in response. "I feel sorry for him too, honey. He's dying and he's all alone. I think we should go. It's the right thing to do." "Oh, I'm so glad. I was afraid, I mean..." "You were afraid that I'd be jealous," Clark stated. Lois squirmed a bit under the weight of his gaze. "Yeah, I guess so." Clark dropped the clean laundry he was holding back into the basket, and pulled his wife into his side. "I'm not jealous. I know that you love me. But I also know that you once had feelings for Claude, and they haven't completely disappeared, although you probably had them buried pretty deep." Lois tilted her head up to look him in the eyes. She lifted her hand to stroke his cheek. "How did you get to be so smart?" Clark laughed as he hugged her close. "I had to get smart just to keep up with you." *** Over the course of the next few weeks, Lois and Clark established a new routine in their lives. They made a point of visiting with Claude every day, either in the afternoon or in the early evening. He was pathetically grateful for the company although he tried to hide it. He was so paranoid about infecting Lois and Clark that he insisted that they put on a gown and gloves just to sit beside his bed. Lois and Clark both protested repeatedly that it was impossible to be infected with the AIDS virus by casual contact, but he was adamant about it. As the weeks progressed, Lois and Clark watched his condition slowly deteriorate. Corey was still refusing to talk to either Lois, Clark or Superman. Superman made a point of checking in with Inspector Henderson from time to time, only to learn that Corey was also refusing to talk to him. The police officer informed them that there would be a hearing in about a month to deal with Keith Collins and with the other three conspirators. *** A month later, Corey sat by himself in the courtroom and watched as the judge dealt with the four men who had victimized him. Thankfully the four of them had pled guilty so he didn't have to testify. His mom, Lois and Clark, and Inspector Henderson had all offered to accompany him, but he hadn't wanted their company. No, he wanted Superman to be there with him, but Superman hadn't offered and Corey hadn't asked. As he looked around the courtroom once more, he realised that the Super-hero must have had something better to do than to hang around with a kid he barely knew. *** Clark squeezed Lois's hand as he watched the images emerge on the video screen. "Lois, I can't believe it. We can even see the heart beating." "And can you see my bladder about to explode, Clark?" asked Lois sarcastically. "You should try drinking your weight in water, and then have somebody squash your bladder. And you might be able to see the heart beating but you're hogging the screen so I can't see, and oh!" she exclaimed as Clark turned the screen to face her a little better. "Is that a foot?" She pointed at the screen. Dr. Klein grinned as he continued to run the video wand through the goop on Lois's abdomen. "Yes, it is. And look here." He moved the wand to a different position. "He or she is sucking its thumb." Lois and Clark were mesmerised as they watched their baby. They could see the small movements of the baby's throat as it sucked contentedly. "Can you tell?" Clark asked hesitantly. "If it's a boy or a girl, I mean?" Dr. Klein frowned in concentration. "No, I can't. The baby's at the wrong angle. But haven't you peeked?" He motioned at his eyes. "You could have with your 'you-know'." Clark smiled. "I didn't want to. I was afraid of hurting the baby." Dr. Klein chuckled. "Clark, I know that we call it x-ray vision, but it doesn't really use x-rays. You can peek all you want, and it won't do any harm." "Hey," Lois protested. "Who said that I want to know ahead of time? I think I want to find out the old-fashioned way, okay?" Clark smiled in reassurance. "That's fine with me, honey." He opened his mouth as if to say more when his beeper went off. He checked it and frowned. Lois propped herself up on her elbows. "What is it?" "Inspector Henderson paged me to call him. I think I better do that, okay." "We're done here anyway, Clark. Your baby looks just fine. It's progressing just exactly the way it's supposed to." Dr. Klein grabbed a few handfuls of paper towels and started wiping the goop off of Lois's stomach as he spoke. "You go ahead, Clark. I just have to...Oh! I really have to go to the bathroom!" Lois quickly clambered down from the examining table and scurried off towards the washroom, one hand clutching her paper gown closed at the back. When she got back from her urgent errand, she discovered that Dr. Klein was alone in the lab. "What happened? Where's Clark?" Dr. Klein handed her a note. "I'm not sure. He called Inspector Henderson, wrote you this, and took off in a flash." Lois unfolded the note to find something very disturbing written in her husband's distinctive handwriting. "Lois, honey, Sorry to dash off like this. Corey has evidently done some kind of major melt-down, and Inspector Henderson thinks that only Superman will be able to calm him down. Not sure what time I'll be back to work. Your loving husband, Clark P.S. Wasn't the ultrasound exciting?" Lois looked at Dr. Klein with a sour expression on her face. "I hate this. If I weren't pregnant, Clark would have probably taken me with him." Dr. Klein looked puzzled. "What does being pregnant have to do with it?" "We read that it's not that safe for women to fly when they're pregnant." Dr. Klein laughed. "That's in a pressurized aircraft, Lois. Plus, don't you remember what we established? Clark's aura protects you. You're perfectly safe flying with your husband." "Great," Lois spat out angrily. "Now you tell me!" *** ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 18:48:41 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: New Fanfic: Redemption Part 11 of 12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Title: Redemption Author: Irene Dutchak Parts: 12 Rating: PG13 Summary: Claude returns to Metropolis, suffering from the AIDS virus. Clark has a run-in with a victim of sexual abuse. Feedback: Both public and private is welcome, either to the list or to sirenegold@yahoo.com It looked like Clark would have his hands more than full with Corey. The kid had indulged in a major rampage at the courthouse, armed with nothing more than his own two hands, and feet, and head, and the rest of his body. He had overturned benches, knocked over tables, dumped garbage cans, and otherwise created a major mess in the short period of time before he had been apprehended by the bailiffs. They had stuffed him into a cell to cool off. Judging from the eloquent swearing that Clark could hear coming from the direction of holding, he hadn't cooled off yet. Inspector Henderson paced back in forth in front of the Super-hero, looking more agitated than Clark had ever seen him. "I just don't know what to do, Superman. I swear, if I didn't love his mother, I would wring his neck." "If you didn't WHAT?" A wash of colour swept over Henderson's face. "If I didn't love his mother," he repeated. Clark beamed at him. "Can I assume that the feeling is reciprocal?" "Yeah," he replied bashfully as he looked down at the ground. "That's great!" Clark exclaimed as he clapped the embarrassed police officer on the back. "Are you planning on marriage?" "That all depends." "Depends on what?" Clark asked. They were interrupted by Corey screeching at the top of his lungs, cursing vehemently. It was so loud that it was clearly audible in the corridor outside Holding. "Depends on him," Henderson answered glumly. "His mother's pretty worried, and listening to him, I am too." "Well, let's see what I can do then." Clark squeezed Henderson's shoulder, and then the two men headed for the holding cell together. *** "And what is this?" Claude pointed at the glossy abstract black and white photograph. "That's the head," Lois announced proudly. "It is?" Claude peered more closely at the picture. "Ah, well, uh, I'm sure it is being very ... nice, Lois." Lois laughed and put the ultrasound picture back in her purse. "Liar! But you're very diplomatic." The door opened, and Clark came in. "Hi, honey!" He kissed Lois on the cheek, pulled up a chair and sat down beside Claude's bedside. "Sorry I'm late. How are you feeling today, Claude?" "Pas mal, Clark, not bad. Lois was just showing me the pictures you are having of the baby." "Great. Fun, aren't they?" Peering at Claude, the sick man realised that Clark's smile didn't touch his eyes. There was obviously something bothering him. "What is happening to you today? You are not being happy, I can see this." Clark sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair. "No, I'm not happy. It was a frustrating day. Lois and I have a young friend. His name is Corey Vandenburg, and he's had quite a rough time lately. His father died last year in an accident. His mother was lost without him, and a teacher started molesting..." With Lois's help, Clark covered Corey's troubled history in depth. Then, Lois fell silent while he brought the two listeners up to date on the day's events. "... So, since Mr. Collins pled guilty, and the judge thought that this showed remorse, he only sentenced Collins to 6 months in jail and he counted the time spent waiting for trial as part of that time. Then, he reduced the sentence by a third as Collins has been well behaved since he's been in custody, and well, anyway, the upshot is that Collins only has to serve one more week, and then he's out. The only bright spot in the whole scenario is that Collins has been prohibited from ever working with children again." "Oh, no," Lois exclaimed. "No wonder Corey was upset." Clark smiled grimly. "Upset is an understatement, Lois. The kid went ballistic, and in a way, I can't blame him. He trashed the courtroom singlehandedly. It took two bailiffs to control him, and, well, they couldn't control his mouth. I've never heard anyone swear so, so eloquently before. I wouldn't have believed that he even knew language like that!" Claude was silent for a long time, lost in thought. He finally spoke up. "Bring him here." "What?" Clark exclaimed. "Bring him here. I want to talk to him." "Why?" Lois asked. Claude just shrugged. "Bring him here," he repeated. "But he... You don't... I didn't tell you, but he's read the papers about you, and well, he hates you too." Lois protested. "He's lumped your um, prior treatment of me in with the abuse he suffered from his teacher." "Bring him anyway." Clark leaned forward to address Claude solemnly. "But you're sick. It might not have a good effect on you." Claude smiled sardonically. "Clark, breathing does not be having a good effect on me right now. Non, bring him. I am asking you to be trusting me." Lois and Clark exchanged meaningful glances. "All right," Clark finally responded. "I don't think this is a good idea, but we're running out of options with this kid. We'll bring him with us tomorrow." "Bien!" Briskly changing the subject, Claude continued, "And now then, tell me, mes amis, have you been thinking of any names for your petit enfant, your baby?" *** It had taken a lot of fast talking for Lois and Clark to convince Mrs. Vandenburg that Corey should accompany them to the hospital. Their self-imposed task hadn't been made any easier by the fact that neither one of them had any kind of clue what Claude planned on saying to the kid. But, fast talking being one of their major talents, they were able to show up at the hospital early the next evening with Corey in tow. "So, you are Corey," Claude said cheerfully. "Allow me to being introducing myself. I am Claude Parizeau, and I am being an old friend of Lois's and a new friend of Clark's." "Ha! Like hell you're a friend of theirs! I read about you, I know what you did to her. You stole her story, and you could have made her very sick. I read that you're dying, and I'm glad!" Corey was slumped sullenly in his chair, but his eyes blazed fire as he glared at the sick man in front of him. Claude had waved Lois and Clark to chairs near the back of the room, and dismissed them from his attention. Instead he focused completely on the young and angry adolescent who was facing him. "Alors, bien. Ecoutez-moi. You read that I stole Lois's story, and that is vrai, true, but did what you were reading be telling you why?" At Corey's blank look, Claude continued, "I did not think so. It did not tell you the fear that I am being feeling, did it? I was being scared toute ma vie, all my life. I can not be remembering any time that I was not feeling fear. I was a world traveller, a good journalist. People were liking me. I had lots of friends, didn't I, Lois?" He raised his voice to address her sitting in the back of the room. She nodded silently in confirmation. He turned back to Corey. "But I was never happy. I did love Lois Lane. But, I didn't love me, Claude Parizeau. I didn't love me because I was always being scared. Scared of growing old, scared of someone being better than me like Lois was being, scared of the world passing me by, scared of people finding out the truth about me. That was what was scaring me the most. I was scared of people finding out the truth about me." In spite of his aggressively passive and uninterested stance, Corey found himself asking, "What truth? What were you scared that people would find out?" "I was scared that people would know that I was only a fearful little boy on the inside. I was scared that people would learn about how weak I really was. I was scared that people would learn how unloveable I really was." Claude looked down at his hands laying limply in his lap before turning his gaze to the young boy in front of him. "I think you are scared too, Corey." "No, I'm not," Corey protested. "You would not have made such a fuss as you did if you were not." "No, I was upset. Mr. Collins, he should pay for what he did to me." "The judge thinks he has paid. For Mr. Collins, it is over. But is it over for you?" "I...Of course it's over for me. I survived." "But you haven't moved on. You are still a scared little boy who wants it to stop. But Corey, it has stopped. It is over," Claude said softly. "I...I..." "Corey, I do understand. It is your turn now. It is your turn to think that you too are unloveable. It is your turn to being afraid of being weak. But Corey, please, do not live your life scared. Look at me. It took dying to be giving me the courage to fix my mistakes. It took dying to be getting me to the point that I could be opening up to people. It took dying," he looked warmly at both Clark and Lois, "to be bringing me friendship. It took dying before I could forgive myself for being weak. And it took dying before I could learn to be strong. Corey, don't wait until you're dying too. You need to live your life now. Don't wait for the future," Claude paused and harshly cleared his throat, "because the future might not happen." "I shouldn't have let him... I shouldn't have let him touch me," Corey blurted out, tears shining in his eyes. "It's my fault." "Non! He was a teacher, a man you respected. It was his fault. You are not to blame, Corey." "I...I guess not. But my friends..." "They all act like it was your choice?" Claude asked. "Yeah." "I can be sympathising with you. Even the doctors and the nurses here, who know all about my illness, they are acting like I chose this, like I was wanting to get sick and to be dying. Do you know how I was getting sick, Corey?" Corey silently shook his head. "I was having an operation for the, uh, for the...Mon ami, Clark, comment dit-on l'appendice?" "Appendix." "Ah, oui. Merci. I was having an operation for the appendix. I was needing a blood transfusion, et voila, that's how I was being sick." Claude glanced at Lois in amusement. "Ah, cherie, you thought it was from all the loving I did, didn't you?" Lois couldn't help it; he shocked her into giggling nervously at his question. She had thought that it was due to Claude's promiscuity that he had become ill. She had to nod in response to him. "Non, it was from blood, bad blood. So, mon jeune ami, it was not my choice to getting sick, or to be dying. And it was not your choice to being treated the way you were. But you are the lucky one, Corey. I can not be choosing to be getting better, but you, you can be choosing this for yourself." Lois spoke up from the back corner of the room. She held Clark's hand tightly as she talked. "Claude's right, Corey. You shouldn't live in fear. But one thing he didn't say, and I want to. You shouldn't live in hate either. Look at me. I spent nine years hating Claude for what he did to me, and now that I've given up my hate, I feel like a new woman. I'm not weighed down any more. I'm more open to others, not just to Clark" She took a second to smile lovingly at her husband before continuing. "I feel better about myself. I'm not saying that you shouldn't be angry at Mr. Collins, and I'm not saying that he shouldn't be punished, and I'm really not saying that he got enough time in jail because I don't think he did, but what I am saying is that you shouldn't hate him. If you do, you'll end up being influenced by him for your whole life, and if I were you, I wouldn't want to give him that satisfaction." "I...You're right, Lois. But I don't know how to stop hating him. And I don't know how to stop being scared." Corey looked sadly at Lois. "I'm sorry, Lois. I said some pretty awful things to you before, and, well, I meant them at the time, but I guess I don't mean them now, and ..." Lois smiled and held up her hand. "It's all right, Corey. I forgive you. That's what friends are for. And friends are also for helping. Give your friends a chance. Clark and I, and your mom, and Inspector Henderson, and Superman, we all want to help. Let us help. Okay?" "Okay," he answered softly before turning back to Claude. "Thank you, Claude. You've given me a lot to think about. I don't know if I agree with everything you said, but, by saying it to me, you've helped me stop panicking and start thinking." Claude wearily leaned back into his pillow and closed his eyes. "You are welcome, my friend. I am so glad that I could being of service." Clark quietly addressed Lois and Corey, "Claude's pretty tired. Why don't you two head to the cafeteria for a drink, and I'll help him get settled for the night. I'll just be a couple of minutes." "Sure, honey. Good idea." Lois gave her husband a quick peck on the cheek, and then left the room with Corey in tow. Clark bustled about the room. He straightened Claude's bed, and closed the curtains. He looked at the peaceful figure lying on the bed and said softly, "I know you're not asleep." Claude opened one eye and peeked at Clark. "I was thinking that I was being a better actor than that." "Oh, I think you would fool most people, but I'm pretty observant." "Yes, you are, Clark." Clark paused for a moment, wondering if he should ask his question or not. "It happened to you too, didn't it, Claude? You were molested too, weren't you?" he asked haltingly. The sick man sighed heavily. "Oui, it was mon oncle, my uncle Claude; my parents were naming me for him. I was being very young, and it was being a long time ago." "But you don't forget, do you?" Clark said quietly. "Non, c'est impossible a oublier. "I am sorry, Claude." "It is okay. If it was helping me today, if I was saying the right things to that young boy because of it, then it was being worth it," Claude replied. "No, it wasn't worth it. But yes, you did say the right things today. You did a good job, Claude." Clark patted the sick man on his shoulder. "Merci, Clark." "You're welcome, Claude." The two men gazed at each other for a moment, enjoying their improbable friendship. Clark would never have guessed in a million years that he could be friends with someone who had once hurt his wife so terribly, but he found he treasured this friendship immensely. "Do you want me to help you to the washroom now, Claude? Are you ready to brush your teeth, and wash, or do you want a nurse to help you later?" "Later is fine, Clark. You go. You go and be with Lois, and your young friend, and your baby. You are being a lucky man, Clark." "I know, Claude. You're right again. I am a lucky man. Good night." "Bonne nuit." *** ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 18:49:06 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: New Fanfic: Redemption Part 12 of 12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Title: Redemption Author: Irene Dutchak Parts: 12 Rating: PG13 Summary: Claude returns to Metropolis, suffering from the AIDS virus. Clark has a run-in with a victim of sexual abuse. Feedback: Both public and private is welcome, either to the list or to sirenegold@yahoo.com "Oh, that poor man," Lois said sympathetically as she hung her clothes in the closet. "I know. It must have been awful for him." "I wish I had known, you know, before. It wouldn't have changed anything but I might have been more forgiving, or more understanding or something." She turned down the blankets and carefully slid onto the bed. Clark lay down beside her, propped himself up on one elbow and reached into his nighttable drawer. He pulled out a vial of liquid as Lois pushed her pyjama top up out of the way. Clark sat up and poured a small amount of fragrant oil into his hands, and briskly rubbed them together. When the oil was at a more comfortable temperature, he started massaging it gently into Lois's protruding stomach, paying particular attention to her small stretch marks. "Mmm, that feels great, honey. And I haven't had another stretch mark since we started doing this." Lois was almost purring with contentment as she lounged lazily on the bed. "I know, and I think these ones are starting to fade too," Clark replied as he peered closely at her stomach. He laughed as the lump in her belly shifted slowly from one side to the other and back again. "What does that feel like?" "Um, hard to describe. It doesn't hurt, but it feels heavy, but heavy in a good way, and well, it's funny, but I find it very comforting. Even when you're out, I'm not alone. I have built-in company. It feels good." Clark laughed. "I hope it still feels good in three more months." He dribbled more oil over her belly, and kept massaging. "I wonder if that's why he treated me the way he did," Lois mused aloud. "Huh?" "I wonder if Claude acted the way he did with me because of how he was treated by his uncle." "That's probably part of it, honey. When someone treats you as if you have no value, it's suddenly a whole lot easier to treat others that way." "Mmm, there you go being wise again." Lois lifted herself up to meet her husband for a kiss. His hands slid upwards. "Hey, there aren't any stretch marks there!" she exclaimed. "I know." He grinned at her. "I'm just making sure there aren't any there in the future!" Lois giggled as she pressed herself closer to him. "Mmmm, good thinking, honey. Keep up the good work." He waggled his eyebrows at her in mock innocence. "I intend to, Lois. I intend to." She giggled again and looked down at her oil covered belly. "It's awful trying to wash this oil out of the sheets. At least it's your turn to do the laundry." "Oh, in that case..." Clark twisted out of her embrace and retrieved the little vial of oil from its resting place. "...I intend to put this stuff to good use." *** Later that same evening, Clark gently shook his wife's shoulder. "Lois? Lois, honey? Are you awake?" "Huh? What is it?" Lois untangled herself from the sheets, rolled over, and looked at her husband bleary-eyed. "The hospital called. Claude's taken a turn for the worse. It looks like this is it." "Oh no!" Lois hoisted herself up to a sitting position. "How did they know to call us?" "He had us listed as his next of kin." Clark looked at his wife in concern. "Did you want to go? To be with him?" "Of course. He shouldn't be alone. And he doesn't have anyone else." "Okay, you throw on some clothes, and then I'll fly us there." Clark effortlessly pulled Lois to her feet and gave her a quick kiss before she headed off to the bathroom. *** Lois and Clark tentatively pushed open the door to Claude's hospital room. They were surprised to find that there were no doctors or nurses in attendance, but there was a priest busy laying out his supplies on a table. He had lit candles by Claude's bedside, their light, the only light in the room. Claude's breathing was ragged and loud, filling the room with harsh sound. He lay limp and unmoving He turned to them. "I'm Father O'Connell. Are you Mr. Parizeau's family?" Clark glanced quickly at Lois before answering in a firm voice, "Yes, we are." "Good. I was just about to anoint him. Would you like to pray with me?" Lois and Clark looked at each other before turning in unison to the priest. "Yes, we would, Father," Lois replied in a soft voice. "Good. If you would like to come here by the bed, we can get started." The priest looked in concern at Lois's pregnancy-swollen belly. "I think you should sit, but your husband and I will stand, all right?" Lois smiled wanly at him, as she took her seat beside the bedside. Clark moved into position behind her. "Father," he said. "Mr. Parrizeau is French. Would you like me to translate your prayers for him?" "That would be very helpful, my son. Thank you." The priest dipped his fingers into oil and moved them, first to Claude's forehead and then to each of his two limp hands. He solemnly intoned a prayer over Claude. "By this holy and sacred anointing and by His beneficient mercy, may God with the grace of the Holy Spirit assist you so that you're redeemed and delivered from evil and sin.In His benevolence, may He raise you to new life." The words fell into the pool of light surrounding them. The priest's voice was rich and rolling, his intonation beautiful and intimate. Clark's translation was a soft, murmuring counterpoint to the priest. Lois could only marvel at the sheer beauty of the ritual. Lois thought about his words as she watched the priest continue to pray over Claude. 'Redeemed and delivered from evil and sin.' Claude had certainly done his best to achieve redemption. It was almost as though his illness were a kiln that had burnt away all the dross and imperfections in him, and what had emerged at the other end of the process had been purified. Lois was grateful that she had had the opportunity to see once again just what it was that had made her love Claude once upon a time. Clark squeezed his wife's shoulders gently and also watched the priest as he did his work. 'May He raise you to new life.' What comforting words. Words to give hope. Claude had said many times how much he wanted to see his son Michel once again. Clark knew that if anything were to ever happen to Lois, it would only be the hope of seeing her again in the afterlife, and the desire to keep himself worthy of her company that would keep him going. Father O'Connell finished by silently praying over Claude. After quickly packing up his supplies, he turned to them and said, "I have to go check on some of the other patients here, but I'll be back in a little while. A nurse will be in in a few minutes to check on him, but she won't stay. Mr. Parizeau has left DNR orders." At Lois's questioning look, he explained, "'Do Not Rescuscitate' orders. He doesn't want any medical intervention." The priest quietly left the room. Lois and Clark moved closer to Claude's bedside. His eyes fluttered open but did not focus on them. "Claude?" Lois tentatively touched his arm. "Maman?" "He thinks you're his mother," Clark whispered to her. "It's Lois, Claude." "Maman, tu m'as manque. Je ne savais pas ou tu es allee. Vas-tu rester avec moi?" Clark quietly translated for Lois. She looked at him helplessly. "I... He wants his mother. I guess I'll have to...I can pretend. Can you help me with the words?" He nodded, and they began. Claude would murmur something, Clark would quietly translate and then provide a faltering Lois with the French words in return. It was a strangely intimate way of conversing. "Oui, c'est maman, Claude. Bien sur, je vais rester avec toi. Tu es mon fils." "Maman, j'ai soif." "He's thirsty, Lois." Lois trickled a little water into his mouth and watched as he swallowed convulsively. He coughed a little, but then lay still. He was silent for a long time, his breathing more shallow, and more halting. "Mamam, je suis desole. J'ai peur. Reste avec mois, s'il te plait. Reste avec moi. Lois took his hand in hers, and held it tight. Clark stood behind her, resting his hands on her shoulders, bracing her, and giving her strength. "Cheri, n'aie pas peur. Je suis ici. Je te protegerai. N'aie pas peur." "Je t'aime, maman." "Je t'aime, Claude," Lois choked out through her tears. "Il fait nuit." He looked around the room, his eyes fluttering open and shut, not focusing on anything. "Il fait nuit," he repeated. "Maman, j'ai peur!" "Je suis ici, mon cher. Je suis ici." He lay quietly, his breaths coming in short gasps. The skin of his face was sallow, and stretched tight over his bones. They could see the rapid beat of his pulse in the corded tendons of his neck. As they watched, the remaining colour in his face slowly drained away, leaving him looking mottled and pale. His eyes opened, feverish and glazed, the only remaining trace of animation left to him. "Michel!" he exclaimed brightly, as he strained to raise himself off the bed. Clark was quick to reassure him. "Il t'attend, Claude." The sick man's eyes focused on Clark for a second, then his gaze shifted to a point over Clark's shoulder. "Non, mes amis. Lois et Clark, vous ne me comprenez pas. Il est ici, maintenant. Il m'attend. Mon fils, mon tresor, il est venu me chercher." He lifted one hand and extended it to the shadows, imploring the unseen shade of his son to approach. His breath caught and rattled in his throat, and his body convulsed, his emaciated torso lifting itself up off the bed. By the time his body flopped down limply, he was gone, the air escaping from his lungs in an eerie wheeze. "Oh," Lois exclaimed softly, her shaking hand moving up to cover her gaping mouth. Clark moved past her to straighten Claude's body on the bed, and to close his eyes. He sighed and turned back to Lois. "Are you okay?" "Yes, I'm fine. I'm just..." "Just what, honey?" "I'm not sure. I think I'm relieved for him, relieved that it's over, and that he didn't suffer too much, and I'm sad but... I don't know exactly what I'm feeling right now, Clark." Clark put his arm around Lois's waist in support. "Come on. Let's go tell the nurse. And then let's go home." He led her to the door. They both turned in unison and looked at Claude once again and then silently left the room. *** Lois lay awake in the darkness, her hands roaming idly over her pregnant belly. Their child was awake, making lazy, slow movements inside her. Clark lay spooned around her, his breathing slow and even as he slept. Lois couldn't sleep. Her feelings were so mixed. She felt a gentle sadness over the loss of her friend. No matter how much she loved Clark - and she loved Clark with her whole heart and soul - she had once loved that man. She had given herself to him. Oh, she hadn't loved him in the same way that she loved Clark - she could never love any man in the same way that she loved Clark - but, she had loved him. And he was dead. She had loved him; he had been the first man that she had loved enough to be with physically, and then she had hated him. She had hated him for many years with the same amount of passion that she had once felt in loving him. But that man, that hateful man, the man who had hurt her, Claude had killed that man himself when he had apologised to her, and attempted to make restitution to her. And in so doing, he had freed her from so many fears. She had sympathised with him when he talked to Corey earlier. She had sympathised when he had described how he had been afraid, how he had felt that he was too weak, and that he had to hide the truth about himself from others. That he wasn't worthy of being loved. She had felt that way once, still did from time to time, although, due to Clark's influence, she felt that way less and less. And now, she understood. She understood that in Claude's case, he had been fatally flawed by the abusive interest of an uncle. She understood that in her case, it hadn't been anything so blatant but had been much more insidious. Her parents had had their own problems. Her father loved her, had never wanted to hurt her, but he had anyway. He had made it so clear that he wanted a son. He had made it so impossible for her to live up to his expectations. And yet, if he hadn't been that way, if she hadn't tried so damn hard to meet his expectations, she wouldn't be an award-winning journalist, she wouldn't be the person she was today. And damn it! She liked the person she was today. She ran her hands lightly over her bulging belly once again, and sighed. So, what was the solution? How could she and Clark simultaneously challenge their child to grow, and at the same time, protect it from all harm? The obvious answer - they couldn't and yet they still had to try. But, one thing that Lois had learned from Claude, she couldn't let her own fears overwhelm her, she couldn't let Clark's fears overwhelm him, and she had to try her best to tame her child's fears as they arose. "Oh, my baby," she whispered to her unborn infant. "I'm going to be the best mom that I can be for you." That's all she could do. Do her best, try to fix her mistakes, love her child with her whole heart, and hope for the best. Her mood lightened as she pondered these final thoughts. It wasn't going to be that bad. She had to do her best, and Lois Lane's best was pretty good most days. Clark Kent's best wasn't too shabby either. She smiled, patted her belly and spoke one last time before closing her eyes to drift off to sleep. "Baby, we're going to have such fun!" *** Epilogue "Look, Mom! Look, Dad! There's Uncle Corey!!" The little girl sitting on her father's lap tugged at her parents' sleeves to get their attention. Then she started waving frantically at the stage. Lois leaned over and hugged her daughter. "He's waving back at you, Michelle. Can you see him okay?" Michelle Kent nodded happily, watched Corey for a little while longer, but eventually grew bored and went back to looking at her picture books. A graduation ceremony was pretty long for a six year old to have to sit through without any entertainment. Luckily the graduation ceremony just happened to coincide with her little brother's nap time. CJ slept contentedly in the baby carrier at his mother's feet. Finally the ceremony was over. The Kents made their way slowly through the knots of happy graduates surrounded by family and friends until they spotted Corey Vandenburg and his family. His mother, Jen Henderson was busy talking to some of his other relatives but Inspector Henderson rushed over to greet them right away, and pumped Clark's hand excitedly. "Thanks for coming!" He pulled them close to Corey who promptly kissed Lois, shook Clark's hand, and picked up Michelle. "Thanks for coming, guys. Michelle, I saw you waving at me. Did you see me waving at you?" She nodded happily, fingering the tassel on his cap and the material of his gown. "Congratulations, Corey!" Lois exclaimed. "So, Mr. University Graduate, what are you going to do now?" Corey grinned at his stepfather who beamed proudly back at them. "Bill, do you want to tell them or shall I?" Inspector Henderson laughed. "You tell them!" "I'm going to apply to police college. I want to be a cop!" "That's great!" Clark exclaimed as he shook the police officer's hand once again. "Yeah," Corey replied. "I want to make a difference like my step-pop here. I want to make the world a safer place." His relatives closed in around him, in a chorus of congratulations, and the flash-bulbs started to pop as they took pictures. Lois, Clark, and their children celebrated Corey's new beginning with them. The end. ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 21:30:42 -0500 Reply-To: truitt22@flash.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: timothy truitt Organization: tnt technical services Subject: Re: New Fanfic: Redemption - Introduction MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit you succeeded nicely with your intentions with this very powerful sensitive story merry Irene D. wrote: > A few months ago, there was a great deal of discussion > on the list about a fanfic idea that involved Claude, > Lois and the AIDS virus. The idea intrigued me a > great deal. > > At the same time, I was not interested in writing a > Claude story where 1. Claude returns to Metropolis, > and 2. Lois and Clark get revenge on him in some way, > shape or form. For one thing, in real life, there > generally is no black nor white, but only shades of > gray. In other words, no one is completely and > irredeemably evil (although I've heard of some who > come pretty close!). I wanted to write a story where > it would be understandable that Lois had once had > feelings for Claude, and I also wanted to explore the > motivation for why Claude stole Lois's story. I also > wanted to explore what the ramifications of that would > be for Claude. Finally, maybe I'm a bit of a > Pollyanna or something, but even though this story > deals with very adult themes, (sexual abuse of a > minor, AIDS, dying, etc.) at the same time, I wanted > to write something which would be uplifting, and > inspiring. Pretty big ambitions, I know. I hope that > I've succeeded at least in part. > > Irene > P.S. For the information of those who have been asking > for Parts 9 and 10 of Starfire and Sunstorm, this is > what I do when I have writer's block. I work on > something else instead! > > ===== > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 23:41:24 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Anita Hook Subject: Re: New Fanfic: Redemption - Introduction In-Reply-To: <19991025014303.10149.rocketmail@web905.mail.yahoo.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 06:43 PM 10/24/99 -0700, you wrote: >A few months ago, there was a great deal of discussion >on the list about a fanfic idea that involved Claude, >Lois and the AIDS virus. The idea intrigued me a >great deal. I had the pleasure of reading this story as it developed on Zoom's boards and I have to say it is a beautifully written story Irene. The way you incorporated two very sensitive issues into the plot line was so well done, it left me in tears a couple of times. Congratulations. And I hope your writers block clears up soon, I'm looking forward to more on Starfire and Sunstorm. But what the heck, you deserve a break................. ok breaks over! Regards Anita ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 21:00:10 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: NEW STORY: Doppelganger Part 5 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Summary: Everyone always assumed that H. G. Wells was responsible for the magical appearance of the baby at the end of "The Family Hour". But what if he wasn't? Doppelganger: Part 5 by Nan Smith She couldn't have said what made her notice; a sixth sense, maybe, but she knew it at once. It wasn't the grey sedan this time, but an old, green Chevy with a battered front license plate which, just providentially, happened to be smeared with mud. The driver was hanging back, but something about the way he drove drew her attention. Lois turned left and watched. Sure enough, a minute later the green car rounded the corner. She gauged her speed, so as to go through the next traffic light as it turned yellow, and watched as the driver of the green car stepped on the gas in order beat the light. At the next intersection she turned right, and sure enough the green car did, too. That was enough for her. Whether the tail was following her to learn where CJ's day care center was or for some other purpose, there was no way she would lead him to it. There was a gas station a short distance ahead and to the right. Lois pulled into it. She didn't really need gas, but she went through the motions, and while the tank was filling up with the gallon or so of gas she called Perry on her cellular phone. Her editor was alarmed when she told him she was being followed, but agreed to do as she asked. Satisfied, she set the gas nozzle back in its holder, refused the pump computer's attempt to sell her a car wash, and replaced the gas cap. A moment later, she pulled out of the station and proceeded to drive at a modest pace to the headquarters of the Metropolis Police Department. As she got out of the Jeep, the green car drove past her and disappeared up the street. When she arrived at the townhouse, Jimmy was waiting for her in his car, with CJ. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Perry, who was on the list of persons allowed to pick CJ up from day care, had done just as she'd asked. "Hi, Lois." The young photographer got out of the car. "Everything go okay?" "Yeah. I drove by the MPD and filed another report. He took off like a rabbit when he saw where I was going." "Did you get a look at him?" She shook her head. "Not enough of one. I think it might have been the same guy, though. Hat, sunglasses, a brown beard and mustache. It's got to be a disguise, but I haven't a clue who it might be." Jimmy boosted the baby out of the car and settled him on his hip. "Here you go, kiddo. You're getting cuter every day. Man, he sure looks like CK, Lois. I know he was a private adoption. Do you know his parents?" "Um, a relative of Clark's, Jimmy." She gave him the story she and Clark had worked out to explain his sudden appearance to their friends and acquaintances.. "A teenage mother who couldn't keep him." "Oh, I get it. I think it's pretty great that you guys took him." "We wanted him, Jimmy. Clark's always wanted kids, and the idea sort of grew on me, too. I wouldn't want to do without CJ, now." Lois checked the front door carefully for signs of entry. "Let's go check the back, okay? I want to be sure nobody's there before we go in." "Good idea." Jimmy obediently followed her around to the back of the townhouse. The house showed no sign of forced entry, so Lois let them in through the kitchen door. Jimmy carried CJ into the living room, laid him on the mattress of his play pen and moved the bright colored mobile within his reach. The baby gurgled and swung at the baubles hanging over him. Jimmy grinned. "Bright little guy." "We think so," Lois agreed. She sank onto the couch, suddenly feeling very tired. Jimmy looked at her with a worried frown. "Lois, would you like me to stay for awhile? I don't mind." The temptation was too strong. Lois Lane, independent career woman, gave in. "Sure, Jimmy. I'd appreciate that. Clark should be here pretty soon." At least she hoped he would. "Are you hungry?" "Well, kind of, " Jimmy said. Lois correctly interpreted his expression. "Oh, don't worry, Jimmy. Clark made some stuff and froze it for days when there wasn't any time to cook." Jimmy grinned. "In that case, sure." "I'll feed CJ in about an hour. He always wants to eat about six, for some reason. This won't take any time at all." Lois went into the kitchen, extracted one of Clark's frozen meals from the freezer and set it in the oven. She was just setting the temperature when the phone rang. Quickly, she punched in the time and went to answer. "Hello?" Remembering this afternoon, she braced herself for another dead phone, but instead a comforting voice with a southern accent came over the line. "Lois? Just checking to be sure everything was all right." "It is, Perry. I went by the MPD and whoever it was drove off. Jimmy was waiting for me when I got here. Thanks for the help." "No problem, honey. If you need anything later, call my cell phone. I'm pickin' Alice up for dinner in awhile, so I won't be home." "Thanks, Perry. I don't think I'll need to interrupt your date." "Don't you worry about that. If anything happens that I can help with, you call! That's an order!" She couldn't repress a giggle. "Aye aye, sir!" "Good. I'll talk to you later." Perry's call left her feeling better. She went into the living room, to discover that Jimmy had turned on the TV and was watching the tail end of a baseball game that had gone into extra innings. He glanced around. "Everything all right? That wasn't one of those weird calls again, was it?" "No, it was Perry, checking to be sure things were okay. What's the score? "Huh? Oh, it's 2-2. The Metros are up. The game's in the eleventh inning." The phone rang again and Lois went to answer it, hearing Jimmy mutter something about "Grand Central Station". She picked it up,. "Hello?" Dead silence. Lois froze in place, listening. The silence continued for several seconds, and in sudden fury she slammed it down. Jimmy half rose to his feet. "Lois?" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It was him." "Yeah, I kind of figured that." Jimmy's face had gone pink with anger. "What a sicko! I'll bet he wouldn't be so tough if CK got hold of him!" "I'm sure he wouldn't," Lois said. "Well, I'm not CK, but if anybody tries to get in here, he's going to have to go through me," Jimmy said. Lois had a sudden, wild desire to giggle, but suppressed it for fear of hurting her young friend's feelings. Instead, she walked to the play pen and picked CJ up. "I don't think he'll dare," she said. "So far he's been sneaking around. He hasn't tried anything face to face." The phone rang once more. Lois caught her breath and she and Jimmy both stared at the instrument. The answering machine cut in after four rings, gave it's spiel and beeped. Nothing. After a few seconds, the machine clicked off. "Him again," Jimmy said. "I guess so." She turned her head at the faintest "whoosh-thump" on the patio and felt suddenly better. Clark was home. A moment later he was knocking on the front door. "Lois, it's me!" Jimmy undid the chain. "Sorry, CK. We locked up everything. We think that guy tried to follow Lois to CJ's day care center." "Are you okay?" Clark looked immediately at Lois, who stood behind Jimmy, holding the baby. "Yeah." She tilted his face up for him to kiss her, while Jimmy closed the door behind him. "Perry and Jimmy helped me out." She filled him in on the trick they had used. Clark listened without comment until she had finished. "Good job," he said, finally. "Thanks, Jimmy." "No sweat, CK. I just want to see this slimeball caught. He called twice just before you got here, and once at the office." "And sent me flowers," Lois said. "It's getting pretty creepy. If he's after CJ, we've got to come up with a way to catch him." "It sounds like he's interested in CJ *and* Lois," Jimmy said. "Yeah, I'd kind of sensed that," Lois said, dryly. "Look, I've got one of your casseroles in the oven, Clark, and Jimmy's invited for dinner. Let's eat. Maybe we can think better after that." "Sounds good to me." Clark picked CJ neatly out of Lois's arms and held him at eye level. "How's my pal this evening?" CJ gurgled at him, reaching for his glasses. Clark neatly evaded the baby's tiny fingers and supplied him with his keys instead. "Here, buddy, why don't you play with these for a bit, while Mommy and Daddy have something to eat?" * * * * * "How did it go?" Lois asked, as she slammed the Jeep's door. "Fine. The staff was a little surprised to have Superman drop CJ off, but since he's on the approved list nobody said anything." "At least we know you weren't followed." Lois pushed the button to summon the elevator to the parking lot level. "Were *you*?" he asked. "I don't know. I didn't see anyone, but that doesn't mean anything." "True." He put his arm protectively around her waist. "Clark, this can't go on. We have to do something." "I agree. It might not be a bad idea to send CJ for a visit--say to the Midwest. Just until we catch this guy. And, you know, you could go along." "Not for one minute, Kent! I'm going to be here when we nail this weirdo. Count on it. Your mom and dad will take good care of CJ for a few days. Why don't you give them a call when we get up to the newsroom?" Clark hadn't expected anything else, but he had to try. The elevator chimed its arrival on Lois's last word. The doors opened and they boarded in silence, both immersed in their own thoughts. Clark's were on Lois. She was looking tired and stressed, he thought. She would never admit it to anyone, of course, but he had been noticing it for a couple of days now. This business was getting to her more than she was willing to let on to him. He made a silent promise to himself that he would catch this person, whoever he was. His family's welfare was not something he was willing to allow anyone to compromise. Whoever was harassing his wife and son was going to have Superman to cope with. Lois was looking up at him, a little smile on her face. She put an arm around him and gave him a hug. "Lighten up, Clark. You're looking too much like Superman to walk out into the newsroom like that. It's going to be okay." "I know. Together we can do anything." He bent down to kiss her, and thus was unaware when the doors opened until the whistles and cheers of the spectators alerted them to the fact that they had arrived. Perry, only a few feet away, shook his head, trying unsuccessfully to hide a grin. "Come on, you two. This is a newsroom, not the honeymoon suite. You've got work to do." Clark found himself smiling, with a hint of embarrassment, but Lois was unruffled as they exited the elevator. "When we get finished with our honeymoon, we'll let you know, Chief." "Yeah, well, conduct it on your own time." Their boss flicked Clark a wink. "How did things go yesterday? Everything all right?" "Yeah. Thanks for the help, Chief." "Glad I could," Perry said. "Still, it looks to me that you're going to have to do something more. He doesn't seem to be givin' up." "We've already talked about it," Clark said. "The plan goes into effect this evening." "Good." Perry followed them down the ramp. "In that case, what have you got goin' this morning?" Clark snagged a plain cake doughnut off the snack table and took a bite. "We've got that City Council meeting in awhile. Lois has got all of her evidence documented and the witnesses lined up. There's going to be some red faces at City Hall when this comes out." "Serves ‘em right," Perry said, with a grin. "I thought this batch was sleazy, but even *I* never expected them to sink this low. It may even get a few of ‘em booted, come the next election." "Well, any decent person should be outraged," Lois said. "I mean, first they commit the city to buying tickets for any seats that don't sell to the Metros' games, and promise to donate them to underprivileged kids, then we find out they're giving them out to influential people for political favors. Less than half the tickets are going where they're supposed to go. That's not only misappropriation of funds, it's just plain shameful!" She marched over to her desk and snapped on her computer. Perry gave Clark a one-sided smile. "Those guys have no idea what's gonna hit ‘em," he said. "Mad Dog Lane's on the warpath, and some political heads are gonna roll." Clark chuckled at the mixed metaphor and nodded in full agreement. A few minutes later he set Lois's morning cup of coffee on her desk and dropped into his own chair. While his computer booted up, he scanned the messages that had been left for him since the day before. And almost jumped out of his skin at the crash when Lois's mug hit the floor. He was out of his seat like a shot. "Lois, are you all right?" The look on her face answered him. She was staring at her computer screen in apparent shock. "Lois?" He bent quickly over her. "What's wrong?" "Look at this." She pointed at the screen. The e-mail was short and to the point. It said simply, "Clark Kent does not love you. He is unfaithful. Leave him." Perry was standing behind him, reading over his shoulder. Clark hadn't even heard him approach. Their boss's face darkened to an alarming shade of red. "What *is* this garbage?" "It's *him* again," Lois said. Clark took her hand in a tight grip. "Honey, you *know* none of that is true." Lois glanced up with a half-smile, but he was frightened at the drawn look on her face. "Of course I know it, Clark. But I can't seem to get away from him. He's always there in the background, somehow." Abruptly, her expression altered to the determined look he knew. "But that doesn't mean I have to take it. We're going to get this sicko if it's the last thing we do!" "That's the Lois Lane I know." Clark squeezed her hand in relief. "You can count on it." Perry's face had resumed its normal color, but he still looked grim. "Olsen! Drop what you're doin' and get over here now!" "Just bringing the doughnuts, Chief." Jimmy skidded to a stop by the desk. "I'll take ‘em. Ten to one this e-mail address is a fake. Can you trace it?" "I don't know." Jimmy peered at Lois's computer screen. "I can try. It's that creep again, huh?" "Yeah. Get busy and track him down!" Jimmy gave Clark a pained expression, but nodded. "I'll do my best." * * * * * Four hours later, Lois and Clark returned to the Daily Planet from City Hall. They had asked several awkward questions and received a number of unsatisfactory explanations for the events in question. Lois had apparently accepted every word at face value, and planned to print each answer, word for word, with the rest of her article and allow the readers to make up their own minds. Clark suspected the result might make for some interesting drama in government during the next couple of months. Lois pulled into the Planet's' underground lot slowly, glancing around for a parking space. Clark lifted his glasses. "There's one two aisles over that way," he was beginning, when something struck them hard from the rear, jolting them forward several feet. Clark twisted about, to see the minivan which had just tail-ended them, the driver looking very shaken. He turned quickly to his wife. "Lois, are you okay?" he demanded. "Are you hurt?" "No, I think I'm all right." Lois winced and rubbed the back of her neck. Clark lifted his glasses and surreptitiously x-rayed the spot. He grimaced slightly. Lois was going to have a very sore neck by tonight, but none of the damage was serious. He got out of the car and went back to the other driver. "Are you hurt?" The man started to shake his head, and groaned. "I think I'm all right. Are you guys okay?" "I think so. What happened?" "My foot slipped off the brake. Blast it! My insurance company's gonna have a fit! I just got my van back. Some guy tail-ended *me* six weeks ago!" Lois had gotten out and was examining the back of her beloved Jeep. Clark and the other driver exchanged insurance and driver's license information, and the other man eventually drove away, amid profuse apologies. Clark noted that Lois remained silent during the exchange, but her jaw had a grim set to it. He turned to her after the man had disappeared. "Are you sure you're okay, honey?" "Haven't you already checked?" she asked, a sarcastic note to her voice. Clark smiled slightly. "Your neck's going to be sore tonight, but I didn't see any serious damage. Look, why don't you go on up to the newsroom and sit down? I'll take care of the tow truck. We aren't going to be driving the Jeep for awhile by the looks of it. That back wheel well is pretty much crushed." "No kidding! That *idiot*! Where did he get his license? Out of a crackerjack box?" Abruptly she swore, using language that he had rarely heard from her. He could see that she was near tears and put his arms around her. "It'll be all right, Lois. It's not the end of the world, and it wasn't your fault. It's just a little inconvenience." She sighed. "Oh, I know. It's just that it had to happen *now*, of all times, with all these other things happening, too." He kissed her, gently. "At least you aren't hurt seriously. That's all I care about. The car can be fixed." It took a little more persuading, but at last she stepped into the elevator and it proceeded upward. Clark took the cellular phone from his jacket pocket. A tremendous explosion shook the building, knocking him back several feet. He picked himself up, ears ringing. The Jeep had exploded, he realized with a shock. The cars on both sides of it were blackened, the water fountain by the elevators torn completely off the wall, and water was spraying from the broken pipes. The doors of the elevator had been blown away. So had his clothes. He was in his Superman outfit. "Lois!" Instantly he x-rayed the elevator car, and breathed a sigh of relief. The car was stalled, and Lois was trapped between floors, but she wasn't hurt. Without hesitation, he dived into the shaft and zipped up to open the car from the top. In an instant he was holding her tightly in his arms. "Honey, are you hurt?" "What happened?" Lois sounded slightly dazed. "The Jeep exploded. It may have been a car bomb." He lowered them down the elevator shaft once more. "Stay back, okay? Don't get too close. There might be more explosions." He set her down, and turned his head, x-raying first the other elevators, which were, fortunately, empty, and then the building. Incredibly, except for the area immediately around the Jeep, there wasn't much damage. Two steel beams were cracked, and he proceeded to weld them into place with his heat vision. Sirens were approaching fast; someone must have called the police. He glanced at his wife. She was leaning against one of the undamaged cars, looking more pale and shaken than he liked. He went over to her. "Honey, are you okay?" She nodded. "I'm all right, Clark." He wasn't so sure, but at that point the first police car came screaming into the parking lot, followed by two more, and he had to put on his "Superman face" as Lois called it. Jimmy Olsen and Ralph appeared a few minutes later, and the opportunity for intimate conversation was lost. ----------------------- (to be continued) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 08:32:08 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Phillip Atcliffe Subject: Re: Another inquiry-Aviation nuts need apply In-Reply-To: <199910221733.KAA27395@netcom11.netcom.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII James asked: >> What is the fastest airship available to the US Government? How long would it take to get from say Nevada to Cuba? << And Steve replied: > Well, currently, the US Gov doesn't own any proper airships, if you mean a rigid motorized lighter-than-air craft (like a Zepplin). < But they _are_ (or were, last I heard) working on a design for long-range/-duration maritime recon and AEW. I admit that I haven't been following the project very closely, and it may well have been cancelled -- but that doesn't mean that the US in L&C's world might not have continued it. Had it ever eventuated, it would have been made by Westinghouse and designated the EZ-2A. > However, historically, the old airships of the 1920s and '30s might do up to 100 mph or so, and the Nevada/Cuba trip is about 2500 miles. (just peeking into my wife's L&C traffic and don't know if there is any context to the question otherwise) < And speeds aren't much higher these days -- but that's not the point to modern airships. So the main thing about using an airship in fanfic is that a Nevada-Cuba trip will take a time measured in tens of hours, or even in days, depending on the wind(s). So if you want it to be delayed or get there quicker, all you have to do is provide the appropriate weather . Phil ------------------------------------------------------------ Gravity is a Downer... So let's go flying! -- so sayeth Phil Atcliffe (Phillip.Atcliffe@uwe.ac.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 07:46:29 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "C.C. Malo" Subject: Re: First Draft: Gossip MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit As usual, I'm way behind in my reading -- this is not an apology, just a statement of how things are. Often, I think I'll reply to something on this list but time passesand so I don't; although I do often send a private note. This time, I decided: so I'm late... and Nicole did say public comments were okay. I won't comment on grammar, syntax because this is a first draft and I know Nicole has "people" who do syntax. I'm in awe of Nicole's abillity to write so well in English. ( I still remember struggling with German past participles in high school) Nicole, I'm glad you decided to send this to the list -- it's a nice change to look at things through Jimmy's perspective and I thought your charcterization of him was quite good, as it was of L & C, too. spolier space * * * * * * * * * * The Kerth award ceremony provided a very natural setting for Jimmy's reminiscences -- something we've all done intermittently through ceremonies of that sort. I liked the way it allowed us to see Jimmy's growth from the time he was a kid in trouble to the successful young man at the ceremony. And I also like how this part of the plot was developed in bits throughout rather than in one long passage. L & C's relationship during the Kerth award provided a nice counterpoint to the story that was unfolding in Jimmy's head and I liked the way it was decribed -- quietly touching. :) I was pleased, too, that Jimmy didn't actually figure out the secret as he's reviewing all this -- for a moment I feared he would. (I have this short personal list of things that are okay and things that are non-OK. #1: Perry can know, as long as he doesn't say he knows; Jimmy can't know, at least not for a very long time) a suggestion: At times, Jimmy's memories began to seem lke a catelogue. It would be nice to see a few of the experiences which Jimmy was more invoved in deloped a little more. What made me think that were the parts about J's crush on Lois and the Superman & Lois tabloid expose. I liked how you handled these . You wrote: <> I do hope you continue with it and we get to see the final version. Carol ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 05:29:28 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: New Fanfic: Redemption - Introduction MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Thank you to both Anita and Merry for responding on the list. I'm amazed; you two have been so supportive on the boards already. I'm glad that you both felt that I handled this all right. Thanks for the feedback, Irene --- Anita Hook wrote: > At 06:43 PM 10/24/99 -0700, you wrote: > >A few months ago, there was a great deal of > discussion > >on the list about a fanfic idea that involved > Claude, > >Lois and the AIDS virus. The idea intrigued me a > >great deal. > > I had the pleasure of reading this story as it > developed on Zoom's boards > and I have to say it is a beautifully written story > Irene. The way you > incorporated two very sensitive issues into the plot > line was so well done, > it left me in tears a couple of times. > > Congratulations. And I hope your writers block > clears up soon, I'm looking > forward to more on Starfire and Sunstorm. But what > the heck, you deserve a > break................. > > > > > > > ok breaks over! > > Regards > Anita > ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 08:49:57 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Charlotte Fisler Subject: Re: Revealing Cruise pt. 2 comments MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Irene, You have nothing to apologize for. As I wrote in my message to everyone (the responses to which I have not yet read, much less most of the responses to my response - this is getting complicated) no one wrote anything which should have caused me to react the way I did. Yesterday (I'm finishing this on Monday morning - nothing like the clear cold light of dawn) as I was reading over some of the posts, I laughed out loud at several of them, especially Zoom's She has a wonderful way of putting everything in perspective. She hates Baby too, BTW. but my father in law uses it as a TOE for my mother in law so we wondered if it's not a generational thing, or maybe just a family trait (BG) Either way, I made a big thing out of nothing. I'm sorry, especially since I know there are a lot of people who do object to that endearment, me not being one of them obviously. Charlotte ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 14:11:03 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: First Draft: Gossip In-Reply-To: <0.6c05776d.25459d15@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Mon, 25 Oct 1999 07:46:29 EDT "C.C. Malo" wrote: [snip lots of nice comments, all of which I agree with so I won't repeat them!] > You wrote: <> I do hope you continue with it and > we get to see the final version. Absolutely! Nicky, do whatever you need to do to this story and send it to the Archive. It's cute, amusing and very entertaining. Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 14:20:14 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: London FESTing Comments: To: ukfolcs@onelist.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Just wanted to say: I had a great time over the weekend. It was fun meeting people I'd only corresponded with by email or chatted to on IRC. Even more intriguing was actually put *real* as opposed to imaginary faces to names! I'm not sure that, out of those I hadn't met before, I would have been able to identify anyone at first glance! (Except for Phil, of course, brave man that he was to be the only guy in a roomful of women admiring Dean Cain!) Dom, thank you very much for all your organisation, food-buying and general efforts to make everyone feel welcome - oh, and for providing the kite, the Kryptonite jelly and the FLAKES!! Yvonne, thanks for starting the FEST fic; Dom, I got it this morning, added a bit and sent it on to Phil. Between us, we might manage to finish this monster yet! (Oh, and someone needs to give it a title .) Till the next FEST... Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 06:33:26 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Melisma Subject: Re: London FESTing In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Um, Wendy, intreguing! Fest fic? May it be done soon - with all you great Brit and Irish writers contributing, I'm sure it will be one of the greats, and I can't wait to read it! :D On another note, our Vancouver fest last weekend was great, too. No fic as a result, but thanks Nancy and Audrey for a great time :) Melisma At 02:20 PM 10/25/99 +0100, you wrote: >Just wanted to say: I had a great time over the weekend. It >was fun meeting people I'd only corresponded with by email >or chatted to on IRC. Even more intriguing was actually put >*real* as opposed to imaginary faces to names! I'm not sure >that, out of those I hadn't met before, I would have been >able to identify anyone at first glance! > >(Except for Phil, of course, brave man that he was to be >the only guy in a roomful of women admiring Dean Cain!) > >Dom, thank you very much for all your organisation, >food-buying and general efforts to make everyone feel >welcome - oh, and for providing the kite, the Kryptonite >jelly and the FLAKES!! > >Yvonne, thanks for starting the FEST fic; Dom, I got it >this morning, added a bit and sent it on to Phil. Between >us, we might manage to finish this monster yet! (Oh, and >someone needs to give it a title .) > > >Till the next FEST... > >Wendy > >---------------------- >Wendy Richards >w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk > > ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 14:34:29 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: London FESTing In-Reply-To: <3.0.5.32.19991025063326.00838b10@pop.intergate.bc.ca> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Mon, 25 Oct 1999 06:33:26 -0700 Melisma wrote: > Um, Wendy, intreguing! Fest fic? May it be done soon - with all you great > Brit and Irish writers contributing, I'm sure it will be one of the greats, > and I can't wait to read it! :D Don't forget the Aussie writer... the 'mad Professor' himself . Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mel, though I think that by the time we stopped on Saturday we were still trying to decide whether it was supposed to be a spoof or a serious story. And that's Yvonne's fault for the weird opening line she gave us, and probably also Dom's fault for introducing the magic mushrooms . Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 06:48:26 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Melisma Subject: Re: London FESTing In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >Don't forget the Aussie writer... the 'mad Professor' >himself . > > >Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mel, though I think that >by the time we stopped on Saturday we were still trying to >decide whether it was supposed to be a spoof or a serious >story. And that's Yvonne's fault for the weird opening line >she gave us, and probably also Dom's fault for introducing >the magic mushrooms . > > >Wendy Oooh, mi scusi, Phil!! And this is sounding more and more intreguing... May this fic be released SOON, Oh Great and Talented Author and her co-horts, all worthy of accolades! Melisma (who thinks she should be second only to Maggie for fanfic god and goddess worshipping) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 12:19:38 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Laurie Dunn Subject: Re: Not completely OT: Star Trek coincidence MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Zoomway@AOL.COM writes: << At any rate, the number one reason Star Trek the original series is better is because Dean Cain narrated the Star Trek classic segment on Science Fiction A Journey Into the Unknown. >> That sounds like a good show. When was it on and what station? Maybe we can watch for a rerun. Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 19:45:27 +0200 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicole Wolke Subject: Re: First Draft: Gossip MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thank you Carol, Wendy, Tara and everyone else who wrote to me for your encouragement for my "Gossip" Story. Carol wrote: > Nicole did say public comments were okay. They are absolutely okay. Actually, I was astonished that I got so many private comments! I guess I sounded a little too depressed ! > I won't comment on grammar, syntax because this is a first draft and I know > Nicole has "people" who do syntax. Oh yes, I have. She told me lately that she likes to keep a low profiel though, so I won't mention her, but she's the best! :-) > I'm in awe of Nicole's abillity to write so well in English. ( I still remember > struggling with German past > participles in high school) well , thank you very much. I like English, IMO it's a wonderful language and if I imagine Dean saying the words I write, it's really easy and such an extra nice kick . *I'm*' in awe that there're actually people who try to learn German, because it's really complicated and you can't really do anything with it! > I was pleased, too, that Jimmy didn't actually figure out the secret as he's > reviewing all this -- for a moment I feared he would. (I have this short > personal list of things that are okay and things that are non-OK. #1: > Perry can know, as long as he doesn't say he knows; Jimmy can't know, at > least not for a very long time) Oh, you won't ever have to worry about me letting Jimmy know, because I'm exactly of the same opinion. Jimmy must not know, that's a given! Also I wanted to stay strictly in continuity for once, since I don't think in this story the events that took place during the series don't need to be changed. The only difference I wanted to show was the different perspective. > a suggestion: At times, Jimmy's memories began to seem like a catelogue. It > would be nice to see a few of the experiences which Jimmy was more invoved in > deloped a little more. What made me think that were the parts about J's > crush on Lois and the Superman & Lois tabloid expose. Hmm, I'm not sure, I understand what you mean. Do you mean that it's too much "tale" and not enough doing? I thought about adding more active scenes to the story. For example I liked myself the scene where Jimmy asked Clark about his date with Lois, because it was an added "scene" that we didn't see in the series, that could nonetheless have happened that way and it wasn't only Jimmy telling the events we already knew. Is that what you mean? One of my biggest problems is: how much *do* I have to retell? One part that really annoys me for example is the whole Luthor-Fiasco. I didn't really want to retell the whole story, but on the other hand, I think it was a major event and if Jimmy reflects on the past, he wouldn't ignore it. Would it be enough to just write: "Clark had been almost one year at the Planet when that whole Lex-Luthor affair had taken place." and leave it at that instead of retelling all the events the readers know anyway? On the other hand, did I ignore parts of the series that you guys think are important and should be added? As I said, I really appreciate comments, public or private. You guys have already helped me a lot with this! take care Nicole -- AKA CKgroupie on IRC NKWolke@eifel-net.net ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 16:26:41 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: The Zoomway Subject: OT sci fi special (was Re: Not completely OT: Star Trek coincidence MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/25/99 11:20:05 AM Central Daylight Time, DUNNFOUR@AOL.COM writes: << That sounds like a good show. When was it on and what station? Maybe we can watch for a rerun. >> I'm *guessing* that it aired 94 or early 95. The clip from the X-Files, for example, was its second season opener Little Green Men. In other words, Lois and Clark would have been in its second season too. Another reason I'm guessing this date is because Dean looks like he's dressed in the suit he wore on Lucky Leon. It's as if he had to travel from Warner Bros. to FOX (that's the network that aired the special) and either didn't have time to change into something else, or would have to be getting back to Warner Bros. and so why bother changing If it wasn't filmed at FOX studio, then maybe it was filmed at the museum of radio and television (Beverly Hills), because that's who put the special together. The special was divided by type or genre of science fiction, really, time travel, alternate universes, robots, aliens, space travel, etc. Great clips from a lot of shows including Quantum Leap, Amazing Stories, Twilight Zone, the various incarnations of Star Trek and so on. Zoom ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 17:24:24 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Eugene Ellison Subject: I really hate having to say this MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi, Everyone! I really hate to say this, but I have to stop posting "Discoveries and Rebirths" for a little while. I'm working on part 4 right now. I realized that this story was going to take a long time to write. If anyone would like to help me write and maybe, get the rest in a private e-mail, I would be so happy. Thank you so much! Love, Misty supergirl511@hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 17:29:33 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carolyn Schnall Subject: Brutal Youth Vita who? In-Reply-To: <0.4e3641fb.2545abf5@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi FoLCs: I thought I knew how to spell the name of the female scientist in Brutal Youth but now suspect I got it wrong. Is it Vita Dudson? I need it for an nfic story that is otherwise nearly finished. Thanks, Carolyn cschnall@mail.med.cornell.edu ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 17:19:35 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Re: Another inquiry-Aviation nuts need apply I did mean SuperSonic. How about the F-15D Eagle? It has the range but would take about 3 hours to get there, depending on how hard they pushed it. James ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 16:32:09 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: Brutal Youth Vita who? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hey Carolyn, It's Veda Doodsen. Irene --- Carolyn Schnall wrote: > Hi FoLCs: > > I thought I knew how to spell the name of the female > scientist in Brutal > Youth but now suspect I got it wrong. > > Is it Vita Dudson? > > I need it for an nfic story that is otherwise nearly > finished. > > Thanks, > Carolyn > cschnall@mail.med.cornell.edu > ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 19:33:16 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: London FESTing MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/25/99 9:42:26 AM Eastern Daylight Time, melisma@INTERGATE.BC.CA writes: << probably also Dom's fault for introducing >the magic mushrooms . > >> Wait a second! Are we to understand that Dom is using food in a story that *isn't* chocolate? Or are the magic mushrooms really chocolate truffles? Ann ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 19:41:26 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: First Draft: Gossip MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/25/99 1:50:11 PM Eastern Daylight Time, NKWolke@EIFEL-NET.NET writes: << *I'm*' in awe that there're actually people who try to learn German, because it's really complicated and you can't really do anything with it! >> Well, Nicole, I agree that German is really complicated; but I think there are lots of things you can do with it. You can understand the lyrics at Wagnerian operas, read scientific journal articles, and talk to people in Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. You can also impress all the people who think it is a hard language to learn.:) Ann ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 20:33:23 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Guy or Lesley Hilliard Subject: Re: Another inquiry-Aviation nuts need apply MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit James, I was talking about this subject with my husband who mentions a supersonic plane called the Aurora. The US government denies all existance of the plane but according to my husband it can do over mach 5 and should take about an hour to get there. It also has the range to go that far. HTH Lesley AKA Ladyhawke -----Original Message----- From: James Tull To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Date: October 25, 1999 6:19 PM Subject: Re: Another inquiry-Aviation nuts need apply >I did mean SuperSonic. How about the F-15D Eagle? It has the range but >would take about 3 hours to get there, depending on how hard they pushed it. > >James ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 18:30:47 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: Re: Brutal Youth Vita who? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit My recollection is that the spelling was Vita Dootson because it was spelled the same as some people I knew. ----- Original Message ----- From: Carolyn Schnall To: Sent: Monday, October 25, 1999 3:29 PM Subject: Brutal Youth Vita who? > Hi FoLCs: > > I thought I knew how to spell the name of the female scientist in Brutal > Youth but now suspect I got it wrong. > > Is it Vita Dudson? > > I need it for an nfic story that is otherwise nearly finished. > > Thanks, > Carolyn > cschnall@mail.med.cornell.edu ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 19:00:05 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Melisma Subject: Re: Brutal Youth Vita who? In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" In 'Moments of Illumination' I spelled it Vita Doodsen, on Wendy Richards' wise counselling... Melisma At 05:29 PM 10/25/99 -0500, you wrote: >Hi FoLCs: > >I thought I knew how to spell the name of the female scientist in Brutal >Youth but now suspect I got it wrong. > >Is it Vita Dudson? > >I need it for an nfic story that is otherwise nearly finished. > >Thanks, >Carolyn >cschnall@mail.med.cornell.edu > > ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 22:01:14 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Christina B." Subject: New fanfic: The Never-ending Story, part 1, story 1 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Authors note: This is a crossover The Never-ending Story, part 1, story 1 By Christina Batouli Two men got off a train that had stopped in Metropolis. They began to walk towards the downtown district; each had a long, slender package in hand. The younger one, (at least he *looked* younger, you could never tell how old those two were just by looking at them,) asked the older looking one a question. (The older looking one *was* older, just so you know.) "Mac, really, why are we here? I mean, isn't Metropolis one of the most unsafe places for us to be? I mean with Superman around and everything?" "Actually," Older-Looking-Man replied, "Metropolis is one of the safest places for us to be, now that Superman's scared everyone off." "I can understand why. You can't really do what we do without risking that he might hear or see something he shouldn't. Super-hearing and flybys are not conducive to our way of life." "Actually, that's not the only reason everyone ran. I've heard some rumors that Superman is one of us." "Whoa! Is that even possible?! I mean, he's from another planet and everything." "Obviously some people think it is possible, but anyway he's not one of us yet. He'll become one of us." "So there's no one in Metropolis that actually belongs to our club?" "Actually, yes. There is one. He's the entire reason we're coming to Metropolis. His current name's Bernard Klein and he's an old friend of mine. I wanted to catch up on the times with him." "Bernard Klein? I've heard of him. Isn't he Superman's doctor?" "And he has good reason to be. Superman trusts him and he can explain everything when the time comes." "But how can the time come? Superman is well...*Superman.*" "I don't know the answer to that question. But anyway, there also was another one of us that lived here and chose to stay even though Superman is here." "Really? Who?" "Lex Luthor." "Wow! He almost married Superman's main squeeze Lane! Two of us who just happen to be enemies going for the same girl! Talk about your never ending battles!" Mac was about to reply when they both heard an alarm coming from the bank across the street they were currently walking on. It was a stupid thing to do, set off the alarm when the robber had a gun. That's what *silent* alarms were for. This bank apparently hadn't heard of them. Now there was a crowd forming as well as a hostage situation. The two men decided to get a closer look at the predicament, when they heard "Hey, it's Superman!" But then they felt it. They need not look up to know that he was there. *** Clark got a feeling. It was hard to describe. It wasn't instinct. The feeling wasn't in the pit of his stomach or the reaches of his heart (like they often were when Lois was involved.) The feeling was rather, in his head. It was very intense. If he hadn't been Kryptonian it could be described as a headache. The feeling was that there was someone watching him, maybe *two* people, really. He began to look around. *** "Well Mac, it looks like Superman already is one of us. Think we should be getting to see that friend of yours now?" *** TBC... P.S. Were you able to figure out who the two men were? ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 19:19:31 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: NEW STORY: Doppelganger Part 6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Summary: Everyone always assumed that H.G. Wells was responsible for the magical appearance of the baby at the end of "The Family Hour" But what if he wasn't? Doppelganger: Part 6 By Nan Smith "There's no doubt of it, Clark." Henderson's voice sounded grim. "The bomb was placed under your car. There was a radio-controlled trigger. We found enough of it to be sure." "So it was triggered manually." "Yeah. Whoever was responsible waited until they figured Lois was out of range, hit the switch and ran like the devil. It was a deliberate attempt to kill you." "Well, it was pretty obvious he intended to kill somebody. If Superman hadn't shown up when he did, it would have worked," Clark said. He glanced around the newsroom at his co-workers, and at his wife. Superman had assured the authorities that the building was structurally sound and safe for occupancy, and they had taken his word for it, so the work around him was proceeding at a hectic pace. Lois was typing away at her keyboard, pausing every now and then to rub her neck. Clark subdued a wave of anger at their mysterious stalker who was so willing to risk the lives of all these people, and especially of Lois. He couldn't have been certain that she was out of range of the explosion. "Are you listening to me, Clark?" Inspector Henderson's voice asked. "Yeah," Clark said. "Thanks, Inspector. Look, I'd appreciate any information you come up with on this. I promise not to print anything without permission." "I know you won't. Look, there *is* one thing you should probably know. I know you're investigating the Bender case. The explosive that blew up his car is quite possibly the same type used on yours. Don't quote me on that." "I won't." "You watch yourself," Henderson said, with uncharacteristic concern. "Whoever this head case is, he may have taken his obsession with your wife to the next level." "I'd kind of gathered that," Clark said. "If I find out anything, I'll get in touch with you, Inspector. Thanks." Henderson hung up, and Clark put down the phone slowly. He walked over to Lois, rested his hands on her shoulders and began to gently rub her neck, which he knew from the way she was acting must already be aching. A few darts of heat vision into the stiffening muscles helped to ease her discomfort as he rubbed. He could see her tense shoulders relaxing. "That feels good, Clark," she murmured. "Thanks." "No problem," he said. "How are you feeling, besides the neck?" She leaned back in her chair, enjoying the neck rub. "All right. A little shaken up, but all right." "Good," he said. "I was kind of worried there for awhile. How about dinner at Antonio's after I drop CJ off, tonight?" "That sounds like heaven." Lois looked up at him and he bent down to kiss her lightly on the lips. "Uh, guys?" Jimmy's voice, as might have been expected, interrupted the kiss. Clark straightened up and glanced at their young friend in resignation. "Nice timing, Jim." "Sorry." Jimmy had turned slightly pink. "Look, you know that e-mail from this morning? The Chief was right; it was a fake return address. I tried to follow it, but it was mirrored through several servers and somewhere along the line I lost the trace. I'm sorry." Clark sighed. "That's all right, Jimmy. You did your best. I guess we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way." "Yeah. It just burns me up that this guy is getting away with all this. I mean, he tried to *kill* you, CK!" "I know. I guess I'm lucky Superman was keeping his eye on me." Lois's desk phone chose that moment to ring. She picked it up. "Lois Lane." Both men paused, alert, remembering the calls of the previous night. Lois listened a moment, and her face whitened. She slammed down the phone. "The day care center is on fire!" If he hadn't known it was impossible, Jimmy might later have sworn that both Lois and Clark had flown out of the newsroom, they disappeared so fast. Clark hoped no one had noticed the speed with which he moved them both out, or the gust of wind that blew papers around the room as soon as they were out of everyone's sight. Within a few seconds they were landing in front of the Little Cherubs' Day Care Center. Superman set Lois down on the lawn and entered the building in a blur. The main room was full of smoke, but the staff was acting swiftly and efficiently to evacuate the children. He moved quickly to locate the source of the fire, a trash can in the kitchen stuffed with oily rags and papers, soaked in some kind of chemical. It was pouring out a cloud of dense smoke, but one blast of super-cooled breath froze the contents solid. Once the fire itself was out he proceeded to clear the building of smoke. As he dispersed the worst of the cloud he heard the sirens of the approaching fire trucks cut off in front of the Center. A moment later a fire fighter opened the kitchen door. "Superman?" "Yeah. Check this out, will you?" Superman didn't bother to try to explain why he had shown up so quickly at what was, to say the least, a minor fire. He thrust the trash can at the woman. "It looks like it was deliberate." She took the receptacle, and she and the two men who had followed her through the door began to examine the frozen offering. But Superman's attention was no longer on them. A day care worker's voice said, sharply, "Where's CJ?" For an instant terror tugged at him, then he was responding in the way he had trained himself to do in all emergencies, with cool, methodical judgement. He fanned his x-ray vision about the building, looking for his son. CJ was not on the premises. In a gust of air, he was outside and lifting off, using his enhanced eyesight to scan the whole area. A grey car was driving away from the scene a little too fast for his taste, and he x-rayed it. There was CJ, lying loose on the front seat. He arrowed down, and an instant later the car was suspended in mid air, fifty feet from the ground. Superman, supporting the vehicle with one hand under the top edge of the window frame, fingers leaving dents in the metal of the roof, reached through the opening and scooped up his son. The driver gave one panicky look at him and tried to open his door. "I wouldn't," Clark said, dryly. "Unless you can fly." The man looked down and swallowed, then back at the Kryptonian holding his car casually in one hand as he gently cradled the baby in the other arm. Clark's eyes met those of the kidnapper with an expression in them that would terrify the hardiest of souls. "I don't suppose you'd care to explain what you thought you were doing," he said, almost mildly, but the apparent mildness was his own way of covering the jolt of recognition. The driver was the same man who had tail-ended their Jeep this morning. Clark glanced down. He could see Lois in the crowd, and knew she had seen him. With a burst of speed, he headed for MPD Headquarters, to hand his prize over to Inspector Henderson. Maybe now they would get some answers. ------------------------ (to be continued) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 22:23:44 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sandy McDermin Subject: Re: First Draft: Gossip MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit "C.C. Malo" wrote: > > As usual, I'm way behind in my reading -- this is not an apology, just a > statement of how things are. Often, I think I'll reply to something on > this list but time passesand so I don't; although I do often send a private > note. This time, I decided: so I'm late... and Nicole did say public > comments were okay. Hey, *I* don't think you're that late, Carol. Nicole just posted on Friday, and heaven knows, along with our interest in L&C, we all have busy lives. In fact, quite surprisingly, the message boards are helping me out in this regard. If a story was posted on the boards before being posted here while another was just posted here, I'll comment on the second story first or I'll comment on it rather than the other. I figure that the first has already received a substantial amount of comment somewhere else while the second one has gotten none or only a few here.... So, that being said, I'm going to piggyback on your post regarding "Gossip." > > I'm in awe of Nicole's abillity to write so well in English. ( I still remember > > struggling with German past > > participles in high school) > > well , thank you very much. I like English, IMO it's a wonderful language > and if I imagine Dean saying the words I write, it's really easy and such an > extra nice kick . *I'm*' in awe that there're actually people who try to learn > German, because it's really complicated and you can't really do anything with it! You can't do anything with it? What about speak with Germans? Considering the relative U.S. prominence in the world when it comes to popular culture -- whether for good or ill -- it's too bad more Americans aren't fluent in other languages and/or knowledgeable about other cultures. Then, maybe, artistic work from other countries would be more broadly appreciated here. In any case, Nicole, I'm very impressed that you write so well in English. > > a suggestion: At times, Jimmy's memories began to seem like a catelogue. It > > would be nice to see a few of the experiences which Jimmy was more invoved in > > deloped a little more. What made me think that were the parts about J's > > crush on Lois and the Superman & Lois tabloid expose. > > Hmm, I'm not sure, I understand what you mean. Do you mean that it's too much > "tale" and not enough doing? Since I agree very much with Carol's comments, I'll try to answer. I also liked viewing L&C's relationship from another's perspective, but I think there were too many times when you reiterated what we already know. I would have liked to have been shown something new about these familiar events -- perhaps something only Jimmy would be able to tell us. For instance, Carol mentions Jimmy's crush on Lois. Now, I can't remember.... Do you refer to Jimmy's confession to Lois in Just Say Noah? If so, you might have Jimmy reflect upon the dream he had of Lois where she was going to "make a man of him.";) You don't have to get too detailed or turn it into n-fic (besides, dreams are usually more ambiguous than that -- worst luck!), but you might have him say more about it. Perhaps, just when Lois was about to take the crucial step with him, Superman horns in on the dream, smiles seductively, and says, "No Lois, *I'll* make a man of him!" Jimmy's eyes widen in fear at the implication. He begins to protest. However, before he can say another word, Superman makes a gentle shushing noise, gathers Jimmy in his arms, flies off with him and ... takes him fishing whereupon Superman instantly turns into Perry White.... Well, you get the idea. And, while we're on the topic of Jimmy's feelings for Lois, why not compare his unrealistic, sexy dreams of Lois with the one time he had the chance of "realizing them." Remember, during one of the Prankster episodes, Lois stays at Jimmy's place, but ends up being less the dream date and more like a nightmare? She even calls the police on him and his friends? I would love to read a vignette of that experience in contrast to Jimmy's fantasies of Lois. Of course, the confession about the dream comes a whole season after this; however, that doesn't mean the dream itself did. (Actually, this sounds like a great fic in and of itself.... Hmmm.) Here's another one ... what about AKA Superman? Since Jimmy's a bit of a computer nerd, he must have been darn interested in how Penny took all the information she had about Superman, put it into a computer, and came up with *him* as a result. Perhaps, Jimmy tries this out and *he* comes up with Clark. But, then, as he studies our mild-mannered reporter more closely, he decides that CK couldn't possibly be Superman. Besides, Clark wears glasses, and we all know Superman not only has 20-20 vision, he has x-ray vision! As Carol says, there are other instances where Jimmy's story could be further elaborated on. She mentions the Superman and Lois tabloid interlude in Sex, Lies, and Videotape. You could go into more of Jimmy's doubts about L&C's relationship -- considering the ever present fact of Superman. The event that always fascinated me, however, was when Jimmy was accused of murder in Lucky Leon. He oh-so-blithely assures L&C that they should go on their date and not worry about him and his little ole murder problem! Bizarre. How could anybody appear so unaffected? > I thought about adding more active scenes to the > story. For example I liked myself the scene where Jimmy asked Clark about his > date with Lois, because it was an added "scene" that we didn't see in the series, > that could nonetheless have happened that way and it wasn't only Jimmy telling > the events we already knew. Is that what you mean? Simply put ... yes. > One of my biggest problems is: how much *do* I have to retell? You really don't need to "re"tell anything. Just refer to an event we all recognize and then look at it from a different perspective. But remember, you're Jimmy. There's things you can't know and some things you're completely wrong about. Or, you can take an event we are all familiar with and take off on another tangent with it ... Jimmy's tangent. > One part that > really annoys me for example is the whole Luthor-Fiasco. I didn't really want to > retell the whole story, but on the other hand, I think it was a major event and > if Jimmy reflects on the past, he wouldn't ignore it. Would it be enough to just > write: "Clark had been almost one year at the Planet when that whole Lex-Luthor > affair had taken place." and leave it at that instead of retelling all the events > the readers know anyway? You could talk more about what Jimmy thought of Luthor (and Lois' attraction to him). After all, Jimmy read all five(?) of Luthor's unauthorized biographies. What did they say and what did Jimmy think of it? > On the other hand, did I ignore parts of the series that you guys think are > important and should be added? Yes, the part where Jimmy is accused of murder. Or, what about the time Jimmy's father appeared? We could hear more about what Jimmy thought of Lois and Clark's (especially Clark's) suspicions of Jack Olsen and how that affected his relationship with Clark. I can imagine that did make him less enamored of Clark.... Makes me think very vaguely of Hawkeye and Radar's relationship in MASH. Radar used to worship Hawkeye until one crucial incident occurred which caused Radar's rose-colored glasses to fall off and their relationship became more equal -- more based on mutual respect. (Frankly, I can't remember what it was.) > As I said, I really appreciate comments, public or private. You guys have already > helped me a lot with this! Glad to be of service. Hope some of these ideas help out. You already have the makings of a terrific story here. You just have to pull yourself away from looking at it in a linear way (which is my biggest failing actually) and let your imagination take off. Remember, memories are not necessarily very orderly. One thing triggers another which triggers another. It's more chaotic. -- Sandy smcdermin@erols.com http://www.erols.com/nightsky/Sandy/ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 22:42:33 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Lori Llorence Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Doppelganger Part 6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit All I can Say is MORE!!!! And Soon PLEASE!!! Loving every minute! Lori ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 20:02:04 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Melisma Subject: OT: Radar and Hawk In-Reply-To: <381510B0.3B4351F8@erols.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sandy wrote: >Makes me think very vaguely of Hawkeye >and Radar's relationship in MASH. Radar used to worship Hawkeye until >one crucial incident occurred which caused Radar's rose-colored glasses >to fall off and their relationship became more equal -- more based on >mutual respect. (Frankly, I can't remember what it was.) That was when Radar was complaining about how he'd never been with a girl (or however he put it) and Hawk told him the cure for that was to get a three day pass, go into Pusan (or wherever) and go to a geishahouse and... And so Radar got the pass and started out, but then he got wounded enroute and ended back up at the 4077th. And Hawk felt so guilty that his advice had got Radar hurt that he went and got drunk. But then the war came back and he had to operate, and he had to go outside and be sick and left Frank (I think) to take over. Well when Radar woke up and heard about it, he chewed Hawk out good, and I think Sandy got the rest :) I'm sorry, Carolyn - can't find the title on my ep list so can't tell you which one it is... Melisma (limping back under her rock to watch Zoom yell at her for posting about something *other* than LnC or ST...) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 23:08:55 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: New fanfic: The Never-ending Story, part 1, story 1 In-Reply-To: <19991026020122.45027.qmail@hotmail.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 10:01 PM -0400 10/25/99, Christina B. wrote: >Authors note: This is a crossover > > >The Never-ending Story, part 1, story 1 >By Christina Batouli > > >P.S. Were you able to figure out who the two men were? SPOILER SPACE I'm going to take a guess and say ... The Highlander and his sidekick ... was his name Richie? So Clark, Lex Luthor and everyone's favorite MD/PhD Bernie are all immortals huh? Cool ... except poor Lois and Clark revisit Brutal Youth all over again, without Clark being able to "compensate" if this is true. Kathy ______________________ Kathy Brown kathyb@springnet1.com kathyb@lcfanfic.com KathyB on IRC ______________________ ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 00:36:42 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: PJ Piasecki Subject: Re: New Fanfic: Redemption Part 12 of 12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit What a wonderful story, Irene! So touching, and sad, but also so life-affirming. Once again, you did a fabulous job. Piper ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 00:39:29 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: The Zoomway Subject: Re: OT: Radar and Hawk MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/25/99 9:55:56 PM Central Daylight Time, melisma@INTERGATE.BC.CA writes: << Melisma (limping back under her rock to watch Zoom yell at her for posting about something *other* than LnC or ST...) >> Heck no, Farrah is back as list mom, she'd have to clobber you ;) But, for what it's worth, that episode of MASH is "Fallen Idol". It was written and directed by Alan Alda (6th season) Though I do like the confrontation between Jimmy and Clark over Jimmy's dad in "The Dad Who Came in From the Cold". Nice job by both Dean and Justin. Zoom ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 08:55:44 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Phillip Atcliffe Subject: Re: Another inquiry-Aviation nuts need apply In-Reply-To: <004201bf1f4f$9d8ffd00$daeba1d1@ns.idirect.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Mon, 25 Oct 1999 20:33:23 -0400 Lesley Hilliard wrote: > James, I was talking about this subject with my husband who mentions a supersonic plane called the Aurora. The US government denies all existance of the plane but according to my husband it can do over mach 5 and should take about an hour to get there. It also has the range to go that far. < I seem to have lost the middle progression of this thread; weren't we talking about air_ships?_ Anyway, on to Aurora: first up, with all due respect to GentlemanHawke ( -- sorry, Lesley and Guy; couldn't resist), unless he knows something that he shouldn't be talking about in public -- in which case, the RL equivalent of Jack Olsen will be along shortly -- then remember that all of the above is speculation and rumour. _Nothing_ is publicly known about Aurora, not even what it is! The name itself comes from a Congressional budget document, where it appeared as a line-item that should have been deleted before the document was released, and that's _all_ we know about it! It has been _assumed_ to be a "black" project, and speculation has run rife as to whether it's, say, a successor to the SR-71, and what it ought to be capable of if it is, but no-one save those who worked on the project (and maybe the massed intelligence agencies of the world ) knows. Hypersonic performance, exotic propulsion systems, all that -- it's all speculation. We don't even really know if it's an aircraft! Of course, this means that you can make up your own performance estimates if the story requires it; just remember that there'd have to be a _very_ good reason for the gummint to allow "civilians" access to a super-secret aircraft. Bad guys, OTOH, could just steal it. Phil, now sufficiently recovered from the FFAFF (actually, the trip there and back) to take a look at the FestFic today -- students and administrivia notwithstanding -------------------------------------------------------------- "If you let a smile be your umbrella... you'll get wet teeth!" -- a forgotten comedian, quoted by me: Phil Atcliffe (Phillip.Atcliffe@uwe.ac.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 10:42:27 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: First Draft: Gossip In-Reply-To: <381510B0.3B4351F8@erols.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Mon, 25 Oct 1999 22:23:44 -0400 Sandy McDermin wrote: > I also liked viewing L&C's relationship from > another's perspective, but I think there were too many > times when you reiterated what we already know. [snip lots of highly intriguing examples and suggestions] Sandy, these sound like terrific ideas! If Nicole could work some of these into her story, it would turn something I enjoyed already into a very, very good and original story. How about it, Nicky? Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 10:48:09 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: New fanfic: The Never-ending Story, part 1, story 1 In-Reply-To: <19991026020122.45027.qmail@hotmail.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Mon, 25 Oct 1999 22:01:14 EDT "Christina B." wrote: > > P.S. Were you able to figure out who the two men were? Sorry, Christina, this sounds like it's going to be intriguing, but I'm completely lost. Other than L&C, I don't watch a lot of US TV programmes. Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 10:49:13 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: Brutal Youth Vita who? In-Reply-To: <3.0.5.32.19991025190005.00844100@pop.intergate.bc.ca> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Mon, 25 Oct 1999 19:00:05 -0700 Melisma wrote: > In 'Moments of Illumination' I spelled it Vita Doodsen, on Wendy Richards' > wise counselling... And *I* took the spelling of the surname from Irene's 'Firestorm', since I believe Irene researched it at the time. Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 03:59:26 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: Brutal Youth Vita who? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Yes, I got the name Veda Doodsen from Donna who got it direct from the horse's mouth, Tim Minear - writer of the episode. Irene --- Wendy Richards wrote: > On Mon, 25 Oct 1999 19:00:05 -0700 Melisma > wrote: > > > In 'Moments of Illumination' I spelled it Vita > Doodsen, on Wendy Richards' > > wise counselling... > > > And *I* took the spelling of the surname from > Irene's > 'Firestorm', since I believe Irene researched it at > the > time. > > > Wendy > ---------------------- > Wendy Richards > w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk > ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 04:03:01 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: New Fanfic: Redemption Part 12 of 12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Thank you so much, Piper. Had to admit - this is one story I was very worried about, whether it worked or not. I wasn't sure if people would appreciate the darker themes or Claude as a sympathetic character. At the same time, I have to admit that this is the one I'm proudest of. Thanks for the reassurance. Irene --- PJ Piasecki wrote: > What a wonderful story, Irene! So touching, and > sad, but also so > life-affirming. Once again, you did a fabulous job. > > Piper > ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 13:10:50 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Phillip Atcliffe Subject: Re: New Fanfic: Redemption In-Reply-To: <19991026110301.23153.rocketmail@web903.mail.yahoo.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Tue, 26 Oct 1999 04:03:01 -0700 "Irene D." wrote: > Had to admit - this is one story I was very worried about, whether it worked or not. I wasn't sure if people would appreciate the darker themes or Claude as a sympathetic character. At the same time, I have to admit that this is the one I'm proudest of. < And rightly so. Yes, it worked, dark themes or no, and with a sympathetic Claude. About the only thing that seemed out of place to me was Clark's supposed reaction to the Lois that Lois was HIV-positive. I know that people who receive such shattering news -- not only is your wife stricken with a deadly disease, but your unborn child may (will probably) get it, _and_ (if you're not Kryptonian) she may have passed it onto _you_, too -- often react "irrationally", placing the blame on the unfortunate victim, but I can't see _Clark_ doing that. It just seems out of character for him, and I felt the scenes in which he "realised" what he'd been doing were jarring, particularly as you hadn't given any details other than his wish to go somewhere and scream. Suddenly there was all this angst, with no warning and little to no description, and it seemed out of place. However, that's just MO. Apart from that, though, the story was excellent. Not least of the reasons for which was that Claude was portrayed as a human being, with reasons (however twisted) and motives for his actions. Well done. Phil ------------------------------------------------------------ "Sic Transit Gloria Barramundi" (Or, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!) -- not Douglas Adams, but me: Phil Atcliffe (Phillip.Atcliffe@uwe.ac.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 08:16:08 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Doppelganger Part 6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Are these segments getting shorter and shorter or is it just my imagination because I can't wait for more? --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 09:28:26 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dear "Clark," There was a message that crossed my desk recently that hinted that Lois's birthday might be this week. Do you think we could plan a surprise party for her, say this Friday eve (October 29th) at 6pm EDT at #loiscla? I'll bring the ice cream--chocolate, of course. I know Lois hates surprises, but I imagine with all the food and presents and friends, she might relax and have fun. Who should be invited? Maybe we should each invite all the people we think are Lois's friends and let them pass the word along. --Laurie, Perry's assistant (See Dawning) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 14:34:05 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: New Fanfic: Redemption In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Tue, 26 Oct 1999 13:10:50 -0400 Phillip Atcliffe wrote: > About the only thing that seemed out > of place to me was Clark's supposed reaction to the Lois > that Lois was HIV-positive. [snip] It just seems out of > character for him, and I felt the scenes in which he > "realised" what he'd been doing were jarring, > particularly as you hadn't given any details other than > his wish to go somewhere and scream. Suddenly there was > all this angst, with no warning and little to no > description, and it seemed out of place. And he'd been shutting Lois out, and not talking to her. Yes, I thought this seemed wrong as well, Phil - as Irene knows. For me, it's the one problem in what is otherwise a really excellent and emotional story. I rarely find myself moved to tears by fic - it has to be a really good one to do that. But to be moved to tears by the death of *Claude* - Irene, since you achieved that, I think you did a darned good job. Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 07:23:01 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: New Fanfic: Redemption MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Thank you to both Wendy and Phil for your thoughtful comments. I am so glad that you felt this story worked. I have had quite a few comments about my Clark (And don't those two words sound lovely together ) not reacting properly. Therefore I think that this section will need to be reworked before I submit it to the archive. It can be very frustrating when you know what you want to achieve emotionally, but you just can't seem to find the words to get there. I'll have to do some major thinking and polishing of this section. Thank you for the help. I very much appreciate the feedback, both positive and negative. I want my stories to be the best that they can be, so every little comment is helpful. I don't always follow suggestions, but I do think about them. (Sandy, feel free to do one of your wonderful critiques if you so desire.) Thank you again, Phil and Wendy. Irene --- Wendy Richards wrote: > On Tue, 26 Oct 1999 13:10:50 -0400 Phillip Atcliffe > wrote: > > > About the only thing that seemed out > > of place to me was Clark's supposed reaction to > the Lois > > that Lois was HIV-positive. [snip] It just seems > out of > > character for him, and I felt the scenes in which > he > > "realised" what he'd been doing were jarring, > > particularly as you hadn't given any details other > than > > his wish to go somewhere and scream. Suddenly > there was > > all this angst, with no warning and little to no > > description, and it seemed out of place. > > And he'd been shutting Lois out, and not talking to > her. > Yes, I thought this seemed wrong as well, Phil - as > Irene > knows. For me, it's the one problem in what is > otherwise a > really excellent and emotional story. I rarely find > myself > moved to tears by fic - it has to be a really good > one to > do that. But to be moved to tears by the death of > *Claude* - Irene, since you achieved that, I think > you did > a darned good job. > > > Wendy > ---------------------- > Wendy Richards > w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk > ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 07:29:20 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Dear Laurie, Thanks for passing on an invitation to Lois's surprise party. I am so sorry, but I have to send my regrets. I'm afraid I'm going to be tied up with kids' activities - you know, chauffeuring, that kind of thing. Be sure to say 'hi' to Lois and Clark for me. Give Lois my best regards and many happy returns for the day. Thanks, Irene P.S. Will you be around tomorrow at lunch? I'll drop her present off to the Planet offices. Do you think she'd like a gift certificate from Victoria's Secret. I know Clark would (g). --- No Name Available wrote: > Dear "Clark," > There was a message that crossed my desk recently > that hinted that Lois's > birthday might be this week. Do you think we could > plan a surprise party for > her, say this Friday eve (October 29th) at 6pm EDT > at #loiscla? I'll bring > the ice cream--chocolate, of course. I know Lois > hates surprises, but I > imagine with all the food and presents and friends, > she might relax and have > fun. > > Who should be invited? Maybe we should each invite > all the people we think > are Lois's friends and let them pass the word along. > > --Laurie, Perry's assistant > (See Dawning) > ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 11:26:55 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Lori Llorence Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Doppelganger Part 6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I don't think you are imagining it Laurie!!! I feel the same way-I can't wait for more!! Lori In a message dated 10/26/1999 5:23:03 AM Pacific Daylight Time, Larus2407@AOL.COM writes: << Are these segments getting shorter and shorter or is it just my imagination because I can't wait for more? --Laurie >> ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 11:47:46 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: kubitc Subject: Re: New Fanfic: Redemption Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit First, let me say, Irene, that I thought your story was well-written and thoughtful. I haven't had the time to read much posted fanfic lately, but I'm glad I started reading this one; I couldn't stop once I'd started :) >I have had quite a few comments about my Clark (And >don't those two words sound lovely together ) not >reacting properly. I have a question about Lois's reaction. She is mostly just shocked and we don't get else from her until she is diagnosed as HIV+ (even when she tells Clark, we pretty much just get Clark's reaction). In the Dr Klein scene, Lois says, "I know all this stuff; I've done stories on it. But now that it's personal, now that it's about me, I've forgotten everything I ever knew about it. I feel so hopeless, like there's no chance for me and no chance for my baby. I can't help but feel violated, and dirty, and ashamed. This is my fault. I did it to myself. And I did it to our child." While I'm sure these are common reactions, it seems like a lot of different feelings to come out at once. Maybe if you spread these different feelings around prior to her actual diagnosis (or, if you want her in denial, afterwards). I think this would make her feelings more realistic, instead of Lois suddenly having these different issues with the disease (her prior knowledge, feeling violeted, feeling guilty). If you spread these concerns after the diagnosis, too, it wouldn't make it seem like Lois is immediately okay with her diagnosis, when, in reality, being diagnosed with a fatal illness is a very confusing, trying experience. It isn't something that's going to be resolved quickly or neatly. Lois is going to have a lot of lingering feelings, which you mention above, but at separate times and for a longer duration. Add to that the fact that their child may be infected, well, she's just got a lot to deal with. Whole novels have been written about one being diagnosed with an incurable disease. I also have a continuity question. In part 3, you wrote: << "He doesn't know when he got it, but he thinks it was before he was with me, because when he phoned the girlfriend that he had before me, she was already sick." >> Then, later in the story, Claude told Corey, Lois, and Clark the was infected during an operation to have his appendix removed. Surely he'd know when this operation took place if it was determined that was definately how he was infected. This is probably a picky, unimportant point, but I was also wondering why you decided to have Claude infected by a blood transfusion rather than through sexual contact. He appears to have been promiscuous, and when he tells Corey how he was infected, he offers it up as a sort of excuse, it seemed, like maybe Corey couldn't judge him if he got it in an "acceptable way. It seems like he brought up the mode of infection because people assume he did something to "deserve" it and wanted to be there dying of AIDS, when no one who is dying of AIDS wants or deserves to be. I understand that some people would disagree with me and I know this can be a sensitive issue, but, considering Lois contracted HIV in a way that some would think "unacceptable" and therefore deem Lois as "deserving it," if that makes sense... -Christy kubitc@kenyon.edu * * * * * * * * * * "An idea ran back and forward in his head like a blind man, knocking over the solid furniture." -Fitzgerald ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 08:57:04 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Doppelganger Part 6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sorry about the last one being shorter than the others. The next part is a little complicated, and I hadn't finished it by the time I needed to post, so I gave you the most complete part I had. There'll be more this evening. Nan Lori Llorence wrote: > I don't think you are imagining it Laurie!!! I feel the same way-I can't > wait for more!! > Lori > > In a message dated 10/26/1999 5:23:03 AM Pacific Daylight Time, > Larus2407@AOL.COM writes: > > << Are these segments getting shorter and shorter or is it just my imagination > because I can't wait for more? > --Laurie >> ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 12:09:46 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Lori Llorence Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Doppelganger Part 6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Don't apologize - I'll take anything I can get right about now!! Keep up the good work! Lori (who keeps checking her e-mail every 5 minutes to see if there is a new part to Doppelganger posted!! :-) Nan Wrote: << Sorry about the last one being shorter than the others. The next part is a little complicated, and I hadn't finished it by the time I needed to post, so I gave you the most complete part I had. There'll be more this evening. Nan >> ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 12:36:54 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pam Jernigan Organization: http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam/ Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > There was a message that crossed my desk recently that hinted that Lois's > birthday might be this week. Do you think we could plan a surprise party for > her, say this Friday eve (October 29th) at 6pm EDT at #loiscla? Ooh, sounds like fun ... I'll be pretty distracted by kidlets at that point, but if the party's still going after 8, count me in! > Who should be invited? Maybe we should each invite all the people we think > are Lois's friends Hah, that won't take long ... sorry, smack me I like Lois and all, but she can be a little ... intense. :) Pam from Sunday Features (see the S6 season finale) -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "Do impure thoughts count?" "No. Only acts of will." "What about acts of ineptitude?" "A gray area, and don't tell me you haven't lived in that twilight before." "Most of my life, sir. Not that I haven't leaped up into the blinding light of competence now and then. It's sustaining the altitude that defeats me." --Miles Vorkosigan discusses his conscience with his father, in _A Civil Campaign_ by Lois McMaster Bujold ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 13:16:53 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carolyn Schnall Subject: Re: Brutal Youth Vita who? In-Reply-To: <19991026105926.21424.rocketmail@web901.mail.yahoo.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" My thanks to Irene, Wendy, Melisma and Judith for your prompt and helpful responses:) Thanks, Carolyn cschnall@mail.med.cornell.edu >Yes, I got the name Veda Doodsen from Donna who got it >direct from the horse's mouth, Tim Minear - writer of >the episode. > >Irene > >--- Wendy Richards >wrote: >> On Mon, 25 Oct 1999 19:00:05 -0700 Melisma >> wrote: >> >> > In 'Moments of Illumination' I spelled it Vita >> Doodsen, on Wendy Richards' >> > wise counselling... >> >> >> And *I* took the spelling of the surname from >> Irene's >> 'Firestorm', since I believe Irene researched it at >> the >> time. >> >> >> Wendy >> ---------------------- >> Wendy Richards >> w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk >> > > >===== > >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 20:04:55 +0200 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicole Wolke Subject: Re: First Draft: Gossip MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Wow... am I wrong or did I get myself a lot of work?! No, seriously, thank you very much, Sandy, Carol, Sheila and Yvonne who all gave me those great suggestions! You're so right about the weak points in my story and your ideas sound terrific! Finally, after a long hard time during which I got bored each time I worked on the story, I now look forward to writing it again and I'm curious myself, how it will develop! I'll have to wait until Pitty, Tina and I finish our team-work "Heartache Tonight" though, but I have all your mails saved in a new folder, called "project gossip" ;-P and as soon as we have finished "Heartache" I will go back that "unloved puppy" of mine :-) Who knows, maybe it even turns into my favorite after all! take care Nicole (or Nicky :-) Some people asked me which "version" of my name I prefer. I think I'm more used to Nicole, but I start feeling attached to Nicky. Nobody calls me Nicky but the FoLCs and I'm really starting to like it!) -- AKA CKgroupie on IRC NKWolke@eifel-net.net ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 15:50:50 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/26/1999 10:24:51 AM Eastern Daylight Time, sirenegold@YAHOO.COM writes: << P.S. Will you be around tomorrow at lunch? I'll drop her present off to the Planet offices. Do you think she'd like a gift certificate from Victoria's Secret. I know Clark would (g). >> Yes, I think I will be around tomorrow at that time. Hmm, I'll have to keep a list of who sends regrets, now, won't I? --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 13:13:37 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Doppelganger: Part 7 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Summary: Everyone always assumed that H. G. Wells was responsible for the magical appearance of the baby at the end of the "The Family Hour". But what if he wasn't? Doppelganger: Part Seven by Nan Smith "He had no idea who it was that hired him," Clark was saying as he and Lois, carrying CJ, entered the Daily Planet a couple of hours later. "The description he gave matches the driver of the car that tried to run you off the road--brown hair, a mustache and a short beard. Our kidnapper says he's about my height, but slimmer, and he wore sunglasses. Not a lot of help, I'm afraid. He was hired to do that job on us this morning, and to kidnap CJ, but he'd never seen the man before a couple of days ago. He was apparently paid cash--five thousand up front, and another five thousand to be paid when the job was completed. They were supposed to meet right afterwards., but of course whoever it was must have realized pretty fast that something had gone wrong. He may even have been watching, because he wasn't at the meeting place when I checked, half an hour later." "Not your ordinary stalker." Lois was trying hard to keep her voice cool and steady, but Clark could hear the roughness underneath. This incident had shaken her far more than she would ever willingly admit. "No. I wish I could figure out what's behind this." He kept an arm tightly around her in what he knew to be a futile gesture of protection, but he couldn't help it. His family was threatened, and the need to defend them was almost overpowering. It had been all he could do, a couple of hours ago, to restrain the urge to seize his son's kidnapper by the throat and demand an explanation for the reign of terror they had been enduring for the past three days. It probably wouldn't have done any good, but it would have been immensely satisfying. The elevator deposited them on the newsroom floor, and Clark saw at once that a new trial awaited his harried wife. Ellen Lane was sitting beside Lois's desk, obviously waiting for them. She saw them at almost the same instant Clark saw her, and rose to her feet, almost knocking the chair over. The origin of his wife's babble gene was instantly obvious. "There you are!" she said, her voice trembling on the edge of hysteria, as they descended the ramp toward her. "I've been waiting here for hours for you! Where have you been? The most terrifying thing happened to me when I got home from Gena's this afternoon! I tried to call you, but they said you were out! Of course you'd be out! You're never here when I need help, and I needed help desperately, so I came over to wait for you. Your father was in his lab and not taking any calls, not even from me. I'm going to talk to him about that receptionist of his. She wouldn't listen to a thing I said about it being an emergency, and..." "Mother!" Lois broke in on the monologue, since it seemed to be in danger of straying far afield from the original subject. "What happened?" Brought up short, Ellen seemed to take in the fact that her grandson was present. "Oh, hello, darling! How's Grandma's little angel today?" Clark intercepted the new topic before it became established. "I'm sorry we weren't here, Ellen. We had an emergency. What's the trouble?" "Oh! Well, I got home from Gena's--she's my neighbor down the hall, who just moved in last week--and the front door of my apartment had been pried open! Well, whoever it was was gone, and nothing was taken except a picture, but they turned the apartment upside down! And I tried to get hold of you, but--" "*What* picture was taken?" Lois interrupted. "The one you gave me that Clark took of you holding CJ in front of his new day care center. I can't imagine why anyone would have taken it, but it's gone., and my nerves have been completely shattered by this whole, horrible affair. It's so violating to know that your own home has been invaded by some complete stranger, and all your things pawed over..." Clark let Ellen ramble on as he and Lois exchanged a glance. That explained a lot. Their stalker had failed to discover CJ's day care center by following Lois, so he had shifted his approach to Lois's mother. They should have thought of that sooner. "Are you listening to me?" Ellen demanded. "Of course, Ellen." Clark took her arm and guided her back to her chair. "I'm sure it was a pretty frightening experience. Would you like me to come over tomorrow and put new locks on your doors?" That brought her up short. "Why, that's very nice of you to offer, Clark. I could never depend on Sam for things that needed maintenance around the house. I remember--" "Lois! Clark!" Perry's bellow cut through the noise of the busy newsroom. "In my office! Now!" Clark nudged his wife. "You go ahead, Lois. I'll be right there." "Okay." Lois threw him a puzzled glance, but cooperated. "I'll call you, Mother. We'll have to talk about this later." She headed for Perry's office. Clark glanced after her, then turned to Ellen. "Lois is pretty upset right now, Ellen. I didn't want to bring it up in front of her, but there was an attempt to kidnap CJ from the day care center a little while ago. Superman prevented it, but I suspect the break-in at your apartment may have been how the kidnapper found out where he was." "Oh, my god..." "No, it's all right. You saw CJ, and he's okay, but I'm really concerned about Lois. I want to be sure she goes home and gets some rest, and she won't if she's worried about you. I don't want anything to happen to you, either." He gave her his most charming smile. ‘What do you want me to do?" Ellen asked. "I'd do anything for Lois, even though she doesn't believe it. I--" "I think she does," Clark said. "I'd feel a lot better about your safety, myself, if you were at Sam's tonight rather than your own place. I promise I'll come over tomorrow and personally install new locks on your doors. I'd do it tonight, but there's a few things in connection with this situation that I simply have to get done." Ellen nodded in a businesslike way and stood up. "You're right, Clark. I'll do it. Tell Lois not to worry about me, all right?" "Thanks, Ellen. I knew I could count on you," Clark said. "Now I'd better get in there before Perry takes my head off." Clark entered Perry's office a minute later. Lois stared at him in astonishment. "How did you get rid of her so quickly?" Clark grinned. "Just because you can't handle your mother doesn't mean I can't. She's going to stay at your father's tonight. I think she'll be safer there, and I'll go over and fix her doors for her tomorrow. Now, what did you need, Chief?" "What happened, Clark? Lois said someone tried to kidnap CJ?" "Yeah. Superman stopped him." Clark reached out to stroke their son's cheek with one, large finger. "He took the kidnapper to Henderson, but it wasn't our stalker. The stalker may have hired him." "Judas Priest! What are you going to do now?" "Superman has some friends who are going to take care of CJ for us for a few days--just until this is cleared up." "I think that's a good idea. You can investigate the business a whole lot better if you don't have to worry about him." Perry looked a little reassured. "I want you to drop anything less important and concentrate on this psycho, whoever he is. I'm going to reassign your stories temporarily--except the City Council thing," he added hastily, as Lois opened her mouth. "But right now I think you should go on home for the day. It's almost quitting time, anyway. You look like you could both use it." Quitting time? Two hours early? Clark didn't comment. Perry wasn't the editor of the Daily Planet because he was stupid, after all. He must have noticed how rough this whole day had been on Lois, and it was also noticeable that Lois didn't argue. Her neck must be sorer than a bad tooth right now, Clark thought. They took off from the roof. If anyone was thinking about following Lois or CJ anywhere else Clark didn't intend to give him the chance, although it seemed likely that their stalker would try some other approach now that his little kidnapping scheme had gone awry. If they could only figure out the reason behind this it might help, he thought. There must be something they were missing--that, or the guy was just plain nuts. At home, Lois packed a bag for CJ. Neither liked the idea of sending him away but they both knew that his safety was the most important thing right now, and neither Lois nor Clark was in any doubt that Martha and Jonathan would be completely delighted with the opportunity to have their small grandson all to themselves for a few days. In fact, Martha had said as much that morning when Clark called her to explain. When dusk fell Superman took off, carrying his all-important burden, headed for Kansas, and Lois made a beeline for the bathtub and a long, hot soak. She had been half-drowsing in the deliciously warm water for nearly forty-five minutes when the phone rang. Half awake, she fumbled for the handset. As of this morning, Henderson had a tap on the phone. If their stalker called, and she could keep him on the line for a few vital seconds, they might be able to trace the call to its source. "Hello?" "Hello," a slightly nervous voice on the other end said. "May I speak to Mr. Clark Kent, please?" Instantly, Lois was wide awake. "He just stepped out for a moment," she said, cautiously. "This is his wife. May I help you?" The only sound on the other end was the click of the receiver. Thoroughly awake now, Lois climbed slowly out of the tub and reached for a towel. The hot water had loosened her stiff muscles, and she felt better, physically, but that phone call... At least it wasn't their stalker, even if he *had* hung up on her. She dressed carefully. Clark had promised to take her to Antonio's when he returned, and she was certainly ready for a nice break, a quiet dinner with her husband, and a little peace and quiet. She hoped he would be back soon. The phone rang again. Again she picked up the handset. "Hello?" Silence. It was him. She licked lips suddenly gone dry. "Hello?" she repeated. The blank deadness was replaced by background sounds a little too muffled for her to identify. "Hello?" she said again, more loudly. "Who is this?" "He doesn't love you, Lois." The whisper was chillingly familiar, and yet completely strange. "Leave him. I've missed you." "Who are you?" she shouted. "What do you want? Leave us alone!" There was no answer, except a dial tone. He was gone again. Slowly, she set down the handset. In a gust of air, Superman was beside her. "What happened? Are you all right?" "That was him on the phone again," Lois said. "I don't know if he stayed long enough for Henderson to do a trace. Oh, and you had a call. He wouldn't talk to me." Clark frowned. "That's odd. Well, if it's important he'll call back." He stepped back, deliberately looked her up and down, and wolf-whistled. "Wow! Give me a few seconds to get a shower and change and we're off to Antonio's. I made reservations before we left work." * * * * * Lois awoke the next morning with Clark gently shaking her shoulder. "Honey, it's seven o'clock. Time to get up." "*Seven*! We're late!" "No, we're not. I called Perry and told him you were sleeping in this morning. He thought it was a good idea. Go ahead and get ready while I make breakfast." "Honestly, Clark, I'm not made of glass!" "I know that. But you were in an accident yesterday, and I know you're still sore all over. Go on. A hot shower will feel good." She made a face at him. "You're so smug when you're right." The phone rang, cutting off his reply. Lois froze for a second. The ringing of the phone was becoming an unpleasant experience. Clark picked it up. "Hello? Oh, Dr. Klein! What can I do for you?" Lois relaxed. At least a call from Dr. Klein was safe. She slid her feet into their bedroom slippers and reached for her robe. Clark's next words brought her to a full stop. "You had a break-in? What happened?" Lois scrambled across the bed, picked up the handset and pressed it to her ear. "...Need you to get hold of Superman," Dr. Klein was saying. "Whoever it was tried to get into the Kryptonite vault. Actually, they *did* get into the vault. Fortunately, we'd moved everything into the new high-security vault last month, so he didn't get anything. Still..." "I'll pass the word to Superman," Clark promised. "Did your security cameras get any pictures?" "No, nothing. They were all damaged, somehow. We found traces of arcing in the circuit card assemblies consistent with an emp, although we have no idea how it could have been done..." "Dr. Klein, in English, please," Clark said. "Sorry." The scientist cleared his throat. "Basically, the electronics of the cameras were all fried simultaneously, with something like an electromagnetic pulse. We're trying to reverse engineer it to try to recreate the technology, but so far..." He paused, and said in quite a different voice, "We haven't a clue how they did it." "Sounds like some kind of military weapon," Lois said. The thought of Bureau 39 popped instantly into her head. Could they be behind this? "Maybe," Dr. Klein said. "Anyway, I thought Superman should know." "You did the right thing," Clark told him. "I'll be sure he gets the word." When Dr. Klein had hung up, Lois voiced her idea. Clark frowned, considering it. "I suppose it's possible, but we haven't heard from Bureau 39 since Trask was killed." "But it *could* be." He sighed. "Yeah, it could be. We certainly can't rule it out. There's something I want to check on when we get to the office, though. Go and get your shower. I'll make breakfast." * * * * * There were two messages waiting on Lois's desk when they got to the Daily Planet. One was from their insurance company which promised to have a substitute vehicle available for them by this afternoon, as soon as the paperwork processed. The other was from her mother. She called Ellen back, but got no answer either at her mother's apartment or from her father's. Clark was also on the phone, and she saw him frown. After a moment he put down the receiver and turned to her. "Well, that was enlightening. Sort of." "What was?" "That was my source in the Coroner's Office. They left me a message. You remember, they were trying to identify Bender's body positively, for the insurance company?" "I remember. Have they identified him?" "No. They have no idea who it is, but they know who it *isn't*. Adrian Bender had three gold crowns and a bridge. This guy didn't have anything but a couple of silver fillings." "So Bender isn't dead!" "Well, he isn't the person who was in the car when it exploded, anyway." "Then who on Earth..." Clark shook his head. "I don't know, but I've got an idea. Let me check a couple of things. What did your Mom want?" "I couldn't get hold of her. I'm sure she'll call back." "Probably. I have to go over this afternoon and replace her locks. Shouldn't take long." He turned back to his desk and picked up the phone again. Lois brought her attention to her own computer, and began putting the finishing touches on her City Council expose. The Honorable Mayor was not going to be happy with her, and neither were a lot of city councilmen, but that was just too bad. Half an hour later, Clark set a cup of cafe latte on the desk next to her hand. "Here. Thought you could use the pick-me-up." "Thanks." She sat back, stretching, and rubbed the back of her neck. It was aching again, and she reached automatically for the aspirin. "Did you find out anything?" "Yeah." He moved behind her to give her one of his magic neck-rubs. "There's been a string of car thefts in Bender's section of town in the last two weeks. It's possible the thief got more than he bargained for this time." "Sounds like it," Lois said. "That feels good, Clark. So, I guess we can assume Bender is probably alive somewhere and hiding out?" "Well, somebody *did* try to kill him. If he has any idea why, he might decide to go into hiding." "Do you think it might have anything to do with that empty folder? ‘Project Doppelganger'?" "It could. I'd sure like to talk to him for a few minutes," Clark said. "Yeah, me, too." She saw Clark lift his head suddenly in his listening pose. "What is it?" "Train derailment in Pennsylvania. Possible toxic chemical spill. I've gotta go." "Go." "Promise me you won't go anywhere alone while I'm gone?" "Go!" He gave her a quick kiss and headed for the stairs, tugging at his tie. It was twenty minutes later that Ellen walked in, accompanied by Sam Lane. Lois looked up from her computer screen as they approached her desk. Ellen was obviously excited, and Sam looked worried. "Lois!" Ellen said. "I've found something I think you ought to see!" "What is it, Mother?" Lois smiled at her, pleased to see her mother's mood of the previous day had completely changed. "How are you feeling, Princess?" her father interrupted. "Ellen told me what happened to CJ yesterday. Is he all right?" "Yes," Lois said. "He's staying with some friends until we've solved this thing." "I think that's a very good idea. Your mother found something this morning that disturbed me. I think you should look at it.". Ellen opened her purse and withdrew a plastic bag. "See this?" Lois examined it. The contents apeared to be a wrinkled paper napkin. "What is it?" "Well, your father and I went by my apartment this morning. Oh, and Clark doesn't need to come by to fix the locks. Sam did it for me, already. I was picking things up in the nursery, and I found this under CJ's little dresser. It's a napkin, see?" She flattened out the bag on Lois's desk. "It's from some place called ‘The Bayside Inn'. The name's printed on the corner. I've never been to it in my life! It's got my address scribbled on it!" She paused, while Lois examined the writing. "Don't you see? Whoever broke in must have dropped it!" --------------------------- (to be continued) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 13:31:15 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: Redemption MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Irene: Read your story last night and was deeply affected. This is the kind of thing I wish LNC had done. Don't be nervous about doing more. You do it well. Jude. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 13:48:46 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: Lois' Birthday MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From: Judith Williams To: Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) Date: Tuesday, October 26, 1999 1:39 PM If Lois' birthday is this week, it has to be no later than Oct. 22. Libra birth dates are Sept. 23 to Oct. 22. Jude ----- Original Message ----- From: No Name Available To: Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 1999 6:28 AM Subject: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) > Dear "Clark," > There was a message that crossed my desk recently that hinted that Lois's > birthday might be this week. Do you think we could plan a surprise party for > her, say this Friday eve (October 29th) at 6pm EDT at #loiscla? I'll bring > the ice cream--chocolate, of course. I know Lois hates surprises, but I > imagine with all the food and presents and friends, she might relax and have > fun. > > Who should be invited? Maybe we should each invite all the people we think > are Lois's friends and let them pass the word along. > > --Laurie, Perry's assistant > (See Dawning) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 13:59:09 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: New Fanfic: Redemption MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Dear Christy, Thank you so much for the very excellent feedback. I do agree that I need to do some reworking of emotions for both Lois and Clark. I'm not sure that I'm looking forward to this. I find it heavy going trying to translate emotions into words at times. Thank you for pointing out the inconsistency. I will correct it. And thank you for questioning why I had Claude get the illness from an operation rather than from promiscuity. I have reconsidered this and have come up with a new line of thinking that will add to the story. (Or, at least I hope it will.) Thank you again. I'm glad that you took the time to read this. Irene P.S. Reread Emptiness in Harmony the other night and am still very much enjoying that story. --- kubitc wrote: > First, let me say, Irene, that I thought your story > was well-written and > thoughtful. I haven't had the time to read much > posted fanfic lately, but I'm > glad I started reading this one; I couldn't stop > once I'd started :) > > >I have had quite a few comments about my Clark (And > >don't those two words sound lovely together ) > not > >reacting properly. > > I have a question about Lois's reaction. She is > mostly just shocked and we > don't get else from her until she is diagnosed as > HIV+ (even when she tells > Clark, we pretty much just get Clark's reaction). In > the Dr Klein scene, Lois > says, "I know all this stuff; I've done stories on > it. But now that it's > personal, now that it's about me, I've forgotten > everything I ever knew about > it. I feel so hopeless, like there's no chance for > me and no chance for my > baby. I can't help but feel violated, and dirty, and > ashamed. This is my > fault. I did it to myself. And I did it to our > child." > > While I'm sure these are common reactions, it seems > like a lot of different > feelings to come out at once. Maybe if you spread > these different feelings > around prior to her actual diagnosis (or, if you > want her in denial, > afterwards). I think this would make her feelings > more realistic, instead of > Lois suddenly having these different issues with the > disease (her prior > knowledge, feeling violeted, feeling guilty). If you > spread these concerns > after the diagnosis, too, it wouldn't make it seem > like Lois is immediately > okay with her diagnosis, when, in reality, being > diagnosed with a fatal > illness is a very confusing, trying experience. It > isn't something that's > going to be resolved quickly or neatly. Lois is > going to have a lot of > lingering feelings, which you mention above, but at > separate times and for a > longer duration. Add to that the fact that their > child may be infected, well, > she's just got a lot to deal with. Whole novels have > been written about one > being diagnosed with an incurable disease. > > I also have a continuity question. In part 3, you > wrote: << "He doesn't know > when he got it, but he thinks it was before he was > with me, because when he > phoned the girlfriend that he had before me, she was > already sick." >> > Then, later in the story, Claude told Corey, Lois, > and Clark the was infected > during an operation to have his appendix removed. > Surely he'd know when this > operation took place if it was determined that was > definately how he was > infected. > > This is probably a picky, unimportant point, but I > was also wondering why you > decided to have Claude infected by a blood > transfusion rather than through > sexual contact. He appears to have been promiscuous, > and when he tells Corey > how he was infected, he offers it up as a sort of > excuse, it seemed, like > maybe Corey couldn't judge him if he got it in an > "acceptable way. It seems > like he brought up the mode of infection because > people assume he did > something to "deserve" it and wanted to be there > dying of AIDS, when no one > who is dying of AIDS wants or deserves to be. I > understand that some people > would disagree with me and I know this can be a > sensitive issue, but, > considering Lois contracted HIV in a way that some > would think "unacceptable" > and therefore deem Lois as "deserving it," if that > makes sense... > > -Christy > kubitc@kenyon.edu > > * * * * * * * * * * > > "An idea ran back and forward in his head like a > blind man, knocking over the solid furniture." > -Fitzgerald > ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 22:05:48 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Subject: Dean the Smoothie MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Just ran across this on our ITV teletext page 110. It's a page of TV news. Usually regurgitated from one magazine or another, although there's no source. MY LUSTY SCENES WITH SUPERMAN Superman uses bubbly to put naked Lexa in the mood. New Professionals star, Lexa Doig, has revealed how Superman actor, Dean Cain, calmed her sex scene nerves with a bottle of champagne. Lexa, 24, who plays agent Tina Backus in the Sky drama, had to strip off with Dean for the TV movie, No Alibi. She said, "I was nervous about being naked, but Dean helped a lot with the champagne. We polished off the whole bottle filming the scene and we laughed a lot!" There were two more pages, but mostly about her role in NP, with the odd repeated line of the above. LabRat (making no further comment except.......I just *bet* they did!) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 17:18:05 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carolyn Schnall Subject: Re: Dean the Smoothie In-Reply-To: <000f01bf1ff6$31347300$1419883e@d9t5t7> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Wish I were Lexa!!!!! I think Pierce Brosnan did the same for Renee Russo on the set of The Thomas Crown Affair:) Carolyn P.S. A bottle of champagne is not that hard to polish off:) >Just ran across this on our ITV teletext page 110. It's a page of TV news. >Usually regurgitated from one magazine or another, although there's no >source. > >MY LUSTY SCENES WITH SUPERMAN > >Superman uses bubbly to put naked Lexa in the mood. > >New Professionals star, Lexa Doig, has revealed how Superman actor, Dean >Cain, calmed her sex scene nerves with a bottle of champagne. > >Lexa, 24, who plays agent Tina Backus in the Sky drama, had to strip off >with Dean for the TV movie, No Alibi. > >She said, "I was nervous about being naked, but Dean helped a lot with the >champagne. We polished off the whole bottle filming the scene and we laughed >a lot!" > >There were two more pages, but mostly about her role in NP, with the odd >repeated line of the above. > > >LabRat (making no further comment except.......I just *bet* they did!) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 22:21:23 +0100 Reply-To: dom-mel@dial.pipex.com Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Dom Melaragni Subject: Re: London FESTing In-Reply-To: <0.8f5a65d1.254642bc@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Now Wendy - I had to have magic mushrooms if we were to make the story make any sense whatsoever! But hey, perhaps in a weird twist, they could turn out to be truffles - good call, Ann! Dom > In a message dated 10/25/99 9:42:26 AM Eastern Daylight Time, > melisma@INTERGATE.BC.CA writes: > > << probably also Dom's fault for introducing > >the magic mushrooms . > > >> > > > Wait a second! Are we to understand that Dom is using food in a story that > *isn't* chocolate? Or are the magic mushrooms really chocolate truffles? > > Ann ================================================================= Dom Melaragni (FlakeyDom) The LnC drinking game and Fest pics http://ds.dial.pipex.com/dom-mel/index.htm ?8-)] Clark Kent smiley with the superhero squarejaw chin ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 22:34:19 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Chris Carr Subject: NEW: Ties That Bind (PG) (2/3) In-Reply-To: <19991026050248.YLA24733.mta4-svc@piano.ucs.indiana.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT TITLE: Ties That Bind PART: 2/3 AUTHOR: Christine Carr (c.carr@virgin.net) RATING: PG FEEDBACK: Comments welcome privately or via the fanfic mailing list. Actually, in this case, I'm begging for feedback. This isn't a typical Lois and Clark story, and I'm curious to know what people make of it. Love it or hate it, please let me know. SUMMARY: On a cold February night in 1936, H G Wells receives an unexpected visitor. What will he and Tempus find to talk about? Wells shrugged, abandoned the cup and saucer on a side table, and commented, "Well, I suppose there can be no harm in it." He crossed the room, retrieved a clean glass and a decanter, and carried both back. He poured Tempus a drink, carefully placed both items on a small table that lay within reach of the two chairs, picked up the glass he'd abandoned earlier, and then sat down again. The only sounds in the room were the crackling of the fire, the slow ticking of the clock on the mantelpiece, and the occasional distant sound of a car passing on the road outside as the two old enemies sat in a slightly uncomfortable silence, working their way through their warming drinks. Now that the fact of Tempus's presence had belatedly sunk in, Wells wondered, what on earth was he going to do with him? Wells's thoughts meandered around inside his head, skittering this way and that, as he contemplated his guest. Whatever were they going to talk about? He vaguely considered the idea of trying to engage Tempus in a conversation about books or music, then dismissed the idea as faintly ludicrous. For all their history together, the only common ground shared by the two men was their interest in the future. However, given the adversarial roles in which they had been cast in the past, it was hardly an appealing topic of conversation. All the same, there were questions Wells had long wanted to ask and, if what Tempus had said was true, and he was dying, Wells was never going to get another opportunity to do so. Would it be polite to ask his questions, though? Wells decided that it probably would not be, not when he had, however unwittingly, invited Tempus into his home and offered him hospitality. Wells took another sip of the brandy, delaying his need to take some sort of action by a few more precious seconds. Only when he reached the bottom of his glass, and when the alcohol had started to loosen his inhibitions, did he finally break the silence, his curiosity overcoming his sense of propriety. He said abruptly, "Didn't you ever get tired of trying to destroy Utopia?" If Tempus objected to, or even noticed, Wells's use of the past tense, he gave no sign. He simply shook his head fractionally. "No." "But you must have been aware of the futility of your task. You tried a multitude of schemes, and none of them had any lasting effect. It seems almost as though the universe was determined to follow the path that it chose for itself, irrespective of what you did, or tried to do. Any other man would have, in short order, given up the attempt to change history." Tempus's lips edged into a smile, and for once, there was no hint of malice or sarcasm in it. "Has it never occurred to you, Herb, that I might have continued doing what I did because I enjoyed doing it?" "I have to confess that it hasn't, no." Wells sounded vaguely scandalised at the idea. Tempus said reflectively, "I decided a long time ago that it wasn't the destination that was important, but the journey one takes to get there." Wells raised his eyebrows. Such philosophical musings were not something that he had ever associated with Tempus. "I'm not quite sure that I understand what you mean," he admitted. "Simple. Do you remember, I once told Lois Lane that, in a world with no Superman, there would be no Utopia? That, in such a world there would just be sex and violence, and a lot of me?" Wells nodded. "It saddens me to say that I do remember, yes." "Back then, I had only one ambition - to escape my mundane existence. I thought the best way to do that would be to destroy Utopia. Of course, I failed. But I soon came to realise that, although not in the way I'd originally envisaged, I had nonetheless managed to fulfil my ambition. My existence was no longer boring, because I had managed to leave Utopia behind me. Changing the future didn't seem to matter so much any more, because I had managed to change *me*. "I don't expect you to understand me, Herb. Even less do I expect you to approve, but I enjoyed what I did. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure that I would have been so happy if I'd actually succeeded in destroying Utopia. I had too much fun trying." Wells pursed his lips and said censoriously, "Did it never occur to you that that is, essentially, a very selfish attitude? The other people you involved in your schemes didn't derive any satisfaction from your actions. What you did to them, even if it had no lasting effect, was morally wrong. It was cruel. And quite indefensible." Tempus shrugged his curved shoulders and said dismissively, "It's not something that I choose to dwell on." "You are no better than a school-yard bully. You give no thought to your victims, seeing only your own self- gratification as important." "So?" Tempus asked. Exasperated, Wells asked, "Do you never regret your actions? The evil you have done?" Tempus laughed at that. "Herb, I didn't come here seeking absolution. Believe me, the priests at the hospital would have been more than happy to give me that." "Then, what did you come here for?" "As I said, companionship. I didn't want to die alone, and I didn't want to be surrounded by strangers, which amounts to pretty much the same thing." His inhibitions had also, apparently, been lowered by the alcohol, and his response was more forthcoming than earlier. "Strange as it may sound, Herb, after all that we've been through, you are probably the closest thing that I have to a friend." Wells smiled wryly at the unexpected admission. "I wish that I could say the same thing about you, but as you are aware, it wouldn't be true. I can, in all honesty however, say that you have made my life interesting." "And that's almost as good, isn't it?" Wells didn't deign to answer. Tempus pushed his point. "We are bound together, you and I, Herb. Maybe you won't admit to friendship, but I defy you to say that you have no feelings for me. We've been through too much together for you to feel nothing for me." Wells shook his head fractionally. "Come on, Herb! If you truly hated me, you would have turned me out by now." "I wouldn't do that even to my worst enemy on a night like this." "And am I your worse enemy?" The silence that stretched between them then was almost painful in its intensity. First Tempus, then Wells, reached out for the decanter, and refilled their glasses. Wells watched Tempus watch the dancing flames in the grate. (cont in part 3/3) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 22:34:19 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Chris Carr Subject: NEW: Ties That Bind (PG) (3/3) In-Reply-To: <19991026050248.YLA24733.mta4-svc@piano.ucs.indiana.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT TITLE: Ties That Bind PART: 3/3 AUTHOR: Christine Carr (c.carr@virgin.net) RATING: PG FEEDBACK: Comments welcome privately or via the fanfic mailing list. Actually, in this case, I'm begging for feedback. This isn't a typical Lois and Clark story, and I'm curious to know what people make of it. Love it or hate it, please let me know. SUMMARY: On a cold February night in 1936, H G Wells receives an unexpected visitor. What will he and Tempus find to talk about? Finally, when his second glass was empty, and he was reaching to fill a third, Tempus said thoughtfully, "I suppose I do have some regrets." The admission was grudging. "Oh?" said Wells blandly, inviting Tempus to continue. "It says something about my life that the human being I find to be my closest companion is my enemy, and lived centuries before I was born. I've moved around time, and even dimensions. I've probably seen more than any other human being in history, except perhaps for yourself. I've met more people than most. I've had cronies. Occasionally I've even had friends. Once I even had a wife and daughter. Did you know that? But nothing has ever lasted. When it comes right down to it, my life has been pretty lonely, especially in recent years." "And that bothers you?" Tempus stared down into his glass for a moment, then took a gulp of the fiery liquid. Thoughtfully, his voice barely above a whisper, he said, "Yes. I suppose it does. To begin with, it didn't seem important; I thought that there would be time for friends and a personal life later on. But the years went past, and suddenly it was all too late. If I'd made different choices, maybe. . ." He drifted into silence again. When he spoke again, his voice was stronger, and filled with self-mockery. "Let's face it Herb. I'm a villain, with a genuinely evil streak. Totally irredeemable. If I'm honest, I don't suppose that I would do anything differently, if I had my time over again." The sad smile on Tempus's face as he turned to meet Wells's gaze took some of the sting out of his words. "I don't believe that anyone is totally irredeemable," Wells said. "Then, that's where we differ," answered Tempus. "As you said, I've lived a selfish life. Even my regrets are essentially selfish ones. For example, I regret that no one will mourn my passing. Why would I wish that kind of pain on anyone, if I wasn't selfish?" He sighed. "I wish I could tell you that I feel some remorse for the evil I've done, but I can't." "Surely, if you wish you could tell me you feel remorse, you are half way to doing so," observed Wells. Tempus shook his head. Wells wished he could say something to help, but he could think of nothing. The silence lingered. Finally, as the clock chimed ten o'clock, and the now-dying embers of the fire dimmed to a dull red, Wells decided that it was time he and his guest headed off to bed. As Tempus tried to stand up, it rapidly became obvious that he had weakened noticeably in just the short time he had been with Wells. He clutched at the back of the chair as he fought to overcome a wave of dizziness, and it was all he could do to force his legs to hold him upright. It was only with difficulty, once Tempus had recovered enough of his equilibrium, that Wells managed to manoeuvre him into the spare room and settle him under the bed covers. Wells straightened the eider-down, headed to the door and switched off the room's overhead light. "Good night," he said as he moved to pull the door closed behind him. "Herb?" Wells paused on the threshold, the bedroom now illuminated only by the dull light coming in from the landing behind him, and turned to face Tempus. Tempus suddenly looked very unsure of himself. He said desperately, "Please. . . Don't leave me." Wells found himself mesmerised by the beseeching eyes, and he found himself drawn back into the bedroom. He perched on the edge of the bedside chair, and waited for Tempus to explain himself. "I can feel the darkness closing in. I don't want to be alone when. . . You understand." Wells smiled a tiny pitying smile. "I understand," he said. They stayed like that, frozen in a tableau, for several minutes. Then Tempus whispered, "Thank you." "What for?" Wells asked. "For staying with me." Wells considered Tempus. He didn't like the man he had given hospitality to. There was so much evil that he had done in his life, and Wells was not even sure that his battle against Tempus's schemes would end with his death. Did he still have things that the younger versions of the man in his bed had done to discover? Yet, when it came right down to it, Wells couldn't turn away from Tempus in his hour of need. Tempus had been right about that, just has he had been right to suggest that their shared past bound them together in a way that was somehow akin to the ties of friendship or blood. Moreover, Wells realised that he would actually miss him once he was gone, and that, despite all his wickedness, Wells would grieve for him. Maybe Tempus hadn't managed to ask for his forgiveness, but Wells found himself compelled to give it nonetheless, secure in the knowledge that Tempus had not succeeded in - would never succeed in - destroying Utopia. Without giving it conscious thought, Wells found himself reaching out and encasing Tempus's hand in his own. As if stung into total honesty by the contact, Tempus whispered, "I couldn't admit it earlier, but I am sorry, you know. I do regret the things I've done." "I know," Wells said. "How?" Tempus asked. "You wouldn't have felt able to come here, otherwise," said Wells. "Nor would you have felt the need to do so." Tempus looked up at Wells, a look of infinite gratitude at the other man's understanding on his face as he allowed his eyes to drift shut. Unseen, Wells answered Tempus's smile with a slight tilt of his head. Then he settled himself back as comfortably as he could in the chair. Sometime during the quiet hours before dawn, Tempus passed away peacefully in his sleep. He was not alone, for H G Wells dozed lightly in the chair next to his bed, his warm hand still clasped around Tempus's rapidly cooling one. End ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 22:34:19 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Chris Carr Subject: NEW: Ties That Bind (PG) (1/3) In-Reply-To: <19991026050248.YLA24733.mta4-svc@piano.ucs.indiana.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT TITLE: Ties That Bind PART: 1/3 AUTHOR: Christine Carr (c.carr@virgin.net) RATING: PG FEEDBACK: Comments welcome privately or via the fanfic mailing list. Actually, in this case, I'm begging for feedback. This isn't a typical Lois and Clark story, and I'm curious to know what people make of it. Love it or hate it, please let me know. SUMMARY: On a cold February night in 1936, H G Wells receives an unexpected visitor. What will he and Tempus find to talk about? Introduction: This is a deathfic, so consider yourselves warned. I realise that this isn't everyone's (or even anyone's) favourite genre. However, as the death in question comes at the end of a long and active life, and as it doesn't involve any members of the Kent family, or any of their work colleagues, I hope that I won't be vilified too much for writing this. These characters aren't mine, and I mean no harm by their use. (Hey, this is for fun guys, despite the story matter!) The H G Wells who appears in this story isn't the H G Wells of our world, but a fictional creation who lives in that other wonderful reality, the world of Lois and Clark. Thanks to Irene for reading this through for me. ************************** Ties That Bind By Christine Carr ************************** ************************** Monday, 3 February, 1936 London, England ************************** The fire in the grate had finally managed to make some headway against the atypically chilly night, and H G Wells sighed with contentment as, for the first time in hours, his toes, fingers and nose thawed to something approaching a comfortable temperature. As he listened to the Home Service on the wireless, he leaned back in his wing chair, and stretched his slippered feet out across a footstool. A snifter of brandy in one hand, he decided that a quiet evening at home had a lot to recommend itself as an idea. Not five minutes later, however, the distant sound of the doorbell drew him out of his idle reverie. With a sigh, he put aside his glass, switched off the radio, and forced himself to make his way down the cold corridor to the front door. Standing on the doorstep was an old man who was certainly not dressed for the weather. Indeed, he was not even clothed for outdoors. His bare feet were tucked into slippers, and, below a light-weight robe, he seemed to be wearing pyjamas. His hands were pushed deep into the robe's pockets, and his breath plumed out in great white clouds as he exhaled. It fleetingly crossed Wells's mind that his visitor must be some refugee from a local hospital or nursing home: Wells wondered how he was going to return the fugitive back to where he belonged. One thing was certain, though: he could not stay where he was. "You'd better come in," Wells said, pulling the door open wide enough to let the unknown in. "Thank you." The stranger forced the words out through chattering teeth. "This way." Wells led his visitor back up to his apartment. The stranger's pace was slower than Wells's own, and Wells had to pause several times to allow him to catch up. As he watched the stranger, Wells noted the way he shuffled his feet, and how his spine was curved with age. When Wells guided him into the parlour, and invited him to take the chair next to the fire that Wells, himself, had so recently vacated, his visitor didn't waste any time in making himself comfortable. Wells watched as, with relief, he gave up the effort needed to keep himself mobile. "Would you like some tea?" Wells invited. "A hot drink would probably do you some good." The visitor nodded, apparently too exhausted to make the effort to form the words necessary to reply. Wells quitted the room, pausing on the threshold to glance backwards at the enfeebled man, who had tilted his head back and closed his eyes. When Wells returned, minutes later, the visitor appeared to have rallied his strength somewhat, and he was glancing around the room, absorbing the details of its heavy furniture, dim lighting and heavy drapes. Wells handed over the cup and saucer, making sure that his visitor held them securely in his trembling hands before he let go and stood back. Then he pulled a second armchair closer to the fire, and sat down. Tilting his head slightly to one side, he said, "Who are you?" "Don't you recognise me, Herb?" Wells's eyes widened in astonishment at the words. The voice lacked the strength that it had once had, but, no longer distorted by the shuddering cold, it was recognisable. It was hard to believe, though, that this was Tempus. His once luxuriant hair had mostly gone, and the little that was left was a wispy white. Wells could clearly see Tempus's veins through his unnaturally pale, almost translucent skin. There were sagging pouches of flesh under his eyes and chin, and a myriad of wrinkles criss- crossed his emaciated face. Only the bright intelligent eyes remained of the man Wells had once known. "Tempus?" Wells breathed, trying to absorb the revelation. "In the flesh," Tempus replied. "What are you doing here?" "I'm dying. I would have thought that would have been obvious." "Dying?" repeated Wells. Despite verbally conveying a doubt, he found it all to easy to believe. When they had first met, Tempus had been young. Now, though, he was old: he had evidently aged by more than the thirty-seven years that had passed for Wells since that fateful first encounter. Wells wondered how long it had been for Tempus since they had met. Tempus's lips curled into a shape that was reminiscent of the cruel condescending expression that he had perfected as a younger man. "The doctors told me that I had only a matter of days, or possibly even hours left to me. I didn't fancy staying in that prison hospital while I shuffled off my mortal coil," he said, "so I thought I'd come look you up, instead." "You escaped? Again?" Wells asked. "Of course," Tempus said. "I always escape. You should know that by now." Wells acknowledged the comment with a faint nod, and said, "But, why did you want to come here?" "I wanted some company." "And you chose me." Wells sounded faintly sceptical. "Why?" "Why not? You probably know me as well as anyone. All through my career, everywhere I went, you would be there, undoing whatever damage I tried to do. I can't imagine what my life would have been like without you." Tempus's eyes flicked in Wells's direction as he tilted the teacup to drain the last dregs of the strong brew. Wells watched as Tempus placed the cup back in its saucer, and held them out. Half standing, Wells took them from him and asked, "Would you like another cup?" He took refuge in the mundane act of playing the part of a good host. It was easier to do that than to address the more fundamental questions raised by Tempus's presence. "I'd rather have some of the brandy you have over there," Tempus replied, pointing a gnarled finger at a sideboard. "Do you think, in your current state, that would be advisable?" asked Wells as he straightened to his full height, the cup and saucer in one hand, and his feet pointing vaguely in the direction of the kitchen. Tempus snorted then. "Herb, I'm dying. Brandy isn't going to change that fact, one way or the other. But it might make the waiting easier to bear. Just give me the brandy, okay?" cont in part 2/3 ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 14:52:59 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: NEW: Ties That Bind (PG) (1/3) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii --- Chris Carr wrote: > TITLE: Ties That Bind > PART: 1/3 > AUTHOR: Christine Carr (c.carr@virgin.net) > RATING: PG > FEEDBACK: Comments welcome privately or via the > fanfic mailing list. > Actually, in this case, I'm begging for feedback. > This isn't a > typical Lois and Clark story, and I'm curious to > know what people make > of it. Love it or hate it, please let me know. > SUMMARY: On a cold February night in 1936, H G Wells > receives an > unexpected visitor. What will he and Tempus find to > talk about? > Begging for feedback? You've got it. I know that I already told you privately how much I love this story, but I wanted to make a public recommendation to people to read this. Chris, this is a wonderfully sentimental, emotional story without once getting maudlin. You have an incredible sensitivity in your writing that I envy. Well done, Chris. Irene ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 14:56:58 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: Veda Doodsen et al MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Don't know why I didn't think of this before. I checked The Original Internet Lois and Clark Episode Guide which has such details about all eps. Caroline McWilliams is listed as playing Dr. Veda Doodsen. For those of you who don't know about it, the web site address is as follows: http://www.ms.uky.edu/~sykes/lc/index.html Jude ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 23:03:05 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Subject: Re: Ties That Bind MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit S P O I L E R S P A C E Wonderful, Chris. A nicely unusual subject matter and you envoke the relationship between Wells and Tempus beautifully. Some of Tempus' dialogue was so true to character that I couldn't help a wry smile. And the end paragraph is just the perfect note on which to close. What a lovely way to end my evening. Just one small niggle. "Wells quitted the room...." Left the room? Or just quit the room. This sounded so odd that it jarred me out of the story completely for a moment. LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 18:34:32 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: Ties That Bind MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/26/99 6:06:46 PM Eastern Daylight Time, labrat@STARLABS.FSNET.CO.UK writes: << Left the room? Or just quit the room. This sounded so odd that it jarred me out of the story completely for a moment. >> Well, I hate to be pedantic, but quitted is acceptable for the past tense of quit. Of course, over here in the US, we don't often use quit to mean leave (which is why my French students don't understand how "quitter" can possibly be a cognate.) Personally, I always thought it would be more interesting if it were like sing: quit, quat, quut, but no one asked me. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 18:48:24 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: New fanfic: The Never-ending Story, part 1, story 1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/25/99 10:17:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time, forum500@HOTMAIL.COM writes: << P.S. Were you able to figure out who the two men were? > > Obviously, it's Duncan MacLeod and Richie. Does this mean that to kill Superman one needs a Kryptonite sword? It does explain how Lex keeps coming back to life. My understanding of how the immortals in Highlander work, they are all actually aliens. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 16:03:57 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: Redemption MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Thank you, Jude. I'm glad that you appreciated my story. Irene --- Judith Williams wrote: > Irene: Read your story last night and was deeply > affected. This is the > kind of thing I wish LNC had done. Don't be nervous > about doing more. You > do it well. Jude. > ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 19:11:04 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Guy or Lesley Hilliard Subject: Re: Another inquiry-Aviation nuts need apply MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello GentlemanHawke here (I use the nick Supertigre but what the heck). The Aurora (or something very much like it) was spotted by a private pilot off the coast of England about 7 years ago in the company of a KC-10 and 2 F-111's. It has also been tracked going up and down the left coast of the US of A by the US Seismological Service as a seismic event traveling a Mach 5 + up the sea board and then returning at appox. the same speed. The sonic boom, even generated at the (EST.) 60,000+ feet that the Aurora flies at, is detected by the seismographs as a mini-earthquake with a moving epicenter and a VERY unique signature. Fuel is probably single H, or methane, and the engine a hybrid based on aerospike or wave riding technology. -----Original Message----- From: Phillip Atcliffe To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Date: October 26, 1999 3:55 AM Subject: Re: Another inquiry-Aviation nuts need apply >On Mon, 25 Oct 1999 20:33:23 -0400 Lesley Hilliard > wrote: > >> James, I was talking about this subject with my husband who mentions >a supersonic plane called the Aurora. The US government denies all >existance of the plane but according to my husband it can do over mach >5 and should take about an hour to get there. It also has the range to >go that far. < > >I seem to have lost the middle progression of this thread; weren't we >talking about air_ships?_ > >Anyway, on to Aurora: first up, with all due respect to GentlemanHawke >( -- sorry, Lesley and Guy; couldn't resist), unless he knows >something that he shouldn't be talking about in public -- in which >case, the RL equivalent of Jack Olsen will be along shortly -- then >remember that all of the above is speculation and rumour. _Nothing_ is >publicly known about Aurora, not even what it is! > >The name itself comes from a Congressional budget document, where it >appeared as a line-item that should have been deleted before the >document was released, and that's _all_ we know about it! It has been >_assumed_ to be a "black" project, and speculation has run rife as to >whether it's, say, a successor to the SR-71, and what it ought to be >capable of if it is, but no-one save those who worked on the project >(and maybe the massed intelligence agencies of the world ) knows. >Hypersonic performance, exotic propulsion systems, all that -- it's all >speculation. We don't even really know if it's an aircraft! > >Of course, this means that you can make up your own performance >estimates if the story requires it; just remember that there'd have to >be a _very_ good reason for the gummint to allow "civilians" access to >a super-secret aircraft. > >Bad guys, OTOH, could just steal it. > >Phil, now sufficiently recovered from the FFAFF (actually, the trip >there and back) to take a look at the FestFic today -- students and >administrivia notwithstanding >-------------------------------------------------------------- >"If you let a smile be your umbrella... you'll get wet teeth!" > -- a forgotten comedian, quoted by me: Phil Atcliffe > (Phillip.Atcliffe@uwe.ac.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 00:26:31 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Subject: Re: Ties That Bind MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ann wrote: > >Well, I hate to be pedantic, but quitted is acceptable for the past tense of >quit. Of course, over here in the US, we don't often use quit to mean leave >(which is why my French students don't understand how "quitter" can possibly >be a cognate.) Personally, I always thought it would be more interesting if >it were like sing: quit, quat, quut, but no one asked me. > Yes, that's true. But what I meant was that it still sounded odd enough in my ears as I read to jerk me out of the story. So IMO 'left' or just plain 'quit' wouldn't have grated quite as much. Correct grammar it may be - but that doesn't stop it sounding odd if it's not widely used. Course this is Chris' story, so it really comes down to what sounds fine to her ear, not mine. LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 21:49:58 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "C.C. Malo" Subject: Re: NEW: Ties That Bind (PG) (3/3) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit A sweetly ironic story, Chris, and one that seems quite consistent with the continuity of the show. Your characteriztion of both Tempus and Wells is quite good -- I could hear them speaking. :) I always suspected that for Tempus, it was the game as much as the goal that mattered. Carol ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 20:25:08 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Re: NEW: Ties That Bind (PG) (3/3) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit You have a way with words, Carol, and you said what I was trying to say. Nan C.C. Malo wrote: > A sweetly ironic story, Chris, and one that seems quite consistent with the > continuity of the show. Your characteriztion of both Tempus and Wells is > quite good -- I could hear them speaking. :) I always suspected that for > Tempus, it was the game as much as the goal that mattered. > > Carol ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 20:18:48 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Melisma Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) In-Reply-To: <3815D8A6.CEAAB48B@bellsouth.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 12:36 PM 10/26/99 -0400, you wrote: >> There was a message that crossed my desk recently that hinted that Lois's >> birthday might be this week. Do you think we could plan a surprise party for >> her, say this Friday eve (October 29th) at 6pm EDT at #loiscla? Oh MAN!!! 6pm edt is 3pm pdt, and if it's on Friday, I'll still be at work.. Any chance it could be either later that evening or on Saturday? I REALLY wanna go to my 'daughter's' party... Melisma ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 23:57:33 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sandy McDermin Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit No Name Available wrote: > > Dear "Clark," > There was a message that crossed my desk recently that hinted that Lois's > birthday might be this week. Do you think we could plan a surprise party for > her, say this Friday eve (October 29th) at 6pm EDT at #loiscla? Sorry. I'm in workaholic Washington. At 6:00, I'm just leaving the office and, if I'm lucky , I get home a lot later. -- Sandy smcdermin@erols.com http://www.erols.com/nightsky/Sandy/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 00:44:20 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sandy McDermin Subject: Re: To the caretakers of all that is L&C MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dennis A Arendt wrote: > > I would like to say thank you to all the wonderful talented people that work so hard keeping and maintaining all > the archives (fanfic, nfic, S5&S6) You are more care givers than caretakers and I appreciate all that your do. > > Also, thank you to all the devoted people that keep there sites going, just so people like me can always find a > L&C adventure. Zoom-Demi-Erin-Anne-Sandy-Pam to name a few that I visit regularly. Hey, I just wrote the stories, I didn't create the website. If I did, it would probably be in pig latin -- and misspelled. I owe the site -- and its up-keep -- strictly to Genevieve's hard work. And, not-so-oddly enough, she can also write very well. She's multi-talented. So, of course, I hate her. -- Sandy -- yes, this is a very late, twilight zone-ish response. smcdermin@erols.com Genevieve's handiwork--> http://www.erols.com/nightsky/Sandy/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 00:17:16 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: Ties That Bind In-Reply-To: <0.d7b7b0b4.25478678@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 6:34 PM -0400 10/26/99, Ann E. McBride wrote: >Well, I hate to be pedantic, but quitted is acceptable for the past tense of >quit. It is? Well, strike up another one in the "things you learn on the Internet" column. I honestly don't think I've ever heard anyone use this form of the word "quit"! Is "had quit" also acceptable? This is the form I would have used. (Checking the dictionary, it says "quit or quitted" ... so I'm assuming both are correct.) Kathy (gotta love this listserv ) ______________________ Kathy Brown kathyb@springnet1.com kathyb@lcfanfic.com KathyB on IRC ______________________ ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 22:27:38 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: Re: NEW: Ties That Bind (PG) (3/3) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Add me to the list. It was beautifully written. As for "quitted", that would have been an easily recognizable and accepted usage in 1936 when the story takes place. Jude ----- Original Message ----- From: Nancy Smith To: Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 1999 8:25 PM Subject: Re: NEW: Ties That Bind (PG) (3/3) > You have a way with words, Carol, and you said what I was trying to say. > > Nan > > C.C. Malo wrote: > > > A sweetly ironic story, Chris, and one that seems quite consistent with the > > continuity of the show. Your characteriztion of both Tempus and Wells is > > quite good -- I could hear them speaking. :) I always suspected that for > > Tempus, it was the game as much as the goal that mattered. > > > > Carol ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 08:36:02 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Phillip Atcliffe Subject: OT: Aurora In-Reply-To: <000a01bf2007$6133ae20$f9e4a1d1@ns.idirect.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Tue, 26 Oct 1999 19:11:04 -0400 Guy or Lesley Hilliard wrote: > The Aurora (or something very much like it) [...] I'm afraid that you've put your cyber-finger on the problem right there. I don't deny that there have been plenty of well-documneted observations of some form of exotic flying machine, but we _don't_ know that they had any connection with "Aurora" -- which was, after all, _one_word_ in a budget document. Speculation has run rife that Aurora is a hypersonic recon/strike a/c, using all sorts of exotic technology, and I rather hope it is -- it's a sad comment on the state of the aerospace industry that we've been stuck on a performance plateau for over 30 years(!) -- but no-one save those connected with whatever Aurora is (or _was_ -- it may have been cancelled years ago, and the superwonderplane could be something entirely different) knows for sure. > [...] was spotted by a private pilot off the coast of England about 7 years ago in the company of a KC-10 and 2 F-111's. It has also been tracked going up and down the left coast of the US of A by the US Seismological Service as a seismic event traveling a Mach 5 + up the sea board and then returning at appox. the same speed. The sonic boom, even generated at the (EST.) 60,000+ feet that the Aurora flies at, is detected by the seismographs as a mini-earthquake with a moving epicenter and a VERY unique signature. > Fuel is probably single H, or methane, and the engine a hybrid based on aerospike or wave riding technology. < "Probably" is the word. We don't know, and they ain't talkin'. Phil ---------------------------------------- (Dr) P.A. Atcliffe Faculty of Engineering University of the West of England, Bristol Phone: +44 (0)117 344 2496 Fax: +44 (0)117 976 3873 Email: Phillip.Atcliffe@uwe.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 11:01:39 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUATIM) In-Reply-To: <3.0.5.32.19991026201848.007da240@pop.intergate.bc.ca> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Tue, 26 Oct 1999 20:18:48 -0700 Melisma wrote: > Oh MAN!!! 6pm edt is 3pm pdt, and if it's on Friday, I'll > still be at work.. Any chance it could be either > later that evening or on Saturday? I REALLY wanna go to my > 'daughter's' party... Well, if it's much later that night, I won't be able to get to my 'wife's' party! Wendy ('Perry' - will you be there?) ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 11:12:39 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: NEW: Ties That Bind (PG) (3/3) In-Reply-To: <19991026213927.CFQQ23321.mta1-svc@akzvbyns> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Chris, As others have said, you genuinely do have a very clever way with words and emotions. I would not have thought that *anyone* could make me feel sorry for Tempus, but you did... and it was perfectly credible. I appreciate that this was a short story; if you felt able to do a longer version, I'd love to see them talk about Superman, and Lois and Clark - though perhaps you believe that in the circumstances they wouldn't. Would it be too awkward a subject? Anyway, this was wonderful, and I'm really pleased to see that there is at least one other writer as prolific as I am! Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 11:14:02 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Subject: Re: Ties That Bind MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Jude wrote: >>That 'quitted' would have been in acceptable use in 1936 when the story was set. (sorry for the paraphrasing - delete happy this morning. ) Yes, that's a good point, Jude, and at the time I did consider whether Chris had chosen to use quitted because the story was set in 1936. However, this wasn't a diary or written in the first person and quitted wasn't used in dialogue, but in the narrative, so I don't see any real reason to use a word more widely used in 1936 than now. No real reason why you shouldn't, of course....just that to my modern ear it jarred. Especially since none of the other narrative was couched in 1936 English to any great extent. Not that I noticed anyway. But I wouldn't want to let this very tiny niggle overshadow what was a beautiful story and extremely well written story. It was only a minor suggestion and a personal one at that, so I wouldn't even expect Chris to listen to be honest. After all, I've a reputation among my proofers myself for refusing to use words even if they're more grammatically correct forms, just because they don't sound *right* when I read the sentence and the objectionable word does. Right, Becky? The amount of times that poor soul has had to ferret around in her dictionary for alternatives that I might reluctantly accept sound just as good...so who am I to talk? LabRat :) Doc. Klein's LabRat labrat@starlabs.fsnet.co.uk PLEASE NOTE MY NEW EDDRESS! "Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative" - Oscar Wilde "Conscience is the inner voice that warns us someone may be looking." -- H. L. Mencken ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 07:24:09 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: Ties That Bind MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/27/99 1:29:18 AM Eastern Daylight Time, kathyb@SPRINGNET1.COM writes: << Is "had quit" also acceptable? This is the form I would have used. (Checking the dictionary, it says "quit or quitted" ... so I'm assuming both are correct.) >> Yes it is. Personally, I'm with LabRat that "quitted" sounds weird, but it is grammatically acceptable. And I don't think that I have ever heard anyone use either version when referring to leaving a place. I have only read it, usually in things written by our friends across the Atlantic. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 12:50:11 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Word usage (WAS Ties That Bind) In-Reply-To: <0.cc4c9ea5.25483ad9@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Wed, 27 Oct 1999 07:24:09 EDT "Ann E. McBride" wrote: > And I > don't think that I have ever heard anyone use either > version when referring to leaving a place. I have only > read it, usually in things written by our friends across > the Atlantic. Using 'quit' to mean 'stop,' as in to stop doing something, is just not normal usage over here; in fact, it's one of the things which jolts me out of the story when reading some American-authored Regency novels. Even worse is the solecism of saying 'the both' (eg 'the both of you') - it's grammatically inaccurate, apart from being something no English person, and certainly no aristocrat, would have said. I'm assuing it's also grammatically incorrect in the US? I'm noticing more and more things which I certainly recognise as errors cropping up in print in the US: a magazine article even used 'couple' without following it with 'of' - the phrase used was 'a couple ratings points.' Over on this side of the Atlantic, that is without doubt wrong. I correct it when I find it in stories I edit, so I hope it's also bad grammar over in the US! Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 08:36:33 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/26/1999 11:50:40 PM Eastern Daylight Time, melisma@INTERGATE.BC.CA writes: << Any chance it could be either later that evening or on Saturday? I REALLY wanna go to my 'daughter's' party... >> We could certainly make it later but I was trying to be polite to the folks across the pond. I may not make it myself if it's Saturday. You all decide what you want to do--but I expect you to bring Lois a present!! --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 08:43:43 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Word usage (WAS Ties That Bind) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/27/1999 7:55:11 AM Eastern Daylight Time, w.m.richards@HRM.KEELE.AC.UK writes: << a magazine article even used 'couple' without following it with 'of' - the phrase used was 'a couple ratings points.' Over on this side of the Atlantic, that is without doubt wrong. I correct it when I find it in stories I edit, so I hope it's also bad grammar over in the US! >> Well, I'm glad you are correcting it as I'd find it would jump out for me as wrong if I were reading it. :) --Laurie (on the other side of the Atlantic) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 09:03:08 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sharon Gilbert Organization: University of Maine Subject: redemption MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit this story was recommended but i can't seem to find it. any help? thanks. me Sharon L Gilbert, Ph.D. Center for Community Inclusion University of Maine at Orono 5717 Corbett Hall Orono, ME 04468 207/581-1219 We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be. ~C.S. Lewis ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 06:30:28 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: redemption MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hi, Sharon, I posted this story to the fanfic list on Sunday night. You should be able to find it in the archive of the list. Or, it has also been posted to Zoom's message boards. I would send you a copy but I am hip-deep in slashing and revising some sections of it in response to the excellent feedback (g) that I received for it! Irene --- Sharon Gilbert wrote: > this story was recommended but i can't seem to find > it. any help? > > thanks. > > me > > Sharon L Gilbert, Ph.D. > Center for Community Inclusion > University of Maine at Orono > 5717 Corbett Hall > Orono, ME 04468 > 207/581-1219 > > We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the > best for us; we > are wondering how painful the best will turn out to > be. > ~C.S. Lewis > ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 14:28:45 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yvonne Connell Subject: Re: Lois's birthday party (not OAUTIM) >Well, if it's much later that night, I won't be >able to get to my 'wife's' party! >Wendy >('Perry' - will you be there?) I'll be there, so long as there isn't any late-breaking news. I guess you want me to make sure Lois isn't stuck with a big story to write up - that's fine, but y'all better finish that magic mushroom pizza piece by tomorrow, or we'll all be missing Lois' party come Friday. You gonna ask Superman to drop by? Perry (AKA Yvonne) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 09:43:11 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Charlotte Fisler Subject: Re: New Fanfic: Redemption Part 12 of 12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/26/99 11:03:11 AM !!!First Boot!!!, sirenegold@YAHOO.COM writes: << Had to admit - this is one story I was very worried about, whether it worked or not. I wasn't sure if people would appreciate the darker themes or Claude as a sympathetic character. At the same time, I have to admit that this is the one I'm proudest of. Thanks for the reassurance. Irene >> It works beautifully, Irene. I could never have done it - made Claude sympathetic. Thank you for using my little story as background to this wonderful one. The adult themes were handled very well and the whole thing hung together. Phillip.Atcliffe@UWE.AC.UK (Phillip Atcliffe) <> Phil and I both agree and maybe disagree on this one point. I have no problem with most of the scenes. Indeed I like them. I don't doubt that Clark reacting emotionally to this news is devastated. I thought the scene where he leaves at night and goes, as is his wont, to the arctic to scream, is in keeping with his character. He is no longer an unemotional Kryptonian afte all. I can also see him shocked into retreating from Lois during the following week, but not because he blames her, rather because he has no idea how to react. Clark is, after all a great writer, but not so good at expressing himself verbally. So Irene, the only thing I had an admittedly minor problem with was the lines in which Clark admits he blamed Lois. I have to go with Phil on this part. << people often react "irrationally", placing the blame on the unfortunate victim, but I can't see _Clark_ doing that.>> Also MHO But if you feel Clark would act that way, leave it the way it is. In conclusion, I loved it!!!!! Charlotte ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 07:01:21 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Melisma Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) In-Reply-To: <0.268070a8.25484bd1@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 08:36 AM 10/27/99 EDT, you wrote: >In a message dated 10/26/1999 11:50:40 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >melisma@INTERGATE.BC.CA writes: > ><< Any chance it could be either later that evening or on > Saturday? I REALLY wanna go to my 'daughter's' party... > >> > >We could certainly make it later but I was trying to be polite to the folks >across the pond. I may not make it myself if it's Saturday. You all decide >what you want to do--but I expect you to bring Lois a present!! > >--Laurie Sigh - well, hope it's a party that lasts for a long time, cuz this poor 'mom' is gonna have to be late then... Hm... Wonder if I work late the next few days, if they will let me leave earlier? I'll have to see what happens. Melisma ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 08:04:55 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: New Fanfic: Redemption Part 12 of 12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hi Charlotte, Thanks for your note. I am very glad that you enjoyed this, and that you feel that I carried off what I had been aiming for. And again, I want to thank you for allowing me to use your excellent story "Just Like Claude" as background for my story. I didn't refer back to it a lot in my story, but having it in my head as the background for what had happened between Lois and Claude was incredibly valuable to me when I wrote this. I am in the middle of struggling to have Lois and Clark express their emotions in the way that I envision that they would. I agree that Clark would not blame Lois, but I also do agree with you that he would panic - completely and totally. I wasn't 100% happy with that section at the time that I released it, but due to the fantastic suggestions that I received from people like you, Phil, Wendy, Christy and the denizens of Zoom's message boards, I have a better idea as to what to do to fix this section of the story. Thank you for your help. And thanks again for allowing me to use your story as background. It was an invaluable addition. Take care, Irene --- Charlotte Fisler wrote: > In a message dated 10/26/99 11:03:11 AM !!!First > Boot!!!, > sirenegold@YAHOO.COM writes: > > << > Had to admit - this is one story I was very worried > about, whether it worked or not. I wasn't sure if > people would appreciate the darker themes or Claude > as > a sympathetic character. At the same time, I have > to > admit that this is the one I'm proudest of. > > Thanks for the reassurance. > > Irene >> > > It works beautifully, Irene. I could never have > done it - made Claude > sympathetic. Thank you for using my little story > as background to this > wonderful one. The adult themes were handled very > well and the whole thing > hung together. > > > Phillip.Atcliffe@UWE.AC.UK (Phillip Atcliffe) > < me was Clark's supposed > reaction to the Lois that Lois was HIV-positive.>> > > Phil and I both agree and maybe disagree on this one > point. I have no > problem with most of the scenes. Indeed I like > them. I don't doubt that > Clark reacting emotionally to this news is > devastated. I thought the scene > where he leaves at night and goes, as is his wont, > to the arctic to scream, > is in keeping with his character. He is no longer > an unemotional Kryptonian > afte all. > > I can also see him shocked into retreating from Lois > during the following > week, but not because he blames her, rather because > he has no idea how to > react. Clark is, after all a great writer, but not > so good at expressing > himself verbally. So Irene, the only thing I had an > admittedly minor problem > with was the lines in which Clark admits he blamed > Lois. I have to go with > Phil on this part. > > << people often react "irrationally", placing the > blame on > the unfortunate victim, but I can't see _Clark_ > doing that.>> > > Also MHO > > But if you feel Clark would act that way, leave it > the way it is. > > In conclusion, I loved it!!!!! > > Charlotte > ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 12:20:57 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/27/1999 9:55:17 AM Eastern Daylight Time, melisma@INTERGATE.BC.CA writes: << well, hope it's a party that lasts for a long time >> Well now, that depends. I said I'd bring the ice cream (chocolate, of course), but who will bring other things? And, don't forget that present. You'll be expected to announce what it is as "Lois" (hey, who is that, anyway?) unwraps them. We've heard from Perry and Clark and Ellen, and I know this is supposed to be a surprise party (so Clark and Perry--you darn better think up some excuse to keep Lois at the office then), but I do want to be sure that Lois makes it! --Laurie (not Lois) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 12:30:38 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Laurie Dunn Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Henderson says he'll drop in on the party, work permitting. Dr. Klein may also be able to come. LaurieD ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 17:37:41 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: Lois's birthday party (not OAUTIM) In-Reply-To: <199910271328.OAA07178@boober.lineone.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Thanks, Chief! > I guess you want me to make sure Lois isn't stuck > with a big story to write up Yes, but you might want to make sure she *is* kept busy with something up until at least 6pm, so that she isn't wondering where we're all going when we leave early! > but y'all > better finish that magic mushroom pizza piece by tomorrow, > or we'll all be missing Lois' party come Friday. Umm... magic mushroom piece? Ah, *that* magic mushroom piece. Well, right now we're waiting for Dr Atcliffe (you know, your dentist's pal?) to supply some crucial information. > You gonna ask Superman to drop by? Depends if I see him in the meantime, Chief. Clark (aka Wendy) ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 13:08:19 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Word usage (WAS Ties That Bind) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Wendy wrote: >>a magazine article even used 'couple' without following it with 'of' - the phrase used was 'a couple ratings points.'<< I'm in the US, and from what I've noticed, we use the "of" after "couple" about 50% of the time. "A couple people thought it was a good idea," may sound strange, but I hear people saying that sort of thing all the time. I guess it's just easier, when talking, to leave out the "of". Since we're so used to it, no one even seems to realize that it's bad grammar. However, writers (like whoever wrote that article) should know better:) Mols ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 12:12:33 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Chris Carr Subject: Re: Ties That Bind On Wed, 27 Oct 1999 07:24:09 EDT, Ann E. McBride wrote: >In a message dated 10/27/99 1:29:18 AM Eastern Daylight Time, >kathyb@SPRINGNET1.COM writes: > ><< Is "had quit" also acceptable? This is the form I would have used. > (Checking the dictionary, it says "quit or quitted" ... so I'm assuming > both are correct.) > >> > >Yes it is. Personally, I'm with LabRat that "quitted" sounds weird, but it >is grammatically acceptable. And I don't think that I have ever heard anyone >use either version when referring to leaving a place. I have only read it, >usually in things written by our friends across the Atlantic. > Ah, and that would be me, of course! :) You guys have got me thinking. It (obviously) didn't cross my mind to worry about using the word 'quitted', but having thought about it, I realise that I wouldn't use it is speech. For example, I can't imagine *saying*, 'I quitted my job.' Now, that *does* sound weird. According to my trusted dictionary, which I have since consulted, 'quit' is acceptable, but is chiefly used in the US, not the UK. I think that's interesting, especially considering that it was LabRat who first raised this issue. Will the word stay or go? I'm not sure, but I'll certainly think about it. Chris ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 18:20:54 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: Word usage (WAS Ties That Bind) In-Reply-To: <0.cbc28649.25488b83@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Wed, 27 Oct 1999 13:08:19 EDT No Name Available wrote: > I'm in the US, and from what I've noticed, we use the "of" > after "couple" about 50% of the time. "A couple people > thought it was a good idea," may sound strange, but I hear > people saying that sort of thing all the time. Similarly, when talking, many people tend to say 'should've' rather than 'should have' - a not unreasonable conflation, given the way we conflate 'do not' as 'don't' and so on. But a lot of people now seem to 'hear' this as 'should of' and I now see this all the time in writing - both from fanfic writers and (horrors!!) from my students. I'm just hoping that in years to come neither of these errors will have become 'acceptable' grammar through usage. Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 12:25:59 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Chris Carr Subject: Re: NEW: Ties That Bind (PG) (3/3) Thanks Irene, Carol, Nan, Jude, Wendy and Labrat for the kind words they've thrown in the direction of Ties That Bind. Appreciated! On Wed, 27 Oct 1999 11:12:39 +0100, Wendy Richards wrote: > >I appreciate that this was a short story; if you felt able >to do a longer version, I'd love to see them talk about >Superman, and Lois and Clark - though perhaps you believe >that in the circumstances they wouldn't. Would it be too >awkward a subject? It wasn't a question of the awkwardness of the subject that stopped me writing about Lois and Clark. Rather it was a cop out on my part! To be honest, I did want to put things about them in, but I didn't know where to begin. I'm assuming that Tempus spent most of his life tormenting our favourite couple -- and, come to that, their alternates, too. How would I *begin* to cover that quantity of material? Besides, I quite liked ignoring the subject altogether because it leaves me (and everyone else) plenty of scope to fill in the gaps that are left. Moreover, it meant that the story got written quickly. > >Anyway, this was wonderful, and I'm really pleased to see >that there is at least one other writer as prolific as I >am! > Oh, no, Wendy! I've a long way to go before I reach your rate of output! Okay, so I've written a few stories, but, word for word, you must be *way* ahead of me! Plus you do all that editing for other folcs, too. I *still* don't understand how you manage it all. Chris ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 14:31:58 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pam Jernigan Organization: http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam/ Subject: Re: Word usage (WAS Ties That Bind) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > I'm in the US, and from what I've noticed, we use the "of" after "couple" > about 50% of the time. "A couple people thought it was a good idea," may > sound strange, but I hear people saying that sort of thing all the time. I > guess it's just easier, when talking, to leave out the "of". Since we're so > used to it, no one even seems to realize that it's bad grammar. However, > writers (like whoever wrote that article) should know better:) That's a good point, I have heard "a couple people" ... the "of" gets dropped, or shortened to "a", like "a couple-a people" What really drives me nuts, though, is when people use "of" instead of "have" in the past tense. "I could of done that" is *wrong*, even though it sounds the same as "I could've done that". Oops, I just saw that Wendy said essentially the same thing ... well, I'll post anyway if only to prove that she and I do agree on the important things ;) -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "Do impure thoughts count?" "No. Only acts of will." "What about acts of ineptitude?" "A gray area, and don't tell me you haven't lived in that twilight before." "Most of my life, sir. Not that I haven't leaped up into the blinding light of competence now and then. It's sustaining the altitude that defeats me." --Miles Vorkosigan discusses his conscience with his father, in _A Civil Campaign_ by Lois McMaster Bujold ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 14:38:13 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pam Jernigan Organization: http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam/ Subject: Re: NEW: Ties That Bind (PG) (3/3) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Chris, add me into the hordes who've appreciated this story ... I think it's getting harder and harder to come up with truly original material in L&C fanfic, and I applaud you for a *very* original idea. I thought it was very well done, and interesting ... and I don't think you needed to bring up L&C at all. Neither Tempus or Herb was in the mood to nitpick all the details, and they covered the broad outline... I think it was good the way it was. I will quibble with the "deathfic" warning, tho :) I don't think a story counts as deathfic unless it's a major main character who dies -- basically, Lois or Clark -- 'cause lots of stories involve characters dying, and I don't think that's what people object to. Then again, I've been wrong before and better safe than sorry... -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "Do impure thoughts count?" "No. Only acts of will." "What about acts of ineptitude?" "A gray area, and don't tell me you haven't lived in that twilight before." "Most of my life, sir. Not that I haven't leaped up into the blinding light of competence now and then. It's sustaining the altitude that defeats me." --Miles Vorkosigan discusses his conscience with his father, in _A Civil Campaign_ by Lois McMaster Bujold ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 15:37:32 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ok I have a question here.. is OUATIM *officially* over? Because if it is, I would like to start getting this story together so i can use if for reference for another future story of mine. =) Thanks. Alexis ;-.) {who would really like to attend Lois' party but she is not sure if she should go since Lara is *techinally* dead well at least in Lois' world.. Maybe she can be there in spirit???} ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 14:36:23 -0500 Reply-To: truitt22@flash.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: timothy truitt Organization: tnt technical services Subject: Re: redemption MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sharon - the story is on Zoom's Message Boards and probably on the listserve archives merry Sharon Gilbert wrote: > this story was recommended but i can't seem to find it. any help? > > thanks. > > me > > Sharon L Gilbert, Ph.D. > Center for Community Inclusion > University of Maine at Orono > 5717 Corbett Hall > Orono, ME 04468 > 207/581-1219 > > We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we > are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be. > ~C.S. Lewis ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 16:13:42 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: Word usage (WAS Ties That Bind) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable In a message dated 10/27/99 1:08:56 PM Eastern Daylight Time, MPSL27@AOL.COM= =20 writes: << I'm in the US, and from what I've noticed, we use the "of" after "couple" about 50% of the time. "A couple people thought it was a good idea," may sound strange, but I hear people saying that sort of thing all the time. I guess it's just easier, when talking, to leave out the "of". Since we're s= o used to it, no one even seems to realize that it's bad grammar. However, writers (like whoever wrote that article) should know better:) >> I don't think that I hear "couple people" as much as 50% of the time, but I=20 do hear it. It bothers me a lot. If you're going to just say one word, why= =20 not say "two people?" I agree with those who hate "of " instead of "have."=20= =20 As far as I'm concerned, there is no excuse for such slovenly grammar. I do= =20 think that television is a large part of the problem in the US. There are=20 innumerable TV announcers who make this type of mistake; but since they are=20 on TV, people assume that their speech must be correct and copy it. They ar= e=20 the same ones who say "between Clark and I." =20 Wendy said, << Even worse is the solecism of saying 'the both' (eg 'the bot= h=20 of you') - it's grammatically inaccurate, apart from being something no English person, and=20 certainly no aristocrat, would have said, >> in discussing errors found in=20 American Regency novels. What about the many instances of dialogue in those novels where some duke=20 or earl or someone says, "He don't ...?" Is that, or was that ever, correct= =20 British usage? It is not in the US, and I have been curious for years. I=20 could be wrong, but I think I have seen it in novels by British authors,=20 maybe even Georgette Heyer.=20 Do you all really not say "quit" for "stop?" We truly are divided by a=20 common language. (Maybe the Acad=E9mie Fran=E7aise has the right idea. = ) Ann ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 13:23:33 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: Word Usage "Ties" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Using "couple" without the of is a kind of colloquialism that people get in the habit of using as short hand. In speaking , almost forgivable, in writing, never. U.S. entertainment magazines like US do that kind of thing all the time, and they are, unfortunately, the style setters for the younger generation. This doesn't even get into the regional differences such as New Yorkers who stand "on line" and other parts of the country where we stand "in line". And Rat, I can't argue with you about writing things that "sound right". Sometimes you just have to break the rules. Finally, since I cut my teeth on pre-1950 fiction and have spent a lot of time roaming around in 17th, 18th and 19th century fiction, not to mention tales in Middle English and Middle French, "quitted" to my ear was just a quaint word appropriate for use in connection with a quaint old gentleman like H.G. Wells. Beauty, however, is in the ear of the listener. Jude ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 17:19:25 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/27/1999 3:38:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time, MsLoisette@AOL.COM writes: << {who would really like to attend Lois' party but she is not sure if she should go since Lara is *techinally* dead well at least in Lois' world.. Maybe she can be there in spirit???} >> Well, you could always just come as Alexis, you know. :) --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 22:27:30 +0100 Reply-To: Yvonne Connell Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yvonne Connell Subject: Superfast talking? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I recently had altClark and Clark working together on something, and they decided that since they needed to talk to each other while they were working, they'd better work at normal speed - neither of them had perfected the art of superfast speech. However, it got me thinking. Why shouldn't they be able to talk superfast? And if they did, what on earth would it sound like? Would it sound high-pitched, or just an incoherent stream of voice at normal pitch? Yvonne (yconnell@ukf.net) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 23:52:39 +0200 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nene Subject: Re: Superfast talking? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I think it would sound like "an incoherent stream of voice at normal pitch". But that's just my idea. CIAO, Elena (who hopes that altClark is Clark2 and that he and Clark are superfast talking in the sequel to "Fear of discovery" :)) nene2811@tin.it ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 18:23:53 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Christina B." Subject: Re: New fanfic: The Never-ending Story, part 1, story 1 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >From: "Ann E. McBride" >Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" > >To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU >Subject: Re: New fanfic: The Never-ending Story, part 1, story 1 >Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 18:48:24 EDT > >In a message dated 10/25/99 10:17:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >forum500@HOTMAIL.COM writes: > ><< P.S. Were you able to figure out who the two men were? > > > >Obviously, it's Duncan MacLeod and Richie. Does this mean that to kill >Superman one needs a Kryptonite sword? It does explain how Lex keeps >coming back to life. My understanding of how the immortals in Highlander >work, they are all actually aliens. > >Ann > Actually, that was just for the second movie, not the first, the third, or the show. In the second movie they were all exiled aliens who became immortal under earth's atmosphere or something. (I've only watched the movie once, a really long time ago. I wouldn't watch it again.) After the second movie they wrote the third one as a sequel to the first. They pretended the second didn't exist and everyone was happy. The show takes place in a different universe than the movies. In the movie, the lead charater, Connor MacLeod is the last immortal. In the show, there are a lot left. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 19:13:14 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Laurie Dunn Subject: Re: Word usage (WAS Ties That Bind) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I don't mean to "beat a dead horse," but to me quitted would only be used where someone "left the room". She quitted the party, etc. But it should not be used in the sentence "I quitted my job yesterday." Ugh, you've got to be kidding. I confess, I have not looked it up in the dictionary, but I sense that we use quit two different ways. Laurie (who likes a good mind puzzle) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 19:40:13 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sandy McDermin Subject: Comments & Spoilers on "Everything's Right In the World" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I stumbled across this story on the archive today and, I don't know if it was meant to be, but I thought aspects of it were very funny -- * * * * * * SPOILERS * * * * * * especially the mental picture of new super hero, Martha, in a *tasteful* spandex costume ... with, perhaps, one of her knitted vests or sweaters over it. Martha says: >"Oh. . .I couldn't sleep, and I wanted to get this thing done," she >said, motion toward the silver spandex in her hands. *Silver* spandex. --> ; ) (By the way, I'm not looking for any editing type things at all -- really -- but since I did cut and paste the above sentence ... it should be "motioning.") Jonathan & Martha: > "Let me see. . .is it finished yet?" He asked. > "Almost, I just need to think of a name, and then come up with an >emblem for it," she replied. > Sitting down in the chair beside her, Jonathan picked up a piece of >paper with some names scribbled on it. He then read, "Super Granny, Ultra >Lady, Awesome Woman. . ." > Looking at the smirk on her husband's face, she replied, "I know, >they are all bad." > "No, they aren't bad. They are really bad," Jonathan said smiling. > "Help me out here, Jonathan," she replied. > "Let me see, how about something simple," Jonathan said. >"Something like Lady Krypton." Ha! Everytime someone in the story said "Lady Krypton," I kept thinking ... "Lady Clairol." (I know it's Miss Clairol.) > "Well, it seems that there is a new superhero in town," Clark said >smiling. "Her name is 'Lady Krypton,' and she is taking out bad guys left >and right." Lois let out a chuckle as she patted Clark on the shoulder. And, can you just see her "taking out bad guys left and right?" --> "Stop robbing that bank, young man, and ... eat your vegetables!" Frankly, I would have LOVED it if Jennifer had spent more time with this part -- describing the outfit and some of Lady Clairol's, I mean, Krypton's rescues ... in salons all over the world! ;) "OUT, you gray!" Actually ... I never thought of Martha playing the super hero but now that Jennifer introduced the thought, one-liners are coming a mile a minute. I guess we just needed a reason, and Jennifer came up with one. As for other aspects of the story, at first I thought Jennifer was only going to have one of Clark's parents "hold" his powers for him.... One wonders, could they ever be shot out of him into a vault? But, when I realizd what she intended, I thought Clark was a little too "okay" with the thought of one of his parents zipping around as a super hero. Afterall, to him, they are still his parents, and, no matter how fit at least one of them is, they're no longer youngsters. On a side note, I think Clark would feel the same about his children too and their "vulnerabilities." Once again, no matter how invulnerable they may appear physically, it's the idea of them confronting danger and the "irrational" fear that they could be hurt somehow. It's the ultimate example of seeing your kid fly out of the nest and not worry about them. Also, I was struck by how much confidence L&C had regarding their ability to get pregnant quickly enough to keep Martha's time in the suit down to a short period. I mean, it could have taken them months to get pregnant. Finally, I might have done the following a little differently: >"Hey!" Clark protested with a smile on his face. "You better watch >what you call my wife and the mother of my child." > "What are you gonna do ab. . ." Perry's words were silenced when he >realized the meaning of what Clark had just said. "You mean, you two are >gonna have a baby?" I think I might have left this part out. Afterall, Lois has only been pregnant for less than 24 hours at this point. (I wish I could remember my high school health classes. How quickly can a pregnancy be detected?) There's still every chance that she could lose this baby, especially since it's part Kryptonian. No matter where Clark's super powers were at the time of conception, her body could reject the fetus in light of its mixed alien/earthling make-up. It could even attack it -- or vice versa. (Frankly, I always wondered about that.) Anyway, the bottom line is, I wouldn't have had them be so open about the pregnancy right away in case of a miscarriage. It's not wise even in the case of two humans. That all being said, the Martha aspects of the story were my favorite and just wonderful. This is definitely a future nomination for the humor category. Good show, Jennifer. (By the way, didn't Clark throw the Newtrich sisters' red kryptonite gun into outer space?) -- Sandy smcdermin@erols.com http://www.erols.com/nightsky/Sandy/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 16:55:59 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: NEW STORY: Doppelganger, Part 8 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Summary: Everyone always assumed that H. G. Wells was responsible for the magical appearance of the baby at the end of "The Family Hour". But what if he wasn't? Doppelganger: Part Eight By Nan Smith The Bayside Inn was a small, comfortable motel with a little cafe on one side, which commanded a partial view of the harbor. Before the construction of the condominiums that Lois could see from the parking lot, the view must have been pretty impressive but the pressures of Metropolis's growing population had obviously changed that some years ago. The area was still fairly good, though, in spite of the fact that Suicide Slum actually began barely four blocks away. The taxi pulled to a stop in the parking lot. "Twenty-two thirty-six," the driver said. "Do you want me to wait?" "Yes, please," Lois said. She paid him, got out and walked briskly toward the office. The manager was a huge bear of a man with curly, red hair, who seemed ten feet tall from Lois's perspective, considerably taller even than Clark, with massively muscled shoulders and a broad, pink face that made her think of a baked ham. Even her pumps, with their inch and a half heels, gave her no advantage here, she found herself thinking as she tilted her sore neck backward to look up into his eyes. The eyes were reassuring. They were bright blue, with a twinkle of amusement in them as he took in her astonishment at his size. "Can I help you, Miss?" he asked in a mild, courteous voice. "Uh, maybe," Lois said. "My name is Lois Lane. I work for the Daily Planet." She displayed her press pass. "Oh, really?" He glanced at the card. "Pleased to meet you, Ms. Lane. I've read your articles. I'm Ambrose Johnson, the manager. Is there something I can do for you?" "I'm looking for a man," she said. "This person may have stayed here, I don't know under what name..." She described what little she had seen of her stalker, and added details from the kidnapper's story. "Has someone like that been here, recently?" "That depends." He raised an eyebrow. "Why would you be looking for him?" "I'm trying to find out who he is." "Well, I can't really give you that kind of information unless there's a good reason, ma'am." "He was here, wasn't he?" She looked up into his face and read surprising sympathy there. "Please, you've got to tell me. He's...I think he's been stalking me." The pleasant expression changed. "*Stalking* you? Like following you, or--" "That, too. Has he been here?" He regarded her thoughtfully for a long moment, then appeared to make some decision and nodded. "For the last four weeks. He checked out this morning." "Oh." She closed her eyes. "Can you describe him? I've only gotten glimpses of him, twice. I didn't really get a very good look at him." Ambrose Johnson frowned, trying to visualize his former guest. "I'd say he was about six feet tall, kind of slender. His hair was sort of dark brown, I think, and curly, and his beard and mustache were more reddish-brown, than plain brown." "Do you remember the color of his eyes?" "Hmmm..." Johnson frowned. "Can't be sure. He usually was wearing sunglasses, and kept to himself a lot, but I think they might have been brown." "Did he drive a car?" Johnson shook his head. "No. He had a friend pick him up, sometimes. A couple of different guys, really." He was obviously making a sincere effort to remember. "I think one of them drove a grey car...the other, maybe brown, or green. I'm not sure. I'm sorry." "Do you think you could give a description of him to a police artist?" He nodded. "I can sure try." Suddenly he snapped his fingers. "I can show you his signature. Would that help?" The name on the register was Lyndon P. Lippincott, in elegant, florid letters. Lois scanned it quickly with her pocket scanner. Ambrose Johnson watched her in silence. "What's he done?" he asked, finally. "Lippincott...or whatever his name really is?" "Yeah." Lois smiled without humor. "He tried to run me off the road. Phone calls...and he blew up my Jeep and tried to kill my husband. Does that count?" Johnson said something under his breath. "You tell your artist friend that I'll be ready to help any time he wants to talk to me, Ms. Lane. I know your reputation--you and that partner of yours, Mr. Kent--you speak up for the little guys when nobody else will. It's about time we did something for you." * * * * * In spite of her request, the cab driver was not waiting in the parking lot when Lois emerged from the motel office. She cussed softly under her breath and walked out to the street, looking around for a taxi to hail. They were usually swarming around whenever you didn't want them, so of course now, when she needed one, there were none in sight. She glanced up and down the street. No cabs. Well, Ambrose Johnson would probably let her use his phone to call one. She had started to turn to retrace her steps to the motel office when a battered, green car braked to a stop in front of her. A narrow face, chin coated with a heavy, five o'clock shadow, grinned out the window at her. "Hey, lady, need a lift?" "No, thank you." Lois retreated quickly, but he flung the door open and jumped out. "Come on, lady. I ain't gonna hurt ya." He made a grab for her arm. To her horror, Lois caught a glimpse past him at the driver of the car. He wore a coat with the collar turned up to hide his face, and his head was turned partially away, but the brown, wavy hair and short beard were just barely discernable. She back-pedaled. "I don't want to go with you. Get away, or I'll scream!" Her pursuer ignored her and lunged for her arm again, this time managing to get a grip on her wrist. It was the first art she had ever learned in her very first self defense class, years ago. She broke his grip expertly and backed away, her body coming automatically into a defensive stance. By now, others on the sidewalk had noticed what was going on. Some stood watching, jaws hanging open. Several people ran. Lois's assailant pulled out a knife. "Lady, don't make me cut you. Get in the car." "In your dreams!" She turned and ran back toward the motel. But pumps are not designed for running. He caught up with her within a few steps and grabbed her by the arm, swinging her around. For an instant her face was inches from his, and she could smell his breath. Lois brought the heel of her shoe down on his instep as hard as she could, and at the same time slammed her free hand into his nose with all her desperate strength behind it. He dropped to the sidewalk with a high shriek. Lois ran. Ambrose Johnson emerged from the motel office like a charging bull, a tire iron in one hand. Behind her, Lois heard the screech of tires as the car peeled away from the curb. She stopped short and turned. The green car was vanishing down the street. Her assailant was gone, too, so he must have somehow gotten back into the vehicle before it took off. If she'd seen Johnson coming after *her* like that, she'd have taken off, too, she thought irrelevantly, and stifled the sudden, hysterical urge to laugh. Johnson turned, lowering his weapon. "You okay, Ms. Lane?" She nodded, trying to steady her breathing. He took her arm. "Come on back inside. I'll call the police." * * * * * The little room at the police station was quiet, although she could hear muffled voices from outside. Lois turned another page on the book of mug shots. She had been at this for over an hour, and so far there had been no results. She rubbed the back of her neck and wished for a cup of coffee. Ambrose was with a police sketch artist somewhere in the building, trying to recreate his memory of the bearded man. Somewhere else the police had the napkin, trying to identify the handwriting and looking for fingerprints. She had no idea how it was progressing. She turned another page and sighed. This was hopeless. The Metropolis Police Department needed to get these things computerized. Someone knocked on the door and she looked up as Clark entered. He crossed the room to her in three steps and put his arms around her. "Jimmy told me you were here. I just heard what happened." "Clark, I'm all right." "Yeah, I know." He released her, and dropped a kiss on top of her head. "I talked to Henderson, and Mr. Johnson. They told me the whole story." He notably did not bring up the fact that she had gone off to investigate on her own and Lois felt a sudden twinge of guilt. "Clark, I'm sorry. I didn't think I could get into any trouble just going to that motel. Not right out in the open like that." "I know. Whoever this guy is, he's pretty sure of himself." He grinned against her hair. "Ambrose Johnson said he saw you take out the accomplice, whoever he is, by the way. He was impressed." "I was pretty impressed by him. He scared them off." Lois stretched uncomfortably. "I'll be glad when the sore muscles go away...hey! That's him!" "Who?" She indicated a photograph in the top left hand corner. "Paul Eastwin. That was the guy who tried to grab me." Clark straightened up. "If you're sure, I'll tell Henderson." "I'm sure, believe me." A few moments later an officer was looking at the photo. "You're certain, Ms. Lane?" "Yes, I am. I got a close-up look at him. Too close." "Okay." The man seemed pleased. "We'll put out an A.P.B. on him. If we can pin this on him it'll get him out of our hair for awhile, too." "What do you mean?" Clark asked. "Eastwin's a small-time mugger, hit man and occasional muscle-for-hire," the officer told them. "Everyone knows what he does, but so far we haven't been able to get him for anything major. He's had his sentences plea-bargained down to misdemeanors more times than you can count, but this time it's attempted kidnapping with a weapon. If we can get the charges to stick we might put him away for several years, at least. Henderson's going to be happy. The guy's been a thorn in our sides for years." "Sounds like a real charmer," Clark said. "Yeah. I arrested him for beating up his girlfriend a couple of months ago, so I sort of know him personally. He'd blacked both her eyes and knocked out her front teeth, but the judge let him off with a warning because he was drunk at the time. Ordered him to get counseling." The man stood up and turned toward the door. "Want to lay any bets on whether he did?" "I wouldn't bet the farm on it," Clark said, as the door closed behind him. "And I suspect that if they do find him, he won't be able to tell them any more about his employer than the first guy did." "Probably not," Lois said. "It seems to be the way he operates." "Maybe Ambrose's sketch will help," Clark said. "Henderson said he'll let us know when it's done." He walked up behind her and began to rub her shoulders again. "Still sore?" "Some. Clark, I'm sorry. I should have waited for you." He squeezed her shoulders gently. "No, you were right. I can't run your life for you. There's times you're going to need to do things on your own. You couldn't know they'd try something right out on the street like that. I should have gotten back sooner, anyway." "You were helping with that train wreck!" "Yeah, but I'd have been back earlier if I hadn't made a couple of side trips." He sat down in the chair next to hers. "Remember I said I wanted to check out some things, after Dr. Klein called this morning?" "Yes." "I talked to some people I know who used to work for LexLabs in R and D. Something about what Dr. Klein said this morning seemed familiar. There was some work on a weapon for the military that does what he described. Of course, they wouldn't go into specifics, even for Superman, but it seems that when LexLabs was broken up, one of the prototypes was missing." Lois was silent for a moment. "LexCorps again. First ‘Project Doppelganger' and now this." "Yeah, I know." Clark took her hand. "We're going to work this out, honey. Trust me." "I do, Clark. At least we know more than we did a couple of days ago. What was the other thing?" "Huh?" "The other thing that held you up?" "Oh, that. A burglar alarm. Some vandals broke into one of the storerooms at the Museum of Crime and destroyed some of the stuff. Probably kids." He glanced at the door. "Here comes Henderson. He's got the sketch." The sketch was necessarily inconclusive. It showed a man with an angular face, most of his features obscured by a mustache and beard, and wearing sunglasses. Longish hair waved around his face. Lois frowned at the portrait and nodded. "I think this is him, all right," she said, ungrammatically. "Do you recognize him?" Henderson asked. "You mean, am I sure this is the man that tried to run me off the road? It's very similar. I didn't get a close look, remember." "True. Okay, we'll use this for now, until we get something better, and we'll let you know if we make any progress on the handwriting samples. Thanks, Johnson. You've been a big help." Ambrose Johnson nodded. "Any time, Inspector Henderson." Clark stepped forward and held out his hand. "Thanks for helping my wife, Mr. Johnson," he said. Johnson's enormous hand nearly swallowed Clark's. "It was a pleasure, Mr. Kent." ------------------------ (to be continued) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 20:39:44 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/27/99 4:29:52 PM EST, Larus2407@AOL.COM writes: << Well, you could always just come as Alexis, you know. :) --Laurie >> Yeah that's true.. Alexis ;-.) {LoisLane on IRC.. not be confused with the *real* Lois Lane though.. or is it? ;)} ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 19:09:30 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Melisma Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) In-Reply-To: <0.20b40ab9.25488069@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I have a surefire way of making sure the party is happening still when I get there: Ellen will bring the birthday cake - chocolate, natch! And you are right - who is gonna be Lois? I presume Jenni already knows about this, so so much for surprising Lois if *she* takes the role :) Melisma (who is looking forward to this far more than she thinks Ellen would care to admit - and besides, are chocolate cake AND ice cream good for the babies? :) At 12:20 PM 10/27/99 EDT, you wrote: >In a message dated 10/27/1999 9:55:17 AM Eastern Daylight Time, >melisma@INTERGATE.BC.CA writes: > ><< well, hope it's a party that lasts for a long time >> > >Well now, that depends. I said I'd bring the ice cream (chocolate, of >course), but who will bring other things? And, don't forget that present. >You'll be expected to announce what it is as "Lois" (hey, who is that, >anyway?) unwraps them. > >We've heard from Perry and Clark and Ellen, and I know this is supposed to be >a surprise party (so Clark and Perry--you darn better think up some excuse to >keep Lois at the office then), but I do want to be sure that Lois makes it! > >--Laurie (not Lois) > > ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 22:20:39 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: kubitc Subject: Re: Comments & Spoilers on "Everything's Right In the World" Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I also read "Everything's Right in the World" and thought the premise was interesting, but have to chime in with some of Sandy's concerns. >Also, I was struck by how much confidence L&C had regarding their >ability to get pregnant quickly enough to keep Martha's time in the suit >down to a short period. I mean, it could have taken them months to get >pregnant. I was wondering the same thing when I read the story. There is a more-fertile time in a woman's menstrual cycle and probably Lois would be taking measures (taking her temperature) to find out when this time is so they minimize the amount of time Superman is absent. Also, usually if a couple doesn't conceive in that window of time, all's considered lost until the next month. Yes, people do conceive in other times of the menstrual cycle, but if they can't conceive in the prime time, it's not too likely they'll conceive in a non-prime time. But, then again, conceiving itself is so unlikely that it's a wonder any of us are here at all >I think I might have left this part out. Afterall, Lois has only been >pregnant for less than 24 hours at this point. (I wish I could remember >my high school health classes. How quickly can a pregnancy be >detected?) I don't think it can be detected as quickly as L&C did it in this story. I believe that it is possible to take a considerable amount of time for the sperm to reach the egg; it doesn't happen instantaneously (hence 'morning after contraception'). >Anyway, the >bottom line is, I wouldn't have had them be so open about the pregnancy >right away in case of a miscarriage. It's not wise even in the case of >two humans. While this is very true that many early pregnancies result in miscarriage (sometimes so early that the pregnancy wasn't even known), it seems that people now tell friends & family about pregnancies sooner than people used to, years ago. I think it all comes down to how realistic you are in accepting the fact that you may have a miscarriage, whether you're superstituous (as some people think announcing a pregnancy before a certain time is bad luck), and whether the people you're telling are people to whom you want to explain about that miscarriage (ie I think L&C would tell their parents & maybe Perry before making a general announcement, as they would be more confortable confiding in them about a miscarriage than they would in confiding in the random Planet staffer). -Christy kubitc@kenyon.edu * * * * * * * * * * "An idea ran back and forward in his head like a blind man, knocking over the solid furniture." -Fitzgerald ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 22:44:33 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Word usage (WAS Ties That Bind) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Wendy wrote: << Similarly, when talking, many people tend to say 'should've' rather than 'should have' - a not unreasonable conflation, given the way we conflate 'do not' as 'don't' and so on. But a lot of people now seem to 'hear' this as 'should of' and I now see this all the time in writing - both from fanfic writers and (horrors!!) from my students. >> I know! That bothers me, too! Molly ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 22:55:53 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Word usage (WAS Ties That Bind) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Aerm1@AOL.COM (Ann E. McBride) wrote: << I don't think that I hear "couple people" as much as 50% of the time, but I do hear it. It bothers me a lot. If you're going to just say one word, why not say "two people?" >> One of the problems is, we USers (or maybe it's just the people I know!! ) seem to think "a few" and "a couple" both mean "a small group/amount". There could be five people in a meeting and someone would later say, "there were a couple of people at the meeting". "A couple of. . . " is just a way of saying there were several people in the room. I know it's wrong! Bad grammar! Bad! It's just so common now, to hear that. :P Molly (who admits that she has very bad grammar when speaking. . . but when writing, really tries to be good!) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 22:06:15 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: Comments & Spoilers on "Everything's Right In the World" In-Reply-To: <38178D5D.21C5072A@erols.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 7:40 PM -0400 10/27/99, Sandy McDermin wrote: >* >* >* >* >* >* > >SPOILERS > >* >* >* >* >* >* > >Also, I was struck by how much confidence L&C had regarding their >ability to get pregnant quickly enough to keep Martha's time in the suit >down to a short period. I mean, it could have taken them months to get >pregnant. >I think I might have left this part out. Afterall, Lois has only been >pregnant for less than 24 hours at this point. (I wish I could remember >my high school health classes. How quickly can a pregnancy be >detected?) I, too, though it was a cute story, but I noticed the same things you did, Sandy. The part that got me was Lois checking every day to see if she was pregnant, with the implication that they just kept having sex every night until the test read positive. As fun as it is in a fanfic, it just doesn't work this way. A quick refresher for those who don't know -- there is only a 24 hour window when a woman can become pregnant each month. The egg lives for 24 hours after ovulation, while sperm can live for 72 hours or so. Thus, the only days having sex can possibly get you pregnant are the 2-3 days prior to ovulation and the 1 day after. That's a maximum 4 day window each month. The trick to getting pregnant (or preventing pregnancy) is pinpointing exactly when the woman ovulates -- and even then, if you time it perfectly, there is only a 20% chance a pregnacy will actually occur in a given month (in your teens/20's; the percentage decreases as a woman gets older ... maybe 15% in your 30's down to under 10% each month after 40). Pregnancy can be detected by the home tests (urine tests) approximately 10-14 days after ovulation, or around the time you expect your period to begin. If you go to an infertility clinic, they can run blood tests to find out slightly earlier, but I don't believe it's significantly earlier. Most regular doctors offices run pretty much the same urine test that you can buy in the store. Kathy (ok, Susanna, you can now add "getting pregnant" to your list of topics I've discussed on this listserv. ) ______________________ Kathy Brown kathyb@springnet1.com kathyb@lcfanfic.com KathyB on IRC ______________________ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 23:09:13 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/27/1999 8:53:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time, MsLoisette@AOL.COM writes: << << Well, you could always just come as Alexis, you know. :) --Laurie >> Yeah that's true.. Alexis ;-.) {LoisLane on IRC.. not be confused with the *real* Lois Lane though.. or is it? ;)} >> Well, now there's your answer. You'll just end up being Lois and have to pretend to be surprised . --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 23:25:14 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/27/99 10:23:21 PM EST, Larus2407@AOL.COM writes: << Well, now there's your answer. You'll just end up being Lois and have to pretend to be surprised . --Laurie >> Okay! I'm good at acting surprised! LOL! My problem maybe just making it to the party. I have a little problem called sharing the internet with my dad's company. :( So if it could be moved to a later time that would really help! Alexis ;-.) {aka: Lois Lane?} ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 22:04:45 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: sharper Subject: Re: Comments & Spoilers on "Everything's Right In the World" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Kathy (ok, Susanna, you can now add "getting pregnant" to your list of > topics I've discussed on this listserv. ) LOL, Kathy! That takes me back to the early days of S5 when we were desperately trying to figure out how L&C could get pregnant accidentally in my ep, but have to resort to help from a fertility clinic in the following one! Sheila (we emerged with the concept of Clark's fertility cycle, which I always thought was a cool compromise with canon) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 01:01:23 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Anita Dicker Subject: 2nd test story send MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello This is a second test. This is my second attempt at sending a story. This is another excerpt from the story I am working on. I will apologize in advance if this is sent in an incorrect way. Your indulgence will be appreciated as I learn how to use my computer, in a new way. I have only recently been granted access to the Net, here in the boondocks. Ching didn't know what to say. He held his position as her bodyguard. He had loved her in silence for many years. He did not suspect she harbored suppressed feelings for him. That was until she admitted she did, while they were on Earth. He had never expected that she would act on those feelings for him. They each had their position, and duty to perform for New Krypton. Zara released his hands and reached up slowly to stroke his cheek. Her breath caught in her throat at the first touch of his jaw. His eyes closed at the first contact of her fingers. She leaned forward and their lips met, just barely touching. A low moan escaped from Ching, as she pulled away. Sitting back they just looked at each other, both hardly daring to breath. Ching gingerly reached over and gently removed the pins that held up her hair. The shimmering dark mass fell past her shoulders. "Your hair is always so pretty," he dropped the pins as his hand trailed down the side her face, "You are so beautiful," whispered Ching. She blushed slightly and captured his hand as it rested on the side of her face. She moved the hand to her lips and kissed his hand. With some unspoken signal they both stood up, their eyes dark with desire, they stepped into each others arms. Ching's lips touched hers, then he blazed a trail down the side of her neck, caused her to sigh in appreciation. His hands explored the texture of her hair as he continued to kiss her. Then his hands traveled down to stroke her sides. Zara's hands held then explored his body, first massaging his shoulders, and moved down his back. Their kisses had become quite intense, and their breathing had turned into ragged gasps. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 21:51:38 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Melisma Subject: Re: Comments & Spoilers on "Everything's Right In the World" In-Reply-To: <38178D5D.21C5072A@erols.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" It amazes me how threads in one of my lists sometimes mirror threads in another! Someone on one of my XFiles lists just sent this through, and, what do you know? On this list we are talking about words too! It's pretty good (and funny) so please don't shoot me for passing it along... Melisma (who seems to be ducking more often these days than she would like to) Here it is - enjoy (or something): The Washington Post challenged word lovers recently. They were asked to supply possible alternate meanings for various words. The following were some of the winning entries: 1. Abdicate - v., to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach. 2. Balderdash - n., a rapidly receding hairline. 3. Bustard - n., a very rude school bus driver. 4. Carcinoma - n., a valley in California, noted for its heavy smog. 5. Circumvent - n., the opening in the front of boxer shorts. 6. Coffee - n., a person who is coughed upon. 7. Esplanade - v., to attempt an explanation while drunk. 8. Flabbergasted - adj., appalled over how much weight you have gained. 9. Flatulence - n., the emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller. 10. Gargoyle - n., an olive-flavored mouthwash. 11. Lymph - v., to walk with a lisp. 12. Marionettes - n., residents of Washington, DC who have been jerked around by the former mayor. 13. Negligent - adj., a kindly man in ladies sleepwear. 14. Oyster - n., a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddish expressions. 15. Rectitude - n., the formal, dignified demeanor assumed by a proctologist immediately before he examines you. 16. Semantics - n., pranks conducted by young men studying for the priesthood, including such things as gluing the pages of the priest's prayer book together just before Vespers. 17. Testicle - n., a humorous question on an exam. Oy! Sorry to have inflicted this on you. Zoomo and Farrah, you may chastise me if you wish... ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 23:03:48 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: Re: Comments & Spoilers on "Everything's Right In the World" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit LOL, Melisma. You may get chastised, but those are worth it. Am putting together a list now of people to send it to. Jude ----- Original Message ----- From: Melisma To: Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 1999 9:51 PM Subject: Re: Comments & Spoilers on "Everything's Right In the World" > It amazes me how threads in one of my lists sometimes mirror threads in > another! Someone on one of my XFiles lists just sent this through, and, > what do you know? On this list we are talking about words too! It's pretty > good (and funny) so please don't shoot me for passing it along... > > Melisma (who seems to be ducking more often these days than she would like to) > > Here it is - enjoy (or something): > > The Washington Post challenged word lovers recently. They were asked to > supply possible alternate meanings for various words. The following were > some of the winning entries: > > 1. Abdicate - v., to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach. > > 2. Balderdash - n., a rapidly receding hairline. > > 3. Bustard - n., a very rude school bus driver. > > 4. Carcinoma - n., a valley in California, noted for its heavy smog. > > 5. Circumvent - n., the opening in the front of boxer shorts. > > 6. Coffee - n., a person who is coughed upon. > > 7. Esplanade - v., to attempt an explanation while drunk. > > 8. Flabbergasted - adj., appalled over how much weight you have gained. > > 9. Flatulence - n., the emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are > run over by a steamroller. > > 10. Gargoyle - n., an olive-flavored mouthwash. > > 11. Lymph - v., to walk with a lisp. > > 12. Marionettes - n., residents of Washington, DC who have been jerked > around by the former mayor. > > 13. Negligent - adj., a kindly man in ladies sleepwear. > > 14. Oyster - n., a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddish > expressions. > > 15. Rectitude - n., the formal, dignified demeanor assumed by a > proctologist immediately before he examines you. > > 16. Semantics - n., pranks conducted by young men studying for the > priesthood, including such things as gluing the pages of the priest's > prayer book together just before Vespers. > > 17. Testicle - n., a humorous question on an exam. > > Oy! Sorry to have inflicted this on you. Zoomo and Farrah, you > may chastise me if you wish... ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 04:19:51 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Tara Smith Subject: Completely OT: RE: Re: New fanfic: The Never-ending Story, part 1, story 1 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I only watched the first movie and the series. You know this thing about immortals being uncommon? They seemed to pop up left and right in the series! Oh, and if anyone cares, I once ran across this really good x-over (you're going to love this!) It was: Highlander/X-Files/Stargate SG-1/SeaQuest DSV. I think they were trying to see how many different stories they could borrow from! :-) Anyways, it explained why Immortals couldn't have children, where they came from, and why they keep showing up. I printed it up, but I'm not sure where it is, right now. I'll rummage around my room and try to exhume it ;-) if anyone wants to know where it is. Tara ------Original Message------ From: "Christina B." To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Sent: October 27, 1999 10:23:53 PM GMT Subject: Re: New fanfic: The Never-ending Story, part 1, story 1 >From: "Ann E. McBride" >Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" > >To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU >Subject: Re: New fanfic: The Never-ending Story, part 1, story 1 >Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 18:48:24 EDT > >In a message dated 10/25/99 10:17:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >forum500@HOTMAIL.COM writes: > ><< P.S. Were you able to figure out who the two men were? > > > >Obviously, it's Duncan MacLeod and Richie. Does this mean that to kill >Superman one needs a Kryptonite sword? It does explain how Lex keeps >coming back to life. My understanding of how the immortals in Highlander >work, they are all actually aliens. > >Ann > Actually, that was just for the second movie, not the first, the third, or the show. In the second movie they were all exiled aliens who became immortal under earth's atmosphere or something. (I've only watched the movie once, a really long time ago. I wouldn't watch it again.) After the second movie they wrote the third one as a sequel to the first. They pretended the second didn't exist and everyone was happy. The show takes place in a different universe than the movies. In the movie, the lead charater, Connor MacLeod is the last immortal. In the show, there are a lot left. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ----------------------------------------------- FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 10:44:33 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Doppelganger, Part 8 In-Reply-To: <3817910C.6FDDF39C@earthlink.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Another exciting extract, Nan! Good to see Lois defending herself the way she used to before she'd scream 'Help, Superman!' most of the time. I had a query about this line: >>>But pumps are not designed for running.<<< I don't know whether 'pumps' as a type of shoe means something different to you, but in the UK it's an alternative name for trainers. By your description of Lois grinding her heel in her assailant's foot, it sounds as if she's wearing high heels, possibly court shoes. So this was rather confusing for me. Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 10:57:43 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: Word usage (WAS Ties That Bind) In-Reply-To: <0.2597db80.2548b6f6@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Wed, 27 Oct 1999 16:13:42 EDT "Ann E. McBride" wrote: > What about the many instances of dialogue in those novels > where some duke or earl or someone says, "He don't ...?" > Is that, or was that ever, correct British usage? It is > not in the US, and I have been curious for years. I could > be wrong, but I think I have seen it in novels by British > authors, maybe even Georgette Heyer. I've seen it in Georgette Heyer too; she may not have got everything right, but her period vocabulary and dialogue usually was accurate. Seems to me as if the aristocracy - at least the *male* aristocracy - had its own slang and short cuts. > Do you all really not say "quit" for "stop?" Absolutely not! To quit means to leave (from the French 'quitter,' as someone pointed out yesterday), or to abandon or give up a task. (I just checked my Concise Oxford). Wendy (who has frequently commented on the 'divided by a common language' question ) ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 10:59:43 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Doppelganger, Part 8 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Wendy wrote: >I don't know whether 'pumps' as a type of shoe means >something different to you, but in the UK it's an >alternative name for trainers. By your description of Lois >grinding her heel in her assailant's foot, it sounds as if >she's wearing high heels, possibly court shoes. So this was >rather confusing for me. > They do indeed, Wendy. As far as I've figured it out and been told, pumps in US are court shoes. When I wrote Mile High I put in Lois wearing pumps not having the faintest idea what they were, but hoping for the best that they didn't have laces. Luckily, turned out that my gut feeling that they were courts, based on their use in fanfic I'd read, turned out to be right. LabRat :) > >Wendy > > >---------------------- >Wendy Richards >w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk > ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 11:05:24 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Subject: Re: Word usage (WAS Ties That Bind) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ann wrote: >> Do you all really not say "quit" for "stop?" And Wendy replied: > >Absolutely not! To quit means to leave (from the French >'quitter,' as someone pointed out yesterday), or to abandon >or give up a task. (I just checked my Concise Oxford). > You know, "Just quit it!" has been part of my own personal vocabularly for years (our German Shepherd, Khan, hears it a lot) and until this thread appeared, I never realised that it was an Americanism. Admittedly, my vocabularly is littered with Americanisms, picked up from TV mostly, simply because I like the sound of them. But I'd never have put that one in among the list until now. Kathy's right, you do learn something new every day on this list. LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 11:10:41 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Phillip Atcliffe Subject: OUATIM: Phil to Bernie (encrypted) -- Finally! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Hi, Bernie. /heavy sarcasm mode ON Geez, I _love_ this time of year! /heavy sarcasm mode OFF Sorry about that, but I've been wanting to write to you since last Friday, and only now do I have the time and opportunity. Part of this is my own fault for phasing out of RL over the weekend, but this place has been one long, non-stop case of Headless Chook Syndrome ever since this time _last_ week, and I needed the break! Anyway, on to what I wanted to mention.... First up, don't you _ever_ complain again that I read too much SF! I tell you, it's not a hobby or recreation any more, it's become a _necessity_ -- at least, right here/now it is! Last Thursday, I had a visit from a very unnerving person, one Bruz Kandis -- or, as he is more commonly known in your neck of the woods, Dr Bruce Cavendish, DDS (although how he managed to convince the New Troy health authorities of that is anyone's guess. This is not to say that he isn't qualified, but would _you_ like to have to convince, say, Max Faraday or Charles Darwin of your suitability to be considered as a member of the R.I? No, me neither...). It seems that the 'steemed Mr Kandis, who wrote to us some time ago with respect to helping him with some research on his ancestors (gave both J and I something of a shock; neither of us know much about our own forebears), didn't need any help that way after all. He'd already done his research -- by _meeting_ his ancestors (and, in one case, looking after his teeth! ); no, what he wanted was a ride "home". Yes, you've guessed it -- the guy was a time-traveller, from an era that he called "post-Utopian" (?!); his home time turns out to be the 29th century (shades of Voyager!), though he referred to it as the 10th century "ALK", whatever that may mean. Anyway, he came to do a little private geneological research... and was stranded here/now (by what, he never managed to explain coherently -- but then, he was so frantic at the thought that he could go home that _in_coherence could well have been his middle name) for _7_years!_ Talk about Douglas Adams coming home to roost; all I can say is that any 2-headed, 3- or 4-armed maniac with a "cool" fixation who shows up is gonna provoke one of those ethnic reactions -- which one depends on whether I decide he's most like a lizard (axe), and snake (shotgun) or a shark (depth charge)! After being stranded, Bruz settled down to wait for me to finish Little Gay, taking up dentistry in order to survive. I'm not sure I like having a reputation as a temporal taxi service; I don't mind trips like helping Lara, but this is something else entirely. I dropped Kandis off (anything to get rid of him!), but what other weirdos are out there? Don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for a while. I think I'm going to have to work on this, and that may make "conventional" communications difficult. When next we get in touch, it's liable to be in person (wear your leathers, and buy Carolyn a set; LG will give you both the ride of your life! ). Phil ---------------------------------------- (Dr) P.A. Atcliffe Faculty of Engineering University of the West of England Phone: +44 (0)117 344 2496 Fax: +44 (0)117 976 3873 Email: Phillip.Atcliffe@uwe.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 05:20:25 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) In-Reply-To: <0.d1f8d947.2548ae7c@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Party? Oh, I love parties! It's for Lois? What can I bring? That poor woman needs help with her wardrobe and her hair and probably lots of other things. Clark doesn't always look like the happiest guy in the world and he's so cute! I'll think *something special* for her! This is going to be so much *fun!* Mindy "What's an intaganq?" Church ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 12:32:01 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yvonne Connell Subject: Re: Superfast talking? re-posting this for Kristin: ------------- Hey guys! I had to reply to this one! I think that the telepathic connection the Kryptonians had was their version of superspeech. They were talking so fast the noise couldn't be heard by normal humans sort of like a dog whistle. What do you think? Kristin ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 07:33:09 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Doppelganger, Part 8--differences across the pond MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/28/1999 5:50:10 AM Eastern Daylight Time, w.m.richards@HRM.KEELE.AC.UK writes: << possibly court shoes. >> Now there's something that doesn't bring any logical picture to my mind. I'm picturing sparkly fairy godmother type shoes... Since I don't exactly own a lot of shoes, I'll let someone else describe pumps. --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 07:58:08 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sandy McDermin Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Doppelganger, Part 8 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Wendy Richards wrote: > I had a query about this line: > > >>>But pumps are not designed for running.<<< > > I don't know whether 'pumps' as a type of shoe means > something different to you, but in the UK it's an > alternative name for trainers. By your description of Lois > grinding her heel in her assailant's foot, it sounds as if > she's wearing high heels, possibly court shoes. So this was > rather confusing for me. Pumps are sort of like high heels only with a shorter heel -- dressy but practical. I often think of them as part of a lady's business suit ensemble, although they can be worn with almost any slightly dressy outfit, i.e., not sportswear. In the dictionary it says: "a low-cut shoe without straps or ties." -- Sandy smcdermin@erols.com http://www.erols.com/nightsky/Sandy/ ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 13:02:46 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Doppelganger, Part 8--differences across the pond In-Reply-To: <0.ca774e82.25498e75@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Thu, 28 Oct 1999 07:33:09 EDT No Name Available wrote: > << possibly court shoes. >> > > Now there's something that doesn't bring any logical > picture to my mind. I'm picturing sparkly fairy godmother > type shoes... Court shoes are women's shoes designed for wearing with skirts and tights (sorry, pantyhose ); they can be high or low heeled, plain or fancy. The shoe itself normally leaves a lot of the foot bare, unlike lace-up shoes the top of which come almost to the end of the leg. (Hard to describe, that!) Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 13:09:42 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Doppelganger, Part 8 In-Reply-To: <38183A50.DB5C0597@erols.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Thu, 28 Oct 1999 07:58:08 -0400 Sandy McDermin wrote: > Pumps are sort of like high heels only with a shorter heel > -- dressy but practical. I often think of them as part of > a lady's business suit ensemble, although they can be worn > with almost any slightly dressy outfit, i.e., not > sportswear. In the dictionary it says: "a low-cut shoe > without straps or ties." They're court shoes!!! (though court shoes can have high heels too). And that is *so* weird, because in England (though not Ireland) pumps are trainers. So when I read Nan's latest extract I was hugely confused! Although I write in British-English (dialogue apart), my own habit now, when I come across words which mean completely different things on either side of the Atlantic, is to use an alternative just to avoid confusing readers. Sandy, for instance, told me that 'homely' in the US means something rather different to what it means over here, and that the word I should have used in the context was 'homey.' Well, 'homey' doesn't exist here! And in future, if I want to say 'homely,' I'll choose something like 'welcoming' or 'lived-in,' to avoid confusion. Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 08:15:01 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sandy McDermin Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Doppelganger, Part 8--differences across the pond MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Wendy Richards wrote: > > On Thu, 28 Oct 1999 07:33:09 EDT No Name Available > wrote: > > > << possibly court shoes. >> > > > > Now there's something that doesn't bring any logical > > picture to my mind. I'm picturing sparkly fairy godmother > > type shoes... > > Court shoes are women's shoes designed for wearing with > skirts and tights (sorry, pantyhose ); they can be high > or low heeled, plain or fancy. The shoe itself normally > leaves a lot of the foot bare, unlike lace-up shoes the top > of which come almost to the end of the leg. (Hard to > describe, that!) Well, these latter (the lace-up ones) sound to me like shoe boots -- at least that's what I call them. They were *very* popular some years ago, less so now. Still, I see women wear them with pants (trousers) mostly, and I think they're very stylish. Note to self: Get another pair. -- Sandy smcdermin@erols.com http://www.erols.com/nightsky/Sandy/ ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 05:42:45 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: Comments & Spoilers on "Everything's Right In the World" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii LOL! Melisma, thanks for giving me my morning chuckle. I especially liked the definitions for Circumvent and Gargoyle. ROTFL! Irene --- Melisma wrote: > It amazes me how threads in one of my lists > sometimes mirror threads in > another! Someone on one of my XFiles lists just sent > this through, and, > what do you know? On this list we are talking about > words too! It's pretty > good (and funny) so please don't shoot me for > passing it along... > > Melisma (who seems to be ducking more often these > days than she would like to) > > Here it is - enjoy (or something): > > The Washington Post challenged word lovers recently. > They were asked to > supply possible alternate meanings for various > words. The following were > some of the winning entries: > > 1. Abdicate - v., to give up all hope of ever having > a flat stomach. > > 2. Balderdash - n., a rapidly receding hairline. > > 3. Bustard - n., a very rude school bus driver. > > 4. Carcinoma - n., a valley in California, noted for > its heavy smog. > > 5. Circumvent - n., the opening in the front of > boxer shorts. > > 6. Coffee - n., a person who is coughed upon. > > 7. Esplanade - v., to attempt an explanation while > drunk. > > 8. Flabbergasted - adj., appalled over how much > weight you have gained. > > 9. Flatulence - n., the emergency vehicle that picks > you up after you are > run over by a steamroller. > > 10. Gargoyle - n., an olive-flavored mouthwash. > > 11. Lymph - v., to walk with a lisp. > > 12. Marionettes - n., residents of Washington, DC > who have been jerked > around by the former mayor. > > 13. Negligent - adj., a kindly man in ladies > sleepwear. > > 14. Oyster - n., a person who sprinkles his > conversation with Yiddish > expressions. > > 15. Rectitude - n., the formal, dignified demeanor > assumed by a > proctologist immediately before he examines you. > > 16. Semantics - n., pranks conducted by young men > studying for the > priesthood, including such things as gluing the > pages of the priest's > prayer book together just before Vespers. > > 17. Testicle - n., a humorous question on an exam. > > Oy! Sorry to have inflicted this on you. > Zoomo and Farrah, you > may chastise me if you wish... > ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 06:26:04 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Doppelganger, Part 8 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In the U.S., "pumps" mean shoes with high heels. I was informed of this rather curtly by my daughter (the marine) last year when I referred to the shoes in which she performed in the high school Show Choir as high heels. Up until then I had always used the terms interchangeably. Nan Wendy Richards wrote: > Another exciting extract, Nan! Good to see Lois defending > herself the way she used to before she'd scream 'Help, > Superman!' most of the time. > > I had a query about this line: > > >>>But pumps are not designed for running.<<< > > I don't know whether 'pumps' as a type of shoe means > something different to you, but in the UK it's an > alternative name for trainers. By your description of Lois > grinding her heel in her assailant's foot, it sounds as if > she's wearing high heels, possibly court shoes. So this was > rather confusing for me. > > Wendy > > ---------------------- > Wendy Richards > w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 18:27:36 +0100 Reply-To: Yvonne Connell Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yvonne Connell Subject: OUATIM: Arbitrator to Eavesdroppers MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Well, with Underhill and MacDonald safely tucked away in police custody, things can start to get back to normal at the Daily Planet. Carlton is confident he can raise the finances for the rebuild, Lois and Clark are off for a well-deserved break and still can't quite believe they're pregnant, while Perry has stopped worrying about Alice and pregnancy and is back to his usual gruff, keep 'em on their toes self. Dr Klein hasn't told Perry the truth about his time-travelling dentist yet, and he's not sure if he ever will. Thankfully, the breach in Internet security appears to have been fixed, so that Perry et al can once more conduct their business in private without fear of being eavesdropped by strange visitors from an email list . I'd like to send out a great big thank you to all the players, who were incredible; everyone who sent us encouragements, suggestions and advice, without whom the game would never have been the success it has been; and last but by no means least, my 'support' team (you know who you are), without whom I would probably have had a nervous breakdown . When this crazy idea first popped into my head back in June, I never expected it would actually work out, let alone turn out to be so much fun. Thank you, one and all. Yvonne Arbitrator, Once Upon A Time In Metropolis ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 16:15:17 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Samantha Kegan Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed So does this mean I can come too? Sam Marie >From: No Name Available >Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" > >To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU >Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) >Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 23:09:13 EDT > >In a message dated 10/27/1999 8:53:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >MsLoisette@AOL.COM writes: > ><< << Well, you could always just come as Alexis, you know. :) > > --Laurie >> > > Yeah that's true.. > > Alexis ;-.) > {LoisLane on IRC.. not be confused with the *real* Lois Lane though.. or >is > it? ;)} >> > >Well, now there's your answer. You'll just end up being Lois and have to >pretend to be surprised . > >--Laurie ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 16:49:34 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Subject: Re: 2nd test story send In-Reply-To: <3817D8A3.4FB42969@bellsouth.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 01:01 AM 10/28/1999 -0400, Anita D. wrote: >Hello > >This is a second test. This is my second attempt at sending a story. >This is another excerpt from the story I am working on. Could we have a test title for this story so it will be easier to file all the parts in one place? :) Your potential fan, Debby ;) Debby@swcp.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 16:06:20 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: Pumps and court shoes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >From the descriptions pumps and court shoes don't sound the same at all to me. As I understand it court shoes can be straps, open toed and tied. Pumps are none of these. They are low cut but completely enclosed at heel and toe, slip-ons with no straps or ties with a mid-high, substantial heel(no spikes) They would not be easy to run in but not as impossible as spiked heels. . They are a classic "lady's"dress shoe and Jackie Kennedy was a perfect example of a "lady" in her soft suits, pill box hats, gloves and pumps. In the once popular "Dress for Success" books for women, they were the only shoe recommended for office wear. I owned umpteen dozen pairs at one time. Now I just wear sports shoes or trainers as our friends across the pond call them. By the way I'm glad you explained "court shoes" because that connoted to me a shoe to be worn on the tennis, squash, handball, badminton, or basketball court. Jude. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 00:13:01 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Subject: Re: Pumps and court shoes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Jude wrote: >From the descriptions pumps and court shoes don't sound the same at all to >me. As I understand it court shoes can be straps, open toed and tied. >Pumps are none of these. They are low cut but completely enclosed at heel >and toe, slip-ons with no straps or ties with a mid-high, substantial >heel(no spikes) They would not be easy to run in but not as impossible as >spiked heels. . They are a classic "lady's"dress shoe and Jackie Kennedy >was a perfect example of a "lady" in her soft suits, pill box hats, gloves >and pumps. In the once popular "Dress for Success" books for women, they >were the only shoe recommended for office wear Well don't know about anyone else, Jude - but to me that's a perfect description of a court shoe. I'm trying to think of an example of Lois wearing them, but can't off the top of my head. Sure there must be one though. Actually......the pair of shoes she changes into in the Pilot, when she ducks under the congratulations on the great story banner at the start?.....those might be court shoes. LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 17:05:19 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Re: Pumps and court shoes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I've seen Lois in pumps many times on the show, and here in the U. S. many businesses insist on women wearing them to work, Labrat. Lois, being as little as she is, would probably wear them to give herself a little height in a profession that is still quite male-dominated. Nan LabRat wrote: > Jude wrote: > > >From the descriptions pumps and court shoes don't sound the same at all to > >me. As I understand it court shoes can be straps, open toed and tied. > >Pumps are none of these. They are low cut but completely enclosed at heel > >and toe, slip-ons with no straps or ties with a mid-high, substantial > >heel(no spikes) They would not be easy to run in but not as impossible as > >spiked heels. . They are a classic "lady's"dress shoe and Jackie Kennedy > >was a perfect example of a "lady" in her soft suits, pill box hats, gloves > >and pumps. In the once popular "Dress for Success" books for women, they > >were the only shoe recommended for office wear > > Well don't know about anyone else, Jude - but to me that's a perfect > description of a court shoe. I'm trying to think of an example of Lois > wearing them, but can't off the top of my head. Sure there must be one > though. Actually......the pair of shoes she changes into in the Pilot, when > she ducks under the congratulations on the great story banner at the > start?.....those might be court shoes. > > LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 20:19:16 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Singin Drew Subject: Re: Pumps and court shoes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit All right guys. I used to work at Shoe Carnival so I can define "court shoes" and "pumps". Court shoes are basically any athletic shoe that can be worn indoors on a court. They don't have black soles (so they don't mark up the gym floors while playing volleyball, basketball or any type of game played indoors on a court.) and they aren't always the best type of support for playing the games. (Basketball shoes are better for playing basketball becasue they support your ankle better with all the stopping and running and jumping, etc.) But if your child needs shoes for gym class, court shoes are the most accepted at schools. Also, most court shoes are great for doing low-impact aerobics classes. Onto pumps. Pumps are basically a closed toe heel anywhere from 1 to 3 inches high. (Usually anything higher is considered a stiletto heel.) Well, I just had to put my input in. As always, very willing to help with any info possible, Kristin ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 21:13:06 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Lois's birthday (not OUTIM) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/28/1999 5:16:38 PM Eastern Daylight Time, sam_kegan@HOTMAIL.COM writes: << So does this mean I can come too? Sam Marie >> As long as you bring Lois a present and something for the party . --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 19:13:28 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: TA Merrill Subject: Re: Pumps and court shoes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii --- Judith Williams wrote: > From the descriptions pumps and court shoes don't sound the same at > all to > me. As I understand it court shoes can be straps, open toed and > tied. > Pumps are none of these. They are low cut but completely enclosed at > heel > and toe, slip-ons with no straps or ties with a mid-high, substantial > heel(no spikes) They would not be easy to run in but not as > impossible as > spiked heels. . They are a classic "lady's"dress shoe and Jackie > Kennedy > was a perfect example of a "lady" in her soft suits, pill box hats, > gloves > and pumps. In the once popular "Dress for Success" books for women, > they > were the only shoe recommended for office wear. I owned umpteen > dozen pairs > at one time. Now I just wear sports shoes or trainers as our friends > across > the pond call them. By the way I'm glad you explained "court shoes" > because that connoted to me a shoe to be worn on the tennis, squash, > handball, badminton, or basketball court. Jude. > ************** I'm glad Jude and Kristin posted their replies. From the way this thread was going I thought I was the only one who thought that "court shoes" were athletic shoes that are made to wear on a finished floor. (non marking) Wendy commented that to her "pumps" were athletic shoes. I was really confused when she decided that what we in the US must mean by "pumps" is "court shoes." So let me get this straight: -Nike and Reebok make court shoes for the US and pumps for Europe -ladies in an office wear pumps in the US and _________? in Europe -for a night on the town, ladies wear ______? in the US and court shoes in Europe. Is this right so far? Truly divided by a common language. TerriAnn ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 22:58:55 -0400 Reply-To: hess2@mindspring.com Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Claire Hess Subject: Re: 2nd test story send In-Reply-To: <3817D8A3.4FB42969@bellsouth.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Hi, Anita, oh, I hope you work on a Zara and Ching story, and start a little further back, so we can get to know their longing before they let each other know. For example, is jealousy why he's so...concerned when she notices Clark's butt? klair El hess2@mindspring.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 22:52:05 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Felix E. Sung" Subject: NEW: The Wedding (1/1) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Note: This is my very first fanfic. I thought it was time for me to contribute something after reading megabytes of L&C fanfic the past few months. It is with much hesitation that I submit this -- I normally don't write at all unless it's for an assignment at school. What's worse, the only editing that has been done on this is me running the spell checker. This vignette is consistent with the family tree that I posted over a week ago (posted under 'Sample Family Tree'). Like I said, this is my first time. Please be gentle. Comments welcome. Disclaimer: The story is mine, but (most of) the characters are not. I'm merely borrowing the characters from WB, DC Comics, etc., etc. No distribution without my permission, etc., etc. The Wedding by Filex "This is it," Clark said to himself. "The moment I've been waiting for all my life." Clark never thought that this day would come. Today was the day when he and Jo would become husband and wife. As he waited in the sacristy for the ceremony to begin, Clark reflected on the various events that occurred throughout the years. Many were good, and unfortunately, many were bad. Perhaps the worst of those happened two years ago, when his partner, his best friend, his sweetheart, his "Little Tornado", died in his arms. He was so distraught over the affair that for the first time in his life he wanted to die, to take away the pain, the anguish, and the guilt. Especially the guilt. It didn't matter what his family and friends said. The bottom line was that he couldn't save her in time, and it was HE who had to live with that fact for the rest of his life. Clark was never happier when he was with HER. For the first time in his life he felt that he truly belonged. It didn't matter that they were not even the same species. What mattered was the fact that they were two lovers, destined to meet, fall in love, and live happily ever after. But THIS did not have a fairy-tale ending. They were investigating a drug-smuggling operation on the East Side, and in order to save themselves, Clark had to use his super-breath on her, a technique that had been used before. Only this time, it took much longer than he thought for them to escape, and once they did, he could not revive her. After the funeral and burial, Clark was back at BOTH jobs, at times going days without eating or sleeping. He really didn't need to eat, and if he went to sleep, he would have those dreams, nightmares of losing HER, and Clark certainly didn't want to reenact her death over and over again in his head. He became increasingly distant from his coworkers, from his friends, even from his family. His parents were alarmed at his behavior and tried to break through his shell, but they couldn't. At the time Clark thought it was for the best; 'never let someone get close and you'll never get hurt.' He therefore resolved never to fall in love again. He would accept the fact that "he was always going to be alone," as his mother once said. It didn't turn out that way. The person who replaced his partner was a rookie, much like himself not too long ago. Her name was Jo Shuster. The new partner and the old one were a lot alike. Both were domineering, uncompromising, pigheaded, brilliant... It was eerie. At first it was Clark who tried to push Jo away. The memories were too fresh, too painful for him to work with a partner again. But Jo wouldn't have any of it. It was Jo who broke down his defenses, it was Jo who forced him to talk about his former partner's death and not bottle it up, and it was Jo with whom he fell in love. Never did he think that that would be possible. Of course, Clark wasn't the only one who had been through a lot. Someone tried to rape Jo when she was in college, and afterwards she repressed all memories of it. It took Clark's prodding, and their first investigation together on a serial rapist, for Jo to finally talk about HER problems. Then Jo had to deal with THE revelation. Just like before, Jo was very upset about it, and it took some time apart and several heart-to-heart chats for the issue to be resolved. Jo also had worries about Clark still being hung up over his lost love, that Clark might be 'settling' for her. Clark had to reassure Jo that he loved HER for who she was, and that he was finally over what happened in the past. Finally, Clark and Jo had to deal with their work, getting themselves in and out of trouble, time and time again, assuring the world that the "Best Team in Town" wasn't dead just because one its members was. But they survived it all, and became stronger in the process. And now they were getting married. "Clark?" The priest was trying to get his attention. "It's time. You ready, Son?" "Yes, Father." Clark replied. He added softly, "As ready as I'll ever be." With that, Clark and Father Dowling walked out into the sanctuary. * * * * * * * * The bridal procession in, the readings read, and the homily given, the congregation's attention was now turned to Clark and Jo as they said their vows. Clark repeated after Father Dowling. "I, Clark, take you, Joanne, to be my wife. I promise to be true to you, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life." Clark was so overcome with emotion that it was hard for him to be heard while he said his vows. It was quite understandable; those who were sitting in the congregation were close to the couple, and they all knew about the obstacles Clark and Jo had to overcome to get to this day. "I, Joanne, take you, Clark, to be my husband. I promise to be true to you, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life." Clark noticed tears in Jo's eyes as she said her vows. In fact, Clark discovered, most of the congregation were either crying or holding back tears. His parents were worst, with tears streaming down their cheeks. Father Dowling proceeded to take the rings from Clark's best man and blessed them. Giving Jo's ring to Clark, he invited Clark to place the ring on her finger with these words: "Joanne, take this ring, as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Father Dowling gave the Clark's ring to Jo, and invited her to place the ring on his finger with these words: "Clark, take this ring, as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." The remainder of the ceremony was a blur. All they could do was look at each other while they lit the unity candle and received some blessings from Father Dowling. Clark and Jo reflected on their future, the fact that they will be husband and wife (well, in a few short minutes), the fact that they were going to be together for the rest of their lives, and the fact that they loved each other so much. They were so lost in each other's thoughts that they almost didn't hear Father Dowling finish his final blessing. "It is my privilege to pronounce you as husband and wife. Ladies and Gentlemen, May I introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. Clark Kent, Jr." Clark and Jo's lips pressed together as Mendelssohn's "The Wedding March" roared from the organ. Since Clark's mind was occupied at the moment, he didn't hear his mother whisper "Finally..." to his father, even with his superhearing. * * * * * * * * It was evening at 348 Hyperion Avenue, after the wedding reception, and Lois Lane Kent was on the phone. "Promise me you'll have a party when you get back, C.J..." (To everyone else he's 'Clark,' but to his family he's 'C.J.') "Good... Um hmm, I'll tell your father and Laura. Give Jo our love... Love you... 'Bye." Lois put down the phone just as Clark emerged out of the kitchen with a white box and two forks. Lois could only stare. 'God, he looks good,' Lois thought. At 57, Clark had gray hair and a few wrinkles, but his physique remained impressive. He was still aging normally, despite Lois' fears. 'Giving some of his life force to Jimmy years ago might have something to do with it,' she mused. Lois looked him over, letting him know what she was thinking. After 26 years of marriage, they still could not get enough of each other. Clark was still wearing his tuxedo (black, her favorite), but without the jacket. He also was giving Lois a stern look. "Lo-is, you called C.J. and Jo? On their wedding night?" "No, Cla-ark, C.J. did. Just before they left for Hawaii via 'Superman Express,'" Lois giggled as she traced an 'S' on Clark's chest. 'At least THEY'RE going to Hawaii,' Lois thought wryly. "He didn't get a chance to really talk to us at the reception tonight." "I see... What did C.J. want to say?" "Oh, he just wanted to apologize for being the lunkhead he was the last two years, and to thank us for putting up with him. I told him that we're his parents, and 'putting up with him' is part of our job." "Well, Sweetheart, if YOU had died before we got married, like Mary did, I would have been acting the same way." Putting the small box of wedding cake on the table, Clark sat down on the sofa, and Lois joined him. Despite having a feast at the reception, Lois had insisted on sharing a piece of the wedding cake right this minute, because (of course) it was a chocolate cake with white frosting. "You and C.J. are so much alike, it's scary," Lois agreed, as she took a bite of the cake. "Oh, Clark," she sighed, "I still can't believe all that C.J. had to go through these past couple of years. What we went through was cakewalk compared to this." "I know, Lois. I can still hear C.J. screaming from that night." March 15, 2021 was a date that neither Clark nor Lois would forget. Not only did it happen to be the tenth anniversary of Lois' father's death, it was also the date when Mary Louise Morgan, C.J.'s fiancee, was shot to death while she and C.J. were investigating a drug-smuggling operation for the Chicago Tribune, their newspaper. Clark was in Argentina at the time, and Laura, C.J.'s twin sister, was in London, yet both heard C.J.'s scream nevertheless. Clark was visibly troubled as he remembered that day. "Laura and I flew right away to Chicago, and I'll never forget seeing C.J. with Mary in his arms, as she lay dying." Clark held back tears. "Like I said, if it was you who was shot and died in my arms, I know that a part of me would have died too." Lois wordlessly put her arms around his waist. Clark gave up and let the tears fall as he continued. "The worst part was for us not being able to do anything for him. He withdrew into his own little shell, not letting Laura or us help him. He definitely changed at the time, Lois." Lois brought her hand up to wipe Clark's tears away. "How many times did Jimmy give us time off at the Planet to go see C.J. in Chicago? Thirty? Forty?" She sighed. "It was a good thing we used 'Superman Express,' otherwise we would have gone broke with the airfare," said Lois, trying to lighten up the mood. It worked somewhat. Clark smiled as he fed Lois more of the cake. "I don't know what would have happened if Jo didn't come into his life. The circumstances were so much like our first meeting, it was history repeating itself." Clark chuckled at the memory. "Oh, don't remind me! I'm still kicking myself after all these years for ignoring you at first. But it was the other way around this time, with C.J. trying to push Jo away. But I knew, I KNEW, that when he started talking about her that Jo Shuster would be the one for him. It took awhile though for C.J. to realize it." Lois grinned in spite of herself, remembering how the same happened to her and Clark. "She didn't take C.J.'s revelation very well either, as I recall," Clark said. "Like a certain person I know," he added teasingly. Lois rolled her eyes. "At least C.J. didn't wait until he made sure that Jo would say 'yes' to his marriage proposal..." "Ouch," Clark winced. He had to agree with that. "... and whereas your parents flew over and knocked some sense into us, Jo decided to come flying to Metropolis just to talk to ME. You gonna finish that?" Lois asked, indicating Clark's cake. Clark gave his cake to her, and watched her as she continued eating. He could never grow tired of watching her, whether it's at work, around the house, in bed, or even eating a piece of wedding cake. It fascinated him. "I don't think I'm the only one who eats like an eight-year-old and look like Mr. Hardbody," Clark commented. "Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?" Lois asked, eyebrows raised. "What do YOU think?" Clark retaliated. "Well, I think you must really need glasses now, because I'm not exactly Mr., or I should say Ms. Hardbody. I'm more like Mr. Hardbody's grandmother." "Lois, I'll say it again, and as many times you want. You're very beautiful to me. Always have been, always will be." "Oh, Clark," Lois whispered, tearing up with the simplicity of his words. She couldn't believe how lucky she was, being married to Clark, with two grown children (though no grandchildren yet, since Laura was married only six months), and still part of the "Hottest Team in Town" in Metropolis. "I'm glad that C.J. and Jo FINALLY got married. I've never known two people who were more in love than they are." "I do," Clark said. He leaned forward and gave Lois a tender kiss to prove his point. The kiss deepened, and a split second later, Lois found herself lying on the sofa with Clark on top of her, kissing her lips, her chin, and placing a line of kisses down her neck. Lois arched her back and moaned. 'God, what Clark still does to me, after all these years,' she thought. 'Here we are, necking like a couple of teenagers.' Clark pulled back with a twinkle in his eye. "Let's say we move the celebration to our bedroom, shall we?" Lois grinned, and, reaching up, ran her tongue around his earlobe. "I thought you'd never ask," she purred. With that, Clark took Lois in his arms and flew upstairs into the bedroom. The End ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 20:07:40 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: NEW: The Wedding (1/1) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii S P O I L E R S P A C E Felix, I've already commented on the message boards about this, but I was totally blown away by this story. What a devious mind you have! One suggestion - would Clark Jr. call his sweetheart his 'Little Tornado' when that was his dad's nickname for his mom? I highly doubt it. I would think he would have come up with his own nickname for Mary. Other than that and a couple of minor grammatical errors, I didn't see anything that I didn't like about this story - once I realised what was happening of course. Well done, and well written too! Irene ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 00:58:01 -0400 Reply-To: hess2@mindspring.com Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Claire Hess Subject: Re: NEW: The Wedding (1/1) In-Reply-To: <38190BD5.54735BB1@freewwweb.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Hi, Filex! Great little story there! Boy, what a wonderful surprise when it turned out that it wasn't Lois that was dead! Neat! Thanks! claire p.s. I don't agree with Irene about the 'little tornado' not being possible as a name that junior would use for his true love. Although Clark suggested that as a name for Lois, he did *Not* make a practice of using it. And that name is an important part of the deception that makes the story work so well. hess2@mindspring.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 00:58:01 -0400 Reply-To: hess2@mindspring.com Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Claire Hess Subject: Re: Pumps and court shoes In-Reply-To: <005d01bf2199$0e57a100$3eb5fcd1@v1t9j4> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT So, if you're an American female in Britain you can wear your pumps to court to see the Queen? And if you're a British lady in America, you can't wear your court shoes to play, but you can if you're taken to court? Women in America can wear court shoes to pump iron, but in Britain should wear pumps on their courts? (Sounds like an ad for Easy Spirit.) Now, Lois Lane had an eye for footwear. There's the terrific outfit she puts together to chase airport thieves, with black and white hi- tops, a pin stripe suit, and a silk wisp for a blouse. There's elegant off-white outfit with matching pumps/court shoes for interviewing the recluse in B&C&L&C. There's the sort of boots for line dancing in GGH. And Miss Goodbottom wears stilettos. Hum! Seems we should be paying more attention to how Lois Lane is shod in our fanfic! Thank you, Nancy, for mentioning LL's foowear! Hip! Hip! and all that! Doppleganger is good for other reasons too, and the lady surely is good at leaving us hanging at the ends! klair El klair El hess2@mindspring.com