From: "L-Soft list server at Indiana University (1.8d)" To: "ARTF@MemoryAlpha.nil" File: "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L LOG0003B" ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 00:44:21 EST 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: IRC help MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I didn't get the sounds files for the Kerth's last year. Does anyone remember where they can be found? LaurieD ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 06:41:11 EST 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: SIP: Connections - part 15 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thanks, Charlotte -- I hope I'm not too far from finishing. Carol ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 12:33:52 +0000 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: Story Burnout In-Reply-To: <38C5C49D.23248E61@bellsouth.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Hi Anita! I'm very glad to hear you're writing a fic. It's fun, and I can promise you that you'll have a lot of readers when you get around to 'publishing' it! > I have a problem: I don't want to look at the story anymore. Tell me about it!! If I had a fiver for every time that had happened to me...! Don't despair: I can promise you that it happens to us all. It happened with me on several stories, and most notably with my longest two, Strange Visitor from the Congo and So Strong a Foundation. I got to a certain point and came to a complete halt. I tried all the usual tricks - left them for a day or two, went off and read some other stories, wrote another story to distract myself... and still I hit a wall. Eventually, with both of them, I did the sensible thing and asked for help. Anita, this is where beta-readers, editors or whatever you like to call them are invaluable. I had really decided, in relation to both stories, that they were terrible and not worth finishing. I had completely lost my objectivity with respect to the stories, on each occasion. And on both occasions, my very helpful life-savers of beta-editors read the stories, told me what they liked about them, told me what wasn't working and discussed endlessly with me where I wanted to go from there and how I intended to get there. It wasn't exactly effortless in each case, but the stories got finished. One of them is nominated for a Kerth this year, so I must have managed to do something right with it! ;) > There is a scene that I had written for this > story, but the thrust of the story has shifted. If I remove > the scene it will match a story that I had to read.(Kerths) Anita, there are no new stories, only new angles. Seriously, there are lots of stories covering similar themes out there - but they're all written very differently and reach very different conclusions. My story A Conscious Choice has many similarities in theme to Zoom's wonderful If You Can't Beat 'Em - but I don't think anyone would confuse them. There are dozens of stories which carry on from the end of ATAI, again all different. Just in the last couple of months two stories were posted on the message boards in which Lois discovered Clark's secret during the episode 'Strange Visitor' - yet they were completely different stories. So don't let any apparent similarities bother you! It's *your* story, and your take on the incident or theme or whatever will be different from anyone else's, I promise you! > Maybe I should start over and never finish. It has > some scenes that my husband said made him misty eyed. Those > are in the last 20 pages. So I must have written them okay. See? Someone already likes your work! And you're lucky - my husband rarely reads my fic, and when he does... well, I still love him anyway! ;) So please don't be discouraged. > Yes I'm whining. I need help, not a rubber room. Yes, you need help. Ask for it! Editors are wonderful people. Is there someone 'out there' who you can trust to be objective but supportive at the same time? Perhaps someone you know and maybe whose writing you admire, or a FOLC friend who you know likes good fanfic? I have found that the best editors (in terms of people I can work successfully) are people who like the same sort of stories I do - since I write mostly B-plotted stuff, there would be little point in me working with someone who writes lots of action and villains and very little romantic or relationship detail. Find yourself an editor - I'd be surprised if you haven't already had volunteers as a result of this plea - and keep writing. And don't let yourself be put off by feelings of inadequacy - heck, I feel inadequate every time I read a story by Sheila Harper, Chris Carr, Yvonne Connell, LabRat, Phil Atcliffe and many other great writers, but I think it's pretty obvious that I try not to let that discourage me. I'm *me,* not them, and the same goes for you. Good luck and happy writing! Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 12:37:04 +0000 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: IRC help In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Mon, 6 Mar 2000 22:30:58 -0600 Kathy Brown wrote: > BTW, would anyone be interested in attending an IRC > tutorial this year? We've held one for the last few > ceremonies, and feedback was positive. If people are > interested, we could look into setting one up for this year > as well. Kathy, a couple of people who post to the MBs but aren't on this list have been asking the same sort of questions, and I'm sure they'd also like the opportunity to attend a tutorial. If one does get arranged, could whoever posts the information about it also post the information on the message boards? Probably in the fic folder, since that's where the request I saw was posted. Perhaps, incidentally, some of the information you just posted here could go in one or other of the FAQs currently being revised? Thanks, Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 13:31:31 +0000 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: OT: Distress call from LabRat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Sorry to use this medium to contact the 'Friends of LabRat,' but I couldn't think of an easier way of doing it! LabRat has emailed me to say that her old PC has just expired in a very fatal manner, and her new one has been extremely unco-operative so far. She has (thankfully!!) managed to save all work in progress on her fics; but the one significant item she's lost is her email address book. She has managed to remember/resurrect a couple of addresses, but there are many people whose addresses she no longer has. So if you correspond with Rat from time to time, she'd love it if you could email her sometime in the next few days so that she'll have your address again - and she also apologises to anyone whose emails she hasn't answered; some downloaded emails are gone forever, and thanks to server problems some un-downloaded emails seem to be trapped in the ether. And she mentions specifically Dawn Field, Anne Ciotola, Helene, Becky Bain and Yvonne Connell as people whose addresses she *knows* she's lost. Here endeth this public service announcement on behalf of LabRat; I now hand you all back to your previously scheduled programme. Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 10:57:46 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pam Mace Subject: Request for title of song MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This is my first posting to this list and I AIA for asking a question that's been asked before but what's the title of the song that Lex Jr./Leslie played in "Voice from the Past" and referred to it as his and Lois' song? Thanks, Pammy ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 10:03:03 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Marilyn Puett Subject: Re: Request for title of song Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed The only music I remember is an operatic aria -- I think it's from Madame Butterfly. One of the more knowledgeable LNC gurus can probably be more specific. >From: Pam Mace >Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" > >To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU >Subject: Request for title of song >Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 10:57:46 -0500 > >This is my first posting to this list and I AIA for asking a question >that's been asked before but what's the title of the song that Lex >Jr./Leslie played in "Voice from the Past" and referred to it as his and >Lois' song? > >Thanks, > >Pammy ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 13:11:08 -0800 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: Request for title of song MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Pam: The song you asked about is an old standard but I've been going crazy trying to think of the name. It could be something like, "When I Hold You in My Arms," or it could be Let's Go Shopping at the Mall. That fits too. This will drive me insane for a while. There are several operatic arias-- One from MADAME BUTTERFLY and two of my most favorite: "Viens, Malika" from LAKME and "Nessun Dorma" from TURANDOT. All the opera stuff can be found on a wonderful CD called THE MOVIES GO TO THE OPERA. It was the original because I think there was a sequel creatively titled The Movies Go to the Opera II. Does anyone by chance know of web link where all of the music used on L&C is identified? Jude ----- Original Message ----- From: Pam Mace To: Sent: Wednesday, March 08, 2000 7:57 AM Subject: Request for title of song > This is my first posting to this list and I AIA for asking a question > that's been asked before but what's the title of the song that Lex > Jr./Leslie played in "Voice from the Past" and referred to it as his and > Lois' song? > > Thanks, > > Pammy ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 17:07:01 EST 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: Request for title of song MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >From La Boheme by Puccini. I think the song is Visi D'art or I live for art. LaurieD ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 17:43:46 -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: Request for title of song In-Reply-To: <86.1538831.25f82905@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="us-ascii" >From La Boheme by Puccini. I think the song is Visi D'art or I live for art. > LaurieD Sorry, Vissi D'arte is from Tosca unless I've lost my opera singer's mind:) Ok, sorry I did not see this thread earlier: Un Bel Di, which is from Puccini's Madama Butterfly, was used in Faster than a Speeding Vixen. Shadow of a Doubt featured, from Puccini's Tosca's with cuts at the beginning, middle & end,Vissi d'arte. (I live for art) Nessun dorma (No One Sleeps) is the opera snippet used from Puccini's Turandot (famous for Pavarotti's performances, of which this was not) in Voice from the Past. Carolyn P.S. Boy, will I be embarrassed if I got any of those wrong:) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 09:32:03 EST 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: SIP: Connections - part 16 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi -- here's the next part. Feedback would be very welcome. Carol --------- Connections, part 16 Zara's eyes blazed as she confronted the narrow faced man in front of her and she spat out her words. "You tell Nor if he so much as touches either of my children, he's a dead man." "My lady, say the word, the right word, and the children will be with you once again." His voice was smooth, a diplomat's voice trained to ignore and avoid emotional undertones. "My Lord Nor sent me only to reassure you that he keeps the children safe while you are away, and to convey his hopes that one day they will have half-brothers and sisters as playmates. He is most distressed by your secret visit here and he wishes to remind you of your responsibility to your children. A mother belongs at home with her children, especially when they are fatherless." He glanced contemptuously at Ching as he finished speaking. Zara's green eyes snapped angrily at him but before she could speak, Ching intervened, his voice tightly controlled. "Tell Lord Nor that the Lady Zara is distressed that he has forgotten his oath of loyalty to the House of Ra. Tell him," his tone turned quietly menacing, "that only cowards use children to play their dishonourable games." Nor's emissary shifted his eyes from Ching and then shrugged, his voice conveying his disinterest. "I can wait for your reply, Lady Zara. This planet has proved to be surprisingly entertaining." He levitated several inches from the floor. "I can do this for a few minutes longer each day. I presume Kal El is an indicator of just how much is possible." Zara grew alarmed -- the last thing she wanted was to see this struggle between the two families extend to Earth but she spoke calmly, telling him what she and Ching had speculated which she suspected was likely the truth. "No. We have gradually acquired some powers but they are very limited compared to Kal El's. We tire very easily after exerting them. Perhaps because Lord Kal El came here as a child, his body tissues, cells, and bones were affected by the earth's environment as he developed. We came as adults, so the effect is less." The emissary's mouth twisted in disappointment then he brightened. "So Lord Kal El has become a mutant. Lord Nor will be pleased." He inclined his head slightly towards Zara. "Thank you for your time, my lady. I will convey your message to my Lord Nor and will await any further messages you may wish to send him." He turned to leave, stepping through the hazy entrance of the replicated space which lay hidden within Zara's apartment, ignoring Ching on his way out. "Ching, they've found us. They know we're here. They know about Kal," the panic in her voice mounted as she continued speaking. "We have to get back, Zara. The longer we're here the more danger the children are in." Ching began pacing the room, his back straight, never relaxing, the effect of years of a soldier's training. "Kal El must come with us." "He's in danger now, too, Ching. It won't take them long to find out about the effect of Kryptonite -- they have the same models we do -- as soon as they think to process Kal's bio-readings, they'll discover it." "We'd better find him -- it's time to leave. It's time for our reluctant leader to realize this is a war we're fighting and he hasn't got the luxury to wait." ***** That afternoon, as Clark drove back to the Planet, he listened happily to Lois sorting out the results of their activities in Riverside. He'd lurked in the background, shoulders rounded, eyes usually averted as she took the more active role, questioning, asking, even listening. Confronted with Lois's energy and good looks, the men they'd talked to hadn't really noticed him anyway. The few women they'd talked to had given him a second, mostly puzzled look, and then ignored him too. Lois had actually introduced him as Leo Lambossa once and he'd had to suppress his laughter. Now, he glanced at her beside him thinking that this was how things were meant to be. "So I think the chef knows more than he let on. I think he suspects the club is part of a money laundering scam." "Lois, he didn't say that -- just because he was bitter about the cost of lobster." "It's how he said it, Clark." "Yeah, I remember. The snide comment about east side fishmongers -- I can see how you thought *that* meant money laundering." "Laugh now, but just wait til I get the whole story, Leo." Clark looked in his rear view mirror. "That guy's with us again. He was never far behind us the whole time we were out." "Well, if he's tabloid, he hasn't got much of a story." "Maybe it's you he's interested in. Maybe he recognized Lois Lane." "Trust me. I don't think so. So far, most of the people I've met since I got back to Metropolis have no idea who Lois Lane is. I mean, do you remember someone who was in the news a month ago, let along four years ago?" Privately, Lois thought people should have, but she had come to accept that she was yesterday's news. As they pulled up in front of the door to the Planet's parking garage, she saw that the tail had disappeared. As they got out of the car, Clark paused for a minute and met her eyes. "Thanks, Lois." "For what?" Her eyes widened in surprise. "For a normal day. Being with you ... it was great." She smiled, both pleased and shy, as she returned his gaze. "You're welcome, Clark. It was great being back in the swing of things, too. Although we didn't get much copy out of this morning," she finished as they walked together toward the elevator. "Maybe a mood piece?" "Desperate filler you mean?" she said as she jabbed the button that would bring the elevator to the basement level. "Yeah, genuine page 22 copy." They rode the elevator in companionable silence until it stopped at the main lobby where several newcomers, including James Olsen, entered the compact cubicle. "Clark, Lois -- hey." His grin was infectious, exuding an energy and confidence that took control of the small elevator compartment. "So, Lois, has Clark been helping you get back on track?" Lois smiled as she recalled how the Planet's previous owner had used a small private elevator. James Olsen was clearly a different sort of person. "We've been working on the Riverside killings," Lois said as she told him some of what she and Clark had done that morning. The three continued their discussion, Olsen providing them with moral support as well as a casual remembrance that once, after he had played squash with Lex Luthor, the murdered accountant had been at the club, waiting to keep an appointment with Luthor. That hadn't been too long before the accountant's death and Olsen remembered the chance encounter for that reason, pensively commenting on the unpredictability of life's events. Then the elevator doors opened and they stepped down into the maze of cubicles which chequered the vast expanse of the newsroom floor. When Lois got to her desk she was surprised to see a folded piece of paper lying beside her keyboard. As she picked it up she was aware of Jocasta O'Reilly looking up from what she had been doing. "He didn't leave his name. Just asked which was your desk. Not a bad looking guy, Lois," Jocasta smiled. "A bit intense, maybe." She paused while Lois read the note. "Story lead?" "Not sure -- maybe," she quickly added. The note was from Jason Trask; he would wait for her in the coffee shop in the main lobby of the Met.Com building across the street from the Planet until two o'clock after which time he would be back at headquarters. He expected her to meet him. His note said nothing more and Lois figured she'd better find out what was on his mind. He would be in the coffee shop for another fifteen minutes. "See you later," she flashed at Clark as she passed by him and James Olsen, both men deeply engrossed in basketball trivia, on her way to get her coat. "What's up?" Clark asked. "Oh, appointment I forgot. There was a note on my desk." She hated deceiving him and she was surprised by the feeling. Maybe because this small deception was part of the larger deception with Trask? But that's not a deception, she argued with herself -- you joined Bureau 39 before you knew Clark. And you're still there because of Clark. So why haven't you told him about it, then? she argued back and then puffed out a breath in exasperation as she steamed toward the elevator, leaving her partner and her boss watching her. "Awesome, isn't it? That she's alive, I mean." James stopped speaking to look at Clark for a second. "She looks a little different from the other dimension's Lois Lane. Is she much different? You know, her personality?" "I'm not really sure. I realize now that I didn't exactly get to know the other Lois very well. My Lois is more complete somehow. And she's just a little feisty." He grinned, staring at the elevator doors as they closed behind the woman in question. James shot his friend a quick look, nearly choking on the grin he'd swallowed at the expression "my Lois". Then he disappeared into the editor-in-chief's office with a quick, "Time to get back to it." A few minutes after Clark and James Olsen had wrapped up their profound and insightful analysis of last years NBA statistics, Clark looked up from his desk to see Zara and Ching striding purposefully across the newsroom to his desk. He waited, feeling in the depth of his being that their unexpected presence here boded no good. As soon as she reached his desk, Zara spoke. "Kal, you must come with us. Now." Clark's eyes narrowed. "Two days, remember." "A sentimental waste of time," Ching snapped. "Nor has seized the advantage. We act now or face defeat." "Kal, you must come. You must come. Come with us to the apartment. Trey is there. Once we get there, we will explain what has happened." Her eyes darted around the room, betraying her agitation. "Not here." Clark looked at them both for a moment, taking the measure of their anxiety, concerned for Zara who had always seemed so composed, and caught by the grim sternness of Ching's face. Something was desperately wrong -- he couldn't deny them. Silently, he rose and walked with them across the old wooden floor of the newsroom. ****** Lois caught up with Trask just as he was rising from a table at the back of the coffee shop and fell in step beside him as he walked toward the exit. "So what did you want to see me about, Trask?" "Wanted to remind you where your loyalties lie, Lane." "Pardon?" "The alien. We have reason to suspect you've been fraternizing with him." How could he say these things and keep a straight face, Lois wondered. "Look, Trask, I haven't found anything yet to show Superman means us any harm," she said honestly. "Oh, come on, Lane. Haven't you just a little evidence?" His voice was both sarcastic and intimidating as he spoke. Her temper rising, Lois shot back, "What are you talking about? I've only known him for just under a week." "You expect me to believe that?" "Yes, as a matter of fact I do. Look, come back to the Planet with me. You're so interested in Superman, maybe it's time you actually met him. There's more to the man than those files and videos you've got." Trask stopped in mid stride and looked at the woman beside him for a long moment. "Okay, Lane. It's time I did meet him. After that, you and I go back to headquarters and do some talking." As they turned toward the Planet, Trask stopped. "Guess that meeting's gonna happen sooner than we figured," he muttered, staring across the street where he saw Clark Kent, along with a man and a woman leaving one of the side entrances of the bulding. "Check the east side of the Planet, Lane. Come on." Trask took off ahead of her. "Let's get your little meeting out of the way." Breaking into a trot, Lois followed him as he charged across the street towards the retreating figures of Clark and his two companions. She wasn't sure she was happy with this meeting but she had to admit she was curious about where Clark might be going with Sara. All along, she'd had this feeling that there was something more between Clark and Sara than what Clark had admitted. And who was that man they were with? "Quick. Down here," Trask called as he pursued the trio into a dank, narrow alley which ran behind the Planet, separating it by just yards from a tall parking garage. Then he stopped and swore softly. "I knew it!" ---------- end, part 16 ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 09:52:54 -0500 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: SIP: Connections - part 16 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Oh dear, I see this heading to a complete explosion.... Carol, I wanna know what happens, right now This was good; post more soon :) -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "Aristotle was not Belgian. The central message of Buddism is not 'Every man for himself.' And the London Underground is not a political movement. Those are all mistakes, Otto. I looked 'em up." _A Fish Called Wanda_ ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 10:04:08 EST 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: SIP: Connections - part 16 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Oh boy! Carol, you never cease to amaze me with your attention to detail, and keeping all the story lines straight and continuous. Love the little mention of "James" Olsen in the elevator. Poor Clark, what _will_ he do? And how will Lois get herself out of the Trask entanglement?? Please don't keep us waiting too long. Kate ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 15:57:41 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pam Mace Subject: *Song title MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thanks for all the great info on the music. Judith: The one song in particular sounded like an old standard but I couldn't put my finger (ear?) on it. Thanks again to everyone. The combined knowledge of this list is astounding. -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Pamela Mace Reference Paraprofessional Camden-Carroll Library Morehead State University "And the next time I go looking for my heart's desire, I won't look any further than my own backyard. Because if it's not there, I never really lost it to begin with." Dorothy Gale -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 19:27:16 EST 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: Request for title of song MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Very good, Carolyn. I had a thought niggling in my head that "Nessun dorma" was really on Vixen. It's dangerous answering without going back to the tapes. I do know "Nessun dorma" from "Visi d'arte" and Tosca from Boheme. Never thought we'd have an opera discussion on the L&C list! Long live Puccini! LaurieD ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 20:03:47 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kristin Olsen-Molnar Subject: Question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I would be unbelievably grateful to anyone that would be kind enough tohelp me out. I am looking for a tape of Teri in Cabaret, and if they do exist how do I get them and how much are they? Thank you very much for your time. -Teri44isme@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 21:51:01 CST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jessi Mounts Subject: Scene from Pilot Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Does anyone have the script or detailed description of the scene where Perry first interviews Clark? Or better yet, a Real Player video or something like that I can download? I need what's said and where everyone is standing or sitting from the time the scene starts to when Perry first introduces Lois. And after that, I don't care at all what happened. I realize the Pilot's going to be on TNT Monday, but I'm one of those people who have to write in order, and since I'm ready for that scene *now*, I'm being impatient. Thanks everyone. Jessi jessi914@hotmail.com ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 23:02:39 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Lara Blasingame Subject: Re: Scene from Pilot Comments: To: Jessi Mounts Hi Jessi, If you go to Sarah's Shrine of Fanfic... she has the pilot transribed. The addy is: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/2501/season1.htm Hopes this helps you to write your story. Lara ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 09:56:32 +0100 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: Request for title of song MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Laurie wrote: > Never thought we'd have an opera discussion on the L&C list! Long live > Puccini! LOL, yeah! I second that! Nicole (who would *love* to sing Tosca someday) -- AKA CKgroupie on IRC NKWolke@eifel-net.net Are you always searching for news about Dean Cain? And don't you have the time to go and find them? Here's your solution: Go to "The Dean Cain News Page" http://members.tripod.de/CKgroupie/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 05:00:34 EST 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: Request for title of song MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/8/00 4:45:14 PM Central Standard Time, cschnall@MED.CORNELL.EDU writes: << Nessun dorma (No One Sleeps) is the opera snippet used from Puccini's Turandot (famous for Pavarotti's performances, of which this was not) in Voice from the Past. >> Delurking just for a little OT moment. Did anyone see the awards program a few years back where Pavarotti was scheduled to sing Nessun Dorma? (Grammy's, American Music Awards, one of those that seems to come on weekly ) Anyway, at the last minute, it was announced that he had been taken ill and unable to sing, and someone rather "unexpected" would step in for him. I was expecting Michael Bolton. To my surprise, it was Aretha Franklin! She was fabulous! It was truly an amazing performance, and I'd love to have a recording of it. Piper ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 05:07:56 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Lorie Y. Crisp" Subject: Kerth comment MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit It's nearly 4am where I am, and darnit, I can't get to sleep. Know why? 'Cause I'm READING so much. Is that a problem? Heck no! Just wanted to tell everyone involved with the Kerths (organizers, nominated authors) that this is all great stuff! I'm having so much fun reading all these stories...I'm so glad I became a Lois and Clark fan....God bless the day I discovered L&C on TNT.......(ok, so that's a bit melodramatic, but you get my meaning, right?) Once again, Bunches o' thanks! SuperLorie ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 06:25:01 EST 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: SIP: Connections - part 16 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Kate and Pam, thanks for your encouragement :) -- Good to know you're still reading the story. Next part on Monday. Carol ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 05:28:16 -0700 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: Scene from Pilot In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 11:02 PM 03/09/2000 -0500, you wrote: >Hi Jessi, > >If you go to Sarah's Shrine of Fanfic... she has the pilot transribed. > >The addy is: >http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/2501/season1.htm > >Hopes this helps you to write your story. >Lara Also, if you want *all* the scripts, write me for details. Debby debby@swcp.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 07:13:15 -0800 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: Kerth comment MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Lorie I'm with you! My entire day is now down to work and read. I had to ban myself from Zoom's boards so I could read Kerth nominees. This is just impossible. Every story I've read so far absolutely deserves to win! I personally think the hardest category of all is "Best New Author" TerriAnn ********************** --- "Lorie Y. Crisp" wrote: > It's nearly 4am where I am, and darnit, I can't get to sleep. Know > why? > 'Cause I'm READING so much. Is that a problem? Heck no! Just wanted > to tell > everyone involved with the Kerths (organizers, nominated authors) > that this > is all great stuff! I'm having so much fun reading all these > stories...I'm so > glad I became a Lois and Clark fan....God bless the day I discovered > L&C on > TNT.......(ok, so that's a bit melodramatic, but you get my > meaning, > right?) > > Once again, Bunches o' thanks! > SuperLorie > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 11:41:22 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rowan Fuller Subject: Re: Scene from Pilot MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 10/03/2000 03:51:24 GMT Standard Time, jessi914@HOTMAIL.COM writes: << I realize the Pilot's going to be on TNT Monday, but I'm one of those people who have to write in order, and since I'm ready for that scene *now*, I'm being impatient. Thanks everyone. >> If that doesn't help. The Pilot is on my list of cut epiosdes to make real media files from for my page consisting of the scenes TPTB cut out and I could hurry that one up. Rowan :) -- -- -- LaneKent@aol.com http://members.aol.com/lanekent For news of updates to my site: http://www.onelist.com/commun ity/LaneKent ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 14:09:21 -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: Request for title of song In-Reply-To: <94.1a8aef9.25f99b64@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >Very good, Carolyn. I had a thought niggling in my head that "Nessun dorma" >was really on Vixen. It's dangerous answering without going back to the >tapes. I do know "Nessun dorma" from "Visi d'arte" and Tosca from Boheme. >Never thought we'd have an opera discussion on the L&C list! Long live >Puccini! > LaurieD Thanks Laurie, though I do admit I am not always right about these things, but the ones I have studied , sung, performed or which were from an opera I ahve been in will tend to stick with me:) Viva Puccini:) Carolyn ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 14:22:43 -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: Request for title of song In-Reply-To: <49.1b72f0c.25fa21c2@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >In a message dated 3/8/00 4:45:14 PM Central Standard Time, >cschnall@MED.CORNELL.EDU writes: > ><< > Nessun dorma (No One Sleeps) is the opera snippet used from > Puccini's Turandot (famous for Pavarotti's performances, of which this > was not) in Voice from the Past. > > >> >Delurking just for a little OT moment. Did anyone see the awards program a >few years back where Pavarotti was scheduled to sing Nessun Dorma? >(Grammy's, American Music Awards, one of those that seems to come on weekly >) Anyway, at the last minute, it was announced that he had been taken ill >and unable to sing, and someone rather "unexpected" would step in for him. I >was expecting Michael Bolton. To my surprise, it was Aretha Franklin! She was >fabulous! It was truly an amazing performance, and I'd love to have a >recording of it. > >Piper Hi Piper: I saw Aretha's version and I give her tons of credit for singing the piece when it is not her usual milieu. She was gutsy, a trooper and I admire her for stepping in when needed. I was amazed they didn't change the song but that is probably because there was no time to rehearse another number That said, opera purists might argue that it was not as exciting as it would have been to hear him do it but that's another story. Interesting that it is a puppet of Pavarotti that pops out of the gift box in The Pranskster (or was that the Return of the Prankster), though not his voice:) CBS ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 11:38:43 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Audrey Rempel Subject: Re: SIP: Connections - part 16 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii --- "C.C. Malo" wrote: > Hi -- here's the next part. Feedback would be very > welcome. > > Carol > --------- > Connections, part 16 > Carol, I apologize, I've been meaning to send some feedback for the last few sections, but never got around to it. Part of the reason is that I'm lazy :), but part of the reason is that I find myself so moved by your writing, that I have to step back and just contemplate the wonderfullness that is Connections! Seriously, I often read your sections twice, and spend great amounts of time going over the details in my mind (while I should actually be thinking about what I'm doing in RL at the time!) And this last section ... ack! The tension is just killing me! Spoilers ahead! First, Lois hasn't told Clark about Trask, and Clark hasn't told Lois about the New Kryptons, and now they're all going to meet and look! there's Trask's invasion force! But not really, but he won't believe that. And even if he does, will Nor come anyway and prove him right??? And Clark can't leave, he found Lois!! Ack! You'll note that I can't form coherent sentences and it's all you're fault! Thank you! :) I'm just on the edge of my seat here, and am begging you to post more, quickly! On one hand, I can hardly wait until its done and I can read it all in one piece. On the other hand, then I'll be sad that its over :(. Of course, I can always beg for sequels! Keep up the great work, Carol. I'm certainly reading. Audrey __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 15:06:43 -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: Tell me it was not my imagination! I remember reading either on this list or in the archive a short story that is a spoof of pokeman. The toy was called pogiman or pagiman or something like that. Tell me it was not my imagination! What is the story called? James ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 20:12:57 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: =?iso-8859-1?q?JB?= Subject: Re: Tell me it was not my imagination! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit It was called Pagimon but the aurthor escapes me at the mo. James --- James Tull wrote: > I remember reading either on this list or in the > archive a short story that > is a spoof of pokeman. The toy was called pogiman > or pagiman or something > like that. > > Tell me it was not my imagination! What is the > story called? > > James > ____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.co.uk address at http://mail.yahoo.co.uk or your free @yahoo.ie address at http://mail.yahoo.ie ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 12:34:08 -0800 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: Tell me it was not my imagination! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The story was called Pagimon and was by Tara Smith. It's on Zoomway's message boards dated January 30th. Nan James Tull wrote: > I remember reading either on this list or in the archive a short story that > is a spoof of pokeman. The toy was called pogiman or pagiman or something > like that. > > Tell me it was not my imagination! What is the story called? > > James ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 14:40:57 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Amy Lauters Subject: Re: Tell me it was not my imagination! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I believe it was Tara Smith ... it was hilarious, BTW. ----- Original Message ----- From: JB To: Sent: Friday, March 10, 2000 12:12 PM Subject: Re: Tell me it was not my imagination! > It was called Pagimon but the aurthor escapes me at > the mo. > James > > --- James Tull wrote: > > I remember reading either on this list or in the > > archive a short story that > > is a spoof of pokeman. The toy was called pogiman > > or pagiman or something > > like that. > > > > Tell me it was not my imagination! What is the > > story called? > > > > James > > > ____________________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Get your free @yahoo.co.uk address at http://mail.yahoo.co.uk > or your free @yahoo.ie address at http://mail.yahoo.ie > ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 15:45:17 -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: Tell me it was not my imagination! Thank you all for your help. I am still working on 7 Days of Superman and I needed a toy for Ivan. James ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 15:36:47 CST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jessi Mounts Subject: Re: Scene from Pilot Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >Hi Jessi, > >If you go to Sarah's Shrine of Fanfic... she has the pilot transribed. > >The addy is: >http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/2501/season1.htm > >Hopes this helps you to write your story. >Lara I did that, but when it opened into Microsoft Works, the enitre thing was in weird gobbledy-gook stuff. Obviously, I did something wrong, but I have no idea what. Can anyone help? Jessi jessi914@hotmail.com ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 17:06:03 CST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jessi Mounts Subject: Re: Scene from Pilot Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >>Hi Jessi, >> >>If you go to Sarah's Shrine of Fanfic... she has the pilot transribed. >> >>The addy is: >>http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/2501/season1.htm >> >>Hopes this helps you to write your story. >>Lara > >I did that, but when it opened into Microsoft Works, the enitre thing was >in >weird gobbledy-gook stuff. Obviously, I did something wrong, but I have no >idea what. Can anyone help? > Oh, sorry, never mind. I tried it on a different computer and had no problems. I think I've got what I need now. Thanks for your help. And Rowan, thank you very much for offering to do that for me, but I don't think I'll need it. Jessi jessi914@hotmail.com ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 22:55:41 -0600 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: Question Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" >I am looking for a tape of Teri in Cabaret, and if they do exist how >do I get them and how much are they? I have not heard of any tapes being made of Teri in Cabaret. It was not a show that was filmed for television, only performed for live audiences. As far as I know, if anyone has a tape or offers to sell you a copy, be very careful because it very well could be an illegal copy. Kathy -- ______________________ Kathy Brown kathybrown91@home.com kathyb@lcfanfic.com KathyB on IRC ______________________ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 23:42:23 -0700 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: Question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > I have not heard of any tapes being made of Teri in Cabaret. It was > not a show that was filmed for television, only performed for live > audiences. As far as I know, if anyone has a tape or offers to sell > you a copy, be very careful because it very well could be an illegal > copy. I don't know about Cabaret, but last time I checked, SAG had some pretty strict rules forbidding videotaping of theatrical shows. No tape is the only way the theater can afford to get actors for the pittance (in TV and film terms) that they're paid. Sheila ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 09:39:00 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: =?iso-8859-1?q?JB?= Subject: Re: Tell me it was not my imagination! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit I thought it was funny too! --- Amy Lauters wrote: > I believe it was Tara Smith ... it was hilarious, > BTW. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: JB > To: > Sent: Friday, March 10, 2000 12:12 PM > Subject: Re: Tell me it was not my imagination! > > > > It was called Pagimon but the aurthor escapes me > at > > the mo. > > James > > > > --- James Tull wrote: > > > I remember reading either on this list or in the > > > archive a short story that > > > is a spoof of pokeman. The toy was called > pogiman > > > or pagiman or something > > > like that. > > > > > > Tell me it was not my imagination! What is the > > > story called? > > > > > > James > > > > > > ____________________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Get your free @yahoo.co.uk address at > http://mail.yahoo.co.uk > > or your free @yahoo.ie address at > http://mail.yahoo.ie > > > ____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.co.uk address at http://mail.yahoo.co.uk or your free @yahoo.ie address at http://mail.yahoo.ie ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 18:49:30 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "StarKitty :)" Subject: Re: Tell me it was not my imagination! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed > >Tell me it was not my imagination! What is the story called? > >James :) Nope, it wasn't your imagination! It was called Pagimon and I wrote it. It was on the msg boards and the email list (I haven't sent it to the archive). Mom said you wanted a child's toy to use in your story--go ahead! be my guest! :) Tara note the new eddress starkitty__@hotmail.com Don't ask why I switched. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 15:02:18 -0500 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: Tell me it was not my imagination! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > It was called Pagimon and I wrote it. > It was on the msg boards and the email list (I haven't sent it to the > archive). Excuse me, Tara, but I think you missed out a word there... you meant you haven't sent it to the archive *yet*, right? PJ who really has no room to talk until she sends in "Marry Christmas" but oh well... -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "I try to save a life a day. Usually, it's my own." John Chricton, on Farscape. ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 15:48:09 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "StarKitty :)" Subject: Re: Tell me it was not my imagination! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Um, yeah! that's right! (hmm, I still haven't figured out why people like my throwaway fluff pieces so much) Oh, well, I'll send it in soon. :) Tara >From: Pam Jernigan >Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" > >To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU >Subject: Re: Tell me it was not my imagination! >Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 15:02:18 -0500 > > > It was called Pagimon and I wrote it. > > It was on the msg boards and the email list (I haven't sent it to the > > archive). > >Excuse me, Tara, but I think you missed out a word there... you meant >you haven't sent it to the archive *yet*, right? > >PJ >who really has no room to talk until she sends in "Marry Christmas" but >oh well... >-- >------------------------------------------------------- >Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net >ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM >------------------------------------------------------- >"I try to save a life a day. >Usually, it's my own." >John Chricton, on Farscape. >------------------------------------------------------- >http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam note the new eddress starkitty__@hotmail.com Don't ask why I switched. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 22:16:11 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Susan VanCott Subject: NEW: Your Little Secret (1/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit How about this? My second new fanfic in the same number of months. I'm quite proud of myself for that. :) Anyway, this fanfic is a crossover with X-Files. If you're not a fan of X-Files, I hate to say this, but you might be a little lost in this story, and just a tad disappointed, because I give just about equal time to both sets of characters. I know I'm taking a great risk, posting this during Kerth-voting time, but... I just had to. :) I hope you have the time to read it. Also, if you'd like to avoid the multiple e-mails, you can download the story from http://www.angelfire.com/ny/loisclark/yourlittle.txt. (although if you hit it through my fanfic page, www.angelfire.com/ny/loisclark/fanfic.html, you can see a cool title picture that I made with Adobe Photoshop) TITLE: Your Little Secret AUTHOR: Susan VanCott (Kirshnera@aol.com) RATING: PG-13 FEEDBACK: Welcome pub/priv. (Grammar/spelling/punctuation nitpickers please email me privately, we don't need to clutter up the list) SUMMARY: Lois, happily engaged to Clark, gets a blast from the past when her ex-lover and still good friend FBI Agent Fox Mulder shows up in Metropolis with his partner Dana Scully. Matchmaking, solid friendships, compromising situations, shocks, misunderstandings, dinner parties, and even some good makeout scenes (naturally) ensue. And now, on with the show.... Author's note: Time Frames: Mulder and Scully are from a stand-alone perspective-- just assume they've been together a while. Lois and Clark are mid-season 3. Lois and Clark are engaged, and this is set *after* the episode "Virtually Destroyed." For the sake of argument, I'm also using Teri and Dean's ages instead of Lois and Clark's. My Lois was born in 1964, same year as Scully, and my Clark was born in 1966. Mulder was born in 1960. There *is* a case happening, but I'm including as little detail as possible about it-- this is about four people's relationships, past and present, it is not about a story or an X-file. Also, as for Maggie and Toby, the last time *I* saw them (and I don't follow the comics really well, so it may not be the last time they appeared) was in Superman: the Wedding Album, at Lois' bridal shower and bachelorette party. I did steal the title from Melissa Etheridge (goddess ), which is actually rather appropriate... just read it. :) YOUR LITTLE SECRET by Susan VanCott (Kirshnera@aol.com, Kirshnera on the IRC) The newsroom of the Daily Planet was teeming with life as Special Agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder walked in to begin their investigation. They were looking to speak to Clark Kent, as Inspector Henderson had told Mulder that Clark and his partner, Lois Lane, had discovered the body, victim of another of a series of odd murders, and phoned the police. The editor-in-chief, Perry White, was in his office, taking a much-needed breather, when Scully and Mulder walked in to speak with him. He regarded them quietly as they entered his office. "May I help you?" Mulder held up his FBI ID. "Special Agent Fox Mulder. This is Special Agent Dana Scully. We'd like to speak to Clark Kent and Lois Lane." "May I ask what for?" "We're investigating a murder. We believe two of your reporters were the first at the scene." He nodded, then stood. "Go into the conference room here, and I'll send Lois and Clark in." He ushered the two agents into the conference room. Mulder and Scully stood for a minute in the conference room, glancing around disinterestedly. Then the door opened, and two reporters walked in. Scully immediately pulled out her ID. "Special Agent Dana Scully, Special Agent--" "Mulder?!" Lois interrupted. He looked up and paused for a second, apparently amazed at how she looked. "Lois!" "Mulder?" repeated Clark. "*Fox* Mulder?" "Yes... I... I've been keeping tabs on your career-- I hoped you'd be able to help me out a little." "Yeah... FBI? Wow. That's... How have you been?" "Great... You?" "Spectacular. This is my fiance, Clark Kent." Mulder looked up as if noticing Clark for the first time. "Oh, hello, Mr. Kent. Congratulations!" "Clark," he corrected with an odd look in his eyes. "Thanks. So you're Fox Mulder." "Yeah, how do you know who I... oh, I guess Lois probably..." This whole time, Scully had been looking from her partner to the two reporters and back again, trying to figure out what was going on here. Mulder finally remembered her presence. "Oh, um, this is Dana Scully, my partner. Scully, Lois Lane, Clark Kent." "Nice to meet you," said Clark instantly, shaking Scully's hand. "Same here," Scully said. "How do you all know each other?" The question was directed at Mulder. "Oh, Lois and I... uh..." he trailed off. "We met about thirteen years ago," Lois finished smoothly. "In London. I never expected to see him again." "Neither did I..." "What are you doing in Metropolis?" Lois asked. "Oh... we're on a case. That's what we need your help with. It's about the murder victim you found the other day, actually. We need to ask the two of you a few questions." "Go ahead," said Clark. ***************************** Twenty minutes later, the questioning was finished. It hadn't been abundantly helpful, but it had given Mulder and Sculy a few leads to work off of. "Well," said Mulder, "thanks for all your help. Lois, it's been... great to see you again. Really." She smiled at him. "Yeah... it has." She paused. "Hey, would you two like to go out to dinner with us tonight?" "Well..." stalled Scully, even though the question hadn't been directed at her, "we're working..." "We can talk about the case if you like," suggested Clark. Apparently, he would go along with whatever Lois wanted. "For old times' sake," Lois said with a grin. "Sure. We'd love that," said Mulder. He turned to Scully, inclining his head slightly. "Okay," she said. "I assume you're staying in town?" Lois asked. "Yeah, although we haven't gotten there yet. The Apollo Hotel?" Clark made a disgusted face. "You guys work for the government, can't they get you a better place than *that*?" Lois ignored the comment. "Okay, we'll pick you up in the lobby at... say... seven?" "Okay," replied Mulder. "See you then." "Take care," said Lois. Mulder grinned. "Bye." With that, the two agents left the conference room. Clark turned to his fiancee. "So *that's* Fox Mulder. *The* Fox Mulder. Student at Oxford, big partier..." "He wasn't a big partier... and before you say it, neither was I. You know the story." "Yeah, I just..." he shifted uncomfortably. "I'm sorry. I know how you feel about it. But we're just friends now. It was over ten *years* ago." "You obviously remembered him. But then, I guess you always remember your first time, hey?" "Clark... don't complicate this. It was just... one of those things. You know." "No... actually, I *don't.*" Oh. That's what this was all about. It made sense once Lois thought about it. Clark was upset because Mulder and she had shared something that she and Clark hadn't... yet. And that Mulder was her *first* lover. "Clark, if it makes you feel better, he doesn't *mean* anything to me. Honestly, he never really did. We met that weekend, we'd never seen each other before. We exchanged a few phone calls, a few friendly letters... eventually we just lost touch." "Yeah..." he said quietly. "But Lois, you know that I never... and it's hard enough for me knowing that you *have* without meeting the guy who..." He sighed. Part of it was that the man he had just met was his fiancee's first lover. Part of it was the fact that it reminded him that Lois had experience. She wanted him, but she also wanted someone who could please her. Mulder could. Whereas *Clark* didn't exactly have the necessary practice. He had to face facts-- he wasn't going to be as good as Mulder. And Lois knew it. Lois could sense the trail Clark's mind was going down. "Clark. Look at me." She took his face in her hands. "Do *not* get all jealous of him. He's a part of my past. That's *all.*" "Lois, I'm just afraid that I'm not going to..." "Clark, we've talked about this." She sighed. "I *love* you. It's not about sex. Even if our first time isn't everything either of us wanted, it is still perfect because it's *you* and *me.* That's what I want, Clark. Not some romance-novel lover. You. And the fact that you *waited* for *me*... It means a hell of a lot more to me than spectacular sex. Okay?" By this time, he was smiling slightly. "Okay." "No more performance anxiety?" "Can't promise that," he said, but his expression was playful. "Close enough," she replied, and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Besides, he's not nearly as gorgeous as you." "Mmmm...." ******************************** continued in part 2 ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 22:16:16 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Susan VanCott Subject: NEW: Your Little Secret (2/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Continued from Part 1 "This place is disgusting," muttered Scully as she walked into her room at the Apollo. "Not even a light... just a bare bulb." She sighed and started to open her suitcase. Now she'd have to find something suitable to wear for dinner. She didn't even know where they were going, whether it was causal or dressy or even formal.... She sighed again and decided it could wait a minute. She knocked on the adjoining door before walking through. "Mulder?" "Yeah?" he replied. He was lying on the bed, which was far too small for him-- his feet nearly hung over the end. "Would you kindly explain what the hell just happened?" He looked at her blankly for a second. "Where?" She raised an eyebrow. "Oh. That. Well... it's a long story. You sure you want to hear all the gory details?" She sat down on the bed next to him. "I'm listening." "It all started back in Oxford... maybe thirteen years ago. I was... well, it was while I was still with Phoebe. She had left for... two weeks, I think. Something like that. Anyway, she was out of town for a while. I was invited to a big party, hey, I couldn't turn down the invite, right? "Anyway, there was this young girl there... Lois.... She must've been eighteen or nineteen, I don't think she was twenty. I guess that wasn't really young. I mean, I was only four years older than her, but it's more of a difference when you're younger. "We sort of hit it off. I mean, really. I was getting... well, this is going to sound weird, but I was sort of getting frightened by my relationship with Phoebe. She was too fast, too demanding, too dangerous... scary. And Lois was everything she wasn't. She was young, sort of naive, innocent, virginal...." "Not threatening at all?" "Exactly. She was wonderful, smart, pretty... We spent that weekend together, and it was really great. We talked on and off for maybe a year after that... no more sex, just conversation. You know. Letters, phone calls. I only physically saw her that once. Then we lost contact. "I don't think Phoebe knew about it... but she may have guessed, I'm not sure. Or someone who was there might have told her. At that point, I really didn't care. "But Lois is probably the only woman from my past who doesn't make me cringe at the sight of her. Well, her and Linda, the girl next door, who had freckles, thick glasses, and fat legs." "Poor girl." "Yeah, but she didn't scare me," he said with a grin. "I can't believe Lois is getting married. That's wonderful. And from the looks of Clark, she's apparently improved in taste since I knew her." Scully allowed herself to indulge in a small smile. "Don't sell yourself short, Mulder." "Hm... Married. Wow." He put his hands behind his head. Scully realized that he was going to turn introspective on her, and so she decided to leave. "I'm going to see what I can find to wear to dinner." "Okay." Once in her own room with the door shut, she flopped down on her bed. So that was the story with Mulder and Lois. It wasn't so bad. Actually, it had almost been a relief to hear that they had seen each other once, and then remained friends for a while. Besides, Lois was engaged to Clark Kent. There was really no reason for that tiny little seed of jealousy that had threatened to sprout in the pit of Scully's stomach. She was glad she'd talked to Mulder about it. An old lover, yes, but really just an old friend. Friends were so much easier to handle. Besides, Mulder was *happy* that she was getting married. How could that possibly seem threatening? This was no Phoebe Green, Scully decided. But, thoughts of that aside, what *could* she wear to dinner? It was nearly six o'clock, and she wanted to have time to shower after the long trip they'd taken that day. Unless she wanted to risk having to go back and change after meeting Lois and Clark in the lobby, she'd have to figure out what to wear. The safest bet was undoubtedly to call Lois or Clark and ask what the dress code was going to be. The problem with that was the fact that they most likely got out of work at five. She'd have to dial their home number. Well, it wasn't like it was going to be a big pain. She might as well just do it. There was a pay phone right in the room, anyway. She grabbed the phone book and leafed through it, looking for Kent. She wasn't quite sure she'd feel comfortable talking to Lois. Thankfully, he had a listed number. She dialed it quickly. It rang several times before an unnaturally cheery voice answered. "Hello, this is Clark Kent. I'm not available to take your call, but leave a message, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! BEEP!" Scully hung up. Looked like she was going to have to call Lois after all. She looked up the number and dialed it. It rang seven times before being picked up. "Hello?" came the rather breathless answer. "Lois?" "Yeah. Who's this?" Lois sounded like she'd been running or something. Of course, Clark wasn't at his apartment, and they *were* engaged.... Scully suddenly felt embarrassed. "Um, this is Scully." "Oh. Hi, Scully. What's up?" "I just wanted to know... what the dress code is for wherever we're going." "I'm not... What do you say, Clark, casual?" "Casual is good," came a distant voice. So Clark *was* over there. Now Scully was sure she'd interrupted something. "Did you hear that?" Lois asked. "Casual's fine... jeans and a t-shirt. Okay?" "Yeah. Thanks." She paused. "I'm sorry if I interrupted anything." She heard muffled laughter coming from Clark. How had he heard that? "Oh, it's, ah, no, you weren't interrupting anything. Nothing *important,* anyway." Scully could almost hear the visual daggers being shot at Clark. The laughter stopped. "So, we'll see you at seven?" "Yeah." "Okay. Bye." "Goodbye." Before Lois hung up, Scully could hear her saying something along the lines of "You are a dead man, Clark Kent." Scully put down the phone and sighed. She hoped Lois realized what a lucky woman she was to have a guy like Clark... somebody who was just *there.* She was getting married. Something Scully didn't think she'd ever be able to do. Not unless she quit the Bureau, decided to do something more normal. In fact, it had been so long since Scully had been in anything close to a normal relationship. Poor, dateless Scully. Can't find anyone willing to put up with her job. But she had to admit-- it wasn't *just* her job. It was... her. The Ice Queen? Maybe not completely. But... sometimes. Mulder? Yeah. Mostly him. He was territorial. He was domineering. He was worse than her brothers. Any man she dated would *automatically* be under suspicion of various evil deeds including treating her less well than she deserved and being total scum. Not to mention the fact that she *wanted* him. Anyone else would just be... unfulfilling. But she couldn't have him. So what did that leave her with? Nothing, that's what. Sure, his friendship. That was a given. Still, it was not quite what she wanted. And she was going to end up being one of those women who spend their whole lives looking at couples walking down the street and wondering, "Why didn't I ever do that?" One of those old women who stopped and cooed at other peoples' babies... Babies... She sighed again and resigned to stop thinking depressing thoughts. There was just enough time to shower and get ready to go out tonight, and she was going to have a good time. ********************************* continued in Part 3 ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 22:16:20 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Susan VanCott Subject: NEW: Your Little Secret (3/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit continued from part 2 Lois and Clark stood in the lobby, waiting for the two agents to meet them. After a minute, Lois caught sight of Scully's flaming red hair. "Well, there's Scully," she said, gesturing for Clark's benefit. "Oh, she's gorgeous, don't you think?" Clark grinned. "You really want me to answer that?" Lois rolled her eyes and moved to meet Agent Scully. Scully was wearing an emerald green t-shirt that highlighted her hair magnificently and came to an attractive but modest V on her chest. She also had on form-fitting stonewashed jeans. "Hi, Lois." "Hello," she replied. "I love your hair." Scully allowed herself a small smile and touched her hair self- consciously. "Thanks." It was too rare an occasion when Scully did anything that could be considered social. It was almost an odd feeling to be with a few people just because they wanted to be together. Of course, this should legitimately just be Lois and Mulder going out. She was just invited because she was Mulder's partner. Still, it was easy to like Lois. "Mulder'll probably be down in a minute or so and we can get going." "Oh, it's no big hurry. Let's just go over here and sit down." There were a couple of couches in the lobby. Lois and Clark sat in one, facing Scully, who was on the other. "So, how long have you two been working together?" "Five years," she replied. "Wow... that's amazing. Clark and I have been partners for about two and a half years. You must have a very special relationship." "Yeah... I guess we do." Scully waited for the inevitable next question, the one that would try to determine whether she and Mulder were lovers. But it never came. "It really is something... trusting another person with your life on a regular basis." "It is. It teaches you a lot." Lois nodded silently. At that point, Mulder walked up behind Lois and Clark. Scully glanced up and saw him. "Mulder. You finally made it." "Yep," he agreed, moving over and sitting next to Scully. "So... where are we headed?" "Well, I'd suggest the Ace O' Clubs," Clark said, "but since it's Friday night, that might not be the best place..." "It gets kind of crazy there on Friday nights. All the loonies come out," Lois explained. "We could always go to Dooley's..." "Yeah," agreed Clark. "That's a great spot. Good food, big portions, reasonable prices. Sound okay?" "Sounds great," said Scully. "I'm famished." "She ate a *salad* on the *plane,*" Mulder complained. "Woudn't touch anything else." "Mulder..." she began with a 'let's not start this again' tone in her voice. "Hey, I'm just looking out for your best interests," he protested. "Dooley's it is, then," said Lois. "Come on, my car's out front." ******************************** "... so I'm tied up to this *lightning rod* with Jimmy, and while he's busy confessing that he's had a crush on me and telling me his dreams, this total psycho is trying to flood the world." "The crazy thing was," continued Clark, "there were so many people who believed him. So many followers, who worked at the Larry Smiley Institute. Sometimes I wonder exactly what would have happened if he hadn't been stopped. I doubt he could have flooded the world like he wanted, but he had some interesting technology... And it was certainly starting to create a heavy storm." "That's fascinating," said Mulder. "And this was right outside of Metropolis?" "Yeah." "Hm." "Sounds like you guys live as exciting lives as we do," Scully said. "Well, not quite. It's harder to get into stuff when you're on the other side of the government. And a heck of a lot easier to get in trouble," Lois said. "I bet," said Scully, glancing at Mulder. "We still manage to do it, though." There was silence for a minute. "Excuse me," said Lois, "I have to use the ladies' room." She looked at Scully questioningly, inclining her head. "We'll be right back," finished Scully. The two women stood and walked away from the table. ********************************* As Lois washed her hands in the sink, she glanced at Scully in the mirror. "You know, you two remind me so much of myself and Clark." "Really?" Scully asked, half-interested. "Before we owned up to the fact that we were in love, that is." Scully turned to face Lois. "What?" "It's true for you, isn't it?" "How did you...?" Scully sighed. "Is it that obvious?" "I lived it for two years," she said cautiously, knowing exactly the dangerous ground she was treading on. "You think I can't recognize mutual unrequited love?" "Mutual.... But, I..." Lois gave a small smile. "He's more obvious about it than you are. Quite a bit more. I can't believe you lasted six years. I know *I* don't have that much self control. By the end of two, I was cracking. I know how it is, Scully." "Dana." "Dana, then. How you see him every day, watch him as he works. Your mind just trails off and you end up thinking about him. Wishing that you could do something together that wasn't somehow work related. But even work seems somehow more fulfilling when he's around. "You think about him at night when you're alone... wondering what he's doing, trying to stop yourself from picking up the phone and dialing his number. Because you know if you do, it will just be that much easier next time. And you try to get him out of your head, try to date someone else... but it's no use. You're stuck. You're in love. You're trapped." Lois looked over to see tears forming in the corners of Scully's eyes. "Oh, Dana. I know how you feel." She opened her arms and the two women hugged tightly. "I don't know what to do, Lois," Scully whispered. "Shhh. We'll figure something out. Trust me." At that moment, the bathroom door opened and a middle-aged woman walked in. Her eyes widened as she saw the women embracing. "I... ah, I beg your pardon," she mumbled, and left quickly. Lois and Scully broke apart. "Here," said Lois softly, handing Scully a tissue. "Wipe your eyes. We can talk about this later. This isn't a good place, and the guys'll probably be wondering what happened to us." Together, they walked back to the table to rejoin their male counterparts. They shared a small smile and a private glance as they settled back into their seats. Lois had carefully watched Mulder's expression as Scully returned, and she knew she wasn't wrong. She had seen Clark's eyes light up that way for her. They still did. "Hey, the food's here!" Lois exclaimed happily. "This stuff looks fantastic." Scully had to agree. It did look fantastic. Not just the food, but her future. If Lois was right... and she'd been right about an awful lot of stuff back in that bathroom... then things were looking bright for Special Agent Dana Scully. ******************************* continued in part 4 ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 22:16:23 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Susan VanCott Subject: NEW: Your Little Secret (4/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit continued from part 3 Lois drove the group back to the Apollo Hotel, and Mulder and Scully got out of the car. Before Scully turned to go into the hotel, though, Lois spoke to her. "Hey, Dana." "Hm?" "Give me a call when you're done working tomorrow, okay? We can go out somewhere, have a little girls' night, have a little talk... I bet we can do something about your little situation." Scully smiled. "Okay. That'd be great." She turned to walk into the hotel with her partner. Clark looked at Lois expectantly. "What?" she asked. "Nothing. I'm just glad you're getting along." "Don't you *dare* give me that you-need-more-female-friends speech. I hear it quite often enough from my sister." "I wasn't going to." "Right. She's really nice. Someone I can talk to, about life and love." "What about me?" "Someone *female.* And your mother doesn't count, not for this, even if we have had some meaningful heart-to-hearts." "What about Maggie Sawyer?" "She's not much to talk to when you're discussing relationships, even if she is fun to hang out with." "Good point." So, what did you think of Mulder?" Lois wanted to steer the topic of conversation back to where she wanted it. "He seemed nice enough. Smart. A little weird, maybe, but hey, who isn't. And I can hardly fault him for believing in *aliens,* now can I?" "Well, *other* aliens. You're not exactly par for the course, hm?" "I guess not." "What *else* did you think of him?" "Why? Is this some weird psychological thing where you want me to approve of your old lovers? Because if it is..." "No, no, no. That's not it at all. I just want to know if you can tell how he feels about Dana." "Oh. That." "Yeah. You think?" "Undoubtedly." "They're adorable." "They don't realize it yet, I don't think." "No, they don't. I think Dana's starting to, though." "Is that why you took so long in the bathroom?" "It's as good a place as any." "You know what I think?" "Sometimes." She grinned at him. "All right, what do you think?" "I think we should stop worrying about what a lovely couple *they* make, and start thinking about the couple *we* make. We're almost back to my place. Come in for some... coffee?" "Oh, I don't know. It's getting late..." "It's Friday..." "Hmmm...." "'Lethal Weapon' is going to be on." She smiled a little. "You know how to tempt a girl." "Whatever it takes." He grinned at her. "Chocolate, Mel Gibson (within reason), a massage..." "A massage? Your place it is," she said, parking the car. They walked inside, shutting and locking the door behind them. Lois walked down the few steps into Clark's living room, over to the answering machine. There was one message from a phone company, wondering if he'd like cheaper long distance, and one from Clark's old friend Frank. "Hey, Clark," the message ran, "I thought you'd like to hear this news-- Julie Hawke is getting married! What a tragedy!" Clark chuckled as he listened to the message. "Who's Julie Hawke?" Lois asked. "Frank's favorite actress. Total silicone-peroxide ditz. But his taste's always been somewhat... shallow." "You fault him for preferring annoying blondes? Because I seem to remember a certain ex-girlfriend of yours..." He held up a hand to stop her. "You can stop the blonde jokes right there, sweetheart. Lana Lang is a redhead. Or... was." "She's still annoying." "Well... she's changed a whole lot. I think you caught her at a bad time, though. She'd just had a fight with her husband." "Okay, okay, she's not an annoying blonde. Happy? Now who is it with the weird psychological thing?" "Just so you don't fault my taste." Lois laughed throatily. "I don't fault your taste, Clark. Come here. You owe me a massage." He stepped up close to her, his body only inches away from her own. "All right," he said quietly, pressing a kiss against the side of her mouth. "Take off your shirt and lie down on the bed." "Mmm, I love it when you're forceful with me." "Lois..." he said warningly. "Watch your step." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Why? What are you going to do to me if I don't?" "This," he murmured, and pressed his lips to hers softly. "Hmmm... that's nice." She started to pull him toward the bedroom. "Now... you can deliver that massage you promised." Clark looked away as she stripped her shirt off and lay face down on the bed, holding a pillow under her chin. He sat down next to her, after retrieving a small bottle of lotion. She jumped slightly as he poured a little bit onto her back. "Jesus, Clark, that's freezing!" "Sorry," he apologized. He stripped his own shirt off, and Lois turned slightly to look at him, smiling. "Keep facing the other way," he told her. "All right," she sighed. "But I'm reciprocating after you finish. I'm not going to miss a chance to have my hands all over you." "Don't worry, I won't let you miss a chance like that," he promised, leaning close to her ear. He started to rub the lotion into her skin, his hands caressing her gently. Then his fingers presed lightly into her, moving in small circles. She sighed. "Mmmm... that feels good, Clark." "Yeah," he agreed, causing her to smile. "You want to stay tonight?" "I don't think I'm going to feel like leaving." "That a yes?" "Of... ooh... of course." "You like that?" "Hmmm, yeah." She reached out and grabbed one of his arms, pulling him down beside her. "I wasn't finished," he said as he took her in his arms. "I know." She tilted her head up slightly and kissed his waiting lips. "What do you think Mulder and Dana are doing?" Clark's muffled laugh came from the area of her clavicle. "I don't care." "Hmm..." She began to ponder the thought, but decided she was more interested in the light kisses he was placing up and down her neck. "I hope they're as happy as we are someday." Clark pulled back to look at her. "I'm sure they will be. Now... I think we have some more important things we could be doing than worrying about their sex life." "Yeah," she agreed, "like getting a massage." She pushed him away slightly, intending him to resume his previous activities. He kissed her again. "I take it you want me to keep going, then?" "Brilliant." "I have to be-- you're so subtle..." "Come on, come on, I don't have all night." ***************** "Scully, are you okay?" "Huh?" "Are you okay?" "I'm fine, Mulder... why?" "Nothing..." She gave him an odd look. She was just humming softly. Was that so out of character? So she was happy. What was wrong with that? "Goodnight, Scully." "Night, Mulder." She lay back in her bed, her eyes closed. What a night! She felt so damn good she could giggle. Mulder loved her. Mulder *loved* her! She didn't doubt Lois' evaluation of the situation-- her credentials were high, having done the same things, lived the same feelings. And she and Clark were happily engaged now... Partners, friends, and then something more... This case wasn't an x-file. She'd known that from the start, or at least suspected it. She hadn't minded, really, visiting Metropolis, so she hadn't protested their involvement in the case. And now, was she ever glad she came! She wasn't feeling tired at all, and probably wasn't going to be able to get much sleep. Funny how a little suggestion like Lois had made could excite her so much. Just the hint of Mulder returning her feelings, just the mention that she and Lois could work up something, could make all her fondest dreams come true... Perhaps it wasn't such a little suggestion after all, but a life- altering one. There were going to be some major changes in Scully's life, and if Lois was the intuitive, brilliant woman her reputation hinted she was, those changes were going to be for the better. It wasn't that she depended on Lois for help with this-- she certainly welcomed the help, not being much in the relationship department, but she'd be able to do this on her own. It was the camraderie. Conspiring with another woman, like she used to do way back when her life didn't soley consist of work. It gave her courage, and comfort. She never thought she'd *ever* feel camraderie with one of Mulder's ex-lovers. Not in a million years. But here she was, with what amounted to a new best friend. Maybe Mulder's taste hadn't been *all* bad. Lois *almost* made up for Diana, and that was saying a hell of a lot. ******************** continued in part 5 ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 22:16:27 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Susan VanCott Subject: NEW: Your Little Secret (5/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit continued from part 4 THE NEXT NIGHT The phone rang in Lois' apartment. Lifting the reciever to her ear, she said, "Hello?" "Lois?" "Oh, hi, Dana." "What do you want to do tonight?" "Oh, I don't know.... You interested in a typically female outing of shopping?" "Sounds like fun to me." "You ready to go now, or should we wait a while?" "Oh, I'll be ready by the time you get here." "Good, I'll pick you up in about ten or fifteen minutes. Okay?" "See you then." Scully hung up the phone and opened the dresser drawer to grab jeans and a t-shirt. She also picked up a pair of comfortable platform shoes. She didn't feel as dwarfed by Lois' 5'8" as she did by Mulder's 6'1", but she still preferred the few extra inches the shoes gave her. She changed, then knocked on Mulder's door before opening it. "Hey," he greeted her from his position on the bed. "Mulder, I'm going out." He shifted his gaze from the ceiling to her face. "With who?" "Lois." "Really?" "*Yes,* really. I'm bringing my cell phone, but don't call unless it's an *emergency,* okay?" "Okay. You like her, don't you?" "Yeah. I like her. Why does that surprise you?" "Usually you don't like my choice in women." "Usually you don't have good taste." She felt free to banter with him, stepping over limits which she was now realizing might have been imaginary. "Scully, I'm hurt. After all, I've kept *you* around these six years. I must be *slightly* sane." "Slightly is a good term for it," she responded. "But, true, you do have *some* sense." He grinned at her. "Have fun with Lois. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Or, at least, don't get caught." "Ha ha. See you tonight." ************************** "Oooh, Lois, I forgot shopping could be so *exhausting*!" "Time for a break?" "Definitely. Let's go over to the food court and get some munchies." "Sounds good. There's this one place... I forget the name... but it has the nicest dish. Steamed vegetables over rice, in some kind of sauce. Tastes great, and it's not even bad *for* you!" "I hope you're not insinuating that I need to lose weight." "After the way you looked in that little green thing? Absolutely not." Scully grinned. "I can *not* believe I bought that." "It was on *sale.*" "It's just so..." "Sexy?" "Hmmm, yes. That's it exactly." "You're going to blow his mind... to say the least." "The very least. And hey, you didn't look so bad in it yourself." "Pretty darn flattering, if I do say so myself. And I *do* like the burgundy one." "Almost makes me feel sorry for Clark and Mulder." "Almost," Lois agreed, "but not quite." "No. Not quite. That metallic bra/panty set, on the other hand...." "Oh, God, that was ugly! Ah, here we are! You want to try that rice dish?" "Yeah. Lois, you're a meanace to my wardrobe." "You won't regret it. Trust me. All those suits.... It's nice to just... let go once in a while. Besides, you'll never know when they're going to come in handy." "Oh, right, I could just answer the door in a bathrobe, let it *accidentally* fall open...." "*That's* the spirit! No, on second thought, you'd probably kill the poor guy. Especially if you were wearing some nice, strappy, sexy black stilettos." "That's just too perfect." "Hope he's got a nice grave picked out." She turned to the boy at the counter. "Two of those rice and steamed vegetable dishes." "Here lies Agent Mulder...." "She was too sexy for him," Lois finished. "You're good for my ego." "Oh, good. At least you don't think I'm being obscenely personal." "Actually, you *are.* But it's been a while since I've been able to have an obscenely personal friendship with another woman." She paused. "You know what I mean." "Obscenely personal? Hey, sounds like fun," came another voice. The two women turned to see a taller woman, slightly older, with cropped blonde hair and a muscular but slender figure. "Maggie!" Lois exclaimed. "How's it going?" "Good, good. Yourself?" "Oh, busy as usual." She turned to pick up the food and pay the cashier. "Who's your friend?" "Oh, I'm sorry. Dana Scully, this is Maggie Sawyer. Maggie, Dana." "Nice to meet you, Dana." "Same to you, Maggie." "So, who are you plotting the death of *this* time?" "Her slightly-slow-on-the-uptake significant other." "Ah, it's one of those. Well, don't kill off *all* the decent men in the country. After all, we need some of them for manual laborers." Lois grinned. "So what are you doing here?" "Oh, Toby needed to pick up a couple of things before we go on vacation." "Where are you going?" "Hawaii, believe it or not. Toby's always wanted to go and... well... I don't exactly *mind.* It'll be a nice break." She glanced at her watch. "That is, it'll be nice if Toby doesn't make us miss our plane." "Was he supposed to meet you here?" asked Scully. Lois winced at the pronoun, but Maggie smoothly corrected her. "She." Scully blushed. "I'm sorry." "Happens all the time. Yeah, she was supposed to.... Oh, and there she is! I gotta go." "Bye, Maggie. Have fun!" Lois called as Maggie jogged toward a tall brunette. "Well, *that* was embarassing," Scully remarked. "Hey, she's okay with it. You didn't terribly offend her or anything. How were you supposed to know? Now come on, I'm starving." ********************** "Oh, I can *not* believe this!" Lois exclaimed as she climbed out of her Jeep and bent to examine the wheel. "Do you have a spare?" "No... I never replaced it after the last time my tires were shot out. At least we're only a block or so away from home. Come on, Agent Scully, we're walking." "You're leaving it there?" "It's a perfectly legitimate place to park. I'll call Frank's Auto when we get back to my apartment. He usually fixes it up pretty well, and I get a quantity discount." "Common occurence?" "Hazards of the job. You're lucky you have government-issue." "Sometimes I think--" Scully began, but her words were cut off as a large red truck drove by and splashed mud all over her. Lois, who had been bent down beside the car, stood up to see what had happened. "Oh no!" Scully looked down at herself in disgust, wiping mud off of her face. "No offense to you, Lois, but I really dislike Metropolis drivers." "No offense taken, it's perfectly understandable. Come on, you can wash up in my apartment." "Thanks." The two women walked back to Lois' place, carefully avoiding any further mud puddles. ************************ "Okay," said Lois, "you go ahead and take a shower, get all that mud out of your hair. I'll go get you a clean towel." "Sounds good," said Scully as she took her shoes off near Lois' doorway. "The bathroom's right over there," Lois said, pointing. "I'll get you some clean clothes to wear, too." "Thanks." Scully walked over to the bathroom and shut the door after recieving the towel from Lois. Lois dropped their bags on her bed. She spent a few minutes taking her purchases out of the bags and setting them carefully on the bed. Her gaze fell once more on the burgundy teddy. It really was stunning. And it was even the right color. Clark loved it when she wore burgundy-- he'd actually said that once. As long as Dana was still in the shower, Lois decided to try the piece on again. See what it looked like in the comfort and the lighting of her own home instead of the fluorescent lighting and stark white walls of the dressing room. She was so absorbed in it that she didn't hear the ringing of the cell phone from Scully's purse in the living room. ************************ "Hello?" asked Clark into the phone. "Clark?" "Yeah." "This is Mulder." "Oh, hi." "Do you know where Lois and Scully went?" "Shopping, I think. Why?" "I found something new in the case, that I thought Scully'd want to hear, but when I called her, she didn't answer her phone." "I'm guessing that's not normal for her." "No, it's not." "All right. I was just going to go over to Lois' anyway-- she did say that they'd be finished by now. Did you want to come along? Then, if Scully's not with Lois, we can go look for her." "Yeah. Thanks." "No problem. Like I said, I was going there anyway. I'll be at the Apollo in a minute." "Okay, I'll wait outside." ***************************** "Lois? Were you going to...?" Scully began as she walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. Lois spun around at the sound of her name. Scully grinned. "Trying it on again?" she asked. "I couldn't resist," Lois admitted. "Where's mine? Maybe I'll just wear *that* under my coat when I go back to the hotel." "You do that," Lois replied, tossing the bag to her friend, then turning around again to the mirror. "God, I love this thing." "Hmmm, yeah," Scully agreed, dropping the towel from her body in order to put on the emerald green teddy. "How does it look?" Lois turned and smiled. "Face it, Dana, we're hot. It'd look better if your hair was dry, though. Hang on a second." Lois walked into the bathroom and grabbed her hair dryer from under the sink. "Here we go. Sit down," she ordered, gesturing to the bed. "I've got an idea." Scully sat down, her back to Lois, and allowed the reporter to dry her hair carefully. "What is it?" "He's probably never seen you in anything remotely like this, has he?" "No, nothing like this. Oh, no, Lois, I couldn't...." "Shh. Listen. We'll just fix your hair up nicely...." "Lois...." "Your hair is absolutely amazing, Dana. I shouldn't even ask this, I suppose, but do you dye it?" "Nope, all natural." "Lucky you," Lois replied over the noise of the hairdryer. "Now, once we've done that, we could really take some good--" "Pictures?" Scully interrupted. "Couldn't hurt," Lois replied. "How do you propose I show them to him? 'Happy Valentine's Day, Mulder, these are for you'?" "Hey, take this seriously. He's into that sort of girlie magazine stuff still?" "Yeah." "Well, I've got a good friend who can really do wonders with a computer and printer. How hard would it be to get a back issue of some obscure magazine, re-cover it, and add a page or two?" "You're kidding." "Not at all. We could drop it off anonymously at his door, he'll assume it's from a friend...." "One problem." "What?" "I wouldn't be able to see his reaction." Lois grinned. "True. But then again, you'd get to see him *slowly* lose his mind while he's in that little office with you for long periods of time." "Lois?" "Yeah?" "I could do that...." **************************** continued in part 6 ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 22:16:31 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Susan VanCott Subject: NEW: Your Little Secret (6/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit continued from part 5 Clark heard noises from within Lois' apartment, so he knew that at least Lois was there when he used his key at her door. He kept that fact from Mulder, though, as he was about to open the door and enter. Before he could do that, however, he heard a distant cry for help. He winced. Good timing. "Uh, Mulder, you'll have to excuse me, I just remembered an appointment I made... and had better keep, or it'll be the second time I've missed it." "Oh, okay," Mulder agreed. His tone betrayed that he thought it was odd, but he was going to let it pass. "Should I just go in?" "If you want. If they're not there, just lock the door again, okay?" "Sure." Mulder watched as Clark walked quickly down the hall and ducked into the stairwell. He turned to the door and knocked. He waited for a minute, then knocked again. There was no answer. He opened the door slightly. "Scully?" Mulder called, but he heard the noise of a hairdryer and figured that she wouldn't be able to hear him. He walked toward the room the noise was emenating from, and stopped dead in his tracks when he was able to look in. Scully was sitting on Lois' bed, her eyes closed and head slightly tilted as Lois, kneeling behind her, held the hairdryer with one hand and ran the other through Scully's luxurious hair. The pair were wearing matching lacy teddies, Lois in burgundy and Scully in green. Lois glanced up, feeling that she was being watched, and gasped. Scully's eyes snapped open and she exclaimed in shock, "Mulder!" Both women instinctively crossed their arms over their breasts and seemed to shrink back. The hairdryer, still running, lay noisily on the bed. "Scully...." Mulder murmured, but he was unable to get past her name. "Mulder, I...." He backed away. "My God, Scully... Lois... I... oh my God, Scully." "Mulder, wait, listen to me," Scully protested. "No...." His voice hardened. "No. You know what? I do *not* want to hear about this. I don't even *want* to know." With that, he stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him. "I..." Scully began, then sighed, walking off into the bedroom. Lois followed. "Dana?" "Go away," she mumbled into the pillow. She was lying face-down on Lois's bed, crying. Lois' heart went out to the woman. "Dana, I'm sorry," she said softly, sitting down on the bed and putting a hand on Scully's back. "It's not your fault," Scully replied, her voice muffled. "It's at least part my fault, as much so as it is yours." "No. It's not your fault. It's not your fault.... Oh, Lois." Lois started to softly rub her friend's back. "Don't worry. We'll set this straight. You'll be okay." "Everything was going so well... I thought maybe... maybe this time.... What am I going to do?" "I don't know." "What can I *say* to him? That is... assuming he'll even let me talk...." "Of course he'll let you talk." "You don't know him like I do. If he doesn't want to hear something, you could scream it at him a thousand times, paint it in blood across his bathroom mirror, and brand it onto the back of his hand and he still wouldn't listen. He won't give me a chance." "Then just say it quickly, before he can tune you out." "Easier said than done. You try it some time." "Dana...." "I'm sorry, that was rude. It's just... tough. You know?" "I know. I know it's not easy. But you'll work it through." "Lois... do you have any *idea* what's just happened?" "Dana, I'm sure he'll be...." "No," she interrupted. "He won't listen. Not to me, not now. He's so damn stubborn...." "Two stubborn people *can,* in fact have a good relationship. Of all people, *I* should know. Clark and I... we would put you and Mulder to shame. It slowed us down a little, yeah, but we managed to get past it, and look at us now. He's not determined to hate you. He wants to love you. He'll *want* to believe what you're telling him. And that makes it a *lot* easier to convince him of it." "Even when the evidence points the other way?" "Especially then. He's an 'against all odds' sort of guy." Scully sniffed. Lois had a point. She smiled a little and sat up. "Thanks, Lois. I just hope Mulder and I have a happy ending waiting for us." "You have to," Lois said seriously. "You have to. ******************************** As he was running out of Lois's apartment building, Mulder bumped into the last person he would have wanted to see at the moment. Clark Kent. "Hey, Mulder," Clark begain, "was she...?" He trailed off when his mind registered the expression that hung like a tortured spirit around the agent's face. "What's wrong?" Mulder closed his eyes briefly. He didn't relish explaining this to Clark. He had nearly been destroyed by the news... he couldn't imagine how it would feel to Clark, who was *engaged* to Lois. "Mulder? Is your partner all right?" Mulder winced at the question. "Yeah," he said harshly, a little more so than he'd intended. "Yeah, she's just *fine.*" "Are you sure?" Clark asked cautiously. "Clark, I.... I really shouldn't be the one to tell you this. You shouldn't have to hear it from a guy you hardly know." "Hear what? what's wrong?" "You and I, my friend, have just been cuckolded." "What?" Clark repeated incredulously. "What are you talking about?" "Although not in the sense of the word that Shakespeare intended." "What are you getting at?" "Lois and Scully." "Are...?" he prompted. "Lovers." "What?" "It's true. They are. I saw it myself. I walked in... nobody answered when I knocked... shouldn't have walked in, I suppose, but it's too damn late now, isn't it?" "You *saw* it? Them? Together?" "I did," he said and grimaced. "My God, I did." "There must be some sort of explanation," Clark said slowly. "Yeah," Mulder agreed. "Lust. God, I never thought Scully would be a... a.... My God, I still can't believe... and with an engaged woman...." He put a hand over his face. "Hey, Clark, I think I'm about to break one of my personal guidelines for life. Could you point me in the direction of a good bar?" "Ace O' Clubs, down by Hob's Bay, Suicide Slum. Tell Bibbo that Clark sent you if you get any trouble." "Thanks. Sure you don't want to join me?" "I'll manage." "All right. You do that." He turned to leave. "Mulder...." "Yeah?" "One question. Did they... say anything?" He paused. "You mean did they vehemently deny what I saw? No. But to be fair, I didn't exactly give her time to talk. Take that with whatever salt you like." With that, he left, hailing a cab and taking off into the night. Clark stood there for a moment, staring after Mulder, before disappearing into the sky as he often did when he had something to seriously ponder. His first reaction had been surprise and disbelief. The surprise had by now worn off, and only the disbelief remained. It seemed impossible, unrealistic. It wasn't possible, he reasoned to himself. She wanted him. He knew it. There was quite a difference between a willing woman and one who *wanted* it, and he knew that Lois wanted him. She wasn't just complacent with the idea of him as a lover-- she liked it. After all, hadn't she melted in his arms in the virtual world? Hadn't she been the instigator of that? Hadn't she moaned his name? Hadn't it seemed like they would have gone all the way if Jaxon hadn't interrupted? It was impossible. It was unreasonable. Why on Earth would she act with him? Why would she date him, agree to marry him if she didn't like men? It was crazy. He couldn't entertain those thoughts for even one moment. They were crazy. Lois was a sensible person. If she really didn't want him, he'd know. She wouldn't lead him on that way, not if she never intended to follow through. There was no way. Lois loved him. There was no way. It was crazy. But then a devious inner voice piped up. 'She doesn't necessarily have to be turned off by men to be turned on by women,' it whispered. Crazy. Impossible. Impossibly crazy. Clark swallowed hard. 'You have to face facts... Mulder saw them.' Mulder saw them doing what, exactly? With a sickly pale but still present burst of hope, Clark realized that Mulder had never said exactly *what* he'd seen. And coming from a man who saw aliens, mutants, and other assorted and sundry things for a living.... Maybe he hadn't seen what he thought he saw. Maybe there was a better explanation than bisexuality. Maybe.... Shaking his head to clear it as best he could, Clark decided that he needed to talk to Lois, before any decisions could be reached. Anything else would be... crazy. *************************************** Back in her hotel room, Scully paced, trying to think of what she would tell Mulder when he returned from wherever he was... and wondering just where in Metropolis that was. She wished she could go and find him, but that was difficult in D.C. It would be near to impossible in an unfamiliar city the size of Metropolis. He could be anywhere. She was fairly certain of where he would be if they were at home. He would be at a semi-crummy bar that was about a fifteen minute drive from where he lived. He didn't often frequent the place; she'd only seen him drunk once, maybe twice. But if anything would drive him there, it would be this. Especially if he loved her, as Lois had claimed. There were hundreds of bars in Metropolis, though. He could be at any one of them. Or he could be somewhere else entirely. She just didn't know, and it was the not knowing that made her anxious. Just like every time when he ran off to some place unknown, leaving her behind and worrying her senselessly. This time, though, he was escaping from her rather than leaving her in the dust because of his own excitement. He'd have to return to the hotel eventually, though. He wouldn't shirk his work, not even for a personal crisis. She knew that well enough. His work was everything to him. Still, Scully was just inches away from calling Lois on the phone and asking if she could suggest a couple of nearby bars in which Mulder might be found. **************************************** Lois lay on her back in bed, staring at the ceiling. What a night. How could their plans have gone so awry? They'd started out trying to get Mulder and Dana together, but instead ended up driving the two apart. Poor Dana. She was right, Lois knew. Mulder wasn't going to listen to her, not if he could avoid it. But Dana was strong. She could fix it so that the man *couldn't* avoid it. Or so Lois hoped. There was a rushing sound at the window, followed by a polite tap. "Come in," she called. In a flash of blurred blue and red, Lois's fiance was suddenly in the room, wearing a navy blue t-shirt with the sleeves cut off and a pair of faded blue jeans. Lois smiled. "Clark, it's so good to see you." He sat down on the bed next to her. "Lois... we have to talk." "About what?" "I... uh... ran into Mulder on his way out of the building...." "Oh." "Yeah." "What did he say?" "He said that you and Scully were...." "Oh." "I wasn't... I mean, I didn't... didn't *want* to think that...." Lois sat up and touched his tense shoulder. "Shh, Clark. I know. You have to trust me on this." "I do trust you. That's why I want to hear it from you. What was going on?" "It's hard to explain, so I'm just going to leave it at this. What Mulder saw was not what he thought it was. I would never do that to you." She saw the tension in his body visibly fade away. He sighed. "I love you." "I love you, too," she replied, and the last bit of tension melted off. She kissed him lightly, smiling against his lips. "I'm glad you decided to come talk to me before doing something crazy." "Hey, give me some credit. I have learned *something* over the years I've known you." But then his expression grew introspective. "What? Did you hear something?" "No... I just remembered. When you said 'something crazy.' Mulder is... out getting drunk. At the Ace O' Clubs. Do you think we should call Scully and let her know where he is? I mean, I'm sure she'll be wanting to talk to him." Lois nodded. "Yeah, that's a good idea. But I'll call Bibbo first, make sure Mulder made it there." She picked up the phone from its place on the bedside table and dialed the number for the Ace O' Clubs. "Hi, I want to talk to Bibbo. This is Lois." She paused for a moment. "Bibbo, hey. Look, I need to know if a guy's there. Tall, dark hair, sideburns, medium build, funny nose... probably drinking fairly hard." Another pause. "No, don't get him, I just wanted to make sure he was there. Don't let him leave, okay? We're getting him a ride home. Yeah. All right, I will. Take care." She dialed the Apollo Hotel's number and got transferred to Scully's room. "Hi, Dana? I just wanted to... what? Yes, that's what I was about to tell you. Yeah, a bar. It's called the Ace O' Clubs. Down by Hob's Bay. You think you can find it okay? Good. I told Bibbo not to let him leave, so he'll be there when you arrive. Okay. Goodbye... and good luck." She refrained from adding 'you'll need it.' "I hope everything works out for them," Lois said, watching as Clark slipped off his shoes and pulled his legs up onto the bed. "Yeah... they're a nice couple." He took Lois in his arms and lay back. "I could get used to this," he commented after a minute. She snuggled up close to him. "I don't think I ever will," she replied as his body heat penetrated the thin cotton nightclothes she wore. She sighed almost inaudibly. ************************************ continued in part 7 ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 22:18:04 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Susan VanCott Subject: NEW: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit continued from part 6 Scully walked into the Ace O' Clubs, stopping just inside the door. She scanned the area for Mulder, and found him seated on a stool by the well-lit bar, staring into a full glass. She walked over to him. "Hey." "Hey," he replied. "What are you doing here?" "Three guesses." "I'll pass." "Looking for a drunk who need a ride back to his hotel." "I'm not drunk." "Oh." She wasn't sure whether she believed him or not. "Well, I was looking for you." "You've found me. Now what?" "Do you want to leave?" "Not especially." "Do you want to stay here and talk?" "No." "Then we're leaving. Come on." She attracted the attention of the man behind the bar, a grossly muscular man with a squashed face and a dirty apron over a Superman t-shirt, so that Mulder could pay his bill. "Hey," the man said, "'s no problem. Any friend a Kent's is a friend a mine. Jes tell 'im Bibbo ses hello." "Sure," Scully promised. The man raised a hand in salutation as the two agents left the bar. They didn't talk as they walked to the car Scully had driven to the Ace O' Clubs. They didn't talk as they drove away, down the streets of Suicide Slum. They didn't talk until Scully pulled over onto a paved area that faced Hob's bay and parked the car. "Why'd you stop?" "It's a good a place as any," she replied. "And we need to talk." "I'm listening." "Look, what you saw today...." "No, wait. Scully, I know what you're going to say. I'm sorry I got so upset. I've been thinking about it, and I had no right to be that upset about it. It's your life, and hell, it's your body. If you prefer... an alternative lifestyle, I'm not going to bitch and scream about it. There's nothing I could do anyway." "Mulder, I...." "No, I mean it. I'm not going to stand in your way, although I must admit I'm a bit surprised that of all the people in the world, it had to be one of *my* old girlfriends." "Mulder...." She could hear a tinge of sarcasm seeping into his voice. "And I was a little annoyed that you've kept me in the dark for so long. But hey, it was none of my business, right? I don't need to know about all your comings and goings, just like you don't know about mine." "Mulder." "And yeah, I guess that you could say it was a major thing, a huge issue, but you have the right to privacy, even from me, even though we trust each other with our lives on a daily basis, and I thought we could share just about everything." "Mulder, would you...." "And I'm sure that you had no idea you were at all leading me on. No, not at all. It probably didn't even occur to you that it would be cruel to let me *hope* for some kind of relationship, to even consider the idea, if there was no possibility for its realization. Just let me think what I like, right? Because I'm sure you 'knew' that I could never have any genuine emotions for you. Naturally not. I understand that's what you thought, there was no way you could have known differently." "Mulder!" she exclaimed sharply. "Would you please just *listen*?" "Go ahead," he returned. "I am *not* a lesbian. I did not, nor did I ever have any *intention* to do *anything* with Lois. What you saw... was misleading, and you jumped to conclusions." "Oh, good, I was wondering when we'd get to the part where it's all my fault." "Mulder." "Well? What am I supposed to say? Okay, Scully. You were in *bed,* with another woman, wearing what has to be *the* sexiest lingerie I have ever seen. You looked damn well like you were enjoying yourself. Gee, sorry, I must have missed something there." "All right. All right. I admit, it looked... damning." "That it did." There was silence for a few minutes. "Did you really mean it?" "What part?" "The part about me leading you on. Do you really think I led you on?" "That depends." "On what?" "The future." He was staring resolutely out onto the water. "Genuine emotions?" He shrugged. "Don't tell me you don't know. I know you're smarter than that." "You've never said anything before." "I have. I've said it plenty of times. I said it in my hallway, before that damn bee showed up." "Did you mean it then? I always wondered if you weren't just desperate to keep me from leaving." "Of *course* I was desperate to keep you from leaving! You're the only thing that keeps me going at times." She didn't respond to that, only looking out at the moon being reflected on the water. "I told you that I loved you when I was in the hospital, after the ship incident." "You were on drugs." "You know *very* well that drugs wouldn't make me suddenly love you. All they did was give me the courage to say it. I shouldn't have even tried. Start the car, Scully." "No." "We're leaving." "No, we're not." "What do you want from me? You want me to rip out my heart and hand it over so you can sautee it with onions and feed it to stray cats? Start the car." "No. We're not done." "Yes we are. I've said all I'm going to. More than I should have." He reached over to turn the keys. She grabbed his wrist and forced it away. "Fine, if you're not going to drive, I will." He reached over and unbuckled her seatbelt before she could realize what he was doing. He grabbed her and pulled her toward him. "Mulder, quit it!" she exclaimed as he tried to simultaneously pull her into the passenger seat and climb over her. She fought him as best she could in the cramped space, blocking his move. They grappled for a minute, then Scully felt Mulder's grip on her arms relax. She remained tense, familiar with that particular trick. She thoroughly expected him to move quickly and decisively once she let her guard down. Instead, he just remained still for a moment, pinning her down in the center of the front seat of the car. "What are you doing, Mulder?" she growled. He stared into her eyes for a moment, then leaned forward to press his lips to hers. It was a hard kiss, forceful, and nearly violent. But very brief. Scully roughly shoved him into the driver's seat and pulled back into the passenger side. "Go ahead. Drive," she commanded. "Scully...." "What the *hell* was that?" "I thought...." "Damn it, Mulder! What do you think you're doing? What is *wrong* with you tonight? I came here to straighten out a... simple misunderstanding. I wasn't looking for a fight." "What about truth, Scully? Were you looking for that? Were you looking to see what has been *right* in front of your *face* for such a goddamn long time? Well, wake up!" "Mulder...." "Oh, let's hear it. Tell me straight, Scully. Do I disgust you? Is it *that* bad a proposition? Or that funny? Is this all some sort of mind fuck that you're doing? Does it *amuse* you to know that I've been sitting next to you for all these years, *dying* for you? Well, I sure hope it does. At least then *one* of us will be getting something out of it." "Shut up." "I'm no masochist, Scully. I don't want to play the counterpart to your sadism." "Shut up." "So tell me something. Explain it all to me. Where do I stand?" "Mulder, shut the fuck up!" Her voice was sharp and loud, piercing through the silence of the harbor. When she next spoke, her words were softer. "I never wanted to fuck with your mind. You're the only one doing that. I don't have a way of reading your mind. How was I supposed to know what you were thinking? Despite what you seem to think, you never made your feelings clear. Not at all. For every sexual crack you made toward me, for every tender word, there were ten other times you abandoned me, ignored me, or went off with someone else. Sure, we almost kissed. Once. But you never tried again. And how about this name: Diana Fowley? Ring any bells? Now just *try* to tell me that's not conflicting evidence. I never knew where I stood with you. You seemed to change your mind every fifteen minutes. If I ever seemed cold or unwilling to believe in your 'deeper emotions,' it was only because I had more reasons *not* to believe than I had reasons *to* believe." "Scully, I never...." "And to think that you could so easily go from me to Diana... that doesn't exactly indicate any sort of loyalty." "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "Are you?" "Scully, I.... I'm just sorry. About everything. I never meant to blow up at you. You just have to understand. Maybe you didn't know then. I can see that. But now you do. I.... I love you. And when I saw... you know... I just.... I thought that all my hopes were being smashed to pieces. That's a lot to take in." His pulse was racing from the terror of saying the three words he had just uttered to his partner. Scully gently touched his hand. "Mulder... I'm sorry, too. I guess you just got me defensive. I didn't mean to get upset. Like I said, I wasn't looking for a fight. I just wanted to set you straight. Because it was *important* to me that you didn't think I was anything other than what you thought I was. So that you didn't stop trying, if trying was what you wanted to do. I wanted to keep from losing you, just in case I had you." She paused, and her voice dropped. "I love you, too." He caressed her hand with his thumb, and she turned her face up to his. He bent over and kissed her gently, tenderly, then pulled away. "Buckle up, it's time to head back into the heart of Metropolis." *********************************** ONE WEEK LATER: Amid the soft noise of the restaurant, Special Agent Fox Mulder raised his glass in a toast. "Our week in Metropolis. What a long, strange trip it's been." "I'll drink to that," commented Lois, and did. Clark, Maggie, Scully, and Toby followed suit. "Wish I could've been here to see that," Maggie said with a grin. "Sounds like you guys had quite an adventure here." Lois and Scully exchanged a glance. "You could say that," murmured Scully. "At least we've got things straightened out now," Clark concluded, putting an arm around his fiancee. "And hey, it's even better than before. For some of us." "Speaking of better than before, how was your trip?" Lois asked Maggie and Toby. "Mmm... excellent," replied Toby, snuggling into her girlfriend's embrace. Maggie grinned. "You think it's rouge that put that color on her cheeks?" The table erupted into laughter. "Seriously, though," said Clark to the agents, "we couldn't be happier for you two." "Not as happy as we are. I'm glad you're not upset about that whole thing, though. Sorry I overreacted." "It's okay. I didn't believe you," Clark replied. Lois grinned wryly and elbowed him surreptitiously. "I didn't *completely* believe you," he amended. "I guess I was a little bit nervous. I didn't want to think that... well..." he made a disgusted face. "No offense taken," Maggie announced magnanimously. "Oops. None meant, of course." "Of course," Toby echoed, grinning. "Well," said Mulder, "it's getting late, and we've got a plane to catch." The three couples stood to take their leave. "It was great seeing you again," Lois said to Mulder, hugging him gently. "Yeah.... You know, you're the first of my ex-girlfriends that Scully's approved of." "You'd better watch that," Clark said. "Nobody needs their ex's to be approved by the person they're with. Weird psychological baggage, you know." "Well, I'm the expert on that," Mulder replied. Lois then embraced Scully. "It was great meeting you, Dana. You're going to have to come back and visit-- and I expect to see you at my wedding. Both of you." "We'll be there," Scully promised just as Clark exclaimed "*your* wedding?" They said their goodbyes, paid the bill, and left Dooley's, Mulder and Scully to the hotel to pick up their luggage, Maggie and Toby to the apartment they shared, and Lois and Clark to Clark's apartment. *********************************** Lois collapsed on the couch and sighed. "This has been one of the weirdest weeks of my life." Clark lifted her legs briefly, sat down, and replaced them in his lap. "I know what you mean." She met his gaze squarely. "Are you okay now? With Mulder, I mean?" "Yeah... I guess there could be worse things than an old lover. Besides, he's a nice enough guy. A little weird, maybe." "I noticed you still winced when I hugged him." "You saw that?" "Clark...." "All right, all right. But really, Lois. I got over Lex Luthor, didn't I? I think I can handle Fox Mulder." "Point taken." "But what I really want to know...." "Yes?" "What exactly *was* it that you were wearing when Mulder 'caught' you and Scully?" "Uh uh. You're going to have to wait for that one." "You sure about that?" he said with a grin, moving gracefully so that instead of sitting underneath her legs, he was completely positioned over her body. "You real sure?" She brushed a soft kiss against his lips since they were so near, and he pulled her into a harder one. She turned slightly so that both of them dropped off the couch and onto the floor, with Lois on top. Then she pulled away and took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm sure." She stood up and resumed her position on the couch. Clark smiled bemusedly. "I think something just went wrong." "Don't sweat it, we've just got a few weeks left till the wedding." "That's almost forever." "Hmm..." Lois acknowledged, then paused. "What do you suppose Dana and Mulder are doing?" Clark laughed. "Get out of my apartment," he commanded. She grinned and waggled her eyebrows at him. "Make me." "Don't tempt me," he said meanacingly, advancing toward her. With a giggle, she jumped off the couch and ran out of the living room. He shot after her with super-speed and pinned her in his arms two feet above the floor. "That was definitely cheating," Lois complained. "Do you mind?" She considered it for a moment, then smiled. "No. I suppose it's the only way to go." "I love you." She sighed and kissed him in response. *************************** Scully smiled as she gazed out of the small, cold window of the plane. Her partner's head was heavy on her shoulder, but for once, she didn't mind the discomfort. She turned her head slightly to look at their entwined fingers. It was a beautiful sight. After everything they'd been through to get there, it was such a relief to finally be able to relax into a comfortable embrace with the man she loved. Although usually unable to sleep on airplanes, she tilted her head to rest against Mulder's and closed her eyes, just to be close to him. She thought momentarily of a small bag tucked into her luggage. Mulder had seen it, of course-- but he hadn't been looking closely. And so, she had a feeling he was going to be surprised when they finally got back to DC. Everything was different now. And she had a feeling that her life was just now starting to really begin. *********************END********************** I reside at Kirshnera@aol.com. Feedback is my rainbow in the mud. :) Visit my webpage, Destination: Metropolis! http://angelfire.com/ny/loisclark Or, go directly to my fanfic http://angelfire.com/ny/loisclark/fanfic.html ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 22:56:06 -0500 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: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Yay, new fanfic... I know it's Kerth time and everyone's busy with *old* fanfic, but I've already voted and I'm bored :) Anyway, I liked this story. I've watched X-Files enough to know the characters, and I like how you handled them; it's so cute to see Lois being a matchmaker. And this was well-written, which is always a plus One thing I noticed, though, is the language... you had a few strong words in there that wouldn't have been allowed on TV, and I wasn't expecting them on this list, either. I know there weren't any actual sex scenes, but this story had an adult feel to it... but maybe that's just me :) I did enjoy it, mind you, I just don't think I'd want my (theoretical) 14-yr old daughter reading it... -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "Well, I try to save a life a day. Usually, it's my own." --John Chricton, on Farscape. "You have no idea how little I care about blown spume." "Actually, it's 'flung spume' and 'blown spray', but I think I like your version better." --Dana & Dan discuss yachting, on SportsNight ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 23:35:39 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alicia Utowski Subject: Re: NEW: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit That was a very good story :)... I have never watched the x-files, but I was able to understand what was going on very easily... i also thought the theme to this was a little bit more then pg-13, though.... it wasnt exactly nfic, but maybe it was R? i don't know. that said, it was a very entertaining story and i enjoyed it a lot :) Alicia :) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 04:05:21 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Alexis W." Subject: OT: Hey Jude! (sorry i could resist!) ;) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Jude! I'm sorry but I didn't know how else to get in touch with you. Can you please send me your email. I need to talk to you about something. Send me email at LoisLane9397@aol.com Thanks, Alexis ;-.) "Okay, what's everybody standing around for? This is a newspaper, not happy hour at Buckingham Palace." Perry White, (LnC), THE PILOT. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 06:35:14 EST 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: SIP: Connections - part 16 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit <> I do try to have a positive influence. Audrey, thank you for your kind words -- very appreciated, especially coming from someone who has also written about "the Alternate Adventures." :) Carol ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 07:43:59 EST 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: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit As a lapsed X-file fan, I really got a kick out of this story. I always enjoy your writing style, Susan -- you have such a natural way with dialogue and the pacing of your story is perfect. The L & C banter is wonderful. Pam raises an interesting point, though, about language. I wonder if there are any guidelines for this list with respect to that? spoilers: There were many lines that had me smiling, like Clark saying to Lois: <> and this: <> Think you have Scully making a big mistake, though -- she should give up on Mulder and get a real life. Carol ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 12:35:46 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Susan VanCott Subject: Re: NEW: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit s p o i l e r s p a c e Since it hasn't even been fourteen hours since I sent this story to the list, and I've already seen three comments about its content, I suppose I'd better say something. :) If I've offended anyone by either the theme of the story and/or the language used, I apologize. That must be said first. I was not aware of any strict guidelines regarding situations such as this. There is a notable lack of strong language in Lois and Clark fanfic (although there has been some used). That makes sense, after all, these are the characters in a family show. You may notice, however, that Lois and Clark, the "family show" characters, weren't the ones *using* the strong language. The X-files characters do tend to swear. It's a poor defense, but there it is. Also, you may be interested to know that I used one of the "big three" swear words three times. In a 70k story, that's not exactly a high concentration of adult language, and Pam's theoretical 14 year old daughter would hear many times that amount in school every day. Other less strong language was only stuff that could've been heard in the show and *was* heard in the show, and if I was excessive in the use of that, I apologize, and I will clean it up somewhat for the archive. As for the theme complaint, that my theme was too "adult" for the list, I can defend myself a little better there. There are many stories currently on the archive, listed as "PG-13" which I wouldn't recommend for someone of that age. "Rubber Duckie" by Debra Manning, for example, and much of Labrat's "adjusted for younger readers" work. Is what's acceptable on the archive not acceptable on the list? And I would like to ask of the people who think the theme was too adult for a PG-13 list-- what exactly is so adult about misunderstandings brought about by the misinterpretation of a compromising situation? I seem to remember several such situations in the show itself. For example, when Lois opens the door in her bathrobe to talk to Clark, then Dan pulls it open the rest of the way. There was another "situation" in that episode, although they weren't caught-- when Dan first breaks into Lois' apartment and she "jumps" him. So that didn't even occur to me as a terribly adult theme. I suppose, however, that the difference you're hinting at was in the fact that the compromising situation was between Lois and Scully instead of, say, Lois and Mulder. If it hadn't been two women, would it have been considered "adult" or "offensive"? If you compare this story to "Sugar & Spice," (PG-version) for example, I don't believe that anyone can make a very strong argument to me about *my* offensiveness. I don't mean to insult Labrat, it was a wonderful story, but I'm just using it to make my point. I believe that the content in that story was quite a bit more potentially offensive than what was contained in "Your Little Secret." But if, as was said before, this story has offended you for whatever reason, I do apologize. When I came up with the idea, it was just a fun little misunderstanding to play with, not something meant to shock the list. I wasn't aware that I was stepping outside the guidelines, that it was any more offensive than some of my other stories, and I certainly didn't think it was as controversial as some fanfic I've read on the general archive. Perhaps we *should* develop a list of rules. I remember a while ago, there was a summary posted to the list of general rules, but I remember it being relatively vague, with a very thin line between "okay" and "not okay." Where *is* that line on the list, and on the archive? All right, I think that little rumination was *quite* long enough. I think I've made my point. :) Peace, Love, and Superman, ~~>Susan<~~ www.angelfire.com/ny/loisclark/ ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 13:02:20 -0500 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: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Susan, > s > p > o > i > l > e > r > > s > p > a > c > e > For the record, you didn't shock or offend me -- I've seen all those words and situations (or variations thereon) before. I just didn't expect to find them on this list. And I admit up front this might just be me ... I was raised pretty strictly and while I've loosened up quite a bit since I've moved away from home, my background still influences me. > You may notice, however, that Lois and Clark, > the "family show" characters, weren't the ones *using* the strong language. Actually, when Clark applied the massage oil, Lois said something along the lines of "Jesus, that was cold" -- I know for some people that doesn't hold much impact, but for me it did -- that was really the closest I came to being offended. (And I use "oh my God" all the time, so feel free to point out my hypocrisy!) > In a 70k story, that's not exactly a high > concentration of adult language, and Pam's theoretical 14 year old daughter > would hear many times that amount in school every day. :) Depends on the school... I went to public high school, and I don't think it was that common then... Anyway, context makes a big difference. You can go see a movie where people are swearing every other word, but if you went out to tell the counter assistant you wanted some "fucking popcorn" I suspect you'd get a few looks, at the very least. Kinda like when you see a sexy movie with your mom To reiterate: I'm not saying this story was inappropriate or shouldn't have been posted, just explaining why it bothered me. I do not claim to speak for anyone but me, and I'm quite willing to bow to the will of the list mom, or the majority. I really did enjoy the story, small complaints notwithstanding :) > As for the theme complaint, that my theme was too "adult" for the list, I can > defend myself a little better there. There are many stories currently on the > archive, listed as "PG-13" which I wouldn't recommend for someone of that > age. I agree that the ratings scheme is pretty subjective. I wrote a tiny nfic scene for one of my stories, and when it came time to send it to the archive, I toned it down far past what my editor would have been okay with. Again, that's my personal comfort level, and I'm not applying it to anyone but me. :) > I suppose, however, > that the difference you're hinting at was in the fact that the compromising > situation was between Lois and Scully instead of, say, Lois and Mulder. If > it hadn't been two women, would it have been considered "adult" or > "offensive"? I admit, that's part of it. We're used to suggestive sexual situations between Lois & Clark, or their various distractions, but they've all been hetero. Slash is generally treated a little differently, at least in the fandoms I'm familiar with. Yeah, I know it wasn't real slash, but still... We kinda sort go by the MPAA ratings, but I honestly don't know how they treat strong language. Anyone know? -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "Well, I try to save a life a day. Usually, it's my own." --John Chricton, on Farscape. "You have no idea how little I care about blown spume." "Actually, it's 'flung spume' and 'blown spray', but I think I like your version better." --Dana & Dan discuss yachting, on SportsNight ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 13:04:18 -0500 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: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Oh, and one more thing... the complaints aren't really so bad, after all, and people are saying they liked the story ... Could be worse -- some people post stories here and get no responses at all :( Just a consoling thought... -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "Well, I try to save a life a day. Usually, it's my own." --John Chricton, on Farscape. "You have no idea how little I care about blown spume." "Actually, it's 'flung spume' and 'blown spray', but I think I like your version better." --Dana & Dan discuss yachting, on SportsNight ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 14:02:52 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Susan VanCott Subject: Re: NEW: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > In a 70k story, that's not exactly a high > > concentration of adult language, and Pam's theoretical 14 year old > daughter > > would hear many times that amount in school every day. > > :) Depends on the school... I went to public high school, and I don't > think it was that common then... Well, I've got you there, Pam. I *go* to a public high school and yeah, it's common. Oh, and you're a hypocrite. :) As for MPAA ratings, I've heard swearwords used constantly in PG-13 movies, and occasionally in PG. Milder words (Damn, "Oh my God," etc.) can even be heard in G movies, depending on which ones you're watching. Susan http://angelfire.com/ny/loisclark/ ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 14:21:32 EST 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: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/12/00 2:05:11 PM Eastern Standard Time, Kirshnera@AOL.COM writes: << Well, I've got you there, Pam. I *go* to a public high school and yeah, it's common. >> Susan, May I say how impressed I am that you are a high school student, writing so well. Having not read your latest fic yet, I can't comment on the issues raised, but, again, I must commend you on your discussion. Being a mother of teenagers, makes me even more impressed ;). Respectfully, after reading the comments about the language and implied slash elements, I will probably wait until you send your "cleaned up" version to the archives. I look forward to reading it, being a fan of both shows. However, I will pipe up and offer my views... the most offensive language to me is the use of the Lord's name as a swear or slang word. I think most L&C writers are cautious about that, as well as other words. I am always a bit surprised to read any swear words in a fic, as they, to me, are not in character for L&C. Granted, Lois frequently used OMG, and that bothered me too. That's all I wanted to say, and I look forward to reading your fic from the archive....any idea of when that might be? Kate ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 11:35:19 -0800 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: Volunteers Needed -- Kerth Award Ceremony In-Reply-To: <38C1909C.99631948@bellsouth.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hey Pam, what's going on with this? and IRC tutorials? I'm rather snowed under with listmail and reading right now, but if you can e me privately with an update, t'would be appreciated! Thanks - Melisma (dogpaddling desperately under the sea of papers that have invaded her rock) At 05:39 PM 04/03/2000 -0500, you wrote: >Thanks for volunteering, Mel... you guys haven't disappointed me. I >sent out a plea for help and got five volunteers within the hour! >We still need another ten or so, however... > >So far, people have asked for Best New Author & S6 ... so it's pretty >wide open. The only restriction is, I won't allow you to present in a >category you're nominated in (d'uh! ) and I'd rather not schedule you >right *after* a possible win, either. But I get a lot of non-authors >who just want to give something back for all the reading pleasure >they've received, so it works out pretty well. > >Oh! and when you volunteer, please let me know what your IRC nick is ... >I know a lot of them, but not all :) Thanks... >-- >------------------------------------------------------- >Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net >ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM >------------------------------------------------------- >"Aristotle was not Belgian. The central message of >Buddism is not 'Every man for himself.' And the >London Underground is not a political movement. >Those are all mistakes, Otto. I looked 'em up." >_A Fish Called Wanda_ >------------------------------------------------------- >http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam > > ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 15:00:35 EST 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: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit It was the language issue that interested me. This is something that crossed my mind when I posted the last part of my s.i. p. In that, I wrote this: <> When I first wrote that bit, the whole thing was a direct quotation. I didn't think that the expletive was inappropriate, given the context, but then I thought about the diverse range of people who might potentially read the story on the list. Anyway I changed it. So when I read your story, there it was and I wondered. As I stated, I did like your story very much. Carol ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 20:27:40 -0000 Reply-To: "yconnell@ukf.net" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: yconnell Subject: Re: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Susan, Let me start by saying that I've always been an (admittedly silent) admirer of your writing - I couldn't believe it when I first found out how old you are because your writing shows great maturity and intelligence. Given all the comments about the language in the story, I decided to skim it for myself and see what all the fuss was about . I think both sets of characters are portrayed very accurately, and yes, you're right, Mulder and Scully *do* use language like that all the time. Those of us who watch the X-Files are accustomed to that language and would be surprised if the FBI pair suddenly dropped it entirely. However, where I think you made a mistake was in not explaining this to the people on this list, who are not necessarily familiar with the X-Files. This is an L&C list, a show where no-one ever swears (well, hardly ever!). So, in summary, I think it would have been helpful if you had included a brief warning at the top of your story about the type of language in common use in the X-Files. Then people could have made an informed choice about whether they wanted to read the story or not, and you would have avoided all these emails discussing the language instead of the story itself :) Hope that helps, Yvonne (yconnell@ukf.net) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 15:36:06 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Budmayes2@AOL.COM Subject: What's New page at Archive not loading properly? The solution is... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Like many people lately, I've found that the What's new page wasn't loading the newest page. I've found that if I minimize the AOL program, and start a different web browser like Internet explorer and 'then' go to the What's new page it will load properly. Don't know why but it works. budmayes2@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 18:03:36 -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: IRC Tutorial (was Re: Volunteers Needed -- Kerth Award Ceremony) On Sun, 12 Mar 2000 11:35:19 -0800, Melisma wrote: >Hey Pam, what's going on with this? and IRC tutorials? Ask for what's going on with the IRC tutorial, the answer, unfortunately, is nothing. I have not received a single request to run one, so I can only assumed that 1) people were waiting for someone else to ask, or 2) everyone who wants to attend the ceremony has already figured out how to join us. I hope it's #2. :) If anyone *does* want help using IRC, please let me know ASAP. If I get interest, I would be happy to run a tutorial. Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 16:41:13 -0700 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: NEW: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > yes, you're right, Mulder > and Scully *do* use language like that all the time. Those of us who watch > the X-Files are accustomed to that language and would be surprised if the > FBI pair suddenly dropped it entirely. Interesting. I wasn't aware that any form of f*ck was allowed on network TV in the U.S. Cable, yeah, constantly, but not the networks--which includes Fox. Apparently, it's been too many years since I watched TV regularly. Nonetheless, that particular word isn't in common usage among the professionals *I* know--in fact, I've never heard it from anyone over the age of 25 who didn't work in TV, a mine or power plant, construction, or some blue-collar or technical occupation. It may be in more general use among high school and college students than among adults born prior to the 70's (which includes all of your characters). However, that's enough on the question of language. I'll send my other comments privately. Sheila ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 01:16:54 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Chiara Prato Subject: R: Re: NEW: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Susan! First of all I REALLY LOVED IT!!! This is just to clear any doubts! You already know how much I love your fics and your writing. Then I'd like to add something to what people here are saying about some "so-called" strange words. Sorry, maybe I'm stupid, but I don't see how saying "Jesus" or "God" can be considered blasphemy. What bothers me the most is the fact that sometimes there seems to be no tolerance among us, and that IMHO is the first step towards intolerance. I apologize if I sound too rude, but explaining my thoughts is English is not that simple for me. Moreover, I really liked this fic and I'd like to support Susan in the only way I know... So Susan...what are you doing here? Are you reading my rant? Go write!! I want another story ASAP! :))) Just a kiss! ChiaraP ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 01:12:35 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kaethel Subject: Re: NEW: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Susan, You already know my comments on this fic since I sent them to you the other day, having had the chance to follow this story through its writing-process. You know why I loved it, and you know I'm in awe of your writing skills and the way you can describe the characters' feelings so greatly. But what I would like to know is why some of you guys are shocked by the words that Susan used in this story. Maybe it's me who is weird or something, but it never crossed my mind as Susan was sending me the latest drafts of this crossover that this might pose a problem. I'm not what you could call a real fan of XF. I watch the show, I like it, but not as much as L&C. However, I'm aware the words that Susan used in her fic aren't rare in the XF episodes (they might be dubbed in French, but it all comes down to the same ). Now with the religious thing, I don't like blasphemy (well, I guess no one likes it ), but then I didn't see anything of the sort in "Your little secret"... or then I didn't know that "Jesus" or "God" are considered as blasphemy. In any case, and apart from this thread about vocabulary, I'm taking advantage of this mail to re-tell you that I liked this story very much, Susan, and that I'm looking forward to seeing your next stories :) Take care :) Hélène :) ----------------------------------------------- Kaethel on IRC / Kaethel79 on AIM kaethel@club-internet.fr "To thine own self, be true" ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 19:17:03 -0500 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: IRC Tutorial (was Re: Volunteers Needed -- Kerth Award Ceremony) On Sun, 12 Mar 2000 18:03:36 -0500, Kathy Brown wrote: > >If anyone *does* want help using IRC, please let me know ASAP. If I get >interest, I would be happy to run a tutorial. > Kathy, there have been expressions of interest over on the message boards, from people who (as far as I know) aren't on this list. I promised that once something was arranged I'd post the information over there for those FoLCs' benefit. Wendy ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 20:11:11 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alicia Utowski Subject: Re: NEW: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Susan, Um, I was one of the people that complained about the content of this story (maybe)... let me clarify... i wasn't concerned about the language as much as i was about the theme.... Believe me, i use that language and hear other people use it more times than i want to admit, and i went to a public high school and i am now in college and that word is a big part of my vocabulary... however, i was more concerned about the content of the story... granted, I liked the story a lot, but i had trouble with the theme (not personally, but i thought it might be a little adult, even for me and i am 19)... but i dont want you to get the idea that i didnt enjoy your story... i really did. Sorry if I caused any confusion, Alicia :) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 20:47:37 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pat Subject: Re: IRC Tutorial (was Re: Volunteers Needed -- Kerth Award Ceremony) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Wendy wrote: > Kathy, there have been expressions of interest over on the message boards, > from people who (as far as I know) aren't on this list. I promised that > once something was arranged I'd post the information over there for those > FoLCs' benefit. Wendy, if a tutorial is arranged, could you please post the information to the lists as well? I have a feeling that "...if you build it, they will come." might well apply here ;) Pat peabody@mcs.com pattijean@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 01:18:05 EST 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: R: Re: NEW: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/12/00 6:14:15 PM Central Standard Time, gioprato@TIN.IT writes: << Sorry, maybe I'm stupid, but I don't see how saying "Jesus" or "God" can be considered blasphemy. >> I'm sorry, but I just have to delurk to respond to this comment. You're kidding, right? It's just a little thing we like to call "taking the Lord's Name in vain." Anytime "Jesus" or "God" is used as an expletive,(as in "Jesus, that's cold!) it is considered blasphemy. BTW, I liked this story. I'm a big X-Files fan, and I enjoyed the interplay between the two couples. The *misunderstanding* with Lois and Scully made me cringe a little, but it didn't really bother me. Piper ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 02:33:35 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Alexis W." Subject: Kerths rehearsal? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi... I was wondering if there is going to be another Kerth rehearsal? And if there is, can we suggest a day and a time that would work for us? I would really like to attend one of those (I mean I don't even know what I'm presenting yet! LOL). BTW, only two people have responded to my...ur I mean Clark's plea! Please email me your SN and stuff if you would like Clark Kent to interview you at the Awards show! Thanks, Alexis ;-.) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 03:30:16 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Hazel Subject: Fanfic recommendation (for those with time to breathe) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" For those of you have finished voting for the Kerths and actually have time to read fanfic (I know that I haven't managed to get to the message boards for a while now, and I imagine that many of you are in the same predicament!), I would like to recommend "The Revenge of Ultrawoman," by Ultrawoman Lane, a new author on the archive. I'm always impressed to see a well-written first person POV, and this one is SO in character for Lois that I found it to hysterically funny! It's not exactly a short vignette, but it reads very quickly. I think you'll enjoy it -- I know *I* did. :) Hazel ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 10:29:39 +0000 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: Fanfic recommendation (for those with time to breathe) In-Reply-To: <3.0.6.32.20000313102840.0090e9d0@actcom.co.il> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII I'd like to agree with Hazel - I read this last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Very, very funny and the characterisation is spot on. Wendy On Mon, 13 Mar 2000 03:30:16 -0500 Hazel wrote: > For those of you have finished voting for the Kerths and > actually have time to read fanfic (I know that I haven't > managed to get to the message boards for a while now, and I > imagine that many of you are in the same predicament!), I > would like to recommend "The Revenge of Ultrawoman," > by Ultrawoman Lane, a new author on the archive. I'm always > impressed to see a well-written first person POV, and this > one is SO in character for Lois that I found it to > hysterically funny! It's not exactly a short vignette, but > it reads very quickly. I think you'll enjoy it -- I know > *I* did. :) > > Hazel ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 10:32:02 +0000 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: IRC Tutorial (was Re: Volunteers Needed -- Kerth Award Ceremony) In-Reply-To: <00d201bf8c96$7f179c20$725ffdcd@pavilion> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Sun, 12 Mar 2000 20:47:37 -0600 Pat wrote: > Wendy, if a tutorial is arranged, could you please post the > information to the lists as well? I have a feeling that > "...if you build it, they will come." might well apply here > ;) Pat, what I meant was that if a tutorial was to be arranged, I knew that those arrangments would certainly be posted on this list by whoever was organising it. I undertook to cross-post this to the message boards. Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 06:32:54 EST 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: SIP: Connections - part 17 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi -- Here's the next part. I'd like to know what you think, although I guess many people are busy catching up on Kerth reading. This time, I've included the last paragraph from part 16 because part 16 bisected this scene. Carol -------- Connections, part 17 "Quick. Down here," Trask called as he pursued the trio into a narrow, trash can alley which ran behind the Planet, separating it by just yards from a tall parking garage. Then he stopped and swore softly. "I knew it!" Lois watched, amazed as first Sara and then the two men leaped upward, Clark this time not bothering to change into the Superman costume. As they rose between the two buildings, Lois felt her heart race. It was true, then; he was not alone. Trask had been right all along. Shocked, she whispered his name breathlessly, "Clark -- Clark." All of a sudden he was there beside her, looking at her anxiously. "Lois! I heard you call my name." Ching swooped down beside them, followed by Sara. "My lord, we don't have time for this woman." Clark turned on him, biting out the words. "We have time." Sara put her hand on Clark's arm and looked at him, her eyes pleading. "Forget her, Kal." Trask, with the finesse of someone who'd spent too long skulking in the basements of the FBI, said, "So, alien, the others have finally joined you. I figured it wouldn't be long." Clark now took more careful notice of the thick necked man who hovered pugnaciously beside Lois Lane and who was now speaking into a cell phone, calling for back up. "Who are you?" "We've been watching you, alien, waiting for you and the others to make your move." "We?" "The government." Sara spoke up, anxious to get out of this place, to get back to the ship, and back to her children. "We mean no harm here. Tell your government that. We return today to our home planet. We have been searching for Kal El and now we've found him." Looking directly at Trask, she repeated firmly, "We mean no harm." Lois was silent, listening to it all. Once again, everything she had thought was being turned upside down. Clark was Kal El. He was only here temporarily; now he would be going back, wherever that was, with Sara and this man who stood at her side. She felt herself go hollow inside, as though something joyful had died. All of a sudden she was very cold, the January dampness cutting through her thin jacket, and she shivered. Last night had just been a date, without much meaning for him, a bit of entertainment before he left, an interlude. For some reason, his being an alien, as Trask put it, had never seemed real to her -- Superman had never seemed real; but Clark Kent was real -- so tangible that her heart had forgotten everything it had ever learned and had opened once again to trust and hope. Aware that he was watching her, she lifted her eyes to meet his, trying to see him as he really was, as this Kal El who belonged to a world not her own. Clark looked at Lois, trying to read the expression on her face, feeling her confusion, trying to sort out his own confusion as he absorbed Trask's presence and all that might mean. Then he did the first thing that crossed his mind. He grabbed Lois. "Zara, I'll meet you later," he said quickly as he tightened his hold on Lois's waist and shot upwards between the narrow banks of dark brick until they reached the sunlight. Once they'd gained some altitude, far enough above the skyscrapers of Metropolis, he spoke. "Are you warm enough?" Lois looked at him wide-eyed, incredulous. They were flying! The cold air brushed her face while the city of Metropolis lay much diminished below her, spread out like a haphazard quilt bisected by the Hobbs River. "Yes. Why is that? I should be freezing." He smiled and shook his head, letting her know he didn't know the answer. "We have to talk, Lois. I have to explain." Then with a penetrating look, he added, "Maybe you do, too." Seconds later he landed on the flat roof of Metropolis's newest building, Luthor Tower, a structure which thrust upwards beyond its neighbours, dominating the skyscape so that it had command of the city. Carefully, Clark released his hold on her, steadying her as her feet touched the gravel surface. Then they both stared at each for a long moment. "You first," Lois finally said, shivering slightly in the cold north wind which skimmed across the tower's surface. He noticed it and removed his coat, draping it gently around her shoulders, quelling her protests. "I don't feel the extremes of temperature the same way you do." "Oh. Does that mean you don't feel sensations when you touch something?" She couldn't believe it -- her emotions were reeling and yet there was some remote part of her that could still ask trivial questions. "No!" he protested, thinking of how just a light touch of her hand on his did things to him he'd never thought possible. He spoke haltingly, shifting his body so that it deflected the wind from her. "I do ...feel things." He paused and then continued. "I was going to tell you. Something's happened but I don't know what yet. I had two days. Just two days. I wanted to spend them with you," he looked at her, his eyes intense. "I wanted two normal days with you before I told you," he repeated softly as though those days were an elusive dream. The wistfulness in his voice brought Lois back from the shock which had rippled through her on seeing him with Sara and their companion. Now she looked at him, sensing how much he'd wanted those days. She wanted them too. Reluctantly, instinctively, her hand touched his chest, reaffirming whatever it was that lay between them. At that moment she was profoundly uncertain about what that was. She hadn't known him long -- was it possible to fall in love so quickly? But whatever her feelings for him were, maybe because of those feelings, she was deeply upset and confused by what had just happened. Still, why should she think that on the basis of so short an aquaintance, he would be prepared to change his life for her? "Who are they, Clark? Who are you?" But her tone was not angry or hostile, instead it was curious, soft with the wonder of strange things in a strange universe which she so little understood. He covered her hand with his and lowered it, then took her other hand as he answered. "They come from a planet called New Krypton, not in our solar system. They arrived last week, just before I met you. At least, that's when they let me know who they were -- they've been here for over a month, now." "Watching you," Lois added, feeling a little uncomfortable, reminded of her own surveillance of him. "That's why Sara was at the Planet. But why? Why not just pick you up and head back to this New Krypton? Clark, I have to ask this. Are they planning something more hostile -- are they planning an invasion of Earth?" Boy, did that sound weird, she thought but it was a serious question and she searched his face for the truth as he answered. "No. They want me to go back with them but first they wanted to ... to judge me -- see if I had the ability to ... to lead them." He dropped her hands to gesture his incredulity at the sound of this. "Oh ... to lead them ... uh huh," she narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, conveying her skepticism. "You don't think I could?" "Clark, it sounds so farfetched." "I'm a little farfetched, Lois," he said with dignity. "Okay, let's say for the sake of argument, that you are." She ignored the quizzical rise in his eyebrows at her comment but she did wonder why she wasn't more accepting of what he was saying. Why couldn't she let him go? It was almost like she was trying to talk him out of all this. "Why you? Why come all the way across a galaxy or whatever to search for you? And why are *you* here in the first place?" "They told me I came from the planet Krypton, the mother planet of New Krypton. It," he took a deep breath, "it was destroyed in a massive explosion just before I was sent to earth in a space capsule by my parents." "Yes," she said thoughtfully, "I've seen it." "What?" "I've seen your space capsule. Clark, Trask has it. You've never seen it have you?" she added, suddenly overwhelmed with compassion for all the things he did not know about himself. "That's not possible, Lois. I *have* seen it -- Zara and Ching found it and brought it aboard their ship." "When was this?" Lois spoke slowly, trying to figure out what was going on. "I saw the ship this morning. Have Zara and Ching taken it from Trask?" "I saw it late last night ... after our date." He hestitaed over the phrase, reluctant to dwell on what he now feared might be the truth about last night. "Lois, who *is* Trask? And why would he fake a copy of my ship?" He stopped speaking and then framed his next words very carefully. "And how is it that you know this?" Lois met his gaze directly. "I guess there are things we've both kept secret. But, Clark, I don't think Trask's ship is a fake. Maybe Zara and Ching have the fake ship." He looked at her stubbornly, not wanting to believe that Zara would deceive him. "She's my kin, Lois." "Your kin -- what does that mean exactly?" "We're distant cousins and ... we're married." He might as well tell her everything, he figured. "There's a power struggle between two rival noble families on New Krypton and they figure I can help. I'm the heir of one of those families." Lois listened incredulously and picked on the most important, at least to her way of thinking, bit of information in his list. "Married? I thought you just met her," and silently added, She narrowed her eyes again, the history of millennia of exploited Earth women reflected in the glitter of her eyes, not to mention her personal memories of a father who had walked out the door and a lover who had left her alone. Clark saw it. "It's not like that, Lois. The marriage was arranged at birth -- before I was sent away. It's Kryptonian custom among noble families." "This New Krypton isn't exactly in the forefront of modern societies, is it?" Lois said sarcastically. "I mean, arranged marriages and inbreeding." Then she sobered, her voice a monotone. "So, you're going back with her to live your life on New Krypton?" "No! But I promised Zara that I would return until the succession is settled. Lois, they are my people -- I have to help them." The grimness is his tone softened as he continued, a plea in his dark eyes which he didn't feel he had the right to make. "Then I return home." "Clark, what if Zara is lying to you?" Lois shifted to her earlier question. "I don't believe that, Lois. And how is it that *you've* seen this ship that Trask has?" he added, an edge of suspicion in his voice, as he returned to his earlier question. Lois averted her eyes from his, not wanting to tell him of her involvement with Trask. "I see," his voice was toneless, devoid of emotion. "Who does Trask work with, Lois? Is he military? Are you working for them? Is that what you've been doing this last week -- keeping an eye on the alien?" he added bitterly as everything he'd dreamed of suddenly evaporated. She wasn't his; the Lois of this world was just one more person on the other side of that barrier which kept him in permanent quarantine. Lois was aware of the hammering in her chest, of her rapid breathing as she fought to suppress the hot sting of tears building beneath her eyelids. "It's not like that, Clark Kent. I'm the best friend you've got right now. I'm not the one manoeuvring to abduct you to some space-rock on the far side of nowhere. I'm not the one who cheerfully had dinner with me, all the time knowing he had some wife stashed away in hypersapce or however it is you so neatly compartmentalize your life." She was furious, her voice blistering as she fought her rising panic at the glittering coldness in his eyes, and the anger that he had not cared enough or trusted her enough to tell her about Sara and New Krypton, and the fear that she would never see him again. "So you *are* working with Trask!" He flung the accusation at her, his sense of betrayal mounting. "I thought I knew you, Lois Lane. I don't know you at all!" How could he have been so naive as to think that just because there was another Lois Lane in another reality who loved her Clark Kent, that the Lois Lane of this world would love him. There were enough differences betweeen the two worlds that he should have realized that this would be another of them. She was a government agent, a spy for a government who, in spite of all he had done this past year, did not trust him. He did not belong here. He would leave for New Krypton, he would accept this marriage with Zara, and forget that for a few brief days he'd felt what it was to love someone to the depths of his being. It'd all been an illusion, a projection of a life he'd wanted so desperately, not anything to do with reality. He'd been a fool. "No, I'm not working with him!" Her denial was emphatic and a lie. "Not exactly," she backtracked. Then defiantly, "I never thought of it that way." "Oh." The coldness was still there and he was as remote to her as a star on the other side of the universe as he snapped, "Exactly what *did* you think you were doing?" She stepped away from the shelter of his tall body into the wind which whipped over the surface of the office tower where they were standing, strands of her hair lashing her face as she looked at him. "I wanted to find out more about you. I told you all this before. The first time I ever heard about you was when I read about you in the paper when I decided to come back to Metropolis. There was a picture of you. And I couldn't believe it, Clark." She looked at him defiantly, not ashamed of her first reaction. "Why would I believe it? I figured you were a fake and," she swallowed before continuing, her voice rising in indignation, "and you worked at the Planet -- *my* old paper." Arms crossed and feet planted firmly apart, he flung out his next question, the one he really cared about. "Where does Trask fit in?" How could she ever have thought he was so gentle, she wondered as she looked at this impassive man before her, his jaw somehow more rigid and his eyes dangerously narrowed as he looked at her. "I came to the Planet, hoping to get my old job back but no one knew who I was. As I was leaving I literally bumped into Trask -- he'd been watching you." "So you took over for him!" She set her mouth stubbornly. "Yes." "And that was why you were in my dad's barn?" The coldness in his voice had given away to bleakness, betraying his sense of loss. That night they'd met, it'd seemed like a miracle, but he'd been wrong. "Yes -- and then everything changed," she said simply, meeting his eyes, betraying her hope that she was wrong about him and that maybe he did care. "Lois, I'd like to believe that but I don't see how I can." "No, I suppose not." In a way she understood. Who was she anyway? -- someone who'd just popped into his life a week ago. Then she realized she wasn't the only one who'd just popped into his life. "But you believe Zara," she said slowly, matter-of-factly, glaring at him. Finally, the shadow of his normal self reappeared. "When you put it that way..." "Have faith in me, Clark. I could never do anything that would harm you." When he said nothing, her temper flared again. "Fine. Go then. Don't even look at the evidence. I don't know you either, Clark Kent. I thought there was something between us. And I thought you were a reporter. So be a reporter -- go on, investigate!" She turned her head, looking for some way off the stupid roof of this buiding besides the one that depended on him. How dare he pick her up like that in the first place! Spotting the entrance to the top floor, she stormed in that direction, her strides long, decisive. Rule number 3: Never get involved with space aliens. Clark watched her for a moment, trying to calm down, fighting to reassert reason over the passion which was currently using his soul as a punching bag. Had last night be an act -- had she played up to some need he'd inadevertently let her see? He remembered how incredible she'd felt in his arms and how she'd responded to him, his resentment surfacing again as he decided it had all been a game for her. Then he remembered how she'd tried to warn him off getting involved with her. What had that been about it if she had meant to entrap him? Why should he believe her? How could there be any innocent explanation for her working with Trask? Yet why should Lois Lane, after just one week, decide that Clark Kent was the centre of her universe? And she had a point -- why should he believe Zara? All along, he'd felt uneasy about Ching -- maybe the two of them were just playing some intragalactic form of "good cop - bad cop." He gazed out over the city of Metroplois -- its traffic and buildings and open spaces -- the few parks and the wasted blocks of rubble in those districts of the city which had fallen victim to decay, vandalism or the periodic riots which had struck the city over the last few years. The city was dirty, and corrupt, edged with a grey violence; but it was also alive, and surging with an energy that made him believe that one day it would be a better place. Whatever he was; he was partly what this city was, and what Martha and Jonathan Kent had been, and maybe he just might also be what Lois Lane was. He watched her defiant strides propel her closer to the door that would take her down to the top floor of the Luthor Tower and out of his life forever. Was that what he wanted? In a blur, he was standing in front of her, blocking her entrance to that exit door. "All right, Ms. Lane." He wasn't yet ready to make any kind of commitment to this unknown quantity in front of him, beyond that of professional colleague. He wasn't yet sure if he could trust her but he didn't want her out of his life, either. "Where do you suggest we start?" Lois looked at him, unconsciuosly standing as tall as she could manage, her hostility still there beneath the surface. She took a deep breath. "Come with me, Superman -- see what Trask has and make up your own mind." He looked at her for a long moment, sparring with the renewal of hope which was slowing uncurling in his soul, telling himself to be careful. "All right -- show me what Trask has got." Quickly he spun into the Superman suit, then took a tentative step toward her, cautious now in how he touched her, willing himself to keep his face impersonal. Lois saw it and understood that the barrier was still there between them. Fine -- she could handle that. This was strictly business. She allowed herself to be gripped around the waist, saying as they drifted upward. "It's stored at Bureau 39 Headquarters, over on Grant and 33rd." ------ end part 17 ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 07:32:59 -0500 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: SIP: Connections - part 17 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Carol, I am *definitely* still paying attention... I'm waiting breathlessly for every installment, in fact! :) s p o i l e r s p a c e This followed very logically... their sense of connection is sorely tried by the dual revelation of their secrets, but they're still talking (I loved that he grabbed her and flew off--nice demonstration of priorities ), and Clark isn't willing to give up on her, so that's good... I can't wait to see what's going to happen next!! -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "Well, I try to save a life a day. Usually, it's my own." --John Chricton, on Farscape. "You have no idea how little I care about blown spume." "Actually, it's 'flung spume' and 'blown spray', but I think I like your version better." --Dana & Dan discuss yachting, on SportsNight ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 08:02:05 -0500 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: Kerth Ceremony Update MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey all... Things are going pretty well, thanks for asking :) I have 16 presenters, and 17 categories. If no one else is interested, I can easily present the remaining category myself, so that's fine. If, however, anyone out there still wants to volunteer, we might well be able to fit you in. We still need a Master/Mistress of Ceremonies. This is a bigger job so I reserve the right to be a little picky about who gets it :) but it's not that hard. It mainly requires an ability to follow the script and keep things moving along; comical patter is an optional extra :) In other words, you don't need to be Billy Crystal. (Although, if he's free...) I also need some more commercials. This has been a fun part of the tradition -- big awards shows, after all, tend to have fancy commercials. check out the "Commercial Break" from the first ceremony, or read last year's ceremony log I have some (thanks, Paul!), but not enough, so break out your thinking caps, please :) I will match up presenters with categories this week (Alexis, since you asked, I thought I'd give you Best Comedy :) and send out e-mail to everyone who's signed up. I do plan to have a practice, and it will probably be Saturday night the 18th; a week before the ceremony. Does that cover it? :) -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "Well, I try to save a life a day. Usually, it's my own." --John Chricton, on Farscape. "You have no idea how little I care about blown spume." "Actually, it's 'flung spume' and 'blown spray', but I think I like your version better." --Dana & Dan discuss yachting, on SportsNight ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 08:09:33 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Susan VanCott Subject: Re: NEW: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Respectfully, after reading the comments about the language and implied slash > elements, I will probably wait until you send your "cleaned up" version to > the archives. I look forward to reading it, being a fan of both shows. > However, I will pipe up and offer my views... the most offensive language to > me is the use of the Lord's name as a swear or slang word. I think most L&C > writers are cautious about that, as well as other words. I am always a bit > surprised to read any swear words in a fic, as they, to me, are not in > character for L&C. Granted, Lois frequently used OMG, and that bothered me > too. Well, if you have a problem with it in the show, how could you expect otherwise than to have a problem with the fanfiction based on the show? I don't believe that the offensiveness of OMG can be discussed on this list, since it is completely justified from the show. And as for the "cleaned up" version, when I suggested that, I meant that I would edit out the language which is apparently offensive to several people. I do *not* intend to take out any element of "slash." After all, this is *not* a slash story. The only slash relationship is a very clean one with nothing more offensive between the two characters-- Maggie Sawyer and her girlfriend Toby-- than can be seen in Superman comics. And *is* seen in Superman comics. Even those of you who aren't devoted readers may have picked up an issue of The Wedding Album. Remember those two? The two girls at Lois' bridal shower with their arms around each other? And despite what you may see from rumors, Lois is not involved in any sort of slash-- even if I dared post a story with a few offensive words, I know better than to attempt to post *that* to the list. As Yvonne pointed out earlier, the characters of X-Files do swear. I regret not putting in a content warning at the beginning of the story, and I apologize for my lapse. I honestly had no idea that this would offend people at all. I merely chose the language that I felt would be most effective. I'm sure you can all see that "Darn you to heck!" and "Great scott!" don't exactly get the desired reaction. I used these words because I didn't want to use any less. Again, I'm sorry if I offended you. Quite honestly, I have to say that *I'm* a little shocked at recieving such a hostile reaction to a few careless words, but if it bothers you, I'll keep it to myself and **** out or edit out certain comments for the archive. My original version will remain on my personal website. http://www.angelfire.com/ny/loisclark/fanfic.html Susan ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 08:35:31 EST 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: SIP: Connections - part 17 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit What I think at this particular moment is I/we need to thank you for being so prompt in posting new parts to your eagerly awaiting and getting more and more anxious readers. It's monday at 8:45 am BTW and that's when I get my e-mail and I'm eagerly looking forward to reading this chapter tonight after I get home from my job. So 'As the tension builds...... (BG) Charlotte ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 08:38:46 EST 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: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Susan, I'm only going to comment on the story. I liked it and found it not at all confusing even though I've never watched an X-files episode. I've read enough about the show to follow the plot without any trouble. Your work isn't 'mainstream' Lois and Clark, but it's good. Charlotte ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 08:46:19 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Gerry Anklewicz Subject: Re: Fanfic recommendation (for those with time to breathe) In-Reply-To: <3.0.6.32.20000313102840.0090e9d0@actcom.co.il> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit I'd like to agree with Hazel. I got a big kick out of reading Ultrawoman's Revenge. Gerry ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 14:56:20 +0100 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: SIP: Connections - part 17 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Carol, I'm not only still paying attention, I'm impatiently awaiting every new part of the story. I loved part 17! * * * S P O I L E R * S P A C E * * * At the end of part 16 I was really getting nervous. Not only did I think that Clark was indeed going to leave with Ching and Zara without even having the time to explain everything to Lois, I also thought she was going to believe Trask's hostile Alien-invasion theory! > Then he did the first thing that crossed > his mind. He grabbed Lois. "Zara, I'll meet you later," he said quickly as > he tightened his hold on Lois's waist and shot upwards between the narrow > banks of dark brick until they reached the sunlight. Well done, Clark! I love it when his heart makes the decisions for him :-) > "I was going to tell you. Something's happened > but I don't know what yet. I had two days. Just two days. I wanted to > spend them with you," he looked at her, his eyes intense. "I wanted two > normal days with you before I told you," he repeated softly as though those > days were an elusive dream. Awwww! That is so sweet! And so Clark! > The grimness is > his tone softened as he continued, a plea in his dark eyes which he didn't > feel he had the right to make. "Then I return home." And again: Awwww! My heart is truly breaking for him! He's so noble and sweet and wonderful and I know exactly how his brown eyes look at that moment and if Lois isn't made of stone, I know she just *can't* resist. Who could? > She was furious, her voice blistering as > she fought her rising panic at the glittering coldness in his eyes, and the > anger that he had not cared enough or trusted her enough to tell her about > Sara and New Krypton, and the fear that she would never see him again. And that's typical for Clark, too. He always want her to understand, but is very ready to jump to false conclusions. I love how Lois reacts with anger, but recognizing it as mostly being the fear of losing him. That also means that she is much more aware of her own feelings than "our" Lois was at the beginning of Lois' and Clark's aquaintance, isn't it? This Lois here refuses to betray herself. She knows what she feels for Clark and even if she's not really sure if it is good for her, she doesn't deny it. > She turned her head, looking for some way > off the stupid roof of this buiding besides the one that depended on him. > How dare he pick her up like that in the first place! Spotting the entrance > to the top floor, she stormed in that direction, her strides long, decisive. > Rule number 3: Never get involved with space aliens. Well and here we have the proof that both Lois are still very similar! LOL > He remembered how incredible she'd felt in his > arms and how she'd responded to him, his resentment surfacing again as he > decided it had all been a game for her. Then he remembered how she'd tried > to warn him off getting involved with her. What had that been about it if > she had meant to entrap him? Yes! That's my boy! Start using your brain, Clark. How can you trust Zara and mistrust Lois? No, don't answer that. Rhetorical question :-) Oh, I hope so much he hasn't go to New Krypton! Nicole -- AKA CKgroupie on IRC NKWolke@eifel-net.net Are you always searching for news about Dean Cain? And don't you have the time to go and find them? Here's your solution: Go to "The Dean Cain News Page" http://members.tripod.de/CKgroupie/ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 08:55:36 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Gerry Anklewicz Subject: Re: NEW: Your Little Secret (7/7) In-Reply-To: <2f.28be9bf.25fe4966@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Interesting premise for a story Susan. I enjoyed it. I just don't see Mulder and Scully getting together any time for any reason. They don't have Lois and Clark's chemistry. (IMHO) I'd also like to add my two cents in about the langauge in My Little Secret. As a high school teacher of creative writing, I teach my students that the language has to be appropriate to the situations and the characters they write about. I've never heard the Mulder and Scully use the f-word, but if they do then it is appropriate to the show, then it is appropriate to them. The other thing that I teach my students is that they have to be aware of their audience. So, Susan, the question you have to grapple with is do you want to keep your story true to the plot and the characters or do you want to appease your audience? Your choice. Gerry ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 14:17:51 +0000 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: Your Little Secret: a GE's view In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII I've come to this discussion late since I didn't read this story over the weekend as many list-members clearly did. I've now read it, and the discussion surrounding it, and I find some of the differing views interesting - especially when I start to consider how I would react to this story were I editing it for the Archive. First, Susan, I want to say that I love your writing; I've told you that one several occasions, and I'm delighted that 'Blanket Friends' is on the Kerth shortlist as it's a persona favourite of mine. This story is a little different from your usual work since it's a crossover - a crossover with a TV programme I don't watch, but it's a compliment to you that not once did I find myself wondering what was going on, or find it hard to work out the relationship between Mulder and Scully. I thought the story had some very funny moments and I enjoyed it very much, especially the WAFFy ending. Some of the humorous dialogue has already been commented on, but I also liked the exchange between Lois and Clark after Mulder had appeared on the scene, Clark's comments in respect of the Apollo Hotel, Scully's 'foot in mouth' in respect of Maggie's partner and *that* bedroom scene. Someone - Charlotte? - suggested that your interpretation of Lois and Clark is not mainstream, but I don't have any difficulty accepting them as the same Lois and Clark I saw on TV. Okay, as a GE I'd have to ask you to tone down the language - at least to asterisk out, wholly or partially, the F-words. That's not from any personal disapproval of the use of the words, and I speak as someone who hears that word used around me pretty frequently, including by work colleagues. It may be used in X-Files, but X-Files tends to be screened rather later than L&C was. So it's a question of appropriateness for a PG-13 rating rather than offensiveness. And I'm speaking as someone who was asked by an editor to reduce the number of times I used the word 'damn' in 'An Ordinary Man,' to comply with a PG-13 rating (no hard feelings, Erin ). With regard to that use of 'Jesus,' my reaction was simply that I've never heard Lois say that in the series, so it just sounded not in character. I had pretty much the same reaction to it as I do with fics where Clark calls Lois 'baby' - it just sounds 'wrong.' Not offensive. As for the so-called 'slash' elements, I personally didn't feel that the nature of Mulder's misconception gave this story too 'adult' a theme. I don't know what it's like in the US, but over here our main soap operas, running between 7pm and 8.30pm in the evenings, all have gay characters. Homosexuality is discussed - though not in any way explicitly - and at a time when under-13s will be watching. These soaps have all screened lesbian/gay kisses. Some of you will know that I recently posted on the MBS an 'alternate ending' to one of my stories, which ended up having a potentially gay theme; I joked that if I took the story any further I'd have to take it to a slash website. That led to a discussion of what is considered 'slash' and what ratings would be assigned to slash themes. It seems to be considered, in fandoms generally, that anything beyond hand-holding is into the realms of NC17 or R-ratings. But I think that such a ratings consideration may be as much because the point of a slash story is that characters we don't *expect* to be gay are portrayed as engaged in a same-sex relationship, as because of the presence of a gay kiss. Anyway, Susan had none of these elements in her story, so as a GE I would have no difficulty in rating it as PG-13, as long as the language was toned down a little. Susan, you referred to LabRat's stories, especially Sugar and Spice. As Archive editors we do have certain rules-of-thumb to work to when deciding what should go and what should stay in erotic scenes; and we have Kathy for advice when necessary. We try to be consistent in relation to the rules we apply. I didn't edit any of LabRat's stories for the Archive, but I have read the PG-13 versions and I haven't seen anything in them which would make me wonder about their rating. So, LabRat, if you've read this, please don't panic! Soory; this has been a lot longer than I intended! Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 10:54:36 -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: Redemption - Tear Jerker Alert Comments: To: "Irene D." WOW Irene! Redemption is GOOD!!!! You brought tears to my eyes more than once. James, who was 'wearing' Rosa in her carrier while reading the part about Claude's son. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 11:49:09 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Alexis W." Subject: Re: Kerth Ceremony Update MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/13/00 8:04:24 AM EST, jernigan@BELLSOUTH.NET writes: << I will match up presenters with categories this week (Alexis, since you asked, I thought I'd give you Best Comedy :) and send out e-mail to everyone who's signed up. I do plan to have a practice, and it will probably be Saturday night the 18th; a week before the ceremony. >> Is there any particular reason why you gave me Best Comedy, Pam? LOL! ;) The 18th is perfect! I won't be busy then. =) Alexis ;-.) "Okay, what's everybody standing around for? This is a newspaper, not happy hour at Buckingham Palace." Perry White, (LnC), THE PILOT. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 11:51:44 -0500 Reply-To: Kath Roden Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kath Roden Subject: Re: SIP: Connections - part 17 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Carol, I am just enjoying the dickens out of this story! S P O I L E R S > "Oh ... to lead them ... uh huh," she narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, > conveying her skepticism. > > "You don't think I could?" > > "Clark, it sounds so farfetched." > > "I'm a little farfetched, Lois," he said with dignity. Great Dialog! sooo in character... :^) > "Have faith in me, Clark. I could never do anything that would harm you." > When he said nothing, her temper flared again. "Fine. Go then. Don't even > look at the evidence. I don't know you either, Clark Kent. I thought there > was something between us. And I thought you were a reporter. So be a > reporter -- go on, investigate!" This is a great turnaround on the series... Lois telling Clark to investigate.. :^D > Rule number 3: Never get involved with space aliens. LOL Lois and her Rules... You've played the building of distrust and tentative truce very well... Can't wait for the next part, keep 'em coming! KathR ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 12:18:31 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alicia Utowski Subject: Re: SIP: Connections - part 17 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Carol, I finally found time this morning to read all 17 parts, and it was such a good read :)... ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 12:20:18 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alicia Utowski Subject: Re: SIP: Connections - part 17 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit oops, i sent my last comment by accident S P O I L E R S P A C E Having Lois work with trask is such an interesting plot twist. It is also interesting to have zara and ching there at the same time. I hope you get them out of this and then together :) Alicia ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 10:36:29 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sheila Harper Subject: Language in fanfic--how real is real MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Okay, as a GE I'd have to ask you to tone down the language > - at least to asterisk out, wholly or partially, the > F-words. It may be used in X-Files, but X-Files tends to > be screened rather later than L&C was. I asked my co-worker, who is almost as much of an X-Phile as I am a FoLC, and she said Scully and Mulder have never used the f-words--not even in the movie. "Damn," "hell," those are used a lot, but not any form of f-words. As a side note, speaking strictly as a writing instructor, language that is used in normal speech is much stronger and more shocking or awkward when used in written language. For example, few of us (Americans, anyway :) would notice Dean's accent to the point that it would make us think he was a stupid Malibu beach boy. Yet, if I transcribe his pronunciation exactly, he ends out sounding like Bill and Ted from the "Bill and Ted's" series of movies: a complete moron. That's because written language is stronger, more potent than speech; the words sit there, glaring at you, and you can return to them again and again, while speech is only a puff of air that's gone in an instant. Anyway, because of that, I have a hard time writing the language that a character would actually use (Drew using the f-word, as a matter of fact, Wendy)--not because I have trouble writing it, but because the actual effect of having a character use that particular word is to brand the character as someone who swears like a sailor--even if he doesn't. It doesn't even require many uses (three in an entire novel could have the same effect) because of the potency of the written word. It's sort of like salt: a pinch is okay--it even brings out the flavors--but a tablespoon will gag you. I haven't addressed the question of audience, and I won't, except to say that the fanfic audience knows how L&C speak, and choosing words that they didn't use in the show is jarring to the audience--even when there's nothing wrong with the words themselves. It becomes a matter of characterization as much as audience expectation. My suggestion for anyone who wants to write with accents or swear words is to write it the way the character would actually say it, and then go in and take out 9 out of every 10 curses or oddly pronounced words. That will leave a reasonable amount to season the character's speech without gagging the reader. Sheila ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 17:58:31 +0000 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: Language in fanfic--how real is real In-Reply-To: <002f01bf8d12$b9a836c0$ce3c0a0a@alapstaff2> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Interesting and thought-provoking post, Sheila (and how *can* you tantalise me by mentioning Drew when you *know* I'm waiting for more?!). I do agree with you on the impact of the written word over the spoken word. > I asked my co-worker, who is almost as much of an X-Phile > as I am a FoLC, and she said Scully and Mulder have never > used the f-words--not even in the movie. "Damn," "hell," > those are used a lot, but not any form of f-words. Here I confess that I have *never* watched the X-files - well, okay, it was on in the background for ten minutes one evening while I was marking essays once! So I have absolutely no idea whether strong language is used in that programme; I was going by what other posters had said about it. It wouldn't have surprised me, since over here after the 9 o'clock watershed the f-word does get used. Not a lot necessarily, and not in every programme, but it's understood by TV audiences that programmes shown after the watershed may contain strong language. *Really* strong stuff, like the drama Queer as Folk (which contained a lot of terms which you normally don't hear on TV), get kept until later still. Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 13:24:07 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Lorie Y. Crisp" Subject: Re: NEW: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 03/12/2000 5:34:03 PM Central Standard Time, sharper@CNCC.CC.CO.US writes: << Nonetheless, that particular word isn't in common usage among the professionals *I* know--in fact, I've never heard it from anyone over the age of 25 who didn't work in TV, a mine or power plant, construction, or some blue-collar or technical occupation. It may be in more general use among high school and college students than among adults born prior to the 70's (which includes all of your characters). However, that's enough on the question of language. >> OK...for some reason I feel compelled to respond to this. I am almost 27, I am a professional, i.e. not in "some blue-collar or technical occupation". I have a college degree, and am in the medical field. I use the "f" word all the time. Not out in public or to strangers, mind you, but around my friends and people i know aren't uncomfortable with it. AND since I am in that field, I know tons of other people like me, who use that word all the time. We're adults....we're allowed to do it. LOL, SuperLorie :-) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 13:41:53 -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: Archive Ratings (was - How real is real) Comments: To: Kaethel 79 If an author gives a story a rating and the GE feels that a stronger rating is required what happens? Part of the reason I ask this is the current thread and because of some of the inconsistancies in the archive. Case in point. Bella's Duo Infernale is rated PG and I found that rating entirely to low for the story's content. I didn't even finish reading it because it was too much for me to stomach. Just Curious, James Also for Kaethel, Kaethel wrote: >Now with the religious thing, I don't like blasphemy (well, I guess no one likes it ), but then I didn't see anything of the sort in "Your little secret"... or then I didn't know that "Jesus" or "God" are considered as blasphemy.< It is not names themselves that are problem, it is how they are used. I personally find it very offensive when someone uses the Lord's name or the Father's name in vain. Even Lois' occasional OMG in the series bothered me. There is a difference between: J*s*s. That's cold. and Oh Jesus give me strength. Even in the fan fic that my wife and I are working on we are bending over backwards in regard to one character's dialog. This person is a Christian and we are trying not to use the Lord's name flippantly. I also must agree with Sheila H. The written word is much stronger. I have found that even having my character call upon the Lord sounds stilted and hyper religious. We are trying to be realistic without having him sound like some J*s*s freak. (Though in the DC Talk album titled: Jesus Freak the use is quite appropriate.) James, who until he came to know Christ didn't realize just how often he used the Lord's name in vain. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 13:55:27 -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: NEW: Your Little Secret (7/7) On Mon, 13 Mar 2000 13:24:07 EST, Lorie Y. Crisp wrote: >OK...for some reason I feel compelled to respond to this. I am almost 27, I >am a professional, i.e. not in "some blue-collar or technical occupation". I >have a college degree, and am in the medical field. I use the "f" word all >the time. Not out in public or to strangers, mind you, but around my friends >and people i know aren't uncomfortable with it. AND since I am in that >field, I know tons of other people like me, who use that word all the time. >We're adults....we're allowed to do it. > >LOL, >SuperLorie :-) I must agree with Lorie. Unfortunately foul language has become more acceptable in a broader range of fields. I am an I.S. professional and hear base language all the time. However, it is usually behind closed doors and among peers. It never seems to go across departmental lines. IMOP, I find it shows a lack of education and social cooth (spelling?) to have to resort to crude language. For Example in 7 days of Superman when Nate Ramsey start to refer to Castro as a 'Commie ba...' (At which point I convieniantly have Olga clear her throat.) I am showing that he is a crass man with little respect for some of his colleages. My wife and I had planned on seeing Good Will Hunting until we found out the level of foul language used. (the F-word is used over 140 times in a 120 minute movie!) Anyway that is my two cents. I do plan to read the story, after it is submitted to the Archive. James ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 19:16:29 +0000 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: Archive Ratings (was - How real is real) In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Mon, 13 Mar 2000 13:41:53 -0500 James Tull wrote: > If an author gives a story a rating and the GE feels that a stronger rating > is required what happens? Authors don't assign ratings; GEs do. If the author disputes the rating, she/he can appeal to the Editor in Chief, whose decision is final. > Case in point. Bella's Duo Infernale is rated PG and I found that rating > entirely to low for the story's content. I didn't even finish reading it > because it was too much for me to stomach. I can't comment on the particular story, but as someone noted earlier, some aspects of content, and therefore ratings, are very subjective. As Lorie just said, there are a variety of opinions as to the acceptability of strong language, for example, though I would agree that the F-word is inappropriate to a PG-13 story. If you think that a particular story should have been rated more highly than it was, that's something you should take up with the Editor in Chief - *privately*. Best wishes, Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards General Editor Lois and Clark Fanfiction Archive w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 14:25:04 -0500 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: Kerth Ceremony Update MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Is there any particular reason why you gave me Best Comedy, Pam? LOL! ;) Well, you're going to be busy with your interviewing gig, so I thought I'd let you get the presenting chores done early and out of your way. Comedy is the first category, so there we are :) Also, hopefully, less chance of a netsplit interrupting... -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "Well, I try to save a life a day. Usually, it's my own." --John Chricton, on Farscape. "You have no idea how little I care about blown spume." "Actually, it's 'flung spume' and 'blown spray', but I think I like your version better." --Dana & Dan discuss yachting, on SportsNight ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 14:48:49 -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: IRC Tutorial (was Re: Volunteers Needed -- Kerth Award Ceremony) Mr. D8a and Lady Loisette are interested. We changed providers and want to make sure we can still attach properly. (Besides except for Kerths and the occasional :) wedding we never IRC.) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 14:53:04 -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: Archive Ratings (was - How real is real) - Apology On Mon, 13 Mar 2000 19:16:29 +0000, Wendy Richards wrote: >If you think that a particular story should have been rated >more highly than it was, that's something you should take >up with the Editor in Chief - *privately*. > > >Best wishes, > > >Wendy You're right Wendy I shouldn't have mentioned by name the author and title of the story. I extend an apology to Bella. James, tail between legs. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 15:26:06 CST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jessi Mounts Subject: Re: Fanfic recommendation (for those with time to breathe) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >For those of you have finished voting for the Kerths and actually have time >to read fanfic (I know that I haven't managed to get to the message boards >for a while now, and I imagine that many of you are in the same >predicament!), I would like to recommend "The Revenge of Ultrawoman," by >Ultrawoman Lane, a new author on the archive. I'm always impressed to see a >well-written first person POV, and this one is SO in character for Lois >that I found it to hysterically funny! It's not exactly a short vignette, >but it reads very quickly. I think you'll enjoy it -- I know *I* did. :) > >Hazel I normally avoid "me too" posts, but in this case I can't resist. This story's fantastic. I'm horribly behind on my Kerth reading, but I read two sentences of Revenge of Ultrawoman, and there went my Kerth reading. Jessi jessi914@hotmail.com ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 16:27:49 -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: Your Little Secret (7/7) On Mon, 13 Mar 2000 08:09:33 EST, Susan VanCott wrote: >Quite honestly, I have to say that *I'm* >a little shocked at recieving such a hostile reaction to a few careless >words, but if it bothers you, I'll keep it to myself and **** out or edit out >certain comments for the archive. Susan, I understand how you could feel defensive given all the discussion your story has generated, but I do think this comment is an overreaction. No one has flamed you on this list, and I honestly don't see hostility in these posts. The vast majority of posters praised your story, then pointed out one thing that they disagreed with (the language). Your story opened up an interesting area for discussion -- what constitutes PG-13 on this listserv -- and gave me the opportunity to clarify the issue. People disagreed with you, yes, and with each other. That is the nature of a discussion list. If authors do not want public comments, or anything besides 100% positive comments, they need to explicitly state this on the top of their story. That's fine, just don't expect as much feedback. As it was, the reviews I saw of your story (including my own) were 95% positive. I'd say that's a pretty darn good 'grade'. Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 22:58:21 +0100 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: NEW: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Susan, I also openly out myself as one of the admirers of your writing. I think, especially considering your age, it's really amazing! To your new story: I've never watched the X-files and I usually don't like crossovers. Since it was such a short story, I read it anyway and I thought the story very amusing, *especially* the slash-part (Lois and Dana), since there was never a question about it being something else as a simple misunderstanding. Neither did the other slash-part, the relationship of Maggie and her girlfriend, bother me at all, since homosexuality is a normal part of our society, seen, written and talked about every day and in all mediums. I wouldn't have liked to read a story where one of the main characters detected homosexual tendencies, since I think that would be totally out of character, but since that wasn't the case, I was okay with the context. The blasphemy-accusation took me totally by surprise and I guess this must be an European/American thing. As we saw, all Folcs who were surprised that a sentence like "Jesus that's cold" should be blasphemy are European. Obviously churches see things much more strictly in the US than we do here, because I can't remember it ever being a topic in public discussions about language or ratings. I did raise my eyebrows about the usage of the F-word though. It's not that I haven't seen it used in movies or books on various times, but not in Lois and Clark Fanfiction and I was surprised to see it there. You wrote, that you did it on purpose, because Scully and Mulder use that kind of language. For what my opinion is worth, I thought an expression as strong as the F-word isn't *absolutely* necessary in this particular scene and you could soften the language a bit, without getting out of character. You wrote "Darn you to heck!" oder "Great Scott!" wouldn't do it (and I agree Never heard of that expressions before :-)), but for example "damn" would be strong, but maybe still be acceptable? Last but not least, I don't think the responses you received were "hostile". All mails I read were indeed full of praise for your story and your writing (and with good reason!). You didn't take an easy way with the story. Then you would have written the 1001st waffy Lois and Clark love-story :-), but you wrote something challenging. That is actually a good thing IMO, but when do something like that, you also have to be ready to accept people putting up the glove you throw at them :-) take care Nicole -- AKA CKgroupie on IRC NKWolke@eifel-net.net Are you always searching for news about Dean Cain? And don't you have the time to go and find them? Here's your solution: Go to "The Dean Cain News Page" http://members.tripod.de/CKgroupie/ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 19:11:15 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Alexis W." Subject: Re: Language in fanfic--how real is real MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I'm working on an nfic (that's almost done! YAY!!!) Anyway both Lois and Clark swear but it's only because they were put in an element that they were not comfortable with. They are not what they seem in my story. When I write LnC fanfic i try to use language that I know both of them and the rest of the supporting characters around them would use. Unless it's a case like this, where they are out of their element and having them use swear words would illustrate that point. Alexis ;-.) "Okay, what's everybody standing around for? This is a newspaper, not happy hour at Buckingham Palace." Perry White, (LnC), THE PILOT. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 19:14:53 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Alexis W." Subject: Re: Kerth Ceremony Update MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/13/00 2:37:23 PM EST, jernigan@BELLSOUTH.NET writes: << Well, you're going to be busy with your interviewing gig, so I thought I'd let you get the presenting chores done early and out of your way. Comedy is the first category, so there we are :) Also, hopefully, less chance of a netsplit interrupting... -- >> Wow me first! LOL! That will give me enough time to go change into my Clark clothes after I'm done! hee hee ;) Alexis ;-.) "Okay, what's everybody standing around for? This is a newspaper, not happy hour at Buckingham Palace." Perry White, (LnC), THE PILOT. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 20:03:27 EST 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: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/13/00 4:54:11 PM Eastern Standard Time, NKWolke@EIFEL-NET.NET writes: << The blasphemy-accusation took me totally by surprise and I guess this must be an European/American thing. As we saw, all Folcs who were surprised that a sentence like "Jesus that's cold" should be blasphemy are European. Obviously churches see things much more strictly in the US than we do here, because I can't remember it ever being a topic in public discussions about language or ratings. >> I agree with Nicole on the European/American difference of opinion with regard to strong language. The acceptable use of strong language is often quite different between European cultures and American culture. The Puritan ethic is still a very strong influence in the US and this is reflected in what is generally considered profanity or blasphemy. Apparently since the Puritans all left Europe early on, there is no influence on European culture from them. Which is why in French, it is pretty acceptable to say "Qu'est-ce que tu fous?", but one would not say in the US, "What the f*** are you doing?" without being considered crude. (adolescents and fairly young adults in informal situations notwithstanding.) As far as the specific language that was used in the story, I think what matters most is, is it in character? Not being a watcher of the X-Files, I honestly don't know. I know that I enjoyed the story, but could have done without the "F" word. As Sheila said, the written word comes across more strongly than the spoken word. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 18:45:07 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "StarKitty :)" Subject: Re: NEW: Your Little Secret (7/7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed You shouldn't do that if you don't really want to. Just because someone is a little sensitive about the language used doesn't mean you should mess with characterizations that work. Feel free to ignore the hostile responses to your story and keep writing the way you want to! btw--I'm catching up on my email tonight and will have a *real* response to your story in a little bit. I'm looking forward to reading it--X-files is one of my favorite shows :) Tara >Again, I'm sorry if I offended you. Quite honestly, I have to say that >*I'm* >a little shocked at recieving such a hostile reaction to a few careless >words, but if it bothers you, I'll keep it to myself and **** out or edit >out >certain comments for the archive. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 22:00:36 EST 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: Your Little Secret (7/7) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/13/00 9:45:24 PM Eastern Standard Time, starkitty__@HOTMAIL.COM writes: << Feel free to ignore the hostile responses to your story and keep writing the way you want to! >> Just another little comment....if my original post (if you can remember which one it was) on this came across as hostile, that was certainly not my intent, nor do I feel that any of the other posts were hostile, as has been so eloquently expressed by several others. We are just discussing, nicely, like we are supposed to ;) As long as we express differences of opinion and beliefs in a calm, orderly, rational, adult manner, there is no reason to take our bat and ball and go home. Like I said before, I think Susan has been handling all of this with amazing maturity for a teenager! Sorry, don't mean to imply that teenagers are not mature....but, ah, well, my two (15 &17) just ended a 10 minute "discussion" over who got to have the dog in their room tonight, so I think I know of where I speak . Kate the unhostile Maryland one ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 19:14:32 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "StarKitty :)" Subject: Re: NEW: Your Little Secret (7/7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed um, delete hostile and insert negative. I sometimes pick more forceful words than I intended on the spur of the moment. Tara >From: Kate Crane >Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" > >To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU >Subject: Re: NEW: Your Little Secret (7/7) >Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 22:00:36 EST > >In a message dated 3/13/00 9:45:24 PM Eastern Standard Time, >starkitty__@HOTMAIL.COM writes: > ><< Feel free to ignore the hostile responses to > your story and keep writing the way you want to! >> > > >Just another little comment....if my original post (if you can remember >which >one it was) on this came across as hostile, that was certainly not my >intent, >nor do I feel that any of the other posts were hostile, as has been so >eloquently expressed by several others. We are just discussing, nicely, >like >we are supposed to ;) As long as we express differences of opinion and >beliefs in a calm, orderly, rational, adult manner, there is no reason to >take our bat and ball and go home. Like I said before, I think Susan has >been handling all of this with amazing maturity for a teenager! Sorry, >don't >mean to imply that teenagers are not mature....but, ah, well, my two (15 >&17) >just ended a 10 minute "discussion" over who got to have the dog in their >room tonight, so I think I know of where I speak . >Kate >the unhostile Maryland one ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 19:17:27 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "StarKitty :)" Subject: Re: NEW: Your Little Secret (7/7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Ok, as promised, I read the story tonight. It is, of course, great! X-Files is one of my favorite shows and I love X-overs :) The swearing thing: Yes, I agree that Fox and Scully don't usually swear that much, but they were in an tense emotional situation and Fox was drunk. I can understand why they might swear a little more than usual in that kind if situation. Tara ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 22:37:58 -0800 Reply-To: J C Bennett Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: J C Bennett Subject: Re: SIP: Connections - part 17 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Still paying attention and anxiously check my email every day. Thank you for the frequent postings ----- Original Message ----- ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 22:47:21 -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: test message - ignore Just a test message ... I'm having trouble posting to the list for some reason (four attempts over the last 24 hours, of the same post) and I wanted to see if this one goes through. Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 23:26:31 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kath Roden Subject: Query This is just a test... Please ignore. Kath ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 22:41:47 -0600 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: FROM LIST MOM: Language Controversy, "Your Little Secret", PG-13 ratings Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" Sorry this post didn't go through yesterday when I typed it. I had some 'technical difficulties' trying to make it go through, as you can see from my test messages. My lesson for the day: When all else fails, ask for help on IRC. ____________ You guys just had to start a controversy, didn't you? I know, I know, you wanted me to really own this list mom job. What sweet kids. OK, here we go ... Language Controversy: Do not use F*ck on this list -- do not use it in stories, and do not use it in your responses to stories, especially without using the stupid little asterisk thing. While the word is acceptable in PG-13 movies, it is not acceptable on network television in the US -- Xfiles does not use it on their shows, and I don't think NYPD Blue has even crossed that line. Thank you for your cooperation. "Blasphemy": Chiara asked why using "Jesus" and "God" as exclamations were considered blasphemy by some people. Easy answer -- it's pretty much the very definition. ;) Check out that pesky Third Commandment. (And yes, it's my most often broken one, too; I say OMG way too often.) However, the use of either "Jesus" or "God" as exclamations are *not* banned from stories. All I would suggest is that authors be aware that some people find the use offensive, and to make their dialogue decisions thoughtfully. Readers, for their part, need to be aware that OMG was used quite often on the show, and thus, should expect that it will occur frequently in fanfic as well. (Personal opinion injection -- "Jesus", as an exclamation, was never used on the show, and I personally find it out of character for either Lois or Clark. However, as someone who has used "baby" in fanfic before, I recognize that there could be differing opinions. ;)) (Personal Pet Peeve -- people that spell it "G-d" in their stories. If you can't write it out without feeling guilty, why in the world are you using it?) PG-13 Ratings: Susan asked if there have ever been guidelines for what is acceptable in PG-13 stories in the Archive or on this list. The answer is yes; in October 1999, I posted some thoughts on the subject. I will copy it below for anyone who missed it or forgot the information. Oh, and in case it hasn't been stated, since I'm now in charge of both this list and the Archive, the same guidelines will apply for both forums. I don't know that Farah's language requirements were any different from the Archive's, but even if they were, I'm not going to have two sets of criteria. Before I forget, I do have some comments on Susan's story, aside from the above language controversy: SPOILERS (skip ahead to the PG-13 post if you don't want to see them): * Very fun story. I enjoyed it very much. :) * Teri is 5'6", not 5'8", assuming you want Lois to be the same height. * In part 3, Scully says they've been partnered for 5 years; later in the same part, Lois comments that Scully/Mulder have been together 6 years, and Mulder does the same in part 5. * I was ROTFL at Lois and Dana in their teddies when Mulder comes in. Yes, it's adult subject matter, but yes, it's PG-13. Regardless, it's hysterical. (And BTW, this isn't the first story to find humor in mistaken sexual orientation -- Bella's "Is He Or Is He Not?" has Lois deducing that Clark and Superman are lovers. ) * Loved Clark internalization about what Mulder said. I could just see his whole body slump as he worried. * I love that Lois and Clark spend occasional nights together, even while 'waiting'. I personally think it's a realistic way of writing them. :) * Great line - "What do you want from me? You want me to rip out my heart and hand it over so you can sautee it with onions and feed it to stray cats?" LOL, destined to be a classic. END SPOILERS :) Now, onto my previous post about PG-13 fanfics, from October 1999. If you have further questions, feel free to ask. It is a difficult subject to quanitify. ______________ Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 21:46:08 -0500 From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: PG13ish and "the line" (This post is beyond PG-13 ) Warning: This message crosses the line between PG-13 and R, but it's the only way I feel I can adequately answer the question. At 6:35 PM -0600 10/1/99, Sheila Harper wrote: > And even though you took out the references to Clark's rear end, >you kept 'naked back,' and I see an 'entered' in here, too." "Oh.... Too >much, huh? Darn.") ROTFL!!! So true, so true ... OK, guys, I'm going to try to do my best to answer this question. I get it a lot -- "what exactly is PG-13 and what am I allowed and not allowed to say?" First off, I want to admit right up front that what the Archive considers PG-13 is not the same thing as the movies. We are more restrictive. TV-14 or TV-M television is more in keeping with our PG-13 ratings. In a PG-13 movie these days, cursing, violence and partial nudity seems to be the norm. In a TV-M show, however, these things are more limited. Let's take a show like NYPD Blue. They may have a few curse words or colorful descriptions in dialogue, but you won't find an "F-word" in the bunch. Nudity is brief when shown, but more often implied. You will commonly see bare limbs peeking out from sheets, and you might occasionally see a nude behind or a breast. You will even occasionally see a simulated sex scene, done most often under a sheet, but every once in awhile, shown in profile with strategically placed limbs covering the essentials. What you won't see, however, is concentrated, specific foreplay -- say, a man stimulating a woman's nipples (see, this is where we go into R ), or hands dipping below the waist. To be more specific to L&C, here are some flags for me: Swearing: This is where we differ most from PG-13 movies. I don't mind the occasional curse word from a side character, especially when it's *in* character. What I'm less pleased with is when Lois or Clark (or any of the other main players) is swearing a blue streak. I suggest to authors in this case that they look to the show itself to guide their dialogue -- Lois and Perry uttered the occasional "hell" and "damn", but no one ever went beyond this. To give some specific examples, in the recent "Timeless", a street thief hisses "bitch!" when a woman hurts him during his attack. I find that completely appropriate. However, in another story submitted once, a teenage Lois was cursing in every other paragraph. That may be the author's view of the way teenagers talk, but I didn't feel it was appropriate for the Archive, and I asked the author to rework it. Sex: As I said above, specific descriptions are my biggest flags. You can say "the curve of her breast", but when you get into "he cupped her naked flesh and teased the nipple", I'm going to nix you. Same with describing sex itself -- you can say "they made love slowly (passionately, etc.)" but when you move into "he entered her slowly" -- nada. Other flag words -- erection, orgasm ... well, you get the idea. Non-sexual nudity isn't usually a problem. Heck, you could even have Lois join Clark in the shower ... as long as you leave it at the innuendo of what happens next. Sexual arousal -- if you have one of them getting very warm, no problem; putting a towel over the swim suit to cover 'evidence', I'll probably let it go. But when you start describing the 'bulge' in detail, I'll likely be pulling you back. Violence: This is the hardest one for me to verbalize. Fortunately (for me), we don't have too many violent stories. For the most part, I go by what we see on TV ... if a story has the violence level from a typical L&C episode, no problem. If we extend into "NYPD Blue" violence, I'll give the story a PG-13 rating and maybe work a mention to mature themes into the description, but I won't deny the story. I honestly can't remember denying a story based on violence, though I did ask Jeff to tone down the climax scene a bit in "Oh Give Me A Home". (The whole "cut the unborn baby out of the mother" thing just went a bit too far for me. ) Appropriate-ness: This is my catch all "I reserve the right to deny the submission of any story" category. There are simply some stories that I find offensive and don't see a benefit to them being on the Archive. The violence or sex itself might not be over the line, but IMO, the story is distasteful. This does not happen very often (thank goodness). The best I can do is give one example -- there is a story on the Archive, uploaded before my team took over, where Dan visits Lois, finds out she's married to Clark, freaks out and beats her up. The whole story is 3K, and I find it pointless and offensive. If that story were submitted to me, it would have been returned to the author. So, how's that? Did I answer the question? If you need any further info, please ask! I'm happy to help out in whatever way I can. Kathy (to summarize this entire post in 7 words -- 'naked back' is fine, 'entered' is not ;)) -- ______________________ Kathy Brown kathybrown91@home.com kathyb@lcfanfic.com KathyB on IRC ______________________ ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 00:02:39 -0800 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: OT: Just Curious about some FOLCS MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Everyone! I was just curious and I wanted to know if any of you guys lived in the southern part of the United States, like Georgia (where I'm from) or South Carolina (where I live near). You can e-mail me privately at supergirl511@hotmail.com. Thank you very much. Love, Misty ' With a mind like that, you missed a big career in game shows.'- Tempus ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 07:45:43 +1100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jenny or Joe Stosser Subject: swearing? (was:Re: Archive Ratings (was - How real is real) In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 01:41 PM 13/03/2000 -0500, James Tull wrote: >There is a difference between: >J*s*s. That's cold. >and >Oh Jesus give me strength. And there would be a difference between your use of the latter and, if I was to use it (which would be unlikely), mine; given that I don't believe that Jesus is someone that praying to would make any difference. Mostly, I try to restrain myself to the "shortened form" of Geez! Except when I'm really really angry at idiot drivers out there (And by the way, where/when *do* kids learn swear words? David at age 7 LOVES calling people (male OR female), things, and occasions um.... fornicating she-dogs - if you know what I mean. I have NO idea where he got the phrase from, but asking him to refrain makes no difference, unless it is to encourage him to use the phrase more often! Jen jenerator@ozemail.com.au -*-This message is umop ap!sdn (Jenerator or Some1Else on IRC) -*- JenerEight on AIM -*- ICQ: 11477318 Photos of David (7) and Megan (4) on the Stosser Family HomePage: http://geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/4583 Please sign our guestbook! ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 16:05:28 +1100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jenny or Joe Stosser Subject: Re: FROM LIST MOM: Language Controversy, "Your Little Secret", PG-13 ratings In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 10:41 PM 13/03/2000 -0600, Kathy Brown wrote: >(Personal Pet Peeve -- people that spell it "G-d" in their stories. If you >can't write it out without feeling guilty, why in the world are you using >it?) Kathy, I don't know whether non-Jewish people use "G-d" for the full word. The reason we (Jews) are taught to use this, is that if you use the full spelling, it makes the page on which it is printed (screen on which it appears?) holy, and that this paper must never be disposed of as regular paper might be, but, like the Holy Books including prayer books and Torah scrolls which become damaged beyond repair, must be buried. Using the "G-d" spelling lets us around that. (In Hebrew, religious Jews never use the full name, or even pronounce it as the word that goes before "Witnesses" but instead use the word "HaShem" which translates directly as "The Name", again to avoid the concept of taking The Name in vain. Jen jenerator@ozemail.com.au -*-This message is umop ap!sdn (Jenerator or Some1Else on IRC) -*- JenerEight on AIM -*- ICQ: 11477318 Photos of David (7) and Megan (4) on the Stosser Family HomePage: http://geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/4583 Please sign our guestbook! ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 00:09:15 -0800 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 need help with my fic! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Greetings to everyone! Help!!!!!! This is driving me insane. I don't know if any of you guys remember, but I posted three parts of my fic here a few months ago. It was called 'Discoveries and Betrayals'. Well, I have a major case of writers block. I need help with some characters and possibly more. I have three parts so far, so I'm not terribly hopeless. If you guys can help me, I will be forever grateful. Writer's block is a very bad thing. I'm sure you guys can relate! Love,Misty ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 00:17:53 -0800 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: Funny things that I've noticed in fics MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello again. I'm awfully verbal today,aren't I? I've noticed a lot of things while reading fics. I'm not trying to pick on anyone,because I'll probably be using some of these in my own fics. :-) Tell me what you guys think, okay? Here we go: 1. Lois and Clark's soul-shattering kiss: I hope that they swept their soul up after they were done. 2. Clark's puppy-dog eyes: Someone give him a bone! 3.Clark's chocolate brown eyes: Any other suggestions for eye color? ;-) 4. Villains that go into exposition and therefore, give Lois, Clark, or Superman a chance to defeat him or her. I don't have anymore you guys. Love,fun, and Superman! Misty ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 00:42:02 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Alexis W." Subject: Re: FROM LIST MOM: Language Controversy, "Your Little Secret", PG-13 ratings MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I remember that post from last year...but I'm still left with a question. Is the guidlines for nfic pretty much open? Meaning can most of that stuff you said is not appropiate for PG-13 or basically this list, be used over there? I'm working on an nfic that I'm going to change...well I'm going to have an nfic version and then a fanfic version of the same story, so I just need to know where I stand. Thanks, Alexis ;-.) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 23:00:33 -0700 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: FROM LIST MOM: Language Controversy, "Your Little Secret", PG-13 ratings MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > I remember that post from last year...but I'm still left with a question. Is the guidlines for nfic pretty much open? Meaning can most of that stuff you said is not appropiate for PG-13 or basically this list, be used over there? I'm working on an nfic that I'm going to change...well I'm going to have an nfic version and then a fanfic version of the same story, so I just need to know where I stand. Strong language is part of what puts the "n" in nfic, so you don't have to worry about it. I noticed that Double L and Echo's "Undressed Rehearsal Redux" has asterisks in the curse words where it's posted on Demi's board, but it doesn't on Anne's site. When I asked, I found out that Demi's boards have an default setting that asterisks out the entire curse word after the first letter when it's posted. Echo wanted more of the word to appear, so she used asterisks for the vowels and got around the program that way. A long way around to say that strong language is allowed in nfic posts, but you'd better be careful of where you post because some sites have sentinel programs that will clean up the language for you. Sheila ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 00:59:40 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Genevieve Subject: Re: FROM LIST MOM: PG-13 ratings MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Kathy, List Mom and Archives Queen, has stated her policy on what is acceptable on this list and on her archives -- PG-13 only, and her defination of PG-13 was clearly stated. I have no quarrel with that; however I do have a question. We only have two categories of fanfic in FoLCdom right now. First is the material suitable for the archives and for this list, which one could equate to the children's room in the public library. No swearing, no sex, and stories with too much sex and violence are rejected -- and perhaps, those with mature themes? The other category is nfic -- adults only, no one under 18 need apply. Now the only bookstores that I've seen that don't allow minors in them are seedy adult bookstore with the boarded up windows. Pornography and erotica. Now, the fic in question doesn't fit into either category. It contains a word which defines it as above PG-13, even if it were a film. (You can only use that word once in a PG-13 film. Use it twice and the movie is an "R". Says so on the Movie Rating Guide site.) Now, personally, I found this word to be right in character, Mulder being angry and drunk at the time. No other word would have had the same punch. When Captain Kirk said "hell" in Star Trek, everybody sat up and took notice. "He said *what* on television?" But our television standards have become lax, our youth (even at elementary school) use these words routinely. If we want to make an emotional statement, we need to increase the power of the words. So this story is definately not PG-13. But Susan has said she is in high school, and therefore probably only 17 years old. It is absurd to think of her story being classified as "Adult" and placed on a website she cannot access. My question is this. We obviously have a third category -- something that is neither acceptable here, but hardly something that should be rated NC-17 either. Do we need another list, another venue, for "R" rated stories? A lot of our nfic is probably more "R" than "NC-17" as well. Most of what we are calling "Adult" are, IMO, not something that it would be illegal for minors to read, in spite of all the warnings we put on them. If it is a study of character, or of plot, then it generally falls under the category of literature, not or pornography or erotica, no matter how explicit it is. I think we all know that we can find passages just as explicit on the open shelves of our public libraries. And no one checks IDs there. I don't know. But I really think we need to find a way to deal with these stories that are between a rock and a hard place. Are there other ways to publish a story besides the archives and this list? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Genevieve What can I say -- I'm a librarian. Gotta have footnotes. ALA's Freedom to Read Statement ALA's Free Access to Libraries for Minors MPAA's Ratings Information ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 22:22:28 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "StarKitty :)" Subject: OT: Things a Superhero should never do? was Funny things . . . Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed You know, there's a list somewhere (I don't remember where and no longer have the bookmark) of things a Superhero (or Innocent Bystander, Supervillain, Sidekick, Fair Lady, etc) should never do. It was really hysterical. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Tara >From: Eugene Ellison >Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" > >To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU >Subject: Funny things that I've noticed in fics >Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 00:17:53 -0800 > >Hello again. > > > I'm awfully verbal today,aren't I? I've noticed a lot of things >while reading fics. I'm not trying to pick on anyone,because I'll probably >be using some of these in my own fics. :-) Tell me what you guys think, >okay? Here we go: > > >1. Lois and Clark's soul-shattering kiss: I hope that they swept their soul >up after they were done. > >2. Clark's puppy-dog eyes: Someone give him a bone! > >3.Clark's chocolate brown eyes: Any other suggestions for eye color? ;-) > >4. Villains that go into exposition and therefore, give Lois, Clark, or >Superman a chance to defeat him or her. > >I don't have anymore you guys. > > > >Love,fun, and Superman! Misty ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 03:42:28 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Hazel Subject: Combo post: story ratings, catch phrases, and language Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Quite a spate of posts that went out last night. :) In the interest of saving bandwidth, I'll reply to several things at once: Genevieve asked: >My question is this. We obviously have a third category -- something that is neither acceptable here, but hardly something that should be rated NC-17 either. Do we need another list, another venue, for "R" rated stories?> I don't think nfic need be classified as "NC-17" nec'ly; as Kathy says, anything above PG-13 doesn't belong on the archive or this list. Obviously, that includes R ratings as well. (I admit I wouldn't know, as I don't read the stuff.) As for another list -- why? There's an easy solution, one that Susan herself has already stated that she's using: posting it on an author's personal website. No censor, no passwords, only the warnings the author herself (or himself) chooses to use to flag the story. There ya go! Misty wrote: >I've noticed a lot of things while reading fics. I'm not trying to pick on anyone,because I'll probably be using some of these in my own fics. :-) Misty, since you prefer lurking to posting (and there's nothing wrong with that, I lurked for almost a year before I made my first post!), I don't know if you were around last year when I posted "Things That Never, Ever Happen..." I came up with an entire list of affectionate cliches (and some true impossibilities) that characterize LnC fanfic. Here's the link below, if you're interested: http://listserv.indiana.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind9906D&L=loiscla-general-l&P =R537 And to remind all of you here, yes, it's tongue-in-cheek, and not aimed at anyone in particular. I posted it to the message boards as well, and a few people took up the challenge of writing fics as contradictions; Tara's funny "The Jeep" incorporated several of them. (Lois getting a Jeep that's not silver, villains that flee Metropolis instead of hanging around for revenge, and villains escaping prison and actually getting caught by the cops!) If anyone else would care to accept such a challenge, I'm sure I'd enjoy reading it. ;) And finally, Kathy asked: >(Personal Pet Peeve -- people that spell it "G-d" in their stories. If you can't write it out without feeling guilty, why in the world are you using it?)< Jen answered you so beautifully that I don't have to reply. :) But I will add that I've avoided even that usage in my few fics, simply because I don't feel comfortable with it. A friend who read my little "Escape From Krypton?" asked me why I chose to describe the Emperor only as "that rotten old dictator," instead of using... er... stronger language. I replied that I didn't feel comfortable talking like that, much less typing such words. As Kathy said, words on paper or screen can carry much more impact than the spoken word. BTW, a few authors *have* used "heck" in their stories. Wendy and Irene spring instantly to mind. I don't hear anyone complaining about their writing, now do I...? :) (Although I admit that the new PG-13 ending of Solar Eclipse, which wasn't on the message boards but was on the archive, had me blushing furiously.) So far, the list has largely responded to this little flurry with calmness and courtesy. Let's hope that continues! Hazel ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 08:20:45 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Genevieve Subject: Re: Combo post: story ratings, MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hazel wrote: > > Quite a spate of posts that went out last night. :) > > In the interest of saving bandwidth, I'll reply to several things at once: > > Genevieve asked: > > >My question is this. We obviously have a third category -- something > that is neither acceptable here, but hardly something that should be > rated NC-17 either. Do we need another list, another venue, for "R" > rated stories?> > > I don't think nfic need be classified as "NC-17" nec'ly; as Kathy says, > anything above PG-13 doesn't belong on the archive or this list. Obviously, > that includes R ratings as well. (I admit I wouldn't know, as I don't read > the stuff.) > > As for another list -- why? There's an easy solution, one that Susan > herself has already stated that she's using: posting it on an author's > personal website. No censor, no passwords, only the warnings the author > herself (or himself) chooses to use to flag the story. There ya go! True enough. We can post our "R" rated stories to our personal websites (assuming we have one.) Ummm, who's going to read it? I don't know about the rest of you, but I write fanfiction because I have something to *share*. It's easy to make a story up in my head (a.k.a. daydreaming), but writing it all down into a coherent narrative is serious work. And I do it becuase I really enjoy reading the fanfiction others write, and think other people would enjoy my ideas. If I didn't think anyone was going to read it, I'd be just as happy to stick to daydreaming. And it's almost pathetic how a letter of comment can make my day. Putting a story up on a website with no advertising, no publicity ... who's going to come? I check the archives once a week, but I don't make a habit of going to individual websites very often. It's sort of like Microsoft's monopoly -- the only way a software company is going to make money is if Microsoft buys it up. The only way I see to get readers for a story is to post it to the list, the archives, or the message boards. Is this fair to the writer? Is it fair to our readers? I, for one, prefer the darker L&C story, the ones with the big whams. And they tend to come with the higher ratings. If everyone is focused on keeping their stories PG-13, I'm not as likely to get those darker stories. Geez! Who'd have thought that last week I was arguing in a different forum for people's right to post gen stories to a predominantly slash list? I think I'll just give in and join the ACLU or something. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Genevieve -- still looking for an L&C fanfic with a huge WHAM where not everything is put back at the end. Where somebody stays dead, or injured, or something. Tragedy, with consequences and coping. That's what I like. Someday I'm going to write that story where Superman kills somebody -- deliberately, and with malice aforethought. Yes, I *know* that's not in character, but the interesting thing would be to see how he reacts, and how Lois reacts, and how Perry and the newspapers, and the public, and the police all react. How does he deal with the guilt? Does he reach for the gold kryptonite? What happens? ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 08:29:30 -0500 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: Combo post: story ratings, MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Genevieve -- still looking for an L&C fanfic with a huge WHAM where not > everything is put back at the end. Well, there was this one story where Lois turned into a blond... (JLT/BLL) I don't know if that qualifies as a huge WHAM or not (depends on how you feel about blonds, I suppose) but I did feel quite daring to *not* put everything back just the way it had been... it's definitely not the norm. -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "Well, I try to save a life a day. Usually, it's my own." --John Chricton, on Farscape. "You have no idea how little I care about blown spume." "Actually, it's 'flung spume' and 'blown spray', but I think I like your version better." --Dana & Dan discuss yachting, on SportsNight ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 14:02:09 +0000 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: Combo post, story ratings etc MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Genevieve wrote (and I've copied this from the list website, since there's about twenty new messages on this general topic which haven't yet reached my mailbox!): >>> I, for one, prefer the darker L&C story, the ones with the big whams. And they tend to come with the higher ratings. If everyone is focused on keeping their stories PG-13, I'm not as likely to get those darker stories.<<< Yes and no; I've been writing some WHAMmy stories lately, for example, and certainly some of those are PG-13; I've been told that For the Greater Good was about as WHAMmy as you could get without actually allowing Superman to die. Which I could have done in that story, and it would still have been PG-13. You could also try Tank Wilson's 'A Future Not Now;' he's just finished posting Part 2 of that series on the message boards, and that also ends with a pretty shocking (emotional) WHAM. Okay, one of my WHAMmy stories, Without Consent, is nfic; but that's because the initial WHAM involves a theme which is definitely not PG-13. The later emotional angst would probably all be acceptable for a PG-13 rating. >>> Genevieve -- still looking for an L&C fanfic with a huge WHAM where not everything is put back at the end. Where somebody stays dead, or injured, or something. Tragedy, with consequences and coping.<<< Have you read Tank Wilson's Love Disabled? That seems to fit the bill - as does A Future Not Now and A Future Revised. >>> Someday I'm going to write that story where Superman kills somebody -- deliberately, and with malice aforethought. Yes, I *know* that's not in character, but the interesting thing would be to see how he reacts, and how Lois reacts, and how Perry and the newspapers, and the public, and the police all react. How does he deal with the guilt? Does he reach for the gold kryptonite? What happens?<<< It's in character *if* the motivation can be provided. I read a story in which Superman 'went bad' as a result of red Kryptonite, and more or less went on a killing spree; that was not convincing *at all* to me. But if you can give me the motivation - eg Tempus about to kill his child, or just done so? - and then show me the aftermath, the consequences, I'd read it, believe in it, and given it would be written by you, Genevieve, I know I'd like it. It would be a difficult story to read, but it would be *good.* Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 09:14:31 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Hazel Subject: Re: Combo post: story ratings, In-Reply-To: <38CE3CAD.AE2FC8C3@erols.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Looking for an amicable solution... >> posting it on an author's >> personal website. No censor, no passwords, only the warnings the author >> herself (or himself) chooses to use to flag the story. There ya go! > >True enough. We can post our "R" rated stories to our personal websites >(assuming we have one.) Ummm, who's going to read it? >Putting a story up on a website with no advertising, no publicity ... >who's going to come? I check the archives once a week, but I don't make >a habit of going to individual websites very often. It's sort of like >Microsoft's monopoly -- the only way a software company is going to make >money is if Microsoft buys it up. The only way I see to get readers for >a story is to post it to the list, the archives, or the message boards. For the record, the archive has hundreds of hits a week, every week (Kathy can give an exact amount); this list has 350 subscribers, but many of those are nomail. So the archive is *the* best place for your fic to be. But I don't think I made myself clear. I, for one, am very, very glad that the archive limits itself to PG-13, and I sincerely hope we won't have authors trying to push the envelope. That's what I want to read, and I'm delighted to have a place I can go without worrying about what I'm going to find. But, as you say, some stories -- the darker ones, and yes, very often the better ones -- do demand a higher rating. The solution I suggested was for the "toned-down" version to be posted on the archive, with a pointer to the author's website included. ("A darker version of this story can be found at my website at...") That seems to be exactly what Susan is planning to do: submitting her story to the archive, accepting the editor's changes re language, but keeping her story as originally written on her own website. Another possibility would be posting a flag here on the mailing list or message boards: "I have a new fanfic at my website. Follow the link to read it, and I'd love to hear your feedback." Of course, our list mom (hi Kathy!) would have to approve, but I don't imagine that would be a problem. >Genevieve -- still looking for an L&C fanfic with a huge WHAM where not >everything is put back at the end. Where somebody stays dead, or >injured, or something. Genevieve, you should talk to Tank. :) :) > Tragedy, with consequences and coping. It's a crossover, but you can try looking up "No Laughing Matter" on the archive, which has two endings. I personally prefer the darker one. Hazel (who needs A-plot in her stories but prefers the more innocent ratings) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 07:26:05 -0800 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: Combo post: story ratings MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit All the discussion of the different kinds of stories people prefer highlights the diversity of FoLCs, I think. I, for one, don't care for the darker endings where someone major dies and stays dead. Stories where Lois loses Clark or vice versa depress me, and I prefer not to read them at all. That's why you'll never get one from me, I'm afraid, and I apologize to those who enjoy them for that. I personally think the idea of providing a link to a personal website for that type of story, or one which is not suitable for the archive, is an excellent idea. Nan ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 11:32:55 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rachel Subject: Re: Combo post: story ratings, MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Genevieve -- still looking for an L&C fanfic with a huge WHAM where not > > everything is put back at the end. Wouldn't Karen's 'Nightmare on Hyperion Avenue' qualify as well? Things aren't exactly the same at the end for sure! Rachel ~*~*~*~ Rachel TenHaaf rae@usXchange.net RBellaTH on AIM "for life's not a paragraph And death i think is no parenthesis"-e.e.cummings ~*~*~*~ ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 09:44:13 -0800 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: Combo post: story ratings, MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii And, let's not forget Trevise's wonderful next-gen series. Big WHAM! (But wonderful!) And, yes, Karen's well-written 'Nightmare' certainly qualifies too. Irene --- Rachel wrote: > > > Genevieve -- still looking for an L&C fanfic > with a huge WHAM where not > > > everything is put back at the end. > > Wouldn't Karen's 'Nightmare on Hyperion Avenue' > qualify as well? Things aren't > exactly the same at the end for sure! > > Rachel > > ~*~*~*~ > Rachel TenHaaf > rae@usXchange.net > RBellaTH on AIM > > "for life's not a paragraph > And death i think is no parenthesis"-e.e.cummings > ~*~*~*~ > ===== Outside of a dog, a book is Man’s best friend. And inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read. Groucho Marx __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 11:59:07 -0800 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: Combo post, story ratings etc MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Wendy Richards Wrote w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk It's in character *if* the motivation can be provided. I read a story in which Superman 'went bad' as a result of red Kryptonite, and more or less went on a killing spree; that was not convincing *at all* to me. But if you can give me the motivation - eg Tempus about to kill his child, or just done so? - and then show me the aftermath, the consequences, I'd read it, believe in it, and given it would be written by you, Genevieve, I know I'd like it. It would be a difficult story to read, but it would be *good.* Wendy ---------------------- Do I smell a challenge?????? ===== Mr. D8a - Colossians 3:2 - Set your minds on things above not on earthly things. Go to WWW.FREEWWWEB.COM for the best Free Internet access! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 16:15:58 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Alexis W." Subject: Re: FROM LIST MOM: Language Controversy, "Your Little Secret", PG-13 ratings MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/14/00 2:18:05 PM EST, sharper@CNCC.CC.CO.US writes: << A long way around to say that strong language is allowed in nfic posts, but you'd better be careful of where you post because some sites have sentinel programs that will clean up the language for you. Sheila >> Well I'm one of those nfic writers that writes the asterisks from them. I still can't get myself to actually write out the swear word, I can say it and read it out loud, but I still can't write it out...go figure! Alexis ;-.) "Okay, what's everybody standing around for? This is a newspaper, not happy hour at Buckingham Palace." Perry White, (LnC), THE PILOT. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 18:56:52 EST 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: SIP: Connections - part 17 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I really apppreciate the comments on the part 17 and your telling me which parts seem to work. Thanks for the encouragement. :) Carol ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 19:04:02 -0500 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: Combo post, story ratings etc On Tue, 14 Mar 2000 11:59:07 -0800, James Tull wrote: > > ---------------------- > Do I smell a challenge?????? > Yes, go for it Genevieve! Yvonne (yconnell@ukf.net) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 05:46:35 -0700 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: FROM LIST MOM: Language Controversy, "Your Little Secret", PG-13 ratings In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 10:41 PM 03/13/2000 -0600, you wrote: [snip] >(Personal opinion injection -- "Jesus", as an exclamation, was never >used on the show, and I personally find it out of character for >either Lois or Clark. However, as someone who has used "baby" in >fanfic before, I recognize that there could be differing opinions. ;)) I used this basic idea ("out of character") in my Argh rewrite (available at tp://ftp.swcp.com/pub/users/dstark/Stories). Clark says "Oh my god..." and all his friends and associates are startled and know something is wrong because he *never* swears... He might say "rats!" and even then that would be strong for him. Lois might swear like sailor (i.e., quite colorfully), but not be quoted in a story ;) Debby debby@swcp.com horn tooting and taking the chance to say... L&C scripts available; write for info ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 20:59:43 EST 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: FROM LIST MOM: PG-13 ratings MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit It's been interesting to read the defintions of "mature" or "adult theme." The ratings system forces stories into these categories based exclusively on explicit sex, excessive violence and coarse language when the story may not be mature or adult at all in any deeper sense, like examining an ethical, character, spiritual, social issue etc. So, for example some nfic stories are "mature" in only a narrow sense whereas some archive stories have dealt with mature issues and /or darker themes such as rape, wife abuse (Genevieve's very excellent "Yet Each man Kills"), child rearing, environmental isssues, disability, illness, death, etc. And I think L & C do have sex in some archive stories but it's so discreetly mentioned that you might miss it. Of course, I'm not suggesting a PG 17 or R rating for these stories. :) Neither am I suggesting that we lift the rating scheme from this list and from the archives -- they provide some readers with helpful screening guides [like the deathfic warning which I look for to protect me from the dark forces of the premature death of either Lois or Clark :) ] It does strikes me that archive stories like Mobile's Richard's Life in a Different World or the breezy "The Revenge of Ultrawoman" are more adult than many nfic stories. Still, some excellent adult stories have also been nfic stories. I'd better quit -- I'm rambling. I might even be off topic. Carol ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 20:32:46 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Misha Subject: Re: FROM LIST MOM: PG-13 ratings In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >It's been interesting to read the defintions of "mature" or "adult theme." > >The ratings system forces stories into these categories based exclusively on >explicit sex, excessive violence and coarse language when the story may not >be mature or adult at all in any deeper sense, like examining an ethical, >character, spiritual, social issue etc. So, for example some nfic stories >are "mature" in only a narrow sense whereas some archive stories have dealt >with mature issues and /or darker themes such as rape, wife abuse >(Genevieve's very excellent "Yet Each man Kills"), child rearing, >environmental isssues, disability, illness, death, etc. And I think L & C >do have sex in some archive stories but it's so discreetly mentioned that you >might miss it. >I'd better quit -- I'm rambling. I might even be off topic. No - not at all - in fact, you brought up something that's been bugging me all day. I have an nfic on Anne's site, Behind Closed Doors. It's certainly adult-themed in that it deals with sex, but all the 'action' takes place off-screen (so to speak). It's definitely not NC-17, but I'm wondering if it even deserves an R rating. Misha (creeping out briefly from lurkdom) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 23:06:03 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Genevieve Subject: Pleasing everyone and Whammy stories MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Wendy Richards wrote: > Yes and no; I've been writing some WHAMmy stories > lately, for example, and certainly some of those are PG-13; > I've been told that For the Greater Good was about as > WHAMmy as you could get without actually allowing Superman > to die. Which I could have done in that story, and it would > still have been PG-13. I don't think I ever told you, Wendy -- that was a great story. But there is one thing... Wendy started the story with the usual disclaimer, and then the reassurance statement. "I have to give a WHAM warning at this point.... The only further comment I will make is that, ... I do believe in putting my toys back in the same condition in which I found them, once I'm finished with them." So from the beginning, we knew that everything would be all right. Lois and Clark are in agonizing pain, and we know it's all going to be OK. How much stronger would the story had been without promise? As it was, I was never really afraid for the characters, or worried about them. I understand why the labels are there. I wrote a story called "Yet Each Man Kills," and got five people asking my "Does anyone get killed in this story? Because I won't read deathfic." (No. No one dies. Not even a nameless man on the street. The title is a quote from a poem.) But I figure that for each person who asked me about the title, twice that many didn't even try to read it. I wish I were cavalier enough to say "their loss," but somehow I feel it is mine. We don't want to offend anyone. We don't want to take anyone by surprise. So the labels and the reassurance are necessary. But how often do our labels and categories contain spoilers for our stories? And how often to our labels and categories define our stories? How often do we "tone down" our stories to get them to fit into the archive? In another fandom I'm in, it's the other way around, people "spice up" their stories, adding superflous adult scenes, because they think that's what people want. Do we weaken our stories when we force them into one category or the other. I don't know. This is all 'what ifs', and 'maybes'. But I think it's something that might bear thinking about. And guarding against. WENDY: > Okay, one of my WHAMmy stories, Without Consent, is nfic; > but that's because the initial WHAM involves a theme which > is definitely not PG-13. The later emotional angst would > probably all be acceptable for a PG-13 rating. ME: Is anything that is not PG-13 automatically nfic? Nfic is 18 and over only, right? PG-13 is thirteen and under. Seems to me we are skipping about six years worth of audience. And don't patronize this audience. There are darn few *themes* that are inherently adult. You can write about almost everything without going into an NC-17 level of detail. And look at the themes which are being covered in the television shows that are targeted for this audience. Dawson's Creek for example. Even Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which has taken L&C place in my family as The Show We All Watch, talks about violence, sex, and homosexuality in a very open way. My five-year-old misses the innuendo (thank goodness!), but the nine and the eleven-year-old don't. To think I used to complain about the "sex slave" line in Ordinary People. However, Buffy provides wonderful lead-ins to those all important conversations a mother and daughter must have when the daughters approach adolescense. The courts tend to talk about community standards when they define what is and is not acceptable. A good example of your community standard is the public library. What themes are brought out in the books they set aside for teenagers? A better question might be, what themes aren't covered? And, as non-sequiter, the book most requested to be banned this year is ... Harry Potter. Because it contains magic and fantasy. You really can't please all the Moms out there. I said I was... > still looking for an L&C fanfic with a > huge WHAM where not everything is put back at the end. > Where somebody stays dead, or injured, or something. > Tragedy, with consequences and coping.<<< > > Have you read Tank Wilson's Love Disabled? That seems to > fit the bill - as does A Future Not Now and A Future > Revised. OK, you've all found me out. I am *way* behind on my fic reading. I'm desperately trying to get through the Kerth list; just finished Caped Fear yesterday. (And where was LabRat when C J. Cherryh signed the contract to write the L&C novel, I want to know? That story was awesome!) A number of people recommended Tank; I know there are a bunch of Tank's stories coming up. Anyway, I've added all the titles you all have suggested to my list of "required reading." WENDY: > It's in character *if* the motivation can be provided. I > read a story in which Superman 'went bad' as a result of > red Kryptonite, and more or less went on a killing spree; > that was not convincing *at all* to me. But if you can give > me the motivation - eg Tempus about to kill his child, or > just done so? - and then show me the aftermath, the > consequences, I'd read it, believe in it, and given it > would be written by you, Genevieve, I know I'd like it. It > would be a difficult story to read, but it would be *good.* JAMES TULL: >Do I smell a challenge?????? ME: A Challenge? But I've got three stories half-finished right now! Two Highlander stories, and one L&C story. And nobody told me that kids take *more* time, not less, as they get older. OK, whine finished. I'd love to finally write this; I've been thinking about it since the end of the second season. Let me see what I can do. But, no promises. -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Genevieve The World Wide Web has made it possible for anyone to find in five hours what a competent librarian can find in five minutes. :-) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 22:29:06 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pat Subject: OT: Design contest for LAFF 2000 T-shirts : ) Comments: To: "Lois and Clark:The New Adventures of Superman" , lcnfanfic@onelist.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi FoLCs, (Apologies in advance to those who get this more than once; we're sending it to all 3 lists because we don't want to miss anyone) With LAFF 2000 just over 4 months away, we thought this would be a good time to announce the opening of the design contest for the official LAFF T-shirt! In previous years, we've seen a number of very artistic designs from some really creative FoLCs. For LAFF 97, our last international FoLCFest, the winning artist managed to combine Lois & Clark silhouetted against the moon (from WHALTTA), the words LAFF 97, the dates and location of the fest, and some palm trees (for sunny California ;) It was a 3 color extravaganza, and *very* attractive. I still get compliments (and occasionally a few strange looks ) whenever I wear mine. This year's contest is open to everyone on all three lists. There really aren't rules, other than the design should fit on a standard size T-shirt, incorporate L&C and LAFF, and needs to reach us by the closing date of the contest, May 1st, 2000. The following week, we'll put all of the designs up on the web, and you can vote for your favorite :) Designs can cover both the front and back of the shirt, or just the front. One of the shirt vendors we're considering can handle one, two, and (I believe) three color embroidery, so feel free to include embroidered elements in your design. It's been 3 years since our last design contest, so this will be a perfect opportunity to share all of the ideas you've had for L&C graphics with other FoLCs! In addition to the honor of having your design displayed on the 60+ FOLCs who will be attending LAFF in Hollywood, CA, from August 2-6, the winner will also receive a free T-shirt :) Please submit your entries, by May 1st, to Chris: CP13607@aol.com If you have questions about LAFF (no, it's not too late to register ;) please contact Chris: CP13607@aol.com If you have questions about discounted rates on airfares and/or car rentals for LAFF, please contact Pat: peabody@mcs.com or pattijean@aol.com If you'd like to be matched up with potential LAFF room mates, please contact Pat: peabody@mcs.com or pattijean@aol.com See ya in Hollywood ;) Pat and Chris peabody@mcs.com CP13607@aol.com pattijean@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 23:36:27 -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: FROM LIST MOM: PG-13 ratings On Tue, 14 Mar 2000 00:59:40 -0500, Genevieve wrote: >We only have two categories of fanfic in FoLCdom right now. First is >the material suitable for the archives and for this list, which one >could equate to the children's room in the public library. No swearing, >no sex, and stories with too much sex and violence are rejected -- and >perhaps, those with mature themes? I know this isn't the main point of the post, but I would disagree with this statement. There are many stories on the Archive that contain sex, and some that contain violence. I agree that the level of sex and violence is not what you would find in an R-rated movie, but it is consistent with what we find on TV-14 rated shows, which is what we use as our basic guide. As for mature themes, I guess it depends on what specific plots you would consider mature. Certainly there are stories on the Archive that deal with some very difficult topics -- rape, spouse/child abuse, war, death. Can you give me an example of a subject matter too "adult" for the Archive? I can't think of anything I would reject out of hand; it would honestly depend on the treatment of the plot. (To quote an example I've used before, if someone submitted a story where Dan beat up Lois when she broke up with him and Clark threw him out a window, all in one page, I'd reject the story as ridiculous and inappropriate. But I would have no problem with a well done exploration of domestic violence, as you well know.) >My question is this. We obviously have a third category -- something >that is neither acceptable here, but hardly something that should be >rated NC-17 either. Do we need another list, another venue, for "R" >rated stories? A lot of our nfic is probably more "R" than "NC-17" as >well. I definitely agree that there is a gap. Do we need another list or forum for R-rated stories? I don't know ... maybe someone could start one and find out. (Though I have my doubts as to whether there would be enough activity in R-rated stories only to justify it.) As for whether our nfic is more R than NC-17, I'm not sure I agree, but this is very subjective. I personally would call all graphic sexual descriptions NC-17, but someone else might feel that loving sex in any detail level should be R-rated, and only "porn" is NC-17. > Are there other >ways to publish a story besides the archives and this list? Of course there are other ways to publish stories on-line -- and it's a way that you yourself use. You have your own website where you feature your work (I assume; I haven't visited it) and the work of at least one other author. What is to stop any author from putting their work -- in its original form -- on their own website? (Or having a friend make a site for you.) Susan already does this, and good for her. I absolutely support her decision to make her characters say what she wants them to say. I may or may not disagree on characterization, but that discussion is no more or less valid than a discussion we might have here about the use of "baby" or "Ma and Pa". (And incidentally, I agree that Mulder's choice of words was arguably realistic under the circumstances -- I have no problem with the words themselves. I only have a problem with the words being used on *this* list or on the Archive, which I have explained.) Also, what about the way we used to do things? All nfic used to be distributed by email. Authors would advertise a story, readers would write the author requesting a copy, and viola. Interestingly enough, I have pondered this exact issue for myself. My nfic "Winners" has two scenes that I think make it NC-17, while the rest of it could pass for PG-13 or R. I gave serious thought to whether I could take out those specific scenes, then offer the R-rated version to any teens that were interested. In the end, I decided that one of the scenes I felt should be cut was one I didn't want to have to cut, so I never edited it down. But if I *had* edited it, I had planned to offer it via email, to readers who learned about it through word of mouth or by posted advertisements. Kathy kathybrown91@home.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 23:36:36 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alicia Utowski Subject: Re: Pleasing everyone and Whammy stories MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 03/14/2000 11:06:54 PM US Eastern Standard Time, nightsky@EROLS.COM writes: << We don't want to offend anyone. We don't want to take anyone by surprise. So the labels and the reassurance are necessary. But how often do our labels and categories contain spoilers for our stories? >> Okay, I think I have stayed out of this for too long. I am one of those people that has very strict guidelines to what I read. #1 Lois and Clark have to be alive from the beginning of the story until the end of the story, it doesnt matter if others die as long as Lois and Clark don't die. #2 Lois can not be married to or be having a relationship with Lex. #3 I don't read nfic, unless I have heard through the grapevine that it is done well, and that I would be really missing out if I didn't read it (ex. Kathy's Winners, Wendy's Without Consent and a few more) , so basically I need to know what I am reading before I read it, and the warnings as well as the archive descriptions really help me decide what I am going to read, I also love to read spoilers for stories, and I like to read the last paragraphs of stories before the rest of them so I know what happens and I will be happy with the ending I need to have that warning at the beginning of stories so I can decide whether or not I want to read the stories... The only reason I read For the Greater Good was that Wendy promised to put her toys back the way she found them... I feel like my heart it being ripped from my chest if I find myself reading a deathfic without being forwarned. When I first found Lois and Clark fanfic, one of the first stories I read was Jeagan's When Magnolia's bloom... This was back in 96 or 97 when I was still rather young (15 or 16) and I first got the internet... she didnt put a warning on her story, and I had nightmares about it for weeks... some of us have huge fears of dying and we like to read things that make us happy, which is the reason that (practically) everything I have written has a happy ending (with the exception of Final Forgiveness which will be happy by the end of the series I am planning to write) and those are the stories I like to read... I am not saying that angst is bad, I love to read stories full of angst, but I also need to know that everything is going to turn out well in the end... so that is my argument (however irrational) for why we need to have those warnings at the beginnings of stories for crazy people like me Thanks for listening. Alicia ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 23:44:05 -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: FROM LIST MOM: Language Controversy, "Your Little Secret", PG-13 ratings On Tue, 14 Mar 2000 16:05:28 +1100, Jenny or Joe Stosser < jenerator@OZEMAIL.COM.AU> wrote: >I don't know whether non-Jewish people use "G-d" for the full word. The >reason we (Jews) are taught to use this, is that if you use the full >spelling, it makes the page on which it is printed (screen on which it >appears?) holy, Thanks, Jenny, I didn't know this, and I'm glad you educated me. I honestly don't know if it was Jewish writers that I have seen do this or not, but when I've questioned it on Archive-submitted stories, not one author has ever explained what you just did. The only explanations I've received was "I didn't know if I was allowed to spell it out" or "I feel guilty if I write it". I still hold to my same opinion, though -- if you don't feel comfortable using the word, why in the world would you put it in your story in the first place? It seems that if the use bothers you, you shouldn't encourage the word by showcasing it. Kathy kathybrown91@home.com