From: "L-Soft list server at Indiana University (1.8d)" To: "ARTF@MemoryAlpha.nil" File: "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L LOG0103C" ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 20:06:52 +1100 Reply-To: "jenerator@ozemail.com.au" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jen Stosser Subject: Smallville Castings MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Just got this from - - -<>- - - * -- http://www.ZENtertainment.com -- 'SMALLVILLE' CASTINGS The latest actors to join the cast of The WB's new Superman series SMALLVILLE, brought your way with some thanks to the FANDOM: SUPERMAN site, include John Schneider (Dukes of Hazzard) as Jonathan Kent, Cynthia Ettinger (Silence of the Lambs) as Martha Kent, Michael Rosenbaum (Urband Legends, Zoe) as the young Lex Luthor, and Sam Jones III (Zigzag) as Pete Ross. Tom Welling (Judging Amy) will play the young Clark Kent. http://www.fandom.com/superman http://www.thewb.com Jen jenerator@ozemail.com.au -*-This message is umop ap!sdn (Jenerator or Some1Else on IRC) -*- JenerEight on AIM -Photos of David (8) and Megan (5) on the Stosser Family HomePage http//www.geocities.com/j_stosser Please sign our guestbook! ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 11:19:31 -0000 Reply-To: LabRat Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Organization: LabRat Subject: Re: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Christy wrote: > > >I hated that Lois wore masculine suits over her UW costume throughout the > episode. Erin wrote: > > Well, shoot, she had to wear something bulky enough to cover all of that suit > and cape, didn't she? But then, Clark seemed to manage to hide the suit > even when he wore tight-fitting jeans (yum! ;)) and a short-sleeved T-shirt > (like in BatP), so I guess this argument doesn't hold water. > Oh, good grief, that awful suit. I loathed it. I always imagined that the mechanics of what the well dressed superhero wears to hide the costume aside, Lois just over-compensated there. All she had was Clark to imitate after all. Actually, now that you've mentioned it, I can just see her going through her closet that morning like a whirlwind, 'That's too short....nope, too thin...clashes with the boots..." as a growing mound of discards piles up on her bed. Though where she got the suit from is a mystery. If Clark left it at her apartment...maybe we missed something all those episodes. All I know is it's one of the most horrendous points in the entire episode. I just sat there wondering how they managed to make someone that beautiful look so ugly. ;) Hazel, I adored your review. It really made my morning. I wasn't around during the heyday of the list but I love this type of thing over on newsgroups devoted to the shows that I watch nowadays and which are current. And even though I never experienced that with LNC, your thoughts and reactions still conjured up some lovely nostalgia of my own first viewing of UW. It remains one of my favourite episodes. I agree with you about them ducking into that alley. I did wonder where all the autograph hounds vanished to. They sure are more polite and considerate in Metropolis than they would be if Dean and Teri did the same thing in RL. ;) And the fight in the alley is one of my favourite ever Clark moments. It's easy to be the superhero and fight the villains when you are invulnerable and you know it. But Clark proved that he was a real hero when he got cut by the knife and STILL charged into the fray. Oh, I adored him more in that moment than I ever had. And was cheering him on all the way. Dean did wonderfully well in that scene. The look of shock on Clark's face as he realises he's been hurt - that he CAN be hurt - and then the steely determination that he's not going to let that get in the way is beautifully done. And boy did it look like it really hurt when he got slugged by that pipe! Ouch. Happy sigh... can we have more of this please? LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 06:28:32 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Smallville Castings MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 03/15/2001 4:12:27 AM Eastern Standard Time, jenerator@OZEMAIL.COM.AU writes: << Tom Welling (Judging Amy) will play the young Clark Kent >> Hmm, I didn't know there were any teenage boys on Judging Amy. --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 12:59:54 +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: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey Folcs, how nice to see an episode discussion here after all these years! I second the wish to hear more of your impressions about he other episodes, Hazel. Please?! I have to chime in about the pink x-raying and the Ulatrawoman-suite though. I actually thought it was funny. Of course they're stereotypes, but they were clearly meant as a joke and I think Lois is so far above getting pressed into the "typical woman role" corner, that it didn't matter. I saw it just in a humorous way, laughed about it and thought it was a cute idea. So my first reaction to the complaints was raising my brow and shaking my head asking: "Aren't we just a little bit oversensitive in that area sometimes?" I'm fully aware of the fact that using stereotypes as jokes always is a mindfield though. For example although I was able to laugh off the female stereotyping in UW, I wasn't able to laugh about "Heidi" very much in "Ordinary People", but felt offended. So I guess it depends on everyone's personal opinion. If you feel strongly about something, you'll find it more hard to see humor in it. Nicole -- AKA CKgroupie on IRC/AIM NKWolke@t-online.de Are you always searching for news about Dean Cain? And you don't have enough time to search? Here's your solution: Go to "The Dean Cain News Page" http://members.tripod.de/CKgroupie/index.html ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 12:35:49 -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: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Nicole wrote: > I have to chime in about the pink x-raying and the Ulatrawoman-suite > though. I actually thought it was funny. Of course they're stereotypes, > but they were clearly meant as a joke and I think Lois is so far above > getting pressed into the "typical woman role" corner, that it didn't > matter. I saw it just in a humorous way, laughed about it and thought it > was a cute idea. I've never seen anything which indicated that it was meant as a joke. Maybe it was too subtle for me, ;) but I would think that if it had been intended as some sort of send-up, there would have been a few cues here and there. For example, Lois could have objected to the design of the costume, and Clark could have responded that 'at least no-one will be looking at your *face*' or something like that, and made her understand that, for him, his Suit was equally revealing in a potentially embarrassing way. So, no, I can't envisage it as some sort of humorous send-up; but then, I'm the abnormal FoLC who hates SoulMates! Wendy -------------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 13:24:20 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Phillip Atcliffe Subject: Re: Ultrawoman review In-Reply-To: <019a01c0ad4c$773ed4a0$916105a0@hrm.keele.ac.uk> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII I may as well join in on this one, because I quite like UW. Interestingly, this is very reminiscent of a similar discussion that FoLCs had in the latter days of the old loiscla list, so I don't think I can do better than to quote what I wrote then: > Speaking of Lois's x-ray vision, how come it had to be pink?!? I know I've complained before about Lois's clothes having a rather masculine flavor throughout the episode, and have been told that it's to hide the suit (though I think perhaps loose-fitting long pants & any kind of top would suffice), but really, pink x-ray vision? I liked the idea and much of the episode, but thought parts of it were a bit sexist/stereotypical. < I don't think so. Okay, so pink and blue are stereotypical, but I think that was more by accident than anything else. Clark's x-ray vision effect was blue mainly to contrast with the red heat vision, I would think, so the production people needed something different from either. They chose pink, maybe for the traditional association with women and maybe not. As for Lois' "masculine" suits, I'd say that was deliberate, to give her a taste of what it was like for Clark to have to wear clothes that hide the suit. Sure, she could wear something more overtly feminine, but it does have to conform to certain rules: a reasonably high neckline; long sleeves; trousers, not a skirt or dress; and it can't be too close-fitting. It's easier for Lois than for Clark in this respect, because her costume has a lower neckline and only the gauntlets rather than the full sleeves, but I can imagine that she'd be rather nervous -- she doesn't want her secret to get out (or the fact that Superman is powerless) -- so she imitates Clark, because she _knows_ that his kind of clothes make an effective cover for the suit. Besides, it made for a cute sight gag. As for the UW suit... well, I dunno. I _like_ it on Teri, even though it is a _pain_ to try to reproduce in miniature, but why it looks the way it does is in the lap of the studio costume designers. Had I been doing it, I'd have given it sleeves and put a proper shield on the chest rather than those two little shoulder attachments. Maybe they wanted something equally drool-worthy for Jimmy to look at? But then, I rather liked the Superwoman costume from the pre-Crisis comics, and wouldn't have minded seeing Lois in that or something similar. Phil, who has _nearly_ got his UW action figure finished -- long job... ------------------------------------------------------------ "Sic Transit Gloria Barramundi" (Or, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!) -- not Douglas Adams, but me: Phil Atcliffe (Phillip.Atcliffe@uwe.ac.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 14:10:40 -0000 Reply-To: LabRat Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Organization: LabRat Subject: Re: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Phil wrote: I would think, so the production people needed something different from either. > They chose pink, Interesting point, Phil, but my first response on reading this was to frown and say, 'Why?' Why did they 'need' something different? What was wrong with making them the same colour as Clark's xray and heat vision? In fact, wasn't the heat vision the same colour for Lois and Clark? (Been a long time since I watched this one but I can only remember there being a difference in xray vision. No doubt if I'm wrong here you'll all rush to put me right. ) I'll presume for the moment that it was, which leads to my asking, if there was a technical 'need' for Lois' xray vision to be a different colour from Clark's - why didn't this follow through into heat vision too? Or, conversely, if they were able to have the heat vision the same colour for both, why couldn't they do the same for xray vision? Either way, I'm not sure that I see why there would be a production need for the change at all. In fact, it would surely have been simpler all round and less expense to just go with the norm. Viewers needed no visual clue for instance that this was Lois using xray vision and not Clark. That was pretty obvious. I would add that the pink doesn't actually bother me terribly, but you've got me curious now as to the reasoning on this one. Never thought about it before. LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 15:24:54 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Phillip Atcliffe Subject: Re: Ultra Woman review In-Reply-To: <007401c0ad59$b7694d00$897f1f3e@land> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Thu, 15 Mar 2001 14:10:40 -0000 LabRat wrote: > Phil wrote: >> I would think, so the production people needed something different from either. They chose pink, << > Interesting point, Phil, but my first response on reading this was to frown and say, 'Why?' Why did they 'need' something different? What was wrong with making them the same colour as Clark's x-ray and heat vision? < Dunno. My initial thought was that they wanted to differentiate between Ultra Woman's powers and Superman's, i.e., to emphasise that this was _Lois_ using the powers, not Clark. This is the kind of logic that I have noticed film-makers using; they feel the need to stylise and change things that others wouldn't think necessary -- for instance, the repeated changes in ship, set, uniform, shuttle and prop design in every new Star Trek series, even when the new show is supposed to take place contemporaneously with earlier series. This may be that in action. > In fact, wasn't the heat vision the same colour for Lois and Clark? (Been a long time since I watched this one but I can only remember there being a difference in x-ray vision. No doubt if I'm wrong here you'll all rush to put me right. < _I_ can't remember seeing Lois use heat vision at all! I remember the scene showing her not-so-good aim with it , but I have the impression that the scene starts _after_ she's used it, so that we never actually see UW (or Lois) use heat vision at all. Once again, I await correction on this with no trepidation at all, especially since I only have the (butchered) BBC version. Phil ------------------------------------------------------------------ "We gotta get out into Space / If it's the last thing we ever do!" -- Return to the Forbidden Planet A sentiment echoed by Phil Atcliffe (Phillip.Atcliffe@uwe.ac.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 10:15:32 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 03/15/2001 7:38:29 AM Eastern Standard Time, w.m.richards@HRM.KEELE.AC.UK writes: << For example, Lois could have objected to the design of the costume, and Clark could have responded that 'at least no-one will be looking at your *face*' or something like that, and made her understand that, for him, his Suit was equally revealing in a potentially embarrassing way. >> Well, she did complain that it was too tight and he said, yeah, mom says it cuts wind resistance. And she complained about how it felt underneath her clothes and he said well, you get used to it after a while and get to like it. --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 10:21:54 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: Kerth results and earlier plea MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thank you, Nan. It's amazing how many wonderful stories you write with two grandchildren already. Charlotte ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 15:40:40 -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: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Laurie wrote: > Well, she did complain that it was too tight and he said, yeah, mom says it > cuts wind resistance. And she complained about how it felt underneath her > clothes and he said well, you get used to it after a while and get to like it. That's true, Laurie, but they're quite straightforward remarks; I wouldn't see anything in those to indicate that any of the stereotyping could have been a joke. And this is why I haven't watched UW for quite a while. Hazel's review reminded me of all the wonderful Clark-without-powers scenes which were great, but every time I saw Lois in the costume I wanted to cringe. :/ (Oh, and another little nitpick: we all know that Superman doesn't wear a mask because Clark wears glasses, which creates some difference; and the advantage of Superman *not* wearing a mask is that people don't assume that he has anything to hide. But in that case, why did UW have a mask? Okay, the simple answer is that Lois *doesn't* wear glasses, but doesn't the mask suggest that UW *does* have something to hide?) Wendy (who is now just waiting for Christy or someone equally talented to write a great fic in which Lois manages to vent all her feelings about this!) -------------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 10:58:20 -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: Ultra Woman review On Thu, 15 Mar 2001 15:24:54 +0000, Phillip Atcliffe < Phillip.Atcliffe@UWE.AC.UK> wrote: >_I_ can't remember seeing Lois use heat vision at all! I remember the >scene showing her not-so-good aim with it , but I have the >impression that the scene starts _after_ she's used it, so that we >never actually see UW (or Lois) use heat vision at all. This is how I remember it, too, Phil -- the scene starts with Clark looking at the tree trunk and enthusing, "A-plus on the heat vision!" with Lois lamenting, "I was aiming for the bottle." I don't remember seeing Lois's heat vision beams. As for the pink x-rays, I know at least once we just see the beams, not Lois using them (after she and Clark check out where he was held), so I think the pink was just a way to show it was her, not Clark. Put me in the camp that thought it was just a cute throw-away. I don't see the pink/blue "stereotype" as offensive; I thought it was cute. :) In fanfic, we have more time for narrative -- on TV, you need to go for the visual. The man-type suit I agree was silly -- but to me, that silliness was clearly intentional. Lois was overcompensating to cover up her costume, and she clearly hadn't thought about how to hide it yet. (Hey, at least she didn't bring it in a gym bag to change in the bathroom stall! ;)) She'd probably been out late the night before on rescues and hadn't thought about what to wear, and just picked out the bulkiest thing in her closet. As for why Lois didn't ask Clark for clothing advice, I think this was another way of showing that she and Clark weren't communicating -- Lois was clearly overwhelmed with being Ultrawoman, plus she later admits that she believed it was hard for Clark to watch her "do what he was born to do". She *wasn't* seeking out his advice all that much, and I thought this was a nicely done subtle example of her avoidance. Plus, as Phil said, it was a good sight gag. Enjoying this discussion! Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 11:03:06 -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: Smallville Castings On Thu, 15 Mar 2001 20:06:52 +1100, Jen Stosser wrote: > include John Schneider (Dukes of Hazzard) >as Jonathan Kent, OK, you know you're getting old when the "young heart-throb" you had a poster of over your bed when you were 10 ... is now playing Jonathan Kent. ;) If Scott Baio gets cast as Wayne Irig, I quit. Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 16:45:06 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Phillip Atcliffe Subject: Re: Ultrawoman review In-Reply-To: <021b01c0ad66$49ff2020$916105a0@hrm.keele.ac.uk> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Thu, 15 Mar 2001 15:40:40 -0000 Wendy Richards wrote: > (Oh, and another little nitpick: we all know that Superman doesn't wear a mask because Clark wears glasses, which creates some difference; and the advantage of Superman *not* wearing a mask is that people don't assume that he has anything to hide. But in that case, why did UW have a mask? Okay, the simple answer is that Lois *doesn't* wear glasses, but doesn't the mask suggest that UW *does* have something to hide?) < Well, yeah, she does -- Lois' face! Remember, what differentiates Clark from Superman is the glasses, the hairstyle and the attitude / body language. Lois has no glasses; her hair is so short that the slicking back effect does virtually nothing; and there's not a lot of difference between Lois' normal attitude and body language and Ultra Woman's -- both are strong, forceful, caring women, and Lois, unlike Clark, hasn't had the time to learn to mask her normal reactions when in costume. Clark has learned over the course of years of concealing his true nature (both before and after Superman's creation) to act "normal" and in a somewhat incapable fashion (by which I mean that he presents himself as not being able to do a lot of things that he can perfectly well do, and so no-one expects him to be able to do them) when he's not using his powers. Lois, OTOH, is "Mad Dog Lane", who rarely admits that there's _anything_ that she can't do, and she'll try to do those few things that might escape her anyway -- so the UW persona is not much different to her normal way of life. So the mask is _necessary_ to differentiate between Lois Lane, over-achiever, and Ultra Woman, super-heroine. Phil ------------------------------------------------------------ "I think... I think I am! | I think _I_ am: Therefore I am... I think?" | Phil Atcliffe -- The Moody Blues | (Phillip.Atcliffe@uwe.ac.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 09:44:31 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Vicki Krell Subject: Re: Ultrawoman review MIME-version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" I decided to de-lurk on this thread and jump in. :) I'm in the group who found the pink x-ray vision cute and funny. When I first saw UW, I immediately thought "how funny, they made Lois have pink x-ray vision to differentiate it from Clark's blue" and thought of it as merely an amusing sight gag. As Phil said, the special effects people had already used red to indicate heat vision, and blue was already used for Clark's x-ray vision. Let's see. They couldn't use green because that's for kryptonite. Yellow? Purple? Orange? I didn't mind the pink at all. I also didn't have any problems with the suit. Yes, it was low-cut and tight, but Clark's is pretty darn form fitting too. I guess they could have made Lois's suit have a turtleneck, or long sleeves, but who knows, maybe Teri wanted to show off her svelte figure. :) I agree, though, that it would have been funny to have had Clark comment that "nobody will be looking at your face" when Lois complained that the suit felt tight. In regard to Lois wearing an extremely man-tailored suit over her UW costume, I also just assumed that was another sight gag. After all, this time LOIS is the one who gets to loosen her tie as she races out of the Planet! I have to say that I got a huge kick out of watching Clark attempt to open his bottle of juice, followed by Lois absent-mindedly picking it up and effortlessly opening it, only to have Clark look up at her with a self-mocking expression and say "don't tell me I loosened it for you." Lots of stereotypes being poked fun at here! I guess I'll have to re-watch the episode more closely next time, because I never noticed the heels on Lois's boots were different when Lucille lifts her up - only that one boot has a yellow streak on it and one doesn't. I also thought that Clark had flown Lois to Smallville for the costume design and construction - not that M&J were in Metropolis. Were the interiors for that scene definitely in Clark's apartment?? I loved the part where Clark sits on the bench after managing to escape (and I agree with other posters on the inconsistencies of that whole part of the show regarding exactly how Clark managed to get loose), and said "I really could use some HELP! Hey, that really works." It almost struck me as ad-libbed for some reason. Worked for me! :) All the other parts of this ep that I really enjoyed have been mentioned by others, so I'll just finish by saying that UW has always been one of my favorites. Vicki (who agrees with Wendy about SoulMates: what WERE the writers thinking??? Well, I did like the very end. ;)) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 16:49:19 -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: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I wrote: > > (Oh, and another little nitpick: we all know that Superman doesn't > wear a mask because Clark wears glasses, which creates some difference; > and the advantage of Superman *not* wearing a mask is that people don't > assume that he has anything to hide. But in that case, why did UW have > a mask? Okay, the simple answer is that Lois *doesn't* wear glasses, > but doesn't the mask suggest that UW *does* have something to hide?) < And Phil answered: > Well, yeah, she does -- Lois' face! Remember, what differentiates Clark > from Superman is the glasses, the hairstyle and the attitude / body > language. Lois has no glasses; her hair is so short that the slicking > back effect does virtually nothing; and there's not a lot of difference > between Lois' normal attitude and body language and Ultra Woman's -- > both are strong, forceful, caring women, and Lois, unlike Clark, hasn't > had the time to learn to mask her normal reactions when in costume. [snip] No, you're missing the point, Phil. Because Superman doesn't wear a mask, no-one in *the L&C universe* thinks that he has anything to hide. Therefore they don't go around looking for 'Superman' when he's not being Superman. There is no suggestion that the Suit could be a disguise. Lois, OTOH, as UltraWoman does wear a mask. Might that not suggest to interested parties that UW *does* have something to hide, and therefore start them asking questions about what UW does when she's not out saving people? Why is it she doesn't want people to see her face? And, if that raises the question of a secret identity in relation to UW, then why shouldn't it raise it (again) in respect of Superman? Wendy -------------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 18:29:30 +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: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit <<< No, you're missing the point, Phil. Because Superman doesn't wear a mask, no-one in *the L&C universe* thinks that he has anything to hide. Therefore they don't go around looking for 'Superman' when he's not being Superman. There is no suggestion that the Suit could be a disguise.>>> I'm not sure, Wendy, but isn't that an explanation for Clark not wearing a mask that has been invented in fanfiction? So we can't assume the writers of the series thought the same. BTW, I must say, I feel just the contrary about a fanfiction that would let Lois get on a rant about the pink kryptonite or the revealing costume. I'm sorry, but I think I would hate it! The Lois of the series never showed any restrain to wear revealing clothes. Her skirts were *very* short, her cleavages low cut, her evening dresses pronnounced her body, she more than once showed off her legs, she wore those outfits in the Toaster-Cllub... I think Lois is proud about her body and has no problem showing it, so why should she complain about the UW costume? After all she liked Clark's suite and it wasn't any less revealing. Wouldn't that have been a double standard? Nicole -- AKA CKgroupie on IRC/AIM NKWolke@t-online.de Are you always searching for news about Dean Cain? And you don't have enough time to search? Here's your solution: Go to "The Dean Cain News Page" http://members.tripod.de/CKgroupie/index.html ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 10:45:38 -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: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I'm late getting in here but just want to add my thoughts. I loved this ep but hated UW's costume. I thought the colors were very unflattering on Teri and the mask distorted her facial expressions. In that wonderful scene where she cries because she couldn't get there in time to rescue some people she looked almost ugly when she cried. Why couldn't she just have had a Lone Ranger kind of mask? Although I'm not sure any kind of mask would have been attractive. As for the reasoning that she needed to hide her face--given some of the other irrational points, I think they might have followed Wonder Woman's lead and just gone with the uncovered face and let the viewers go from there. It couldn't have caused any more of a discussion than the mask. BTW I don't think the writer/producers thought about any of this. I think they were just trying to produce a 'great look'. IMO they failed. As for the oversized man's suit, I thought it was a funny exaggeration. Where did she get it? why would Lois have something like that in her closet? I saw it as the kind of illogical convenience that one might see in a comic strip panel or a cartoon show. Didn't need explanation, but just funny to see. Sort of like that over-the-top canister bomb under the table in WHALTTA. Hilarious, but not something you want to spend a lot of time trying to find a reason for. But then I saw a lot of humor in Soulmates too. There is also a kind of humorous sub-text that is a throw-away, but puts the costume-disguise-secret identity in a kind of context. That is Lois's reference to the Super heroes union. It might lead one to assume that there are a number of other Super heroes operating around the country and that there a re certain conventions to being one that must be brought into play. After all, we have fanfic that accepts the Bruce Wayne/Batman persona as real. Why not accept the reality of the other heroes found on the Saturday cartoon shows and assume that the need for hidden identities costuming and masks apply here? Heidi in Ordinary People is a stereotype that Americans seem to find humorous, thanks to Colonel Klink and Mel Brooks. She also could have been an in-joke. Have you seen 'The Big Picture'? Teri wears long blond braids and an edelweiss costume in one sequence. The line between funny and offensive is difficult to draw in concrete. :) Jude ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 14:03:41 -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: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: Judith Williams To: Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 1:45 PM Subject: Re: Ultrawoman review > As for the oversized man's suit, I thought it was a funny exaggeration. > Where did she get it? why would Lois have something like that in her closet? > I saw it as the kind of illogical convenience that one might see in a comic > strip panel or a cartoon show. Though you said you didn't need an explanation--here's one anyway :) Maybe she had it in the section of her closet along with the chicken suit and a few other items she used for going undercover? I recall Lois pretending to be a man before... Rachel ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 12:03:41 -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: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Now that you mention it, it could have been that suit she wore when she infiltrated the men's club in COS--that is if I were looking for an explanation. ;) Jude ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rachel" To: Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 11:03 AM Subject: Re: Ultrawoman review > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Judith Williams > To: > Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 1:45 PM > Subject: Re: Ultrawoman review > > > > As for the oversized man's suit, I thought it was a funny exaggeration. > > Where did she get it? why would Lois have something like that in her > closet? > > I saw it as the kind of illogical convenience that one might see in a > comic > > strip panel or a cartoon show. > > Though you said you didn't need an explanation--here's one anyway :) > > Maybe she had it in the section of her closet along with the chicken suit > and a few other items she used for going undercover? I recall Lois > pretending to be a man before... > > Rachel ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 12:15:59 -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: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit An addendum to my previous post. Taking a look at some of Lois's undercover disguises, they are pretty funny. Who would ever actually believe Lois was a man in the disguises she wore? :) Jude ----- Original Message ----- From: "Judith Williams" To: Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 12:03 PM Subject: Re: Ultrawoman review > Now that you mention it, it could have been that suit she wore when she > infiltrated the men's club in COS--that is if I were looking for an > explanation. ;) Jude > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Rachel" > To: > Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 11:03 AM > Subject: Re: Ultrawoman review > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: Judith Williams > > To: > > Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 1:45 PM > > Subject: Re: Ultrawoman review > > > > > > > As for the oversized man's suit, I thought it was a funny exaggeration. > > > Where did she get it? why would Lois have something like that in her > > closet? > > > I saw it as the kind of illogical convenience that one might see in a > > comic > > > strip panel or a cartoon show. > > > > Though you said you didn't need an explanation--here's one anyway :) > > > > Maybe she had it in the section of her closet along with the chicken suit > > and a few other items she used for going undercover? I recall Lois > > pretending to be a man before... > > > > Rachel ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 15:55:35 -0500 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: Ultra Woman review Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Kathy wrote, "...she later admits that she believed it was hard for Clark to watch her "do what he was born to do"." Now that line has bothered me because technically Clark wasn't born to be Superman. He was born to live on Krypton under a red sun and have no powers. It's only because of the chain of events that led to his being sent to Earth that he has "powers beyond those of mortal men." I know what Lois's intention, is but the choice of words always bothered me just an eensy weensy bit. >From: Kathy Brown >Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" > >To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU >Subject: Re: Ultra Woman review >Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 10:58:20 -0500 > >On Thu, 15 Mar 2001 15:24:54 +0000, Phillip Atcliffe < >Phillip.Atcliffe@UWE.AC.UK> wrote: > > >_I_ can't remember seeing Lois use heat vision at all! I remember the > >scene showing her not-so-good aim with it , but I have the > >impression that the scene starts _after_ she's used it, so that we > >never actually see UW (or Lois) use heat vision at all. > >This is how I remember it, too, Phil -- the scene starts with Clark looking >at the tree trunk and enthusing, "A-plus on the heat vision!" with Lois >lamenting, "I was aiming for the bottle." I don't remember seeing Lois's >heat vision beams. > >As for the pink x-rays, I know at least once we just see the beams, not >Lois >using them (after she and Clark check out where he was held), so I think >the >pink was just a way to show it was her, not Clark. Put me in the camp that >thought it was just a cute throw-away. I don't see the pink/blue >"stereotype" as offensive; I thought it was cute. :) In fanfic, we have >more >time for narrative -- on TV, you need to go for the visual. > >The man-type suit I agree was silly -- but to me, that silliness was >clearly >intentional. Lois was overcompensating to cover up her costume, and she >clearly hadn't thought about how to hide it yet. (Hey, at least she didn't >bring it in a gym bag to change in the bathroom stall! ;)) She'd probably >been out late the night before on rescues and hadn't thought about what to >wear, and just picked out the bulkiest thing in her closet. As for why >Lois >didn't ask Clark for clothing advice, I think this was another way of >showing >that she and Clark weren't communicating -- Lois was clearly overwhelmed >with >being Ultrawoman, plus she later admits that she believed it was hard for >Clark to watch her "do what he was born to do". She *wasn't* seeking out >his >advice all that much, and I thought this was a nicely done subtle example >of >her avoidance. > >Plus, as Phil said, it was a good sight gag. > >Enjoying this discussion! > >Kathy Marilyn AKA Supermom _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 14:05:15 -0700 Reply-To: Rhonda Robinson Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rhonda Robinson Subject: Re: Smallville Castings MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi gang, >> include John Schneider (Dukes of Hazzard) >>as Jonathan Kent, > >OK, you know you're getting old when the "young heart-throb" you had a poster >of over your bed when you were 10 ... is now playing Jonathan Kent. ;) I didn't *quite* go that far, but I've got to agree. John Schneider as Jonathan Kent? Even if it's the Jonathan Kent from Clark's teen years, I find it hard to believe that the actor who played handsome, *young* Bo Duke is old-looking enough for the role. Oh well, at least it gives me another reason to watch for it--so I can see what my favorite Dukes of Hazzard actor is up to now. Bye, Rhonda ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 23:59:01 +0200 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: Ultrawoman review In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.7.0.20010314020345.00aa7570@actcom.co.il> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed If nothing else, I've managed to spark a *lot* of discussion. :) I enjoyed reading all the comments and contributions; and yes, I will do more "reviews" in the future. Mind you, not all the eps are as popular as UW, but I have seen some good ones. :) Just a few comments: From the discussion, I see my observation of Lois' tie wasn't all that far off. ;) I, too, agree that it would have been fun for Clark to make the "not looking at your face" crack to Lois in reference to the costume. But really, shouldn't all blame be laid on Martha? ;) Kate said: > I was a little unsure about the subplot with Alice and Perry. It came from > Actually, it's a long-running thread, going back to (correct me if I'm wrong) Just Say Noah, and culminating in one of the final episodes of the series when we finally see Alice (Mary Frann). Obviously, you all know better than me; but as I understood it, any spats between Alice and Perry before this ep were temporary ones, such as the one caused by Perry's behavior in PML. Weren't they "zapped" by Larry in JSN because he considered them a wonderful couple? Vicki wrote: I never noticed the heels on Lois's boots were different when Lucille lifts her up - only that one boot has a yellow streak on it and one doesn't. Well, time and space constraints meant that my copy wasn't crystal clear,and maybe what I thought was a heeled shoe and stocking was actually a yellow streaked boot. I *am* pretty sure, though, that the other boot had a flat heel. Oh, and Kate: I became a FoLC through all the marvelous fanfic. Hope all the authors keep up the good work. ;) Thanks to all of you for making the discussion so interesting! Hazel ____ "To me, the eps are merely fanfics that are *exactly* in canon." ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 18:11:17 -0500 Reply-To: "Heidi A. Bingham" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Heidi A. Bingham" Organization: Militant Breastfeeding Cult Subject: Re: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > *Loved* the scene with the truck and Lois trying to stop it. Perhaps this > scene answers, in a way, the questions of the previous para. Despite the > truck driver's clear view of Lois doing the super work, he automatically > assumed it was Superman as soon as he saw him. The power of belief is a > marvelous thing. :) Definitely a cool scene, but you know what bugged me about it? When SM stops a car, he leaves his handprint on the vehicle. Lois/UW didn't. Don't know why, that stuck out in my mind. ~ Heidi ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 18:35:52 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: The Kraz Man Subject: Brand New Start I - Header MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Greetings FoLC's - This was inspired by reading a bunch of various fics on Fanfic.net. And then, one day, Wendy Richards opened up the Archive and the Message Boards to my eyes. So in a way of saying thanks to all the authors that have helped keep me entertained over the months, this is my little piece. This story does contain a WHAM, and there will be a bunch of emotional turmoil for LnC to deal with, but in the end, things should be put back into place. I say should, because the other parts of the story aren't written yet, but I am planning on getting them there. Also, this is my very first attempt at ANY type of fiction, let alone fan fiction. I gladly accept any type of feedback or criticism, especially if you can add some pointers in there as well . In advance, Thanks - The Kraz Man "Failure is simply following the path of least persistence..." ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 18:35:53 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: The Kraz Man Subject: Brand New Start I - Shattered Dreams (1/?) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit “A Brand New Start (Part 1) – Shattered Dreams” by Krazman (kraz@zoominternet.net) The bus pulled out of the Smallville Depot. Its sparse passengers scattered about the inside, seemingly ignoring one another. Clark Kent was happy for that. He wanted the solace, perhaps even needing it. It seemed as if lately all he did was brood. His mother was right. He did need to get away. He needed to let his emotions run their course, somewhere where every corner didn’t cause a flash of painful memories to stir inside his head. A place where nobody knew him, or what he had lost. A place where people wouldn’t have to worry about saying the wrong thing accidentally. A place where… “Stop it, Clark” he muttered to himself, under his breath. “You’re not supposed to be brooding about it.” The bus, after what seemed an eternity, but was actually only a couple of hours, turned on to I-70, and began its long journey toward Metropolis. Clark remembered the amused look on his parent’s face when he told them his destination. “But why Metropolis, Clark? With your abilities, I’d have thought you would want to head overseas again.” “Yes, son. Metropolis isn’t the outback! It’s wall-to-wall people. How are you going to come to grips with everything there?” “But don’t you see, Dad? That’s what I need. A bunch of strangers. No reminders. And I’ve never been to Metropolis, unlike overseas. No one has ever heard of Clark Kent there. No one to ask how I’m holding up.” “Okay, Clark, I can understand that,” Martha Kent replied, “but why the bus… why not just fly?” “Superman is gone for now Mom. And I’m not sure I want to bring him back. He’s cost me too much.” And with that, Clark gave his parents a look that told them he no longer wanted to discuss the issue. ---------------- As the bus slowed into the rest stop, Clark was awakened out of his reverie. As the passengers got off the bus, he joined them, heading for the diner for a bite to eat, and to stretch his legs. Having dined, and stretched, he again boarded the bus. He again dwelled upon Superman, his creation. The public hadn’t seen the ‘blue boy scout’ in over three months. Some papers said he disappeared from whence he came, while others speculated on a government plot. One of the national tabloids even went so far as to say he settled down with some ‘Earth Chic’ and was working on a brood of super-kids. Clark winced inwardly as he remembered reading that. No, no kids… never again. The thought brought tears to Clark ’s eyes again. Clark forcefully blinked them away, focusing on the mundane, putting the memories away again. The sheer effort sometimes exhausted him. He forced his thoughts towards Metropolis, and the new life that awaited him. He fell asleep wondering what he was going to do there. ---------------- A disorienting jostling and many screams awoke Clark from his nap. At first, Clark could not figure out why he was on his back, but he soon realized that the bus had flipped on its side, and was scraping along the road. Realizing that the passengers were in danger, he reacted, not thinking of the consequences. The window next to him was broken. He reached out, and pushing slightly, he was able to use super speed to get his hand between the bus and the ground. Focusing on his aura, he began to fly, hugging the bus close to his form, thus causing the bus to lift off. He slowed the bus down, and as it came to a stop, he gently turned it upright, after which he threw himself to the floor of the bus, joining the rest of the bus’s passengers. Now that the bus had stopped moving, the passengers decide to calm down just a bit. They quickly, and rather hysterically, exited the bus, just in case it decided to do something else unexpected. Clark, not wanting to draw attention to himself, exited as well. Many people were milling around asking, “What happened?” to each other. The bus driver tried to explain. “There was some kind of flash on the left side of the bus, and then, next thing I knew, it tipped over, as if something just pushed it. What I’d like to know is how the bus righted itself. There is no way it could have just righted itself like that. Had that naturally happened, it would have continued to flip the other direction, not stopping when it was upright. I mean, I’m not complaining… but…” he shook his head as he began to mumble to himself. His super-hearing kicked in, and he heard a passenger mumble “You don’t think the blue… nah, he’s gone. It couldn’t have been him, could it?” Clark just ignored it, trying to get people to forget about the incident. “Maybe we should unload our bags from the bus. I don’t think it’s going to be going anywhere anytime soon,” Clark suggested to the gathered passengers. “And perhaps you might want to let your company know what’s going on, so we aren’t out here in the middle of nowhere forever,” he looked to the bus driver. With that, everyone seemed to busy themselves with something, whether it was helping unload the bus, or aiding the rest of the passengers. Some of the passengers were examining the left side of the bus, trying to see if what the driver had said had any merit. They all noticed a hole in the side of one of the cargo bays, and scorch marks along the side, circular around the hole. The passenger who had mumbled to himself, seem to be drawn to the right side of the bus, towards the rear, where he found the most amazing thing he’d ever seen. There was an upside-down handprint in the side of the bus. “Maybe he’s not gone after all!” he said to himself. ---------------------- Eventually, after the police and paramedics showed up, a second bus arrived to carry the passengers to their destination. Remarkably, no one had any serious injuries, just bumps and scrapes. The paramedics and police were astounded by this fact, but even more so by the mysterious handprint. However, Clark had tuned out any mention of the print and Superman, and was very relieved when the police released everyone, allowing them to board the new bus. Settling down in his new seat, Clark reflected upon the issues running through his head in regards to Superman. *** to be continued *** ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 18:39:48 -0500 Reply-To: "Heidi A. Bingham" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Heidi A. Bingham" Organization: Militant Breastfeeding Cult Subject: Re: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > I'm in the group who found the pink x-ray vision cute and funny. Me, too. I thought the whole concept was kind of hokey and the costume over-cutesy and the pink x-rays fit right in. I like it. > In regard to Lois wearing an extremely man-tailored suit over her UW > costume, I also just assumed that was another sight gag. After all, this > time LOIS is the one who gets to loosen her tie as she races out of the > Planet! Too funny! I really laughed at that one. Yeah, the masculine suit was a little "much" but it fit with the concept. > I have to say that I got a huge kick out of watching Clark attempt > to open his bottle of juice, followed by Lois absent-mindedly picking it up > and effortlessly opening it, only to have Clark look up at her with a > self-mocking expression and say "don't tell me I loosened it for you." Lots > of stereotypes being poked fun at here! ROTFL. I fogot about that one. > I also thought that Clark had flown Lois to Smallville for the costume design > and construction - not that M&J were in Metropolis. Were the interiors for > that scene definitely in Clark's apartment?? I think I remember M&J arriving at C's apt with bags of fabric and stuff, no? Clark couldn't have flown Lois to Smallville. He had no powers. She would have to have flown him. Of course, that would have made for some good laughs, too. > [clark] said "I really > could use some HELP! Hey, that really works." It almost struck me as > ad-libbed for some reason. Worked for me! :) It was really funny! I liked the switched roles in UW. I think some of the stuff about Lois/UW was purposefully exaggerated for the effect. And it worked on me. LOL. ~ Heidi ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 01:37:50 +0200 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: Brand New Start I - Shattered Dreams (1/?) In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed I just wanted to say that Kraz began this on the mbs and we're all *very* interested to see what happens next. This one is definitely worth reading! Hazel ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 18:47:54 -0500 Reply-To: "Heidi A. Bingham" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Heidi A. Bingham" Organization: Militant Breastfeeding Cult Subject: Re: Brand New Start I - Shattered Dreams (1/?) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > I just wanted to say that Kraz began this on the mbs and we're all *very* > interested to see what happens next. This one is definitely worth reading! So far, so good. :-) ~ Heidi ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 18:58:32 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: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/15/2001 5:54:37 AM Central Standard Time, NKWolke@T-ONLINE.DE writes: > I have to chime in about the pink x-raying and the Ulatrawoman-suite > though. I actually thought it was funny. Of course they're stereotypes, > but they were clearly meant as a joke and I think Lois is so far above > getting pressed into the "typical woman role" corner, that it didn't > matter. I saw it just in a humorous way, laughed about it and thought it > was a cute idea. > > So my first reaction to the complaints was raising my brow and shaking > my head asking: "Aren't we just a little bit oversensitive in that area > sometimes?" > > I'm fully aware of the fact that using stereotypes as jokes always is a > mindfield though. For example although I was able to laugh off the > female stereotyping in UW, I wasn't able to laugh about "Heidi" very > much in "Ordinary People", but felt offended. > > So I guess it depends on everyone's personal opinion. If you feel > strongly about something, you'll find it more hard to see humor in it. > > Nicole > I agree Nicole. It's one of my favorite episodes. I liked the Ultrawoman suit and the pink xrays were cute. It was a typical comicbook superhero suit. Like Superman's. I mean, his suit is very revealing, right? Skintight, showed all his goodies. And we wouldn't have it any other way, would we? :) Lorie ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 20:21:20 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: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/15/01 2:05:18 PM Pacific Standard Time, zis-s@ACTCOM.CO.IL writes: > Weren't they "zapped" by Larry in JSN > because he considered them a wonderful couple? > Perry and Alice were former attendees of Larry Smiley's Institute for Love and Commitment....alluding to prior marital troubles. What was it that Perry said? "something, something, ......but thanks to L.S., we're into extra innings". This episode was 3rd Season, well-past PHML. Which episode has Perry wearing all of those ugly ties because they were gifts from Alice and "they weren't getting along"? So, anyway, if this really matters, Hazel, ;), the marital problem issue was a progressive story line so that UW did not seem out of the blue at the time. "To me, the eps are merely fanfics that are *exactly* in canon." I love it! Kate ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 17:28:50 -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: Smallvile Casting MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Jen Stosser wrote: 'SMALLVILLE' CASTINGS The latest actors to join the cast of The WB's new Superman series SMALLVILLE, brought your way with some thanks to the FANDOM: SUPERMAN site, include ** John Schneider (Dukes of Hazzard) as Jonathan Kent, ** Cynthia Ettinger (Silence of the Lambs) as Martha Kent, Michael Rosenbaum (Urband Legends, Zoe) as the young Lex Luthor, and Sam Jones III (Zigzag) as Pete Ross. Tom Welling (Judging Amy) will play the young Clark Kent. http://www.fandom.com/superman http://www.thewb.com I'm sorry, but this: "John Schneider (Dukes of Hazzard) as Jonathan Kent" is just wrong!!!1! I had such a crush on him and he'll be playing Clark Kent's father??/2? My brain just cannot compute this!! Audrey __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 12:31:03 +1100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: -= LuC =- Subject: Re: Spanish idiom question Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Hi... I havent posted to this list for about 6 months! :) My grandparents are spanish and i speak and write spanish fluently.. ive never heard them say 'es pan comido' as such.. but i have heard them say 'es algo comido' which has the same sort of meaning but is not including bread or cake or whatever.. anyways thats it for for another 6 months or so i think :) -L. >From: Chris Carr >Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" > >To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU >Subject: Re: Spanish idiom question >Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2001 15:08:23 -0500 > >Jude: > >I'm not a native Spanish speaker, but I do speak and read it pretty well. >Plus, I have a good collection of dictionaries, both bilingual and >monolingual... > >The best I can come up with for 'it's a piece of cake' is: > >es pan comido > >It's a figurative expression, and rather informal in tone. In case you're >wondering, literally, it means 'it is eaten bread', but it means >figuratively that whatever is being talked about is easy to achieve or >obtain. I think it's what you're looking for. > >If there is a native speaker on the list, can you confirm this for me? > >Chris _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 21:19:45 -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: Pink, Blue, and Masks WAS Re: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Nicole Wolke wrote: > > <<< No, you're missing the point, Phil. Because Superman doesn't wear a > mask, no-one in *the L&C universe* thinks that he has anything to hide. > Therefore they don't go around looking for 'Superman' when he's not > being Superman. There is no suggestion that the Suit could be a > disguise.>>> > > I'm not sure, Wendy, but isn't that an explanation for Clark not wearing > a mask that has been invented in fanfiction? So we can't assume the > writers of the series thought the same. Actually, I think that explanation from the comics. I seem to recall seeing a post o this effect on some newsgroup from Roger Stern, who wrote the Superman comics for years. No one expects Superman to *be* anone else. In the comics, for example, Lex Luthor was once told the truth, but he didn't believe it because it was incomprehensible to him that someone so powerful would want another identity, especially one so ... mild-mannered. About the Pink vs Blue x-ray vision... We watched Bolt From the Blue here last night (one of my favorite episodes, and I have a review of it all written up that I could post here if anyone's interested...) But it should be noted that Resplendent Man also wore a mask, and had blue x-ray vision. Does anyone know what color was used to show the boy's x-ray vision in Chip off the Old Clark? Did they ever show Ching, Zara, or any other the other Kryptonian's using x-ray vision? Is it sexist? or is the x-ray vision color merely reflecting off the costume color? Superman wears blue; Resplendent Man wore orange and blue (because two primary colors just do not work together), Ultra Woman wore pink. BTW, for those of you who've known me for years, my youngest daughter -- the one who was an infant and started crying half way through Tempus Fugitive the first time it aired and had to be rocked back to sleep, making me *miss* the end of the episode; the one to whom we fed vanilla ice-cream non-stop between 8:00 and 9:00 during the third season (when she was one) to keep her quiet; the one who *hated* L&C when she was two and three and four... Well, she's six now, and she watched BOTB with us last night, and now Wants to See More Episodes! So I may have an excuse to rewatch lots of episodes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 20:53:26 -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: Please post review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Genevieve and Hazel: Please post more reviews. :) Jude ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 20:55:11 -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: Spanish Idion Question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thanks for the help LuC=. :) Jude ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 06:46:19 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Lesley Hilliard Subject: Re: Brand New Start I - Shattered Dreams (1/?) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I like how this has started and am looking forward to seeing more of the story. There are lots of questions that I hope you answer soon. Lesley in Brampton On ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 07:00:22 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jeanne Pare Subject: Re: Spanish idiom question Comments: To: Luciano Di Gregorio Not intending to confuse the issue any further, I have found yet another possible translation for "it's a piece of cake." I am not a native speaker, but I teach Spanish. I asked a colleague whose mother is Ecuadorian and also was formerly a Spanish teacher. She suggested, "Es manjar." Manjar is a dessert made from cooked condensed milk. My friend's mother had not heard of "Es pan comido"; however, my Harrap's idiom book suggests that one, and I could find no reference anywhere to "Es mnajar." Therefore it may be a local ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 12:30:58 -0000 Reply-To: LabRat Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Organization: LabRat Subject: Re: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I've just caught up with these en masse and had a wonderful time reading all the comments. Thanks, everyone. Unfortunately, they've tended to blur together and I no longer have any idea who said what. So forgive any lack of credit here please. > > I'm in the group who found the pink x-ray vision cute and funny. > > Me, too. I thought the whole concept was kind of hokey and the costume > over-cutesy and the pink x-rays fit right in. I like it. [I must admit that I just found the costume fun. And even though Lois did voice more than one reservation about it during the episode, I tend to think that that was down more to her insecurities, being uncomfortable with the role of superhero and taking what she considered to be Clark's place in the grand scheme of things than any real objections to its styling. In the main at least. She just didn't want to be wearing a superhero costume at all, imo, and any costume would have made her feel uncomfortable. I think her comment about it being so tight was more about comfort than concern about it being revealing. I agree with whoever it was (Nicky?) who said that Lois was always comfortable about her body and never had problems about showing it to its best advantage when it suited her. ;)] > > > In regard to Lois wearing an extremely man-tailored suit over her UW > > costume, I also just assumed that was another sight gag. After all, this > > time LOIS is the one who gets to loosen her tie as she races out of the > > Planet! > > Too funny! I really laughed at that one. Yeah, the masculine suit was a > little "much" but it fit with the concept. [Oh, quite definitely a sight gag, I'd agree. Still think it was ugly though. But then I despaired of the whole fashion trend of models wearing men's suits too and wondered what on earth they thought they looked like. The whole Annie Hall thing.... And I thought it looked ugly on Darryl Hannah too in Splash. Now there was a defiinite sight gag. At least Lois dispensed with the clumpy, too large shoes.] > > > I have to say that I got a huge kick out of watching Clark attempt > > to open his bottle of juice, followed by Lois absent-mindedly picking it > up > > and effortlessly opening it, only to have Clark look up at her with a > > self-mocking expression and say "don't tell me I loosened it for you." > Lots > > of stereotypes being poked fun at here! > > ROTFL. I fogot about that one. > [One of my favourite moments in this one. Isn't it also a play on a scene from one of the Superman movies? I vaguely remember a scene in Perry's office where Clark tries to open a bottle of orange juice and Lois - in the middle of some rant at their editor - finally gets exasperated with him, grabs it off him, thumps it on the table, removes the top and thrusts it back at him, before launching back into her spiel without so much as a glance at him. Which only made it all the funnier when I saw it here.] Excellent point re. the suit, Rachel! Hadn't thought of that. LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 13:39:03 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: John Debbage <106532.433@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Thank you and 2 new parts of Universal MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Hi, I'd like to thank everyone who has commented on the previous two parts of= this story. I'm so happy to know that it was enjoyed. = As it seems that I'll have a busy day tomorrow, I've decided to post two more parts today. I hope you'll let me know what you think of the latest= chapter. Yours Jenni Debbage ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 13:39:52 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: John Debbage <106532.433@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Universal Union Book3/Part3 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 = Title: Universal Union Book3/Part 3 Author: Jenni Debbage Rating: PG-13 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ =46rom part 3 "Excuse me?!" That last remark had taken Kal-El completely by surprise. "I'm assuming that since this is a small gathering of your family, friends and close supporters, that you wouldn't leave out your second councillor and that the lack of a formal invitation to myself and Lady Minerva was just an oversight on Lady Lois' part. Lady Minerva was devastated by the slight; she was so looking forward to renewing her acquaintance with your lovely Lady." The nerve of the man! And how did he get out of this one?! Jen-Mai= had backed him when it seemed that his wish to promote the Moyans would b= e blocked. But on the other hand, how did he explain to Lois the presence = of the Mais at her first private dinner party? Jen-Mia clearly took Kal's silence as assent because the smarmy grin= grew even broader. "Good! Lady Minerva will be over the moon! Tomorrow= night at eight I believe. Till then, my Lord and fellow councillors, I b= id you good day." A quick bow and he was gone. "Oh dear," commiserated Remy, "whatever is Lois going to say when yo= u tell her?" Kal could only manage a very un-kingly shrug. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Two House Warming? Lois paced back and forth in the small bedroom; actually by Earth standards it wasn't a small room, but compared to the royal apartment two= floors below it was really quite tiny. She hadn't thought she would be s= o nervous; after all, she had hosted a number of formal banquets in the palace's dining hall and this was only a small party for family and friends. Previously, however, the organization had been the responsibilit= y of the seneschal and his staff. This was her party, her creation . . . well, except for the actual cooking. And the thing was, thanks to Kal's stumbling confession of yesterday= , she wasn't really looking forward to it. How could he have allowed himse= lf to be railroaded into inviting the slimy Jean-Mai and his equally annoyin= g wife; wasn't Kal a king or something? Of course, she knew all about Mai's unsought backing of Kal's plans = in the council chamber, which had put her husband at a disadvantage when it came to refusing the request for an invite. Given Lois' suspicious nature, she firmly believed that this new councillor was a plant and that= between them, Mai and Li, had set the whole thing up. What was not quite= so obvious, was what they hoped to achieve with Mai's presence at this party. This was just a small family gathering . . . nothing crucial. Satisfied with her appearance in her long-flowing gown -- Lois was becoming accustomed to the more courtly attire of Krypton. She wandered= through the family room into the dinning area, running her hands along th= e backs of the Earth-styled chairs as she moved down the length of the tabl= e. Bowls of harvest fruits sat on the pristine white cloth, while silver candlesticks and cutlery glimmered in the crystal lights suspended above the table. = As her eye caught a slight imbalance, Lois leaned over and straightened a little trio of flags that topped one of the fruit bowls. = Her eye was drawn to the other stars and stripes' decorations that festooned the room. They were out of place given the nature of the celebration, but to Lois they were a reminder of her home -- her identity= , and, as such, they gave her courage to face the future on her adopted planet. = So much had happened to her since she had arrived on Krypton; she ha= d experienced the happiest moments of her young life, and yet, she had been= touched with great sorrow and tragedy. But best of all, she had been granted the most beautiful of gifts . . . the love she shared with her husband. Which was not exactly the first emotion that entered her mind a= s Kal somewhat sheepishly exited the bedroom. "Don't fret, Lois," he gently advised as he came to stand behind her= , his fingers softly kneading the tense muscles in her shoulders. "It'll b= e fine, you'll see. Mother and Father, Zara and Gellis, Ching and Poli, th= e Treys and, not forgetting, Uncle Remy, they're all on your side." "Kal, this is a family party not a skirmish, there shouldn't be sides!" Lois shrugged his hands off with some vexation. Suddenly she stilled, then abruptly whirled to face Kal once more, her face showing signs of inner turmoil as mentally she counted her guests. "Kal, that's thirteen people sitting down to supper! It can't happen! It's very bad luck! We have to invite someone else." "Honey, whatever are you talking about? And it's far too late to se= nd out an invite. Please calm down." He attempted to take her hand that wa= s forcefully poking his chest. "Thirteen is a very unlucky number . . . and haven't you heard of th= e Last Supper? What am I saying?! Why would you have heard of the Last Supper?! Having thirteen guests to dinner can only lead to disaster," Lo= is almost wailed. "Is this religion you're talking about? Because, you know, I never really thought you were religious, or superstitious for that matter." A rather worried Kal had caught hold of Lois and he pulled her closer, running soothing hands up and down her stiffened spine. "You're just obsessing, sweetheart -- and I know that I'm wholly to blame for that -- but you must know that I wouldn't ever let Jean-Mai or anyone else hurt you." = "I'm not religious or superstitious, not normally anyway," she conceded, "but things haven't exactly gone very well recently and I'm not= about to borrow trouble. We have to find someone else to come to our dinner." As his wife frowned in concentration, Kal waited with a sense of dre= ad to hear what her solution to her problem might be. It didn't trouble him= just how many people were seated at the table but looking along its lengt= h he had to admit that it did look somehow unbalanced. Ching would be alon= e in the middle of the table with no one seated opposite him and even that table plan had caused some disruption between the couple, Lois having placed Zara across from the handsome Captain (the Lieutenant having been promoted due to his competent handling of the Ballen affair.') Kal had thought her matchmaking in this case was just a little obvious and he had= insisted that his two bodyguards should change position. In fact, Ching or Poli would only be considered as suitable guests a= t a family gathering such as this, and now that Mai had wangled an invitation, he wasn't completely sure that both men should still attend. = Still, when he had made his misgivings known to Lois, she had immediately= poo-poohed his idea, insisting that she was happier to have the serviceme= n than the obnoxious noble couple. Besides, she didn't wish to hurt the sensibilities of her two friends by revoking their invitations and, as th= is party was the first thing that Lois had tackled with enthusiasm, Kal had quickly waived his objection. = Lois took a turn around the room while she figured out just who woul= d be available to fill in at such short notice; the guests would be arrivin= g very soon. The bird-like physician, Tamar, would have been the ideal choice but he was out of the city attending a medical seminar. Then inspiration struck! The El's long serving major-domo who was almost par= t of the family. "Ernst!" The troubled hostess cried in relief. "Kal, contact your mother, she won't have left yet, and tell her to bring Ernst with them --= it really ought to be another woman to balance things out, but beggars can't be choosers," she muttered as she headed in the direction of the kitchen. "I'll go and tell the staff to set another place at the table .= . . ." "Lois! No!" Now the equally troubled host halted his wife's swift exit with a few words that sounded ominously like a command. "You can't invite Ernst, he's a serv. . . ant . . . ." His voice died away as a sense of deja vu overtook him. "Yes, he is. And don't start with that again. Etta was also a servant to begin with and you admitted that you were wrong about her. = Besides, you've known Ernst since you were old enough to know anyone, so he's much more than a servant," Lois challenged. Kal ran his hand through his thick dark hair, a sure sign of agitation. He couldn't refute either of Lois' statements, yet Ernst was not Etta. "Lois, he's an old man and he's set in his ways, he'll be uncomfortable on the wrong side of the fence." Now Kal was almost pleading. He really didn't object to Ernst sitting down to dinner with them, nonetheless, he just couldn't shake this unnerving feeling that something wasn't quite right with the arrangement. But he loved Lois, so= he attempted to explain. "I admit that Etta dined with us at Scheih-Ellion, but that was an informal setting . . . ." "This, Kal," Lois' arms waved around the room, "this is supposed to = be an informal setting . . . ." "Please, Lois, just let me finish," and he paused a moment to see if= she would interrupt once more. His wife maintained a sullen silence. "= We were all young at Scheih-Ellion, more open to accept change. Yet, even Etta was ill-at-ease with the arrangement to begin with. This is different; my parents, the Treys, they wouldn't really understand . . . b= ut if they were the only ones involved, I wouldn't object so strongly, but the Mais would feel insulted . . . ." "Good! Because, if it wasn't for them inviting themselves at the la= st moment, we wouldn't be having this difficulty!" "I can't argue with you there!" Kal offered Lois a rueful smile. "And you know I don't hold with such old fashioned prejudice." With= an answering, gamin grin Lois came to stand in front of her husband, leaning into his, at present, unyielding body and looking up at him with that intriguing mixture of mischief and supplication "And you did say th= at in this apartment we could leave all the pomp and ceremony behind us and just be ourselves." The First Lord could not resist his Lady when she charmed him in jus= t that way, but he wasn't about to give up without one final attempt to persuade her to his way of thinking. "Lois, sweetheart, I'm not just bei= ng awkward here, I really believe that this won't be a good situation for an= y of us. And, before you go accusing my people of being bigoted and backward, just remember that you're reacting out of an old superstition."= "I know," Lois had the grace to blush, not really understanding her own perversity, " but thirteen is such an unlucky number for me. I was t= he thirteenth student to receive Luthor's award and my date with that monste= r was on the thirteenth day of the month too and we all know how that turne= d out." = "Lois, that was the first time that I actually got to speak to you, = so you can't expect me to think it was an unlucky day." Kal lowered his hea= d until he touched her forehead with his own. "Please, Lois, trust me on this, having Ernst here would be a worse omen than unlucky thirteen and i= t wouldn't be fair to thrust him into such an uneasy gathering." Surprisingly, Mad Dog Lane conceded defeat and graciously too. With= a swift about-face and with only a quick quip, she whirled around and went = to enquire of Burdom's progress in the kitchen. "Well don't blame me if things go terribly wrong, remember I did warn you." = But she softened her words with a gentle smile and a kiss blown in his direction. Kal could not forbear to smile at his wife's retreating back, his appreciative eyes lingering on the velvety material that clung = to every curve as she cheekily wiggled her hips in his direction. Kal recognised Lois' resolve to put aside her qualms and determined to emulat= e her brighter mood. After all, what could go so terribly wrong in a simpl= e family dinner party in this his own home. He sauntered after his desirably impish wife into the kitchen. The tempting smells that were wafting through the open door drew him in -- where he earned a swift smack on his hand from a now composed hostess as = he attempted to sample some of the canapes laid out on silver trays. So muc= h for being king! ***** tbc in part 4 = ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 13:40:26 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: John Debbage <106532.433@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Universal Union Book3/Part4 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Title: Universal Union Book3/Part 4 Author: Jenni Debbage Rating: PG-13 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the beginning, it seemed as if the young couple's fears might hav= e been unfounded. Jen-Mai chose to be conciliatory and though his lady could, in Lois' eyes, be nothing less than aggravating, the two were behaving amiably. And it very soon became apparent that the First Lady's= apprehension over the question of unlucky numbers was nullified as, on th= e heels of the Els, the ancient Lord Remy arrived with a similarly ancient widow. The old man's eyes twinkled and the lines on his face creased as he leaned to whisper conspiratorially to his great nephew and his lovely wif= e. "On the way here, my dears, I had the strangest feeling . . . something about numbers and bad omens . . . I didn't really understand, but there w= as something I could do about it. The Lady Brenna," and his gaze strayed to= his partner who was being welcomed by the elder Els, " is an old friend, = or rather the widow of an old friend. She doesn't get out much . . . and as= I was passing her house, I sort of hijacked her. It will do the old lady good to be in some company and I hope I've solved your problem." This la= st was directed at the decidedly abashed but grinning Lois. = "Thank you and thank goodness for telepathy, it certainly has its uses." The now happy hostess reached to place a light kiss on the grizzl= ed cheek. "Uncle Remy, you are the best." Then she hurried over to the little group comprised of her parents-in-law and her unexpected guest, leaving her likewise surprised husband to explain the details to her saviour. "I'd like to add my thanks too, Uncle. Lois was in quite a state earlier; it seems that number thirteen is considered bad luck on Earth, especially in dinner guests; purely a superstition, of course . . . ." "But you didn't need any added evil portents considering who is comi= ng to dinner." Remy's voice took on a more serious tone as he asked the question that had been troubling him since the previous day. "Do you expect trouble?" Kal shook his head slowly and finished on a shrug. "I don't see wha= t Mai could hope to gain from attending this party . . . unless, of course,= he just hopes to bait Lois and believe me, Minerva-Mai can do that withou= t trying." The worried young leader's gaze rested on his wife as she strov= e to put at ease a rather flustered old lady, who was feeling something lik= e a fish out of water. "I just pray that Lois can keep her temper in check= and that Jen-Mai doesn't have anything more sinister in mind." = "Well, Lady Brenna is a harmless old soul and the family has always supported the Els, so I figured she'd be an innocuous addition to the party." "Much better than Lois' suggestion!" And as his uncle lifted his eyebrows in a question, Kal gave a out an apologetic laugh. "Believe me,= Uncle, you do not want to know!" "Unsuitable, hm?!" Remy's glance also fell on the effervescent youn= g creature who had landed in their midst very close to a year ago, and both= his gaze and voice softened. "She has a lot to learn, Kal, but she is so= quick witted . . . . Have you noticed, she never makes the same mistake twice? But don't change her too much; I like her just the way she is." "Don't worry, Uncle, I *love* her just the way she is," Kal sought t= o reassure. "It just makes me so angry that my enemies use Lois to get at me." A familiar shard of ice was forming in Kal's heart while he reprise= d all that Lois had been through. "It's just so hard to live with, knowing= that because of me, Lois is in danger. I keep remembering how it was for= Uncle Zor when he lost Rochelle . . . ." "That's not going to happen again," the quiet voice affirmed as Remy= laid a feather-light touch upon his great nephew's clenched fist. "Most = of the aristocracy were horrified by that tragedy and now they support you .= . . ." "Then who is spreading these damaging rumours about Lois and why do = I feel that there are forces out there just waiting to pounce . . . ." Kal= abruptly cut off his burgeoning fears, aware that Lois very often picked = up on his moods, yet he could not stop his next thought. "Perhaps I should have left her safe on Earth." "Nonsense, my boy! I'm certain that Lois would be the first to refu= te that suggestion." Remy scolded kindly. "And if, as Trey and I suspect, Jen-Mai is responsible for the whispering campaign then someday he will trip himself up. The man has far less intelligence than he thinks and hi= s conceit will be his undoing. Have patience!" "I'm convinced he's one of Rad-Nor's creatures," whispered Kal, "and= now he has an accomplice in Li." "Very probably, but this is neither the time nor the place to discus= s such things. This is Lois' party and she's gone to a lot of time and trouble to make sure we all enjoy ourselves and I for one am going to see= that her efforts were not in vain." And with a last encouraging wink to= Kal, he joined Lois and his 'date' for the evening. And indeed there was no time to pursue the topic of Jen-Mai's possib= le treachery as the man and his wife arrived with the Treys and as the few servants who had been appropriated from the palace staff for the evening,= appeared from the kitchens, handing round tempting hors d'oeuvres and win= e, Kal chose to heed his great uncle's council. The small group was soon seated around the table partaking of a meal= which would have graced any American household at Thanksgiving. Burdom h= ad surpassed all Lois' expectations as her tastebuds were tantalised by flavours of home. Even the native Kryptonians were pleasantly satisfied with the hearty food from a distant culture. The conversation too was agreeable and, if one discounted the contributions of the inane Lady Mai,= most interesting. So it was most unexpected that the first salvo was fired while the diners delighted over a scrumptious dessert of pumpkin pie, served with a= large scoop of Krypton's version of ice- cream. = "Excellent, pumpkin pie," Jen- Mai announced, much satiated. "I congratulate you, Lady Lois, and your chef on such a delicious dinner. I= had not thought to enjoy such a rustic meal, but I'm happy to admit my error." "Thank you, Lord Mai," Lois attempted to accept his words graciously= but her spirit bridled at the word rustic; did he honestly believe that t= he bland Kryptonian food, that she'd been forced to consume on many occasion= s, was preferable? Granted, the native eating habits might be considered mo= re conducive to good health, but she did so miss revelling in 'comfort' food= and she was pleased that Kal had seen to it that she was often indulged with tidbits from Earth, even if they were simulated. = "And am I correct in saying that this 'Thanksgiving' is an old American custom, celebrating the early settlers' survival in their new la= nd of America?" Mai asked with a tinge of self-satisfaction. "Yes, my lord," Lois was determined to play the role of indulgent hostess to the hilt. "In the 1620s the Pilgrim Fathers decreed a day of prayer and thanksgiving to celebrate their harvest and survival. You mus= t have done your homework well, " this last was said almost under her breat= h but Jen-Mai, sitting two places down on her right, caught her words. "Indeed I have! In fact, I've particularly made a study of your culture, Milady; which makes me wonder why the Star & Stripes are displayed so prominently." The artful Lord raised his hands to point out the various red, white and blue decorations. "Surely they are inappropriate at a ceremony of prayer and giving thanks. And nowhere in our archives on the history of your nation have I found anything that suggests that this gonfalon was even thought of at this particular period= ." "Well no, I don't suppose it was," the dismayed American girl acknowledged; trust Mai to be able to give her a history lesson on her native country. "I admit that I mixed up my holidays a little. The Star= s & Stripes came much later, during the War of Independence, but I didn't think anyone would mind." "I think they look quite splendid," Lord Remy interposed smoothly, "and I don't think it matters a great deal here on Krypton." " Husband, they're a keepsake from Lois' world." As if on cue Minerva-Mai's sickly sweet voice joined the conversation. "A young girl,= so far away from home, needs such reminders. There's nothing untoward about that . . . unless . . . ." "Unless they're an indication of where Lady Lois' true interests lie= ." "Jen-Mai, just what are you inferring?" From the head of the table Kal-El snapped the question; the young ruler had had his fill of innuendo= . "Only that perhaps your wife regrets her coming to Krypton," came th= e slick return. "I do not suggest this in a derogatory manner, but perhaps= the lady did not quite understand what would be required of her. It's clear that she finds her duties oppressive. Mayhap the lady would be happier to return to her world." There was a pregnant silence as those around the table absorbed the full meaning of Mai's statement. But the malevolent couple had not yet finished. "Earth beings evidently lack the Krytponian strength of morality and= honour that our rank demands . . . " ". . . and poor Lois can hardly be blamed for something that is beyo= nd her," Lady Mai added injury to her husband's insults. The stillness stretched for a seemingly interminable time until the screech of Lois' chair being forcefully pushed back broke the frozen tableau. "Now listen here, buster . . . ." "Lois, stop!" = This time there was no mistaking the power of command in Kal's words= and, amazingly, Lois found herself sinking back into her chair, while Jen-Mai could not quite suppress a sly sneer at what he supposed to be th= e First Lord's chastisement of the Earth girl. "Jen-Mai, you are a guest in my house and as such, Kryptonian hospitality forbids me to deal with you as I would earnestly wish." Lord= Kal-El proceeded with icy calm to wipe the look of triumph from his councillor's face. "In every way, Lois stands head and shoulders above y= ou and your spoiled spouse, and I would not further insult her by asking tha= t she accept your apology." The infuriated First Lord rose from his place = at the head of the table and took a few menacing steps towards his prey. = "Leave our presence now, but know this, if I ever discover that you have repeated these insinuations outside this room, I will have you and your wife arraigned for treason." "My Lord, I protest," Jen-Mai stuttered, realising that he had miscalculated and very aware that the man who pulled his strings did not tolerate failure. He was being well paid to undermine the marriage of th= e First Lord and Lady and Rad-Nor would not be pleased if he had overplayed= his hand. "Get out of here, now! Before I call the palace guards and have you= thrown out!" = Confronted by the implacable countenance of Lord Kal-El, the Mais ha= d no choice but to obey and they scurried ignominiously from the apartment.= = The group left behind gazed in some astonishment and awe at the metamorphosis of the youth who had shown such potential, into the powerfu= l commander of all Krypton. = A somewhat hysterical laugh from Lois eased the state of shocked tension. "Well, that went well, wouldn't you say?!" "Good riddance, is what I say," Lady Brenna announced undramatically= . = "Never could abide the boy . . . and his father was no different. Mai, t= he elder, was a friend of my brother when we were children -- and a fair weather friend at that, always making mischief and blaming others for the= trouble he caused. The son is obviously just as untrustworthy. Take my advice, Lord Kal-El, and rid yourself of that weasel before he has a chan= ce to cause more bother." To say that the gathering was somewhat startled by the elderly lady'= s outburst was a definite understatement, Lady Brenna having been conspicuously quiet during the meal. Yet, it warmed the hearts of the First Lord and Lady to know that they had acquired another champion at th= is worrying time. Indeed, the rest of the dinner guests assumed the lady's rallying tone and the mood lightened, allowing what was left of the party= to be judged a great success. ***** The young couple who went to bed that night mutually decided to put the distasteful altercation from their minds and to bask, instead, in the= warm afterglow of affection left by their family and friends. Much late= r, however, as Lois slept in his arms, Kal stared into the darkness and recalled Lady Brenna's recommendation. If only he could banish his troublesome second minister; yet, perhaps it was preferable to keep Mai under his eye. Unwittingly, his hand tightened on Lois' hip, bringing he= r from sleep. "Kal, what is it?" So attuned to her husband was Lois, that she easily picked up on the depth of his distress. "What's wrong?" "Nothing's wrong, sweetheart. Go back to sleep." "Kal, whatever gave you the notion that you could fool me?" Lois ro= se up on her elbow and, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could make= out the drawn frown on her husband's face. "It's Jen-Mai, isn't it? He= hates me . . . and I don't know why . . . . It's not as if I've done anything to him; though I have to be honest here . . . I agree with Brenn= a, I don't much like him either and I certainly don't trust him." A tender hand reached out to cup Lois' face. "It isn't you he hates= , honey, it's me; you're just a way for him to get at me . . . ." "Oh, that makes me feel a whole lot better, Kal," Lois' laugh was ironic, "knowing that I'm just a means to an end; not even worthy of a feeling." "See, that just proves what bad taste Jen-Mai has; you are worthy of= so many emotions and all of them wonderful." The young man's thoughts we= re switching to more pleasant pastimes than discussing the inconvenient Mai.= = "Have I ever told you how lucky I am to have found you?" Kal reached up to brush the lips that hovered so near his own and wit= h a quick change of mood he rolled Lois onto her back, fitting his body alo= ng her side and beginning to kiss his way from her lips to her ear. For som= e moments Lois allowed his assault, then gently pulled back. "I know your plan, my Lord ," she whispered huskily, ". . . to distract me . . . ." Her arms went involuntarily around his neck and she= leaned into his kisses. "I just want to tell you that it won't work . .= . . Oh, yes please." Kal had just found a particularly pleasing spot. "B= ut I haven't finished with you yet . . . ." "Neither have I," Kal laughed against the silky skin of her long nec= k, his breath sending shivers through her body. Deciding that a little distraction wasn't a bad thing, Lois pressed her curves ever closer to her husband until they were almost as one. "We= can discuss this later . . . much later," she breathlessly conceded. = With Lois this close, Kal lost all power of cognitive thought. = "Anything you say, sweetheart, anything you say . . . ." A few days later, their world fell apart. ***** tbc in Part 5 ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 17:53:00 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Christy Landrum Subject: Fanfic question: Police Investigations MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi all, I'm coming out of lurker mode because I need some help with the story I'm writing. What types of investigations would police perform on someone that had been murdered by gunshot? What could they do to find out who was the murderer? Thank you in advance! Christy ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 14:59:50 -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: Fanfic question: Police Investigations In-Reply-To: <26.12a3635f.27e3f34c@cs.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Okay, just from watching cop shows, I can help a bit. A thorough examination of the scene of the crime would take place perhaps yielding fingerprints, info about the victim, info about the murderer ie. he/she is a smoker or wears a certain type of shoe or has a certain blood type. Also, the police interview witnesses and canvas the neighbourhood around where the crime happened to see if anything odd took place. The next of kin is thoroughly questioned as many times crimes really are all in the family! These statements are thoroughly scrutinised. Hope this helps, Irene --- Christy Landrum wrote: > Hi all, I'm coming out of lurker mode because I need > some help with the story > I'm writing. What types of investigations would > police perform on someone > that had been murdered by gunshot? What could they > do to find out who was > the murderer? > > Thank you in advance! > > Christy ===== www.originalequestrianmusic.bigstep.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 17:01:06 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carol L Moncado Subject: Re: Universal Union Book3/Part4 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay I'm ready for part 5 now! I am loving this and I loved Oops should probably put a spoiler space in here * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I loved when Kal stood up and kicked the Mai's out! Go KAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They deserved it and more. I don't like the "their world fell apart" part, but I suppose it has to! More soon! CM ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 18:26:16 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: The Kraz Man Subject: Universal Union MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Wow - what a great 4 parts... I had to go back and reread stories 1 and 2, so I could remember what was going on for these parts. It's about time that Kal put his foot down to the innuendo and the bs going on... Great writing - compelling story - keep up the great work... - The Kraz Man "Failure is simply following the path of least persistence..." ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 15:26:48 -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: Spanish idiom question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Jeanne: Thank you so much. It's really special and exciting to get something that came from a real Ecuadorian. I just hope when I finish the story, that I won't have offended any of the people there. :) Jude ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeanne Pare" To: Sent: Friday, March 16, 2001 4:00 AM Subject: Re: Spanish idiom question > Not intending to confuse the issue any further, I have found yet another > possible translation for "it's a piece of cake." I am not a native speaker, > but I teach Spanish. I asked a colleague whose mother is Ecuadorian and > also was formerly a Spanish teacher. She suggested, "Es manjar." Manjar is > a dessert made from cooked condensed milk. My friend's mother had not heard > of "Es pan comido"; however, my Harrap's idiom book suggests that one, and I > could find no reference anywhere to "Es mnajar." Therefore it may be a > local ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 21:38:20 -0700 Reply-To: erink@ida.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin Klingler Subject: Kerth Voting: Last Chance! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay, procrastinators...or just those of you who are dreading making that final decision , Only TWO days left to submit your votes for the 2001 Fanfic Kerth Awards! Voting ends Sunday night at midnight EST, so if you haven't voted yet, don't wait too much longer! Before you vote, read through the voting FAQ at: http://www.ida.net/users/davek/kerth_voting.htm and then, when you're ready to cast those votes, go to the automated voting ballot on the Fanfic Archive at: http://www.lcfanfic.com/kerthvote2001.html And if you still have a couple of stories left to read, get all the stories at Genevieves "one stop reading" site at: http://users.erols.com/nightsky/kerth.html So don't wait any longer! Time's running out, so finish reading those stories and submit your votes. :) Erin __________________ erink@ida.net Visit my LNC/Kerth Website: www.ida.net/users/davek ***** "It's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now, as they happen." __________________ ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 00:12:00 -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: Fanfic question: Police Investigations MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: Christy Landrum To: Sent: Friday, March 16, 2001 5:53 PM Subject: Fanfic question: Police Investigations > Hi all, I'm coming out of lurker mode because I need some help with the story > I'm writing. What types of investigations would police perform on someone > that had been murdered by gunshot? What could they do to find out who was > the murderer? At last, an area I can actually know something about (besides the medical stuff)! Just so you know, this came straight from a cop (also known as my significant other). You might as well know that there are tons of things you could do. What are you talking about specifically? Finding the weapon? Dusting for prints? Finding the murderer usually involves finding the weapon, checking it for prints, using witnesses, matching DNA (including hair, if you want something weird to throw in), car description, anything the murderer tracked in that doesn't belong in the house. If you have something more specific in mind or more detailed points on something I'd be glad to help you out (or, more precisely, *he* would be ). I wasn't sure exactly where you wanted to start so I didn't know what specifics to give you. Rachel ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 00:22:11 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Christy Landrum Subject: Re: Fanfic question: Police Investigations MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/17/2001 12:16:15 AM Eastern Standard Time, rae@USXCHANGE.NET writes: << At last, an area I can actually know something about (besides the medical stuff)! Just so you know, this came straight from a cop (also known as my significant other). You might as well know that there are tons of things you could do. What are you talking about specifically? Finding the weapon? Dusting for prints? Finding the murderer usually involves finding the weapon, checking it for prints, using witnesses, matching DNA (including hair, if you want something weird to throw in), car description, anything the murderer tracked in that doesn't belong in the house. >> Well, the man was murdered in an empty warehouse in an empty section of town where there were no witnesses, and the murderer kept his weapon for further murders Does that narrow it down any? In this scenario, would the police check the bullet, or what? Thank you for your help and for responding to my initial e-mail! Christy ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 07:34:47 -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: Fanfic question: Police Investigations Christy, the bullet would certainly be examined by forensic/ballistic specialists. They can usually tell what kind of gun it came from - make, model - and from the markings on the bullet casing they'd usually be able to prove which *precise* gun fired the shot. That gives you quite a lot of room to manoeuvre: do you want to make it hard to find the murderer? Then make the gun used a very common model. Do you want to make it easier? Then make the gun used a rarer type. I don't know anything at all about guns, but maybe someone else could help you here. Oh, and because gun dealers have to keep records of guns sold and to whom, it's possible for the police to track who bought what kind of gun in any one city or state. (I assume it could be done nationwide, but maybe only in the case of a very rare type of gun or a very high-profile murder?). Though, since not all guns in circulation are registered, and guns tend to get stolen etc, chances are that a trace through gun dealers wouldn't necessarily find your villain. If your murderer obtained the gun especially to carry out the murder(s), he/she won't have wanted to make it easy to trace. Hope this helps! Wendy ------------------- Wendy Richards Wendy@kingsmeadowcr.freeserve.co.uk ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 08:05:08 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: Spanish idiom question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Just to further confuse the issue, I asked one of our Spanish teachers about this yesterday. She is Puerto Rican. She said she would say, "Es un paseo," for something that is really easy. No food at all involved. She added that she was pretty sure that this particular idiom would vary from Spanish-speaking country to Spanish-speaking country. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 08:07:52 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: Fanfic question: Police Investigations MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/17/01 7:35:18 AM Eastern Standard Time, Wendy@KINGSMEADOWCR.FREESERVE.CO.UK writes: > Though, since not all guns in circulation are registered, and guns tend to > get stolen etc, chances are that a trace through gun dealers wouldn't > necessarily find your villain. If your murderer obtained the gun especially > to carry out the murder(s), he/she won't have wanted to make it easy to > trace. > And if you want to throw in red herrings, or complications for another character, you can have the murder weapon be stolen from the person to whom it was registered, thus throwing suspicion on him or her. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 00:09:58 +1100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: -= LuC =- Subject: Re: Spanish Idion Question Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed anytime Jude :) >From: Judith Williams >Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" > >To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU >Subject: Spanish Idion Question >Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 20:55:11 -0800 > >Thanks for the help LuC=. :) Jude _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 08:10:02 -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: New Story: A Walk in the Dark 1/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The familiar characters and settings of this story are the property of DC Comics, Warner Bros. December 3rd Productions, et al. but the story is mine. A Walk in the Dark By Nan Smith deimos1@earthlink.net Submitted March 2001 Rated PG Suicide Slum at three in the morning wasn't the place for a stroll, Clark Kent reflected, grimly. He eyed the open space before him with acute suspicion. The sight of a man in halfway decent clothing around here was an open invitation to a mugging, but what else was he supposed to do? There really wasn't much choice. He had to find somewhere that he could get help. He zipped up his leather jacket against the chilly mist that rose off the bay and permeated the air, still searching the darkness. Nothing appeared to be moving except for the shadowy form of an alley cat that streaked across the broken sidewalk and vanished between two buildings. The streetlights ahead of him were out--vandalized, he thought. The glow of the lamps apparently made good targets for rock throwers, and the only pay phones he had found so far had been in an equivalent condition. Ancient tenements rose on all sides, their windows long since broken and boarded over. A "Condemned" sign hung by one corner from its nail on the door behind him. The sign was almost as old as the building. Tearing down these decrepit structures apparently wasn't high on the priorities list of the city planners. His joints still ached from the Kryptonite exposure. How long it would take for his powers to return was anybody's guess. It had been all he could do to get away; Lois would kill him when she discovered what a chance he had taken but what he had learned had been worth it, even if things hadn't gone exactly as he had planned. Only, now he had to survive to reach civilization again. Somewhere not far away, he could hear the strains of rap music, the bass booming away at a frequency designed to vibrate through his bones, and with it the roar of engines. That would undoubtedly be the drag racers he'd busted a few nights ago. They'd simply moved their location...again. Taking a deep breath, he moved out onto the sidewalk, walking at a brisk pace calculated to discourage would-be muggers. Mist curled in the air about him, chilly and damp. The dark alleys that opened between the buildings loomed menacingly, each a possible place of concealment. He kept a good distance from them and passed each one quickly. Here and there, drunks slept in doorways and between trashcans, and an occasional dark figure staggered or slunk away into the darkness. Clark gave each a carefully wide berth. He wasn't looking for trouble right now. All he wanted to do was get out of this place as fast as possible with his skin relatively intact. The rusted hulks of cars, stripped and left to disintegrate by the side of the street were also places of concealment, he realized belatedly, avoiding one ancient shell as he hurried down the uneven sidewalk. The place was eerily quiet, except for the distant throb of the bass speakers. Across the street, he could see a pair of shadowy figures fade into an alleyway, and somewhere not far away a cat squalled. There was a clatter of aluminum trashcans and a skittering noise. Something--a rat, he thought--squealed sharply. The sound was followed by a second yowl, and a third. Tomcats squaring off, he told himself; there were plenty of stray cats in this section of town. Where were the police when you needed them? The answer was, of course, that they weren't here. This section of Suicide Slum was an area where the cops didn't come in groups of less than six, and they avoided it whenever they could. That was why Superman made it a priority to patrol around here more often than in other, more affluent sections of town. Unfortunately, Superman was now the one who needed help and there wasn't anyone to help him. He increased his pace until he was jogging, but that couldn't last long, weakened as he was by Kryptonite exposure. Panting, he leaned against the nearest wall. He wasn't in any shape to do this, that was certain. He'd better hoard his strength in case he really needed to run. Around here, that was a distinct possibility. This close to the harbor, mist hid the sky and its moist tendrils floated visibly in the air. One brighter spot in the greyness told him the moon was up, but it shed little light on the scene. A pale circle of illumination given out by a lone, unbroken street lamp lighted the dark street far ahead, but the rest of the area was cloaked in blackness. Maybe it would just be better to find a place of concealment, he thought, and then wait until the sun came up. That would be in about three hours; it wouldn't be all that bad to wait--except he could as easily be found by the denizens of this place and murdered for the clothing on his back. The sound of the rap music had been growing slowly but steadily louder, and the roar of engines was increasing. The racers weren't far away. It had been a growing problem in Metropolis for months now; young, bored kids, turning the streets of Suicide Slum into their dragstrip. Whenever the police managed to close down one group another sprang up somewhere else. There was a screech of tires, and the sound of racing engines was suddenly overpowering. The music burst upon his ears, the deafening beat of the bass pounding through him, powerful enough to make the bones of his skull vibrate as three rattletrap cars rounded the corner on two wheels, one after another, each jockeying for position. One car nudged the fender of the one in the lead, and the driver nearly lost control. His vehicle swerved and two wheels bumped up onto the sidewalk. The battered front grill connected with the equally battered form of a mailbox, knocking it sideways. Clark jumped back to avoid the flying objects and heard the mailbox impact the corner of the building behind him as he hurled himself headfirst into the nearest alleyway. The car roared by, its wheels crunching on the deteriorating pavement and scattering fragments behind it as it tore past. He heard war whoops from the occupants and glass shattered against the concrete sidewalk, inches from his face; a thrown bottle, he thought. The bass throb swelled to thunderous proportions, and then they were gone, racing away into the dark, leaving behind the stench of gasoline fumes. All he could see were the retreating taillights as they dwindled in the distance and vanished. The ear-shattering pulse of the music decreased rapidly in volume, until it was again only a faint and distant vibration on the air. Slowly, he picked himself up from the ground to discover standing before him a pair of men clad in dirty, mismatched garments, one of them brandishing a switchblade that must measure no less than eight inches in length. Through the scraggly beards that coated their chins and upper lips, he could see two identical, unpleasant grins. "Hi," he said. The two men looked at each other. The nearer one spoke. "Gimme your wallet." Slowly, Clark reached into his back pocket and removed the wallet. Trying to fight these two in his current weakened condition didn't seem like a very good idea. The unarmed man snatched it from his hand and tore it open. "Twenty bucks?" he demanded. He dropped the wallet on the ground. "Gimme your watch!" Clark removed the watch and handed it over. The mugger grabbed it and stuffed it into a pocket of his ragged coat. "Empty your pockets out!" Clark obeyed. There was nothing of value in them. His cellular phone, of course, was gone, or he would have called for help an hour ago. The knife wielder grunted. "Awright, take off your jacket. I want your clothes." ********** Lois Lane awoke suddenly and with a jolt. The clock on her bedside table said it was just past three a.m. and the room was quiet. Clark's side of the bed was vacant; there was no sign of him moving around in the bathroom. What had awakened her? She blinked up into the dark, trying to pinpoint what it was. The room was completely silent except for the fluttering of an insect's wings against the windowpane. There was nothing that should be producing this sense of unease. Lois turned over, trying to get comfortable. Surely, Clark would be back soon. Ten minutes later, she was still wide awake. Her pillow seemed to be full of previously unnoticed lumps and the brand new, extremely comfortable mattress had developed them as well. Resigned to the inevitable, she sat up and reached out to turn on the table lamp. Something was bothering her; a vague feeling of alarm, of something not right. Again, she glanced at the clock. It was nearly three-fifteen. Clark was usually back long before this unless some kind of emergency had come up. Well, she wasn't going to get any sleep this way. With a sigh, she reached for the TV remote control and switched on the television, searching for a news channel. Maybe she could find a report of Superman's activities to tell her what was keeping him. Apparently, there were no major disasters of any sort tonight. A 3.4 earthquake in California, which had caused only the most minor of damage, didn't seem to qualify. But there had been a holdup and subsequent riot and fire at the Alley Cat Bar near the docks. Hadn't that been the place Clark said he was going to stake out this evening? The bar was in the roughest section of town, where Suicide Slum impinged upon the bay. Surely, he'd be helping out there if there were lives at risk. But in spite of the news report, she could find no mention of Superman. The fire had gotten a good hold, probably due, she thought cynically, to the fact that the fire fighters and police were reluctant to venture into that section of town. It looked to her like Metropolis's Finest had shown up in force and heavily armed. She hadn't seen that kind of a concentration of police cruisers since the President had visited Metropolis a few years ago. The blaze had spread to several other rickety buildings, and sparks were threatening structures across the street. So, where was Clark? She'd warned him to be careful. The theft of Kryptonite from STAR Labs two days before, almost certainly an inside job, should have been enough to make him cautious, and he'd promised her faithfully that he would be. Besides, he had pointed out, he was going there as Charles King, the deck hand. There would be no reason for anyone to pull out Kryptonite on him. So where *was* he? Well, she could try calling him. She hesitated only for a moment, then reached for the phone. Even if he was busy, he'd understand. It wasn't as if she made a habit of this. The cell phone's answer function was her only reply. Lois left a message for him to call her and hung up, unsatisfied. The nebulous sense of something amiss that had woken her was growing. After a moment, she made a decision and slid out of bed. She certainly wasn't going to get back to sleep anyway. It wouldn't hurt for her to simply drive over to the fire. She'd be safe in the Cherokee. At the very least, she might get a story out of it, and maybe she'd find Clark. Satisfied with her rationalization, she began to dress. ********** This wasn't funny at all, Clark decided. The muggers had taken all of his outer clothing, leaving him in his bare feet, T-shirt and briefs, and nothing else. The month might be June but this close to the water it was chilly! The only thing of value that they hadn't taken was his wedding ring, and that was only because they hadn't seen it. He retrieved his wallet after some search, and most of the contents. The loss of the money wasn't important. At least he was unhurt, but the next person who tried to mug him wasn't going to find much worth taking. And it was going to be embarrassing showing up at a police station or anywhere else in his current condition. On the other hand, he couldn't stay here. That was pretty much guaranteed to get him into worse trouble. Maybe his powers would return soon, he thought, hopefully. As it was, this was going to be a long, cold walk--unless one of these tenement clotheslines had something he could borrow for a little while. It seemed unlikely that anyone would open a door for a man in his underwear at this time of night. He could always return anything he took later, along with some kind of compensation for the inconvenience. Assuming he didn't manage to get mugged again. Cautiously, he peered out of the alley. No one appeared to be in sight, and at least it was dark. He hadn't expected to be grateful for the lack of lighting, but a lot of things hadn't gone as he'd anticipated this evening. First, there had been the surveillance in the Alley Cat Bar. Timothy Breen, was a petty thief and occasional courier for Intergang and Clark had been keeping an eye on him for weeks. The man had met his contact, all right--a prominent member of the Metropolis City Council; one of the few Clark would have sworn was clean. He'd eavesdropped on their conversation and now possessed a great deal of information that should lead, eventually, to a lot of people losing their positions in the city government. All that remained then was to return home. Only then the unexpected had happened. The Councilman had opened his briefcase, removed a familiar metal box and lifted the lid. Clark, seated in the shadows, two tables away, had had no time to move without drawing attention to himself and struggled to control his reaction to the chunk of Kryptonite. He could feel his powers draining away as he sat there, but he didn't dare attempt to leave. His legs would have given way instantly if he had so much as tried to stand. The two men had talked for nearly ten minutes, the green stone sitting in the open container between them, shielded from the view of other customers by the body of the Councilman. Only Clark, seated in the shadowed corner, could see the evil, green glow of the object on the table. Then, at last, Breen closed the box and tucked it into the capacious pocket of his baggy coat. And at that minute, two men who had been sitting at the bar announced a holdup. They had lined up the patrons, many of them seamen who had just received their pay, and proceeded to relieve them of every item of value in their possession. Clark, at the end of the line, watched as they worked their way toward him, knowing that if they drew the attention of Councilman Pearson to him, the jig was up. One of the men took the metal box out of Breen's pocket, tried futilely to open it, and then tossed it onto the pile of loot that was steadily growing by the door. He never knew how the fight started, but all at once the mass of big, burly men surged forward, and the two holdup men went down under a wave of bodies. One of the guns fired, and a ceiling light exploded in a shower of glass and sparks. A bottle flew across the room, and someone else threw a chair. One of the female employees screamed and ducked under a table. Clark made for the pile of belongings, his goal the lead box. The last thing he needed was for Intergang to get hold of a chunk of Kryptonite. As his hand closed around it, someone hit him on the side of the head and he went down, but managed to land on his hands and knees. The door was just beyond him, and he crawled toward it, avoiding the solidly intertwined mass of cursing, struggling bodies. Once outside, he could use his cellular phone to call the police. He was certainly in no condition to do anything about the barroom brawl that had suddenly erupted, but at least he could summon help. He made it out the door at last, accompanied by a pair of men, who lurched after him, straining and swearing as they fought. Clark staggered to his feet and stumbled away, to come up gasping against a crumbling brick wall. A pile of garbage bags, leaking garbage, was stacked against it, and he leaned back, panting, against the damp bricks. After a moment, he groped for his phone, only to discover that it was gone. He must have lost it when he fell, he thought, and there was no way he was going to try to go back inside to get it. Maybe he could find a pay phone to make a call. The heavy little lead box in his hand drew his attention. This was the Kryptonite that had vanished from STAR Labs two days ago. The symbol on the lid was unmistakable. Somehow, Councilman Pearson had gotten hold of it; he might even have been behind the theft for all Clark knew. The box was too big to fit in the pockets of his jacket or of his jeans. Gripping it in one hand, he started down the street, looking for a pay phone. The area wasn't good and for the first time, his vulnerability dawned on him. It was one in the morning, and between him and civilization lay Suicide Slum. As Superman, he was invulnerable but without his powers and with no transportation but his feet, he was as easily hurt as anyone else. He had to get out of here, and it could be a very long walk. ********** tbc ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 08:12:41 -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: New Story: A Walk in the Dark 2/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit A Walk in the Dark--2 by Nan Smith At least the muggers hadn't done anything worse than relieve him of his belongings. Clark pulled his T-shirt down as far as it would go and moved out onto the sidewalk, hugging the building. Dressed as he was, his feeling of being exposed was more acute than ever. True, he flew about every day in a skin-tight red-and-blue outfit, but at least then he was *covered*, and it was by his own choice. The skin on the back of his neck and shoulders prickled as he moved along, feeling as if unfriendly eyes watched his every move. He strained his ears for the slightest sound that would warn him of an imminent attack. The sounds of the nightlife in Suicide Slum weren't reassuring. Somewhere a dog howled and the noise was joined by several others, until a chorus of canine song was going full blast. Here and there, he could hear the sounds of cats challenging each other, or the occasional tomcat serenading his current lady-love. A huge, rusted dumpster in one alleyway gave out odors he could detect a block away, even without his enhanced sense of smell, and passing it, he could hear the stealthy sounds of motion as scavengers moved about among the decaying garbage. The form of a man slumped against it, and Clark heard the clink of glass. The smell of cheap booze was strong in his nostrils. At least, the ache in his joints was fading. That had to be some kind of improvement. Still, it had been a good idea to stash the lead box under a pile of broken cement chunks barely a block from the bar. If he'd still had it when the muggers held him up, it would now be in their hands. He could come back for it tomorrow when his powers had returned. Something struck the edge of the dumpster from above and burst open; a plastic garbage bag, he realized belatedly as he jumped back from the flying debris, dropped from an upper story window in the general direction of the big container. His heel snagged on a piece of broken pavement and he staggered backward. One foot met nothing and he was suddenly falling. He flailed out with his hands and caught the edge of the opening with one hand. For a moment, he swung by his fingers, breathing hard, and managed to grasp the edge with his free hand. It was an open sewer manhole, he saw. He hauled himself slowly and painfully from the hole, grimacing at the fragrant aromas that drifted upward from the aperture. When he regained the surface, he got painfully to his feet, brushing dirt and gravel from his hands and knees. The sooner he got out of here, the better, before he managed to kill himself, he thought, unhappily. Somewhere in the distance, he could still hear the vibration of the rap music. Recalling his previous encounter with the racers, he hoped fervently that they would stay away. To the east, the sky was brighter. Could it be so late that the sun was coming up? He was sure that much time couldn't possibly have passed. The color seemed wrong for a sunrise, anyway, and now that he thought about it, there seemed to be a faint smell of smoke on the night breeze. It must be a fire over by the harbor, he realized. And Superman was in no shape to help. He stifled a soft swear word. This whole night had been one disaster after another. Sometimes he thought the Fates had it in for him. Well, he could head for it and try to get help from the fire fighters. On the other hand, the part of Suicide Slum that lay between him and the harbor was the roughest section of the slums. It had taken him two hours to work his way through it, unharmed. Regretfully, he rejected the option. It would be wiser to go on and get to a better section of town. In his current state of dress, a cop was bound to spot him when he got out of this place, even this early in the morning. It might be embarrassing, but it was a lot better than getting killed. His mistreated wallet was lying on the sidewalk. Once more, he picked it up and with a final glance at the malodorous pit, started west again, looking around alertly. One of his hands had been scraped painfully in the mishap, but all in all, he'd gotten off lightly. If he'd fallen down the manhole, he could have been seriously hurt. Bare feet, he discovered shortly, were not suited to walking on the broken pavement. Within a few minutes he was limping painfully and trying to spot objects on the sidewalk that he should avoid. Streamers of mist drifted past him, looking like ghosts in the dimness. If he got out of this alive, nothing Lois could say to him could possibly be as harsh as what he was saying to himself, he thought. It was not only dangerous, it was humiliating. He passed another gap between buildings. Something rustled and he heard stealthy movement within. All his senses went on alert. "Hey, buddy." It was a man's voice, and another voice laughed. The sound sent chills up Clark's backbone. "Hold on a minute." Clark turned to face the new threat. "I don't want any trouble..." he began. "Whatcha got there?" A short, husky man with a bush of dark beard streaked with white emerged from the darkness, and Clark saw the glint of metal protruding from one grimy fist. Behind him, a taller figure loomed menacingly. Clark ran. Across the street, a six-foot fence barred his way, but he went over it as if he were flying, to come down in a small, cluttered, back yard. A dog began to bark frantically, and he didn't pause but raced for the opposite side of the yard. As he went up the wooden planks, something warm, wet and filled with sharp teeth closed on his ankle. He shook his leg and the teeth let go. Never pausing, he scrambled over the top of the fence and dropped into the adjoining yard. Inside the shabby little house, another dog began to bark, loud and deep. He ran across the yard as a light came on at an upstairs window. Halfway across the grass, he encountered a clothesline at neck level and nearly hung himself. As he recovered, a voice from above shouted unintelligible words at him. Clark disentangled himself from the line, regained his equilibrium and sprinted for the fence. Other voices were raised behind him as he went over and landed on his feet in knee-deep grass. His ankle turned under him, but he recovered and staggered through the underbrush, intent only on putting distance between himself and the growing ruckus behind him. None of the residents of the place were likely to listen to him at this point, even if he tried to explain. He barely dodged another clothesline, and a robe of some sort tried to wrap itself around his neck. Behind him, he heard a deep, savage growl, and a frantic glance over his shoulder showed an enormous animal about the size of a small horse charging at him, jaws wide open. He reached the fence, inches ahead of the dog and went up it in what might be mistaken for levitation. Jaws closed on the back of his briefs and bit into the skin, but he kept going, feeling the fabric tear. Then he was falling, to land on his hands and knees amid tools and buckets of some kind, with a tremendous clatter. Thick liquid spattered across his hands and legs; paint, he realized, too late. Behind him the noise was growing, a cacophony of yelping, howling canines and the hoarse shouts of men. Another dog began to bark, this time with the high yapping of a smaller breed, and the house's upstairs light came on. Clark scrambled to his feet and headed for the opposite side of the yard. The neighborhood had to end somewhere, he told himself, hopefully before somebody with a shotgun showed up. It would be terribly ironic if Superman were to end up shot by an irate householder, the victim of a simple misapprehension. He went over the fence, panting. The rush of adrenaline--or whatever served Kryptonians in place of it--was beginning to wear out. His legs were wobbly, but he came down on the cracked sidewalk again. Without pausing, he half staggered, half ran, striving to put as much distance between himself and the small community as he could. Somehow, he was still clutching the robe that had attacked him during his flight. The sickly light of a flickering street lamp revealed it to be a hot pink, terrycloth garment that had seen better days. Here and there green smears of paint dotted the rough, pink cloth but judging by the breeze that was suddenly sharp and cold on the seat of his pants, he needed it, the color notwithstanding. He slipped his arms into the sleeves that came up to his elbows and dropped his battered wallet, which he had miraculously managed to retain, into the pocket. Knotting the worn sash around his middle, he slowed his steps slightly, striving to regain his breath. The robe strained across his shoulders, failed to meet in the front by a good three inches, and the length was just barely enough to be decent, but it was amazing how much less vulnerable he felt with even this much covering. A shout behind him made him glance back. Several dark figures had emerged onto the street, and the same streetlight beneath which he had passed just moments before, revealed them to be men clad in pajamas and robes, clutching various implements. How had they found him? Clark looked down in sudden realization. Both feet and his left leg halfway to the knee were still coated in sticky, green paint, and traces of the substance dotted the street behind him. He ran. Behind him, he could hear the shouts of the pursuing crowd of men, and tried to summon the energy to out-race them. His twisted ankle twinged warningly, and he knew with a sinking sensation that he couldn't keep this up for long. The yells grew closer and he glanced over his shoulder. The crowd was gaining. He looked desperately around. To his right, an alley opened up, dark and forbidding. He dodged down it, trying to ignore the sharp objects that dug into his feet. The sound of raised voices to his rear told him the crowd had reached the entrance to the alley and spotted him. Shouts rose behind him as he ran toward the six-foot stone wall that barred the end. A glance over his shoulder revealed the men pelting toward him, all of them shouting. He seized the top of the wall and boosted himself up. The men were almost on him as he jumped. A yell tore itself from his throat as he realized what he had done. On the other side of the stone wall was empty space, and he hurtled through thin air toward the oily surface of the river, thirty feet below. ********** The building that had housed the Alley Cat Bar was still smoldering, and in places flames continued to lick at the frame, Lois saw when she pulled up at the police roadblock. Buildings on both sides were blazing merrily, and the decrepit businesses across the street had begun to burn. Fire trucks crowded the street, and streams of water were directed toward the crumbling structures. The fire had gotten a lot farther than she had seen on television; television crews covering the blaze had been kept back where they couldn't interfere with the fire fighters. Lois could tell that the situation was far more serious than it had appeared. The ancient, wood-framed structures were dry--tinderboxes just waiting for a spark to ignite them. Once the fire had taken hold, they burned with abandon. Metropolis would be lucky if the fire didn't spread to the whole section. She descended from the Cherokee, locking it carefully behind her, and sought out one of the police officers at the barricade. The man was young, barely more than a boy. Lois held up her press pass and smiled at him. "Lois Lane, Daily Planet. Do they know how the fire started, Officer?" The man glanced at her, then gave her a second, longer look. "There was an attempted hold-up in the bar," he told her. "The customers overpowered the hold-up men, but apparently one of them fired his weapon and shot out a light fixture. According to the bartender, that started the fire." "How bad is it?" Lois asked. "Have they got it under control?" The man shrugged. "I don't know. Every time we think they've got a handle on it, it flares up again somewhere else." "Any sign of Superman?" she asked, casually. The man shook his head. "Not so far, ma'am. He's probably taking care of an emergency somewhere else. I'm sure he'd help if he could." "I'm sure you're right," Lois said. "Thanks, Officer." "You're welcome, ma'am. Be careful. This isn't the best area for a lady to be in by herself." This wasn't an area for anybody to be in by himself, Lois thought, but she didn't say so. She avoided several scraggly-looking characters as she moved back toward the Cherokee. Where was Clark? The stolen Kryptonite popped into her mind again, but she firmly dismissed the thought. There would be no reason for anyone to use Kryptonite on a deck hand. Something else must have happened to him. The nagging feeling of something wrong had not diminished. She unlocked the door of the Cherokee and got in, locking it behind her, and sat still, staring at the burning buildings. The last thing she wanted was to become the sort of wife who worried constantly about her husband, demanding to know every second where he was, but this was genuinely odd. If Clark had known about the fire, surely he'd be here. He hadn't called her back. Without much hope, she extracted her cell phone from the side pocket of her purse and called him again. The phone rang several times, then to her relief, someone answered. "Hello? Who's this?" The relief vanished. It wasn't Clark's voice. "This is Lois Lane. I'm trying to get hold of my husband." "Oh. Look, lady, this is Officer Ferguson. Some guy found this phone on the floor of the Alley Cat Bar. If you want it, come down to the 57th Street Station tomorrow. I don't have time, now." "Wait...!" There was a click of finality as the officer shut off the phone. Lois cussed softly under her breath. Well, that explained why he hadn't answered, earlier. He'd lost his phone. But where *was* he? The presence of the phone told her he'd been here. It wasn't like him to take off like this when there was a genuine emergency. *Something* had happened, that was for sure, and it was beginning to look as if it was more serious than she'd at first estimated. Well, maybe he was following Breen. She considered the possibility briefly and finally rejected the notion. Superman could easily have retrieved his phone and not lost his quarry. Besides, he would never have gone off trailing a suspect when there were lives at stake, and this fire certainly threatened lives. Her gut feeling said he was in some kind of trouble. But, what kind of trouble could Superman have gotten into? The thought of the stolen Kryptonite resurfaced, and she felt a sinking sensation in her gut. What if he *had* encountered it? Okay, it seemed unlikely that Timothy Breen had the resources to break into STAR Labs, but he was, after all, a courier for Intergang. Suppose the person he'd been supposed to meet tonight had been the one behind the theft? Intergang had tentacles everywhere and one of their unstated but ongoing goals was to eliminate Superman. Without another thought, she dialed Bobby Bigmouth. If anyone could help her, he was the one to ask. The phone rang half a dozen times before someone picked it up. A familiar, surprisingly alert voice said, "Bobby here. Who's there?" "Bobby, this is Lois. I need some help." "Lois?" Bobby sounded surprised. "Do you know what time it is?" "Yeah. It's four-twelve in the morning. I've got a problem. Can we meet somewhere?" Bobby sounded doubtful. "I dunno. I'm over by that fire in Suicide Slum. Mebbe I could meet you at the Mandarin Palace in a couple of hours." "Bobby, I'm sitting by the barricade in my Jeep. Where are you?" "Huh?" Bobby's voice trailed off. "Oh, I see you. Stay where you are. I'll be right there." "Bobby, since when did you have a cellular phone...?" Fifteen seconds later, there was a rap on her window and in the flickering light of the fire, she could see Bobby's face through the glass. She pointed to the passenger door, reaching across to unlock it. A few seconds later, Bobby had climbed into the seat beside her. "What're you doin' here, Lois?" "Bobby, Clark was in the Alley Cat Bar this evening--surveillance," she added at his raised eyebrow. "Something's happened to him. He was watching an Intergang courier named Timothy Breen. Do you know anything about it?" "Breen? Sure. He was meetin' some guy there tonight." "Do you know who it was?" Lois asked. "Naw. I saw him, though. Big, tall guy with a bad toupee, wearin' a business suit and a trenchcoat. The guy, not the toupee. He gave Breen a box about this big." Bobby made hand motions. "I couldn't see what was in it." Lois felt her eyes widen. "You were *in* there?" "Sure. I was sittin' next to the jukebox. I ducked behind it when those guys held up the place. Then the fight started, and this guy grabbed the box." "Away from Breen?" "Naw. One of the holdup guys took it. They had a pile of people's stuff. This one guy grabbed it and got out the door." "Then it's gone," Lois said. "Nope." Bobby looked smug. "I followed him. Didn't wanna stay in there and maybe get killed. I saw what he did with it. Figured it was probably good for a Chinese dinner from you and Clark, or somethin'." He reached under his jacket. "Here." ********** tbc ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 08:15:07 -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: New Story: A Walk in the Dark 3/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit A Walk in the Dark--Part 3 by Nan Smith Clark flailed at the air, trying to force himself farther out over the water. Thirty feet or so wasn't a killing fall, assuming that he struck in the right position and that the water was deep enough. His tumble towards the river seemed to take forever and conversely no time at all. He could see the shimmering, oily surface rushing toward him and found himself praying for just a tiny amount of good luck on this incredibly unlucky night. He hit feet first and his body plunged deep under the water. His feet actually touched the sandy, weed-filled bottom of the river, and then he was shooting toward the surface, trying hard to suppress the almost overwhelming urge to breathe. Just as the feeling became unbearable, his head burst from the water and he sucked in a huge lungful of air. For several seconds he floated, struggling to regain his breath. The air smelled of decaying fish and rotten eggs, with a piquant hint of sewer. Clark tried not to think of the sludge in which he was immersed and treading water, attempted to spot the shoreline in the darkness. The pale glow of the sky outlined the riverbank. In this place, the banks of the river rose straight up, black against the sky. There was no way he was going to climb out here. He swam slowly upstream, resting frequently and looking for a place where he would be able to make it back out onto dry land. The pink robe clung to his arms and hampered his movements, but he was reluctant to discard it, considering the condition of his briefs. If he ever managed to make it out of the water, he would need it in order to avoid a charge of indecent exposure. How long had it been? He didn't know. It seemed as if hours had gone by since he had plunged into the water, but it was still dark so it couldn't be that long. The banks of the river didn't seem so high, now. Maybe he could find a place low enough to pull himself out. In the movies, the fearless adventurer always found a tree limb or a log or something to grab onto, but the Hobbs River didn't seem to have such conveniences available to the unlucky individual who happened to fall in. Clark rested, treading water with as little effort as he could manage. He hadn't been in such great shape to start with, and the smelly, dark water was cold, to boot. He was getting tired. A pier extended from the side of the riverbank. For a few seconds he stared at the dark silhouette, uncomprehending, and then, with new energy, altered his direction toward it. The heavy, ancient pylons were slimy, covered with moss or algae or something, and he couldn't climb them. He swam along under the rough, wooden planks, hoping that there would be some sort of ladder he could use to get out of here. For all his exertion, he was beginning to feel chilly. His foot struck bottom. Cautiously, Clark lowered his other foot and an instant later was standing with his chin barely out of the water. For a few seconds he stood still, just resting, but it was too cold to do nothing for long. He struck out toward the bank again, floundering and flailing his way forward. Once, he stepped into a hole and went under again. He surfaced, trying not to think about what was in the water, and paddled forward. Then it was suddenly waist-deep, and a couple of steps farther, knee-deep. There was a narrow beach here, under the pier, and in the dim light, he could see that the beach became a steep, but climbable riverbank. When he clawed his way up the muddy, six-foot bank, he discovered he was inside a chain-link fence that separated him from a city street. A locked gate barred his exit, but a short, painful climb up the fence, careful negotiation of his way over the three strings of barbed wire at the top, and he came down onto the scratchy grass that lined the roadway. He sank down on the nearly flat top of a yellow fire hydrant, breathing hard, and surveyed the most recent damage to his person. His briefs had acquired another tear, not that it mattered now, and he sucked absently on a cut in the heel of his hand inflicted by the wire, but at least he was back on dry land. Now the question was, where was he? He was obviously somewhere in the riverfront district, still within the fringes of Suicide Slum, but the better sections of the city weren't far away. With luck, maybe he could flag down a cop and get some help. He shivered. There was a light breeze blowing, and as wet as he was, it felt like the breath off a glacier. He looked around for a windbreak of some kind. On the other side of the street were buildings. The street here was deserted. The feeling was eerie, but he told himself that most of the residents in this district were probably still sleeping. With a last glance at the dark river behind him, he crossed the thoroughfare and stepped out of the wind behind the wall of a battered shed. A glance to the east confirmed that it wasn't yet quite dawn, but it must be getting close to five a.m. There was the very faintest hint of a lightening of the sky on the horizon. Before long, the sun would be coming up. In spite of his attire, Clark welcomed that. Things wouldn't seem nearly so bad by daylight. In the shelter of the old shed, he removed the robe and wrung it out as well as he could. A whiff of the odor rising off the fabric made him wince. The terrycloth seemed to have soaked up a good deal of the river's stench, but he didn't have much choice. He was going to have to wear it, at least a little while longer. He slid the robe back on, shivering at the feeling of the wet fabric and knotted the sash around his waist. His wallet was still in the pocket. He hoped there wasn't much irreplaceable in it that could be damaged by the water. The quicker he got into relatively safe territory the better off he would be. The soles of his feet were abraded, bruised and sore from his journey over the rough pavement. Some of the green paint had washed off, but his feet were still tinted with green. He was a mess, he admitted unhappily. Explaining it to Lois wasn't something he was looking forward to. Upon thinking it over, however, he acknowledged to himself that it probably didn't matter. She was going to kill him whatever he did. The light to the east was growing stronger. Well, there was no point in putting this off any longer. Clark took a deep breath, stepped out of his sheltered spot and strode forward. ********** Lois took the heavy, little box from Bobby. On the lid was the unmistakable logo of STAR Labs. She felt her breath catch. Judging by the weight, this thing was made of lead. Unless she was greatly mistaken, this was the box containing the Kryptonite that had been stolen two days ago--no, three days, now--from STAR Labs. She shook it lightly. Something clunked inside. Bobby raised his brows. "Is this the Kryptonite STAR Labs lost the other day?" he inquired. It figured that Bobby would know. "Probably." She tugged at the top. "It's locked. Hold on a sec." She fished in her handbag. "Where's my lock pick...ah." She withdrew the item. "Just a minute." Bobby sounded surprised. "You carry a lock pick in your purse?" "Sure, doesn't everybody...there!" There was a satisfying click. She withdrew the lock pick and opened the lid. The chunk of Kryptonite glowed pale green in the darkness. "I guess that settles that," Bobby said, after a stunned second. "Y'know, I've never seen Kryptonite before. Nasty-lookin' stuff." "Yeah." Lois snapped the lid closed again and set the box on the floor. "I'd like to know who the guy was that grabbed this," Bobby said. "I guess it coulda been Clark. He had the right build, but I couldn't see him very well. He took off west, walkin'." "What was he wearing?" Lois asked. "Jeans, and a black leather jacket," Bobby said. "I couldn't see his face. He had black hair, though." Would Clark have done that? Lois frowned, thinking. "That's what Clark had on. Did the man who gave Breen this box open it?" "Yeah, I think he did. Like I said, I couldn't see what was in it. 'Sides," Bobby added, "in that business they don't trust nobody. Breen'd have insisted." "I suppose so. If Clark saw it, he'd have tried to get it," Lois said. "Superman's his friend." "Yeah, I know," Bobby said. "But harin' off on foot in Suicide Slum is crazy. He'll get himself killed sure." Lois bit her lip. Could Clark have been close enough to get exposed to this stuff? Darn him, anyway! She'd told him to be careful, and now he'd lost his phone and disappeared. He might be walking through the worst part of the slums without his super powers. What should she do? She glanced at Bobby. "I have to find him," she said. "I owe you a Chinese dinner, Bobby. Thanks." "Y'know, Lois," Bobby said, "I think marriage is good for you. You haven't insulted me once. Look, I'll show you the most direct way outta here. You can drive an' I'll look. Maybe we'll find him. He's got about a three-hour start on us, but he can't have gone too far on foot around here. He went down that street, there, headed west." He pointed. "If it was me and I didn't have a ride, I'd make tracks away from the docks as fast as I could." "Okay." Lois started the engine, backed up and swiveled the Cherokee around. "Let's go." ********** The horizon was definitely brighter. A pale, pink glow was slowly growing, turning the dark water of the river a muddy pinkish color. Clark hoped it would warm up quickly. He was cold, wet, tired and filthy-dirty, and smelled to high heaven. All he wanted to do was go home, take a hot shower and fall into bed. Here and there, a shabbily dressed figure shuffled by. Clark glanced down at himself and sighed. When he got into the more civilized sections of the city, he was bound to face embarrassing questions at the very least. As it was, this neighborhood was still bad but nothing like the area he had traversed during the night. He passed a liquor store advertising beer, a metal grate covering the door, and the windows shuttered. The wind on his back was cold and he found himself shivering. He had to clench his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering. As Superman, he tended to forget the kind of discomforts endured by ordinary humans, but it would be a long time before he forgot again after this past night. When he could take the chill no longer, he ducked into an alley between a grocery store and an old corner gas station for the meagre shelter the ancient building offered. The gas station was closed; the lights in the small, adjoining convenience store were off and the door appeared to be securely locked. Maybe if he waited here, the owner would show up before long and he could make a phone call from the pay phone he could see through the cracked window glass. It was still cold but once out of the breeze, even the wet terrycloth provided some small amount of insulation. This couldn't last, however. He had to get help before he froze to death. The temperature was probably around forty-five degrees, but wearing wet clothing--what there was of it, anyway--the effective temperature was lower, at least to him. His fingers and toes felt like ice and his lips were numb. He huddled against the wall, reluctant to step back into the wind. Besides, he was tired. A few minutes of rest couldn't hurt, could it? He had almost slipped into a doze when the sound of raised voices jerked him awake. Cautiously, he rose to his feet and peered out of his inadequate shelter. The sun hadn't yet risen, but the eastern horizon was ablaze with the pink light of pre-sunrise and fluffy pink clouds dotted the sky. An elderly man, his back to the door of the gas station's run-down convenience store, was facing two, burly men. One of the two held a baseball bat, and the other a knife, and both were grinning. "Open it up, Pops," the taller of the two said. "We got business we wanna transact." "But I'm telling you, I don't have any money in there," the older man protested. "I took the receipts to the bank last night." "Open it," the second man said. "Don't give us a hassle, Pop." "Hey," Clark said. The two men turned and both jaws dropped. As one, they began to laugh. "Beat it, mister," the shorter man said, between snickers. "It *is* 'mister', isn't it?" Clark didn't give them a chance to regain their composure. He charged, knocking the bat-wielder back against the wall with his shoulder. The breath whooshed out of the mugger in a pained grunt. Clark wrenched the bat from his hands and spun in time to meet the man with the knife. The blade glanced along his arm, but Clark used the end of the bat to ram his second assailant in the solar plexus. He went down on his rear on the ground, the knife clattering away. Both men scrambled to their feet and ran. The store's proprietor stared at him, clearly unsure whether Clark was a rescuer or another mugger. Clark dropped the bat, suddenly aware of a hot line of pain down his forearm, and the fact that blood was leaking from a deep slash that extended nearly from his elbow to his wrist. "Are you all right?" he asked. Mutely, the man nodded. His eyes were fixed on the wet, pink robe. "Who...who are you?" "My name--" Clark felt the need to lean against the wall. "I'm Clark Kent. I got--mugged. They took my clothes." He subdued a slight wave of nausea. "Oh, my Lord. Just a minute." The elderly man opened the door hastily and gave him a hand. "Come on inside and sit down." ********** Lois steered slowly through the broken, dirty streets, peering anxiously about. Bobby Bigmouth sat alertly beside her, looking in all directions. It was just after five in the morning, and to the east, the sky was turning a brilliant pink and gold color. So far, they had seen no sign of Clark. The cellular phone tucked into the top of Lois's purse shrilled. Her heart leaped into her mouth at the sound and she dug frantically, one-handed, in her bag for it. "Just keep your eyes on the road," Bobby said. "I'll get it." He fished the phone out of her purse and flipped it open. "Here." Lois took the phone. "Lois Lane." "Ms. Lane?" an unfamiliar voice said. "Are you Clark Kent's wife?" "Yes! Yes, I am. Is he there?" "This is Bob Gilmore. I'm the owner of Bob's Filling Station on the corner of Rose Street and Paradise Drive. Your husband's here with me." "Oh, thank God! Is he all right?" Gilmore hesitated. "Here, I'll let you talk to him." There was a rustling sound, then Clark's voice said, "Lois?" "Clark! Are you all right?" "Um...more or less. Could you come and pick me up?" "I'll be there as soon as I can!" "Uh--can you bring me some clothes?" "I'm in the Jeep--clothes? Why do you--no, don't bother to explain. I'll be there in a few minutes." Bobby looked at her, grinning slightly as she hung up. "He's okay?" "I don't know. He didn't sound quite right. Can you show me how to get to the corner of Rose and Paradise?" "Bob's Filling Station? Sure," Bobby said. "Me and Gil are buds. Turn left at the next corner..." ********** tbc ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 08:16:35 -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: New Story: A Walk in the Dark 4/4 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit A Walk in the Dark--Part 4 by Nan Smith Clark, sitting on a hard, plastic chair, wrapped in Bob Gilmore's jacket, winced slightly but endeavored to hold still while the filling station owner swabbed at the cut on his arm with antiseptic from the establishment's first aid kit. A coffeepot perked noisily in the background. "When your wife gets here, you have her take you straight to the doctor, you hear me?" he told Clark. "Wouldn't want this cut to get infected, and that river's polluted pretty bad. I'm surprised it didn't kill you outright." "Sure. Thanks, Gil, you're a real life saver," Clark said. "I owe you a lot for this." "Shoot," Gilmore said, "you don't owe me nothing. You didn't have to charge in that way. You coulda stayed out of it." Clark shook his head. "No, I couldn't." Gilmore grinned slightly. "That attitude could get you killed, son, but thanks for helpin' out. You sure saved my bacon." He wrapped gauze around the injury with surprising skill. "You're lucky I used to be a medic in the army. There you go. That'll hold you 'til you see a doctor." He straightened up and glanced at the coffeepot. "Looks like the coffee's ready. You take sugar?" A few minutes later, Clark finished his second cup. "Ah, that's better." Gil fetched him a third. "Feelin' any warmer?" "Yeah," Clark said. He took another swallow of the hot liquid. "I'll feel even better when I can get a bath and some clothes." "I'll bet." Gil glanced over his shoulder as the silver Cherokee pulled up outside with a screech of tires. "That your wife?" "Yeah." In spite of the fact that Lois was undoubtedly going to kill him, the release of tension was so great he felt a little light-headed. He drained the coffee cup and set it down. "I'll probably need a doctor after she gets hold of me." The old man chuckled. "'Fraid I can't help you there." He went to the door and unlocked it as Lois opened the Jeep's door and jumped out, followed by Bobby Bigmouth. "Come on in, Ms. Lane. Mr. Kent's a bit worse for wear, but he'll be okay. Hi, Bobby." Bobby followed Lois into the room. "Hi, Gil." He looked over at Clark and both his eyebrows went up. "Wow, Clark, you're a mess. You fall in the river or somethin'?" Clark looked down at himself and the sodden pink bathrobe and T-shirt that lay on the floor beside him. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Bobby," he said. "I'm not sure *I* believe it." Lois looked him up and down. "Well," she said acerbically, "I want to hear it, anyway. I'll get the blanket out of the Jeep." She returned with the car blanket within a moment. Clark got to his feet and staggered slightly as his head swam. Gil and Bobby grabbed him. "Easy there, Clark," Bobby said. "You look a little wobbly." Lois wrapped the blanket around him. "Come on, Clark, let's get you in the Jeep. I think I can wait to hear what happened." ********** It was an hour and a half later. Clark pulled the plug, rose carefully from the hot water of the tub and stepped out onto the thick bathmat. The bathroom was full of steam, but he didn't care. He was finally warm. Lois handed him a towel, glancing approvingly at her husband's muscular body. "Well, you smell a lot better." "I feel a lot better, too" Clark said. He glanced at his bandaged arm and grimaced. "I'm sorry about all this, honey." Lois giggled. "It's okay, Clark, I think you've been punished enough. Now that it's over it's funny, even if it wasn't at the time. The thought of you in a hot pink bathrobe...I always said you looked good in pink." Clark groaned. "Don't remind me. I'm going to have to replace it. That one will never be the same again." "How are you going to explain it?" "I'm not. It's a gift from a friend, and that's the end of it." "Well, at least wait until you get your powers back before you go into that section of town again," Lois said. "Don't worry, I will," Clark said. He yawned. "What a night. It was probably good for me, though. It reminded me not to take my powers for granted. Did you call Perry?" "Yes. I told him you had a little accident on your stakeout last night. You're on sick leave until tomorrow." "And you say I'm the master of understatements. Get that box back to Dr. Klein, will you?" Lois shook her head. "I already talked to him while you were soaking in the tub. We're keeping it in the secret compartment, with Dr. Klein's blessing until they've got a safer place for it. He doesn't want to take a chance that it might get into Intergang's hands again." "You're probably right," Clark said. He yawned a second time and opened the door to the bedroom. "I'm beat. We can start work on the Councilman Pearson connection tomorrow." "I'll have Jimmy start researching his background as soon as I get to the office." Lois watched as Clark put on his pajamas. "I owe Bobby a Chinese dinner, too. He really helped me out." "Yeah. I guess you never really know who your friends are until you need them," Clark said. He crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to his chin. Lois leaned over him and kissed him lightly. "Good night, Clark. I'm glad you're home safe." "Me, too." Clark was struggling to hold his eyes open. "Good night, honey. I'll see you this afternoon." He turned over, and closed his eyes. He was already asleep when Lois turned off the light and tiptoed from the room. The End. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 10:30:20 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carol L Moncado Subject: Wet White Shirt 1/2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay - here's the first part of something that Missy inspired. FDK is appreciated - as always! CM ***** Lois laughed. And laughed. And then she laughed some more. She hadn't laughed this hard since... well, she didn't remember ever laughing so hard. Only one person could make her laugh this hard. Clark. Clark was laughing, too. She wasn't quite sure why they were laughing so hard - the joke wasn't all that funny - they just were. The only problem was they were in a public place. The other occupants of Melisma's Sidewalk Café were starting to look at them. Lois knew Melisma wouldn't care - she was great - but the night manager didn't know them and they just might get kicked out. "Clark," she managed to croak, "stop. You're going to get us kicked out of here." Clark tried to take a deep breath, but he ended up coughing instead. Lois instantly sobered. "Clark, are you okay?" He nodded, still unable to talk. "Are you sure?" He tried again to take a deep breath and was more successful this time. "I'm fine. Really." He took a sip of his water. "Was that joke actually that funny?" "No. Actually, it was really stupid. I have no idea why we were laughing so hard." She knew her eyes were just sparkling. She could feel it. And she could see it reflected in Clark's eyes. She could see Clark's expression change. The teasing light dimmed just a little bit and was replaced by something else. If it wasn't for those danged glasses, she might have been able to read it a little better. He reached out with one hand and covered hers with it. She looked at their hands laying there, looking so right together. "Maybe it's the company," he said softly. "Everything seems funnier when you're with me." Lois knew what he meant, but could resist making a comment. He may have sobered up a bit, but she had not. "Everything is funnier? Even Ralph?" Clark looked down and blushed a bit. "Well, maybe not everything. But everything is more... more... real when I'm with you." His other hand reached out and covered her other one. "The sun is brighter. The grass is greener. The sky is bluer. The stars twinkle a little more." He laughed a little and the sparkle in his eyes returned. "And stupid jokes are funnier." Lois was having difficulty breathing. She knew Clark had feelings for her, but she had no idea they were so strong. They had been best friends for a long time now and she knew that there was something more between them. She had known that since the first time she laid eyes on him, but she had resisted for so long. "Would you like to know what else I think will be better with you?" "What?" "This." Lois saw him lean across the table, pausing for just a second before she closed her eyes and waited for what she hoped was coming. She could feel his warm breath on her lips, his warm hands on hers. Then there was a light brush of his lips on hers. The electricity in the air crackled around them. Then his lips were on hers again. This time the kiss lasted longer. It wasn't a demanding kiss, but the best kiss she'd ever experienced. It was as though she had been waiting her whole life for this moment. It seemed to last an eternity but really was only a few seconds before Clark pulled back. Lois opened her eyes and looked at the man sitting back down across from her. "You were wondering what?" "If kissing you would be... " "Kissier?" Clark laughed. It was a soft, gentle laugh. "Exactly." "I wouldn't mind if you tried it again." Lois couldn't believe she was saying that. She knew she had feelings for Clark, but that kiss had been absolutely incredible. "How about we get out of here? Go for a walk in the park?" "Sounds good to me." Lois could think of nothing better than spending some time alone with... was he her boyfriend? The sparks were there, but they had never been on an official date. Even this wasn't a real date, just dinner after a late night of work. She knew Clark better than anyone, maybe even better than he knew himself, and she could only imagine how much courage he had to summon to kiss her, not knowing what her reaction would be. Maybe she could get him to kiss her again. He stood and walked to her side of the table. "Shall we?" He helped her up and for once she didn't mind a man being, well, a gentleman. It was Clark being Clark and wanting to take care of her. She stood and linked her arm with his. "Let's go." She looked up at him and smiled. "The park?" "You're on." It was only a couple of blocks to the park and the time passed quickly in a companionable silence. Clouds were beginning to roll in on the slightly chilly breeze. Lois, ever the sly one, shivered just a little, knowing Clark would notice. He did. She felt him stop and stopped with him. "You're cold." It was a statement not a question. Lois tried not to smile. "No, I'm fine really." "You're cold." Clark took his suit coat off and wrapped it around her shoulders, leaving one arm wrapped around her slim frame. Lois smiled, leaning slightly towards the handsome man at her side. It had worked like a charm. "That was smooth." "What?" Lois looked around, not realizing she had said that out loud. "Um, well, I meant you were smooth. If I didn't know better, I'd think you'd planned a way to put your arm around me. And you didn't even have to yawn to do it." Clark chuckled a little bit. Lois could feel the chuckle as much as she could hear it. "You can't tell me you don't like it." How well he knew her. "In fact, if I didn't know you, and I do know you, very well, I would think that you planned that little shiver just to get closer to me." How very well he knew her. "You flatter yourself, farmboy." She was trying for a light, teasing tone, hoping to throw him off even a little bit. He just laughed again. They were nearing the fountain in the park. "You know what I'd like to do?" "What's that?" "Kiss you again." Lois stopped and turned. She looked into his deep, chocolate brown eyes and whispered softly, "What's stopping you?" "You. Are you sure it's okay with you?" "You know what your problem is, Clark?" "No." "You talk too much." With that, she stood on her tip-toes bringing herself almost to eye level with him and brushed her lips against his. She saw his eyes smile. She could see them get kind of squinty like they always did, but she had never seen them quite this close before. They reminded her of something, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it and she really didn't care. "I talk too much? You're the one who's known for babbling, my dear." *My dear! He called me 'My dear'!* Lois' head was swimming from his nearness. How could she think straight when he was this close to her, even if they weren't actually touching? Standing on her tip-toes was getting a little tiring and she put her hands on his chest to balance herself. Her fingers started tingling. She had never realized just what touching his chest would feel like. Oh, she'd patted it in passing before and cried against it on many occasions, but she had never touched it quite like this. It was so strong, so solid, and, for just a moment, all hers. She had to say something. "What would you do if I started babbling right now?" "This." She closed her eyes and felt him lean in. She felt his hands rest lightly on her waist, helping her keep her balance. Then his lips were on hers. This kiss wasn't demanding either, but intense nonetheless. Inside her closed eyes, she could see the brighter sun, the bluer sky, the greener grass and the stars. She couldn't begin to describe the stars that she was seeing. They looked more like fireworks than stars. And there were more of them all the time. More and more fireworks. Soon they were blinding. Her hands were no longer on his chest, but had crept around his neck, finding a home in his thick dark hair. She felt his arms wrap around her, one hand on her back and the other supporting her neck. He pulled her close to him and her legs could no longer support her own weight. She leaned against him and felt his arms tighten even more as she melted against him. She didn't even notice when it started to rain. Long minutes later, they both pulled away at the same time; both slightly out of breath. "WOW!" The word came from each of them simultaneously. "Clark, it's raining." Lois looked up and felt the gentle splatter of the spring rain on her face, not wanting to let go of this amazing man that she was falling... She tried to stop mid-thought, but couldn't. This amazing man that she was falling madly, passionately, desperately in love with. He looked up with her. "Yes, it is. We should get under cover." But Lois was glad when he made no effort to move. "We should. We're getting all wet." "You look beautiful anyway." Why had it taken her so long to realize what she had with him? What she could have with him, if she'd let it happen. "Your glasses are all wet." Clark laughed. "I tell you you're beautiful and all you can think of to say is that my glasses are wet?" "I think they're clouding your vision." "I've never seen anything more clearly in my life. And..." Thunder blotted out whatever else he had to say. Lois clapped her hands over her ears, startled by the loud noise. She heard Clark laugh, and felt rather than saw him wrap his jacket back around her and grab one of her hands. She followed him as they ran towards a nearby building, laughing with him and at his tie flapping in the breeze of his own creation. When they made it to cover, they stood there, holding hands and laughing. "See," Clark managed to get out. "Even storms are more fun with you." Lois laughed even harder until she saw something that made her stop. She heard her own sharp intake of breath, not believing what she was seeing. There under Clark's white shirt, where his tie would have been had it not been wrapped around his neck, now soaking wet and clinging to his body, was the Superman emblem. ***** TBC ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 10:58:22 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carol L Moncado Subject: Re: New Story: A Walk in the Dark 4/4 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Nancy - wanted to tell you that I enjoyed your story. It definately made Clark think and not take things for granted!!!!!! Well written! CM ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 09:09:07 -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: New Story: A Walk in the Dark 4/4 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thank you, Carol. Nan Carol L Moncado wrote: > Nancy - wanted to tell you that I enjoyed your story. It definately made > Clark think and not take things for granted!!!!!! Well written! > > CM ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 13:03:24 -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: Question re. Jewellery Shops Help, please! Is there a chain of jewellery shops in the US which has a reputation for selling cheap jewellery? Real jewellery, I mean - 9-carat gold and the like, small diamonds, zirconia? And not tat, exactly, just at very low prices. If it helps, I'm thinking of something akin to what was the H Samuels/Ratners/Zales chain over here in the UK, which made its money on high turnover, and where you could buy an engagement ring, say, for a fraction of the price of the older and posher jewellery shops. (H Samuels still exists, but after Gerald Ratner made a careless remark contrasting earrings sold by Ratners to a Marks and Spencer prawn sandwich - 'the sandwich lasts longer' - the Ratners chain made an ignominious slide into obscurity ). Hoping for suggestions... Wendy ----------------- Wendy Richards wendy@kingsmeadowcr.freeserve.co.uk ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 10:12:47 -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: Spanish idiom question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thanks, Ann! I've received several different suggestions so I think your friend is right. It would certainly be true that idioms vary among English-speaking countries. I received one reply that originated with a real Ecuadorian, so that's the one I'll try to use. A GREAT BIG THANKS to everyone who helped. You people are awesome in your knowledge. :) Jude ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ann E. McBride" To: Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2001 5:05 AM Subject: Re: Spanish idiom question > Just to further confuse the issue, I asked one of our Spanish teachers about > this yesterday. She is Puerto Rican. She said she would say, "Es un paseo," > for something that is really easy. No food at all involved. She added that > she was pretty sure that this particular idiom would vary from > Spanish-speaking country to Spanish-speaking country. > > Ann ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 10:17:19 -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: Question re. Jewellery Shops In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Don't know about the States, but here in Canada we have Zales. 'Course, I don't buy a lot of jewellry, so I'm sure I'm no help :D Melisma (under her Rock, hoping someone else on the list knows the answer...) At 01:03 PM 17/03/2001 -0500, you wrote: >Help, please! Is there a chain of jewellery shops in the US which has a >reputation for selling cheap jewellery? Real jewellery, I mean - 9-carat >gold and the like, small diamonds, zirconia? And not tat, exactly, just at >very low prices. > >If it helps, I'm thinking of something akin to what was the H >Samuels/Ratners/Zales chain over here in the UK, which made its money on >high turnover, and where you could buy an engagement ring, say, for a >fraction of the price of the older and posher jewellery shops. (H Samuels >still exists, but after Gerald Ratner made a careless remark contrasting >earrings sold by Ratners to a Marks and Spencer prawn sandwich - 'the >sandwich lasts longer' - the Ratners chain made an ignominious slide into >obscurity ). > > >Hoping for suggestions... > > >Wendy >----------------- > >Wendy Richards > >wendy@kingsmeadowcr.freeserve.co.uk > > Visit my rock at http://www.intergate.ca/personal/melisma/index.html ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 13:21:04 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: Question re. Jewellery Shops MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Yes, we have Zales here in the U.S. too, and they are probably the most well-known jewelry chain. Kate ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 13:36:55 -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: Question re. Jewellery Shops Thanks a lot, Mel and Kate! Zales should do nicely - but just to confirm. If someone bought something in Zales, would the assumption be that, nice though it was, it wouldn't have cost a lot and would be unlikely to be worth very much? Wendy ------------ Wendy Richards wendy@kingsmeadowcr.freeserve.co.uk ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 12:41:03 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LaNita Cornwall Subject: Re: Question re. Jewellery Shops MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" My dad bought my mother a diamond wedding band to replace her plain gold one at Zales probably 35 years ago. It wasn't cheap. The apraisal value shocked me when I saw it ($3,600). And that was in mid-1960 dollars. I was also stunned that he spent that much money, but that's another story. LaNita -----Original Message----- From: Wendy Richards [mailto:Wendy@KINGSMEADOWCR.FREESERVE.CO.UK] Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2001 12:37 PM To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Subject: Re: Question re. Jewellery Shops Thanks a lot, Mel and Kate! Zales should do nicely - but just to confirm. If someone bought something in Zales, would the assumption be that, nice though it was, it wouldn't have cost a lot and would be unlikely to be worth very much? Wendy ------------ Wendy Richards wendy@kingsmeadowcr.freeserve.co.uk ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 13:41:48 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Question re. Jewellery Shops MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 03/17/2001 1:03:55 PM Eastern Standard Time, Wendy@KINGSMEADOWCR.FREESERVE.CO.UK writes: << H Samuels/Ratners/Zales chain >> I think we have Zales stores over here--I think there's one in the mall near me. --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 13:42:28 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: Question re. Jewellery Shops MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/17/01 10:37:24 AM Pacific Standard Time, Wendy@KINGSMEADOWCR.FREESERVE.CO.UK writes: > If someone bought something in Zales, would the assumption be that, nice > though it was, it wouldn't have cost a lot and would be unlikely to be > worth very much? > > > Yes, that would be correct, Wendy. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 12:38:49 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carol L Moncado Subject: Episode question, season 1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Does anyone have a transcript of the conversation between Lois and Superman when he came to her window and she said she was going to put on a robe, and he said that it wouldn't do any good unless it was lined with lead and she said that she would love him even if he didn't have any Superpowers, yada, yada, yada? All I'm looking for is that conversation. I've seen it once, but would like to use the conversation in a story I'm working on. Thanks so much! CM ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 10:57:28 -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: Question re. Jewellery Shops MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Wendy: Zales has a lingering reputation of cheap merchandise, but they have always also had quality goods too. I've known people who said they bought their jewelry at an upscale shop when in reality it came from Zales. They didn't want others to think they bought shoddy stuff. Hope that helps. :) Jude ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wendy Richards" To: Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2001 10:36 AM Subject: Re: Question re. Jewellery Shops > Thanks a lot, Mel and Kate! Zales should do nicely - but just to confirm. > If someone bought something in Zales, would the assumption be that, nice > though it was, it wouldn't have cost a lot and would be unlikely to be > worth very much? > > > Wendy > ------------ > > Wendy Richards > > wendy@kingsmeadowcr.freeserve.co.uk ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 15:05:43 -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 Subject: Re: Question re. Jewellery Shops MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Is there a chain of jewellery shops in the US which has a > reputation for selling cheap jewellery? Real jewellery, I mean - 9-carat > gold and the like, small diamonds, zirconia? And not tat, exactly, just at > very low prices. The name that came to my mind was Service Merchandise. :) Not sure how to describe it, exactly, though ... it's a department store, really, I suppose -- definitely not an upscale store, anyway. I got a watch from there once which lasted a whole year... -- Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam / jernigan@bellsouth.net http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam http://personal.rdu.bellsouth.net/~jernigan/ The difference between journalists and other people is that other people spend their lives running from violence, tragedy, and horror and we spend ours trying to get in on it. --P.J. O'Rourke ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 14:06:48 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carol L Moncado Subject: Re: Question re. Jewellery Shops MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > The name that came to my mind was Service Merchandise. :) Not sure > how > to describe it, exactly, though ... it's a department store, really, > I > suppose -- definitely not an upscale store, anyway. I got a watch > from > there once which lasted a whole year... LOL! Pam - I hadn't thought about that! I've been trying to think of somewhere. The other place that come to mind is Sam's Warehouse (you know, the bulk version of Walmart). Until recently, they had a jewelry counter. Not sure exactly what you'd buy there.... Anyway, it was closing and they said there was going to be a new one, but I haven't seen it yet. Service Merchandise is better though. CM > -- ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 14:35:07 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carol L Moncado Subject: Re: Episode question, season 1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit THanks to Liz who sent me what I need! You're the best!!!!!! CM On Sat, 17 Mar 2001 12:38:49 -0600 Carol L Moncado writes: > Does anyone have a transcript of the conversation between Lois and > Superman when he came to her window and she said she was going to > put on > a robe, and he said that it wouldn't do any good unless it was lined > with > lead and she said that she would love him even if he didn't have any > Superpowers, yada, yada, yada? > > All I'm looking for is that conversation. I've seen it once, but > would > like to use the conversation in a story I'm working on. > > Thanks so much! > CM ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 16:02:30 -0500 Reply-To: "Heidi A. Bingham" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Heidi A. Bingham" Organization: Militant Breastfeeding Cult Subject: Re: Wet White Shirt 1/2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > There under Clark's white shirt, where his tie would have been had it not > been wrapped around his neck, now soaking wet and clinging to his body, > was the Superman emblem. This is great, Carol. I like the concept. You write a lot, LOL. I never seem to be able to find 5 minutes to work on what I have. I can't wait for part 2! ~ Heidi ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 13:56:26 -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: Question re. Jewellery Shops In-Reply-To: <3AB3C397.25B1CFE8@bellsouth.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii --- Pam Jernigan wrote: > > Is there a chain of jewellery shops in the US > which has a > > reputation for selling cheap jewellery? Real > jewellery, I mean - 9-carat > > gold and the like, small diamonds, zirconia? And > not tat, exactly, just at > > very low prices. > What about Sarah Coventry jewelry? Is that popular in the US? Here in Canada, people go door-to-door with this stuff or they have home parties for it. I've never purchased it so I don't know if it's all costume jewelry or if any of it is the real thing. Irene ===== www.originalequestrianmusic.bigstep.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 17:13:34 -0500 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: Question re. Jewellery Shops Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Wendy, we have Zales here and they have all sorts of jewelry from the cheap to the expensive and well made. LOL, Pam, at Service Merchandise, cause that's where my first engagement ring came from and I was amazed at the quality and value when I had it appraised. I think that with most of these chain stores, they have all qualities to meet all pocketbooks. But, Wendy, if you use Zales, I think most folks would recognize it. And right off, my first thought about Zales is that it's less expensive and lesser quality jewelry. Uh.....is this where Superman is gonna buy Lois a wedding ring? Huh? Huh? Marilyn >From: Wendy Richards >Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" > >To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU >Subject: Question re. Jewellery Shops >Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 13:03:24 -0500 > >Help, please! Is there a chain of jewellery shops in the US which has a >reputation for selling cheap jewellery? Real jewellery, I mean - 9-carat >gold and the like, small diamonds, zirconia? And not tat, exactly, just at >very low prices. > >If it helps, I'm thinking of something akin to what was the H >Samuels/Ratners/Zales chain over here in the UK, which made its money on >high turnover, and where you could buy an engagement ring, say, for a >fraction of the price of the older and posher jewellery shops. (H Samuels >still exists, but after Gerald Ratner made a careless remark contrasting >earrings sold by Ratners to a Marks and Spencer prawn sandwich - 'the >sandwich lasts longer' - the Ratners chain made an ignominious slide into >obscurity ). > > >Hoping for suggestions... > > >Wendy >----------------- > >Wendy Richards > >wendy@kingsmeadowcr.freeserve.co.uk _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 17:17:35 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Marilyn L. Puett" Subject: NEW STORY: Lois.doc 1/1 Previously, in "Clark.doc": "You'll get this in your email because I've always been better at putting things into words than verbalizing them. And quite frankly, I don't want to have to look at those puppy-dog eyes of yours while I tell you to take a hike. I might have been sucked in by them before, but this morning was the coup de grace, you no-good, lying, snake-in-the-grass coward. You're just like my father, just like Paul, just like Claude, just like Lex, and just like every other man that's ever been in my life. Listen to me! I'm beginning to sound like some teenager writing to Dear Abby. I told you before and I'm telling you again, Clark. Forget it! Lois" ~@*****@~ Lois.doc By Marilyn Puett (AKA SuperMom) no1supermom@hotmail.com submitted March 2000 All disclaimers apply. Thanks go to Ann McBride, LabRat, and Kath Roden for their beta reading, editing skills, and their untiring encouragement. As Clark read Lois's words, his heart sank. Today was to have been the big revelation. He was going to tell Lois everything. Sure she would be mad, but he had figured that she would throw a few things and babble a bit -- okay, she'd babble a lot -- but then she would realize that he had only had her best interests at heart. And she would forgive him his little deception. Clark reached into his coat pocket and fingered the small velvet box that rested there. It contained the diamond engagement ring that he had purchased three days ago. The ring was nothing like the one that Lex had given her. Clark chuckled as he remembered how Perry had described that ring: "That thing's bigger than the cap on a Coca Cola bottle!" No, he might not be able to compete with Lex's billions, but he had something to offer that no one else did. He had his undying love and devotion to offer to Lois. He'd watched his parent's relationship over the years and their love for each other seemed to grow stronger year by year. Clark could only imagine the strain that their inability to have children had put on the marriage. However, Krypton's misfortune had resulted in the fulfillment of Martha and Jonathan Kent's dream of becoming parents. He'd heard the story of how they saw the shooting star and followed it to Schuster's Field. There, they found a baby, wrapped in a blue blanket, lying in a spacecraft. The story had an almost biblical quality to it when his mother told it. For there, in that tiny craft, was the answer to their prayers. Thanks to Martha and Jonathan's loving upbringing, Clark had grown into a fine man. He was well educated and a world traveler. But his wanderlust had soon given way to a yearning for something more. He had made his way to Metropolis and the Daily Planet. And sitting in Perry's office for his interview, he had met her -- not just her, but HER. He had known immediately that there was something special about this woman. Lois Lane was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. There was a fire in her eye, however, that far overshadowed the physical beauty. And it was that combination of fire and beauty that had drawn him like a moth to a flame. Lois had used and abused him. She had mocked him, called him "Farmboy" and a "hack from Nowheresville," stolen his stories, and had blatantly told him not to fall for her. But Clark just couldn't help it. Somehow he KNEW they were destined to be together; deep inside he understood that he would be bound to this woman for eternity. Over time, Lois had softened a bit. Despite her protests to Perry that she didn't need or want a partner, she had eventually accepted Clark, and had even come to rely on him in many ways. Their partnership evolved into a friendship and then to a "best" friendship. It nearly killed him, both figuratively and literally, when she agreed to marry that monster, Lex Luthor. But they had survived that crisis and grown even closer in the process. He'd hated lying to her about his feelings, but if that's what it took, then...that's what it took. God, how he had hated leading Lois to believe that he was dead when Clyde Barrow had shot him. And he'd hated even more the crazy story he'd told her about Superman using Dr. Hamilton's techniques to bring him back to life. Of course, once he told her the truth about him and Superman, she'd understand -- AFTER she ranted at him about letting her believe he was dead. Their "almost first date" was bittersweet. Clark had finally garnered the nerve to ask her out only to have his plans thwarted by Perry assigning them to an all-night stakeout. At least they were together. But then they'd both been distracted -- detoured -- by Mayson Drake and Dan Scardino. Clark hadn't known that Mayson was in love with him, but her death was devastating to him nonetheless. Any death was devastating, but he felt particularly guilty because he had been so close, yet unable to prevent it. And in his grieving, he had pushed Lois away -- again. They had weathered the storm called Scardino and Clark had promised not to run away anymore -- a promise he intended to keep. That promise would include telling Lois everything. Now, this man who not only knew that he was Superman, but wanted him to steal in order to protect the secret, had thwarted his intentions. Yes, he wanted Lois to know; but he wanted her to hear it from him, not from someone using the information for blackmail. Maybe his parents were right; maybe he should tell Lois -- and the world -- and call this fellow's bluff. And then maybe, after Lois calmed down, they could resume their courtship -- if you could call it that -- and he could propose. Clark squeezed the ring box once again and made his decision. He glanced toward the conference room where Lois had retreated earlier. She was alternately pacing and gazing out the window. In her current state, talking to her would be next to impossible. She was emotional and angry. And Clark was well aware of his uncanny ability to get tongue-tied around Lois when his emotions were flaring. He moved to his desk, sat in front of his computer, and turned it on. After it had whirred through the start-up routine, he opened his email program, pointed the cursor to "Compose," and clicked. He had always been better at putting his thoughts on paper than verbalizing them. If Lois could email him a "Dear John" letter, he rationalized that he should be able to email her the truth. And since the Planet had upgraded the network security to protect all the reporters' files and messages, he wasn't worried about anyone else seeing anything he wrote. "Dear Lois, I am Superman. There, I've said it. Normally I would have worked up to this, but you are so angry at me right now that I was afraid you would discard an email that began with how I feel about you or how much I love you or how sorry I am that I ran out on you this morning. Oh, I know that you don't believe me, and you think that I'm just trying to get back into your good graces. But think about it, Lois. When did I start working at the Daily Planet? And when did Superman first appear? Have you ever seen Superman and me together? (I know you thought you did when Diana Stride made her revelation. That was a hologram that my mother worked out.) Why do you think I give you such stupid excuses for running away? I'm not running away from you; I'm running to a rescue. I am Superman. Or rather Superman is what I can do. Clark is who I am. Everything else that you know about me is true -- farmboy from Kansas, Midwest University graduate, world traveler, sports nut, good dancer (I really did learn from a Nigerian princess), and hopelessly in love with Lois Lane. I intended to tell you the truth earlier this morning at your apartment. Do you remember when we were sitting on your sofa? I said, "Lois, I'm Super..." and then the phone rang. I was going to say, "Lois, I'm Superman," and then after you quit yelling at me, I was prepared to answer all your questions and try to move on with our relationship. I've lived my life keeping my powers a secret from everyone. I can tell you all the details later, but the short version is that my folks found me in a space capsule in the middle of a field. They didn't know if I was a cold war experiment gone awry or a strange visitor from another planet. Eventually the truth was revealed to me; but from the beginning, I always had to keep the secret. It was hard being different, Lois. I never really felt like I belonged. And my dad was always warning me that if I wasn't careful, they would put me in a laboratory and dissect me like a frog. I never knew who "they" were, but I did know I didn't want them to catch me. Then I came to Metropolis and I met you and I created Superman. Actually, you helped. Remember the day we happened upon that explosion in the manhole? I really did save that man. Your suggestion about keeping a change of clothes at work gave me the idea for the outfit. And of course, you coined the name "Superman." So he's as much your creation as mine. Forgive me if I talk about him in the third person; my mom gets worried when I do it, but sometimes it's the only way I can keep it straight in my head: I am Clark Kent, son of Jonathan and Martha Kent. Superman is what I can do to help other people. As the whole Superman thing progressed, it became apparent to me that certain people didn't want me around. I "interfered" with their business. And it also became evident to me that anyone close to me could become a target; they could be used as leverage to get to me. As you and I became more involved, I realized that not only did I have to worry about my mom and dad, but now I also had to worry about you. On the one hand I wanted you to know everything about me; on the other hand I wanted to protect you. I said earlier that I've never run away from you. This morning I knew I wasn't going to a rescue. Although as it turns out, it was; I'm rescuing myself from a blackmailer. The call was from a man who told me that he knew I was Superman and unless I met his demands, he would tell the world. He wants me to steal for him in order to keep my secret. I won't do it, Lois. I've already talked to my parents and they agree that I should reveal to the world that I am Superman and call this guy's bluff. But I wanted you to know first. Then maybe when you've settled down, you can help me figure out how to make the big announcement to the world and then how to deal with it. I love you, Lois. I love you more than life itself. Now that I've told you, a huge burden has been lifted from me in one respect. On the other hand, I'm not sure you will still feel the same about our relationship. Being Clark Kent's girlfriend is one thing; being Superman's is entirely another. I don't know what life will hold for us once the world knows that Clark Kent is Superman and that he loves Lois Lane. But I do know that if you will give us a chance, together we can get through anything. Please don't hate me, Lois. Please understand that I did what I thought was best. Of course, I'm assuming that you're going to be angry with me over this. Maybe you won't be. Conversely, maybe you'll never want to talk to me again. I'm hoping you will have read this by noon and calmed down enough to have lunch with me. And then we can talk -- REALLY talk. All my love, Clark" Clark took a deep breath and held it as he clicked on the "Send" button, dispatching his confession to Lois's computer. He leaned back as he exhaled and began contemplating his plan of action. He wanted to enlist his parents' help on how to announce his secret identity to the world. And Lois's too, if she was still speaking to him. The ringing of his phone jarred him from his thoughts. "Clark Kent," he announced into the receiver. "Did I call at a bad time?" Clark realized it was "him.""There won't be any more bad times," Clark whispered into the phone. "I hate to ruin your plans, but I've decided to go ahead and tell everyone I'm Superman. Want to see who can call a press conference the fastest?" "Interesting change of attitude. Your folks didn't have anything to do with it, did they?" "My folks..." Clark began worriedly. "We're sharing some quality time together now. Well, I call it that. They call it kidnapping," he said. "They're good people. And I know you wouldn't want anything to happen to them." Clark thought that the man was bluffing, but his fears were soon validated. He heard his father yell in the background, followed by what sounded like a slap and his mother's scream. "Let them go. They mean nothing to you." "Oh sure they do. Because now you have to do what I say no matter what happens." "I can't steal for you." "You can do anything. You're Superman. Remember?" The phone went dead. Clark stared at the receiver realizing that his worst fear had now come true. The family he loved had become a madman's target. Glancing at Lois in the conference room, Clark hoped that once she read his email, she would understand why he'd left the office -- why, once again, he had run out. He hung up the phone and dashed for the elevator. Lois paused from her pacing and looked toward the conference room in time to see Clark bolt toward the elevator. "He's probably going off to pick up his "Tie of the Month" shipment," she mumbled sarcastically. She was glad he hadn't followed her into the conference room. She wasn't ready for that final confrontation. Now that he had left the newsroom, she could get back to work and get her mind off of the distraction she called Clark Kent. Booting up her computer, she immediately noticed a new email from Clark. While she was hesitant to read it, she realized it could contain information on their current story. Whatever their personal situation, she couldn't -- no she wouldn't -- let it interfere with her work. She and Clark might not be dating anymore, but she was still going to be the best- darned investigative reporter in Metropolis. She clicked on the icon to open the message and was immediately confronted with the words "I am Superman." "Who in the hell does he think he is?" Lois snorted. But curiosity got the best of her and she continued reading. Ten minutes later, Jimmy found her sitting numbly at her desk, staring at a blank computer screen, and looking as pale as if she'd seen a ghost. ~@*****@~ Author's note: Clark.doc can be read in its entirety at http://www.lcfanfic.com/stories/2000/clarkdoc.txt ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 17:13:08 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: lcfic Subject: Message Board Index Update through March 16 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hi FoLCs! Lots of new stories, vignettes, story parts, a completed story, and an intriguing conversation with one of Metropolis' top reporters all this week on Zoom's message board! Links at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Meteor/7378/lnc.html New stories this week: BEGINNING OF FOREVER, THE: JALMG16 BRAND NEW START I – SHATTERED DREAMS, A: KRAZ FIRST NIGHT V – RESOLUTION: CAROL MONCADO FIVE SECONDS TOO LATE COMPLETE VIGNETTE ALLICAT GREEN CARD: WENDY RICHARDS LADY LOISETTE & SIR CHARLES – THE ADVENTURES OF SOULMATES: DAWN FIELD LOIS.DOC COMPLETE VIGNETTE SUPERMOM (AKA MARILYN PUETT) SEX CHANGES EVERYTHING: COMPLETE VIGNETTE CHRISH TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MB MEMBERS FROM METROPOLIS' FAVOURITE REPORTER 'CLARK KENT' TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: COMMENTS A SERIES OF DIALOGUE BETWEEN CLARK AND THE MB MEMBERS 'CLARK KENT' & VARIOUS TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: COMMENTS 2 THE DIALOGUE CONTINUES UNIVERSAL UNION 3: JENNI DEBBAGE WHEN I WAS TWELVE... COMPLETE VIGNETTE JOMARCH WHY ONE SHOULD NEVER MISS MEETINGS COMPLETE VIGNETTE AERM1 (AKA ANN McBRIDE) New part(s) posted: CATSPAW: STARKITTY (AKA TARA SMITH) FUGUE II – FUSION: SHAYNE TERRY HYSTERON PROTERON: ATTALANTA (CHRISTY KUBIT) PURITY: YVONNE CONNELL TRIAL RUN: STEPPER WALK IN THE DARK, A: NAN SMITH Completed stories this week: HAND THAT ROCKS, THE: PINTOFOLC Added to the Archive this week: Trading Places by Irene Dutchak True Partners by C. Leuch When You Need My Love by Bethy Enjoy! Dawn & the Index Crew __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 21:56:48 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Annette Ciotola Subject: Re: Episode question, season 1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/17/01 1:45:39 PM Eastern Standard Time, cmoncado@JUNO.COM writes: > ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 22:00:15 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Annette Ciotola Subject: Sorry Re: Episode question, season 1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sorry about that .... I was passing the scene onto Carol and the mouse got stuck and sent the mail on me ... Sorry again Anne ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 23:33:54 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: The Kraz Man Subject: A Brand New Start I - Shattered Dreams (2/?) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Here is the next section... -------- 5 years ago -------- Clark had just returned yesterday from his overseas excursion. He was sitting at the kitchen table of his parent’s home, eating a home cooked dinner with his family, when the phone rang. “Kent residence” his mom answered. “Hi Martha, this is Lana Lang. How are you doing.” “Fine Lana. How are you doing? I had heard you were in Egypt with your father on some dig or something.” “Yes, I was. We just finished up last week, and I decided to comeback to Smallville to center myself a bit. Sometimes it’s completely amazing the gamut of emotions you go through during an archeological dig.” “I suppose that’s very true. And I know Clark always says that Smallville helps him find balance within himself.” “Speaking of Clark, Martha. What part of the world is he in this week?” “Oh” Martha started, with a gleam in her eye, “I think he’s in Kansas.” “What?!” “Yes, he came back yesterday. Did you want to speak with him?” “Sure, I guess. I wasn’t really expecting him to be home.” “Clark,” Martha turned her head away from the phone. “Someone wants to speak with you!” “Hello.” “Hi Clark, it’s Lana.” “Lana! How are you doing?” “Oh, just fine. How are you doing?” “Not too bad. How is Egypt?” “Egypt was nice, but I’m not there anymore. I’m in Smallville.” “Oh, really. When did you return?” “Over the weekend. Look Clark, I’d really like to talk to you without the use of the phone. How about we meet down at Maisie’s for coffee?” “Sounds like a plan. Say in half an hour?” “Sure. See you then.” “Great. See you then.” Clark hung up the phone, and looked at his mother, who had that motherly gleam in her eye. “What?” “Oh, nothing.” She replied with a smirk. -------------- Twenty-five minutes later, Clark found himself at Maisie’s diner, with a cup of coffee in his hand, looking out the front window, waiting for Lana. Six minutes later, she walked in. He grinned at her. “You’re a whole minute late, Lana. I may have to hold that against you.” “Clark, it’s fashionable to be late. Besides, as your mom will surely tell you, it’s good to keep the men folk waiting,” she replied with a good-natured smile. Clark stood as they hugged each other, and then as she sat down, sat across from her, and took a sip from his cup. -------------- They talked for a couple of hours, catching up on what had happened on their separate trips overseas. They joked with each other, and told various anecdotes about mix-ups with local customs. Eventually, Maisie approached their table. “Hey you two, I hate to break up a good time, but I’d like to go home tonight,” Maisie informed her two customers. “And I can’t do that if you two are going to sit here and not pay attention to the time,” she added, with a twinkle in her eye as she winked at the pair. “Is it that late,” Clark asked. Maisie simply nodded. “Well Clark, I guess we better continue this somewhere else.” As the couple exited the diner, Lana looked up to Clark. “Let’s head over to Woodland Park. There are a few things I’d like to finish talking about.” “Okay,” Clark replied, with a slightly confused look upon his face. As they couple wandered into the park, Lana looked like she was struggling to say something. “Clark, the last time we spoke, I know you were unhappy with how things turned out. I know I didn’t take your telling me about your ‘uniqueness’ very well, and you probably felt a little betrayed. I just wanted to apologize for that. You see Clark, at the time, there was a lot of tension in my house with regards to my mother and father, and what they each expected of me. And all three of us were expecting you to propose, and to be honest, at that time, I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. When you told me about your abilities, and then literally sweep me of my feet, it came completely out of left field. More like out of the ball park, state, country, maybe even the planet. I left with my father to get away from everything, sort of running away from my problems. However, after three years in Egypt, I was able to really think about everything. And I realized that I treated you very badly, and I can only hope you can forgive me.” “Lana, there really is nothing to forgive. I also did some growing up while I was overseas. I probably should have explained things better at the time. To find out that your best friend through high school and college was more than he appeared to be had to be a complete shock. I’m just glad to know that you weren’t running from me specifically.” “No, Clark, never.” With that, they hugged. After a few moments, Clark stepped away. “C’mon, I should probably get you home.” “Clark, will you do me a favor?” “Yes?” “Show me.” Clark looked confused for a moment. “Show me the world through your eyes.” Clark could only smile. “Are you sure?” Lana nodded. Clark closed, and gathered Lana in his arms, and then took off. He took Lana around the world, showing her the most incredible things she had ever seen. He took her toward the North Pole, to show her the Aurora Borealis. To London, and Big Ben. India, and the Taj Mahal. He took her to many places he enjoyed in solace, simply to enjoy the beauty of things. However, Clark felt a joy he had never felt before. He was able to share these things with someone. Someone he cared about. As the morning dawned, they made their way back to Smallville. When they landed, Lana looked up at Clark. “Thank you. That was simply magnificent!” “No, Lana, thank you.” Slowly, as they looked into each other’s eyes, their lips met. *** to be continued *** ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 23:32:44 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nethra Ankam Subject: Re: Question re. Jewellery Shops My friend bought a ruby ring w/ 10K band at K-Mart for, oh, something like $30. (after christmas blow-out) Nethra ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 23:53:07 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nethra Ankam Subject: Re: Ultrawoman review On Wed, 14 Mar 2001 13:03:04 EST, Kate Crane wrote: > >I too always wondered how Clark's parents could show up so frequently....In >WWW they are there to help Clark pack up, and then the very next episode >they're back visiting for their anniversary trip as if it had been months >since visiting their boy. > What I still can't figure out is when the anniversary trip to Italy happened because the very next day or two or three, they are back in Metropolis to deal with the proposal aftermath. (not that I'm complaining b/c the scene with Lois and Martha in WHALTTA is one of my favorites) Nethra ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 09:46:23 -0700 Reply-To: erink@ida.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin Klingler Subject: FW: Kerth Votes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi everyone :) I received this glowing little email regarding fanfic from one of the voters on Friday, and asked her permission to post it here, since it's a nice kudo to the fanfic writers in folcdom. :) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> -----Original Message----- From: GRADIEK@aol.com [mailto:GRADIEK@aol.com] Sent: Friday, March 16, 2001 3:32 PM To: erink@ida.net Subject: Re: Kerth Votes Just a line to say to say thanks to all of the people who put so much time and effort into something (L&C FanFic) that I enjoy reading so much. I don't participate in any of the online exchange activity, but I am sure that are many more silent participants (like me) who would greatly miss the fancfic if they no longer had it to read. This is one time of the year when I will stop to say thanks and keep up the good work, everyone. Voting is just a way to do it. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Erin __________________ erink@ida.net Visit my LNC/Kerth Website: www.ida.net/users/davek ***** "It's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now, as they happen." __________________ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 16:36:53 -0000 Reply-To: LabRat Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Organization: LabRat Subject: Fw: Re: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Fwding for Heidi :) ----- Original Message ----- From: Heidi A. Bingham To: LabRat Sent: Friday, March 16, 2001 4:17 PM Subject: Re: Re: Ultrawoman review > > [One of my favourite moments in this one. Isn't it also a play on a scene > > from one of the Superman movies? I vaguely remember a scene in Perry's > > office where Clark tries to open a bottle of orange juice and Lois - in > the > > middle of some rant at their editor - finally gets exasperated with him, > > grabs it off him, thumps it on the table, removes the top and thrusts it > > back at him, before launching back into her spiel without so much as a > > glance at him. Which only made it all the funnier when I saw it here.] > > Yes, you're right! I think it's when Clark first goes to the Planet. I > recently watched all the movies (kids made me rent them), so you'd think I'd > remember more exactly, but definitely, that happened in the movies. ~ Heidi > ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 19:47:38 -0500 Reply-To: "Heidi A. Bingham" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Heidi A. Bingham" Organization: Militant Breastfeeding Cult Subject: Re: Fw: Re: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Fwding for Heidi :) Thanks! Why is it sometime when I hit "reply" it goes to the group and other times it goes only to the person who wrote the previous message? ~ Heidi ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 19:46:37 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Annette Ciotola Subject: Nfic Archive Updated - 3/18/01 Comments: To: lcnfanfic@egroups.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hey Gang,=20 =20 Check out a new nfanfic by Brenda joins us with another wonderfulnew nfic,=20 while Superman spins out a few short PG vignettes =E2=80=A6 =20 Trivia: What author have successfully written her first 4fanfic without ever= =20 seeing an episode of Lois & Clark =E2=80=A6 =20 Find out in this week=E2=80=99s Showcase interview =E2=80=A6 yet another2001= Kerth hopeful,=20 so head on over to check it out!=20 =20 Anne=20 =20 Visit the Lois & Clark Nfic Archive=20 http://www.annesplace.net=20 =20 "If something looks like a duck, walks like a duck, andtalks like a duc= k=20 ... chances are pretty good it is a duck." - Lois Lane;Strange Visitor=20 >From Another Planet=20 =20 "...Grab a bottle, hunker down and pray fordaylight!" - Karen=20 Walker; Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 00:52:33 -0000 Reply-To: LabRat Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Organization: LabRat Subject: Re: Fw: Re: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Heidi wrote: > Thanks! > > Why is it sometime when I hit "reply" it goes to the group and other times > it goes only to the person who wrote the previous message? > Ah, if only we knew the answer to that one, Heidi. Actually, it's mostly only me it does that with. And so far I haven't the faintest smegging idea why. I even unsubbed and resubbed, but it made not the slightest bit of difference. You should be reasonably safe replying to anyone else on the list. But if you reply off a post I've sent, you'll need to change the To box from my eddress to the fanfic list. But I don't mind forwarding if you forget now and then. :) LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 20:25:43 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: Fw: Re: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit LabRat wrote: <> in response to the question, "why does the reply sometimes go to the person who wrote the post instead of the list?">> Actually, every time I reply to anything Yvonne has written, it does the same thing. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 01:28:10 -0000 Reply-To: LabRat Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Organization: LabRat Subject: Re: Fw: Re: Ultrawoman review MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ann wrote: > > Actually, every time I reply to anything Yvonne has written, it does the same > thing. > Yup, Yvonne was added to this exclusive list recently. ;) LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 21:02:05 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carol L Moncado Subject: Wet White Shirt 2/2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Here's part 2 - FDK always appreciated! CM ***** >From part 1 There under Clark's white shirt, where his tie would have been had it not been wrapped around his neck, now soaking wet and clinging to his body, was the Superman emblem. ***** Part 2 She reached out, her eyes full of fear and surprise. She started to unbutton his shirt, the next to top button, but was stopped by a large hand on hers. Another hand lifted her chin. When she met Clark's eyes, she saw her own emotions mirrored there. "Lois, we need to talk." "You're..." "Let's go somewhere else..." "You're..." "Where we can be alone." "You're him." Her eyes shifted back and forth from his face to his chest. "Can we go somewhere, Lois? Somewhere dry?" Lois nodded, not trusting her voice anymore. Clark lowered his glasses and looked around nervously. Apparently satisfied of something, he picked her up. Still in stunned silence, Lois allowed herself to be flown away from Metropolis. She had flown with Superman on many occasions, but this time was different. This time it was Clark. This time it was... better? She always thought she was in love with Superman, but something had always been missing. She knew she didn't know the whole man. He never revealed his true self to her, to anyone. She knew that and tried to convince herself that she'd be able to accept it, but deep down she knew it wasn't enough. If she was going to have a future with him, she would have needed more. Now she knew why she had never had more of Superman. She already had the rest of him, but didn't know it. Clark was Superman. Superman was Clark. The grass is green. Clark is Superman. The sky is blue. Superman is Clark. She was actually amazed at how calm she was, considering her best friend had been lying to her for a year and a half. Clark had been lying to her. Well, not really lying to her. He had never told her that he wasn't Superman. If he had actually come right out and said it, then it would have been lying. This was omission. Well, at least now she knew that he wasn't habitually late with his movie rentals. He HAD been lying to her. Not about being Superman, but about all of those things that he said were so urgent. Cheese of the Month Club. Please! How stupid did he think she was? Pretty stupid apparently. Maybe even galactically stupid. He'd played her for a fool for a long time. Why hadn't he told her? She refused to look at him. He was so close to her that she could feel the warmth coming from his body and that bothered her. She thought back. She hadn't been very nice to Clark in the beginning. She had made snide remarks to him and generally been a pain. She cringed a little as she remember the 'hack from Nowheresville' comment. But what about Superman? Superman had appeared not long after Clark arrived in Metropolis. She hadn't put two and two together - no one had. Who would? Why would they? Clark, mild mannered, easy going, best friend material, perfect husband material - *how did that last thought sneak in there?*, she wondered in surprise - as the larger than life, every woman's fantasy Superhero. No one would believe it. She grudgingly admitted it wouldn't have been very good for him to tell her. She would have put it all over the front page of the Daily Planet. She closed her eyes and saw the headline - and the Pulitzer Prize it would have won her - "SUPERMAN'S SUPERSECRET!" No way Clark could have told her then. Not if he wanted any semblance of a normal life. She really couldn't blame him, not then anyway. But what about later? Why hadn't he told her later? Surely he trusted her now. Didn't he? Yes, he did. She knew it instinctively, but that didn't answer the question of why he hadn't told her. What would she have done if he had just come right out and said, "Lois, I'm Superman." She knew what she would have done and Clark knew her so well that he would know, too. She would have ranted and raved and kicked him out of her apartment or walked out of his or found some way to leave him standing there. What would he have done if she had done that? She knew him very well. She *thought* she knew him very well. How well did she really know him? Apparently, not as well as she thought. She never would have guessed that he was capable of keeping a secret of any kind without her knowing about it. He couldn't keep anything from her. She always knew when he was hiding something. Or she had thought she did. How could she never have suspected something like this? The more she thought about, the more she knew that she really did know him very well. At least the Clark side of him. She knew exactly how he would have reacted after she yelled and screamed and left him standing there. He would have stood there, head hanging down, hands in his pockets a completely dejected expression on his face, looking like he had lost his best friend - which would have been more or less true. She could see the heartbreak that would be in his eyes and maybe even tears that would be there. It would tear him to his very core. She knew that. And that's why he hadn't told her. But she was still mad. Very mad. She barely noticed when they landed on a deserted tropical island. He was still holding her, cradling her in his arms, when she realized that he was speaking to her. "Lois?" "I'm sorry." She held herself away from him, fairly stiff, not ready to decide that she was willing to accept whatever Clark had to tell her, to love him no matter what. Not sure if that was what she really wanted. "I have to tell you the whole story, Lois." "I want to hear it." "Are you sure?" "No, Clark, I'm not. PUT ME DOWN!" Clark obliged her. "Would you mind drying me off real quick?" Clark obliged. "But you know, I don't have much of a choice, do I? What am I going to do? Stalk off? Kick you out? Where would I go? When you said somewhere where we could be alone, I thought you meant my apartment or yours, not some island in the middle of nowhere. You did this on purpose, didn't you? I know you, Clark Kent. This whole Superman thing may have caught me a bit off guard, but I KNOW you!" Lois was pacing furiously across the soft sand. She reached down and took her shoes off and threw them at the dejected superhero. "And don't even think about ducking. I know a little shoe won't hurt you! You're SUPERMAN! Nothing can hurt you." Even as Lois said it, she knew it wasn't true, but it didn't matter to her furious mind. "You KNEW that if you brought me here, I wouldn't have a choice but to deal with you. And if I don't want to, that's just too bad. Where am I going to go? If I want to go anywhere, I have to depend on you to pick me up in those *super* strong arms of yours and fly me off somewhere with you holding me as close as you think you can get away with, because you think that just because you're close to me I'll melt and lose all capability of rational thought." Tears were streaming down her face. "And all this time, you've been lying to me. Oh, I know you never came right out and told me you weren't Superman, but you have lied to me every single day, several times a day. 'Lois, I'd love to stay, but I have to return an overdue book.' 'Lois, I, uh, I have to pick up my dry cleaning.' 'Lois, I know you're completely gullible and so I'm going to try to convince you that I have to pick my shipment from the cheese of the month club.' Please, Superman, how stupid do you think I am? I always knew you were running away from me for some reason, because you didn't want to be with me completely. That there was a reason why you didn't want to get too close to me. I just had no idea that you could be so cruel and let me make a fool of myself." Lois finally looked at Clark. He looked just like she knew he would have. Hands in his pockets, staring at the stand, completely heart broken. "You never made a fool of yourself, Lois." "WHAT?! I never made a fool of myself? You've got to be kidding me. I threw myself at Superman. I was completely head-over-heels in love with him and the entire world knew it. How many times did I tell you all about my experiences with the great and mighty Superman? How many times did you try to encourage me that there could be a future there? You were just trying to help yourself. You knew if I was in love with Superman, then I was really in love with you." Clark couldn't take it any longer. Lois was stunned by the forcefulness of the mild-mannered man's statement. "That's enough, Lois. I know I hurt you and I wouldn't do that for anything in the world, if there was any way I could help it. But I NEVER wanted you to be in love with Superman. I kicked myself every time I encouraged you to pursue him, whether I was Clark or Superman at the time. Superman isn't who I am. Clark is who I am. Superman is just something I can do. I never wanted you to love Superman. I have loved you since the first time I saw you in Perry's office and I knew I had to find a way to stay in Metropolis. My mom made the stupid tights and my parents helped me create the Superman persona. Once it was working and I knew that no one would realize that Clark Kent, Daily Planet reporter, moonlighted as Superman, man in tights, all I wanted was for you to love me - Clark. Not Superman. Because I am Superman. Superman is NOT me. There's a difference." "It's all semantics, Clark, Superman, whoever you are." "But you know all about how to use words to suit your purposes and you know exactly what I mean." "Nice try, but you're not getting off that easy. You sat there, in the park and told me you loved me. You even agreed to get a hold of Superman for me. I figured you knew his phone number or something or knew where his hideout was, but not that you would just be talking to yourself. And then you showed up at my apartment and let me gush over you." Lois was going to say something else, but remembered how the conversation had gone. Lois was curled up on her couch watching TV in her nightgown. She heard the familiar WOOSH and turned to see Superman standing there. "Superman!" Lois stood. "I heard you wanted to see me." "Yes. Please, come in. I'll just put on a robe." "Unless it's lead-lined, Lois, it's a waste of time." Lois felt her face turn bright red. "I guess so. Anyway, I'm just trying to figure out... well, there've been a lot of changes going on in my life and I'm trying to make the right, decisions, but I can't until I know... how you feel." Lois had walked up to Superman, put her hand on his chest. "Superman, is there any hope for us? You and me? I'm so completely in love with you that I can't do anything else without knowing." Superman shook his head. "Lois, I do care for you. But...there are things about me you don't know, that you may never know." "It doesn't matter. I know *you*. And I don't mean you the celebrity or you the 'superhero.' If you had *no* powers, if you were just an ordinary man leading an ordinary life, I'd love you just the same. Can't you believe that?" His voice took on a strange, almost heartsick tone. "I wish I could, Lois. But, under the circumstances, I don't see how I can." Lois stared at him, tears forming in her eyes, then turns away. When she turned around again, she started to speak. "Superman..." But he was gone. Only the flutter of the curtains remained to show he had been there. The tears flowed freely down her face as she looked out the window into the night. She had hurt him terribly. That comment about loving him with no superpowers would have cut through his heart like a knife. Clark *was* Superman. The ordinary man leading the ordinary life. No wonder he hadn't believed her. She had just finished telling him that she could never have those kinds of feelings for him. She had never understood what circumstances Superman thought they were under, but now she knew. And her comment would have broke Clark's heart into a million pieces. Superman was vulnerable to more than just Kryptonite. He was vulnerable to her. Lois Lane. She had the power to hurt the most powerful being on earth. That was scary. "I want to hear all about it, Clark." "Are you sure?" "I'm ready to hear it now. I think. This is so much to absorb, but I need to hear it. I need to know why." She sat on the sand, holding his jacket in place, needing that little bit of him close to her. "Well, it all started about a year and a half ago when I came to Metropolis. No, that's not right. It all started in 1966 when my parents found a spaceship in Schuster's Field. Inside was me - from the exploding planet of Krypton. My parents had found out that they couldn't have kids and then there I was. They thought I was some kind of experiment from the Soviet Union or maybe even our government - I mean it was the height of the Cold War, who knew what the governments were capable of? It wasn't until after I got here and you found the spaceship and the orb that I knew any more than that. "When I was a kid, I was pretty normal. I didn't float in my crib or anything unusual like that. My powers came on gradually. By junior high I could lift the fridge or the tractor and by the time I graduated high school I could fly and do everything else that I can do as Superman. "I made it through college without attracting too much attention, but by the time I graduated, I needed to help. I couldn't take just standing by and watching when I knew I could help someone. I moved on whenever someone was getting too close to me, too close to finding out about me. And then I met you. "I wanted to tell you from the very beginning, but I could just see the headline - 'Superman's Supersecret' right?" Lois nodded. How could he know her so well? "You didn't really know me and I didn't really know you. You were completely head over heals for Superman, but that wouldn't have stopped you - at least at first. Once I knew I could trust you, you were involved with Luthor." Lois cringed. There was no way Clark could have known she had just relived that entire scene in her mind. Or was there? So far tonight he had proved he knew her much better than she thought. "I couldn't risk him finding out. And after that, well, you were in no emotional shape to deal with all of this." As much as Lois wanted to yell at him again and tell him that she could handle anything, she knew he was telling the truth. She had barely trusted him, her very best friend, with what she had for dinner the night before, much less with her heart or soul. Finding out that he was Superman would have devastated her and she probably would never have trusted him or anyone else again. "So, I've been trying find a way to tell you for a while now, but I could never find the words." Lois sat there, on the sand, staring at the ocean. There was so much to absorb. Clark sat next to her, close but not touching and for that she was grateful. If he so much as brushed her arm with his, she'd turn to mush, she knew that. Even before she would admit to herself that she had feelings for him, under the right circumstances, he could cause her legs to quiver and her stomach to do flip-flops. It all made so much sense to her now that he had explained it. But could she forgive him? She was a fool to be in love with someone who could lie to her so callously. But he couldn't lie to her callously. She knew that. There was always something uneasy in his eyes when he told her about the dry cleaners or the video return or the parking meter. She had always thought it was because he didn't want anything to do with her and didn't know how to tell her. But now she knew what it was. And the bottom line was, she was in love with him. That was all that really mattered. Clark interrupted her reverie. "Lois, say something. Please." Lois looked at him and could feel the tears well up in her eyes. "Clark, I don't know what to say. I know that I should be mad at you. I should be screaming and yelling at you again, telling you that you are the scum of the earth." She stood and started pacing on the sand, feeling it squish between her toes. She pulled his suit coat a little tighter around her. "I should spend at least a month mad at you and not talking to you and trying to convince myself that there was never anything between us. That I never even thought that you were remotely good looking and there was never any spark at all between us. That I was a fool to fall in love with you. That I was a complete and total nutcase. That there was nothing in this world that could be worse than loving a liar. I should move to Africa or Siberia or somewhere far away, but that wouldn't work, because you can fly and you'd be there in no time. And you probably speak the languages better than I could ever hope to. I could fly off to another planet, but is there one? The only other planet we know of that carries humanoid lifeforms is gone. It exploded. Clark, this hurts. It hurts more than anything I can think of, even more than Kryptonite hurts Superma... hurts you. I understand why you didn't tell me, but that doesn't make it hurt any less and I should just walk away from you and never look back." Lois threw her hands up in exasperation. "But I can't. I'm on a deserted island, in the middle of heaven only knows what ocean and since I can't walk on water or fly, I'm pretty much stuck." Lois looked at Clark. He sat there, his shoulders slumped, his eyes closed. Lois knew she was breaking his heart. She thought she saw a tear tracing a path down his cheek. "That's what I should do, but I can't." Clark looked up at her, cautious hope trying to shine through the tears in his eyes. "What it all boils down to, is that it's too late. I am already head over heels hopelessly in love with you and I can't help it. No matter what, my heart belongs to you and it always will." "Can you live with this, Lois? Can you live with a superhero who isn't really all that super?" Lois looked at him, sitting there on the sand, and knew that her life was inexplicably, undeniably, irretrievably intertwined with his. There was no way around it. "What do you think, Clark?" She stood staring out at the waves, waiting for him to respond. She felt rather than saw him standing next to her. "I know what I'd like to think." She looked up at him. "What's that?" "I'd like to think that you'd be okay with all of this and that - someday - I could ask you to spend your life with me." "I..." "Lois, don't answer that right away. I know you need time to absorb all of this." Lois turned to him and moved in a step closer. They were so close that she could feel the warmth radiating from his body. She looked up and saw the hope and love shining in those deep chocolate pools that he called eyes. She reached up and removed his glasses. She saw the doubt starting to creep back into his eyes. She had to set him straight. The best way she knew how. She stood on her tiptoes. She was almost on eye level with him. She leaned in and her lips gently caressed his. She couldn't keep her balance and she pressed her palms against his chest to keep from falling. She could see the questions in his eyes. She leaned in and kissed him again, a little harder this time. She felt his hands rest lightly on her waist. Her hands crept up around his neck, until they were intertwined in his hair. He wrapped his arms around her a little tighter, pulling her close to him. Their lips were millimeters apart, their breath intermingling. He moved in to kiss her this time. This kiss was different than any of their previous kisses and very different than any other kiss Lois had ever been a part of. This was the kiss of two people completely, hopelessly in love with each other. Long minutes later, they broke away. Lois looked into Clark's eyes and knew that she wanted to spend the rest of her life in his arms. Clark smiled at her. "How would you feel about a flight with a certain superhero?" Lois smiled back. "I think I'd like that. But you know, what?" "What?" "As handsome as I always thought Superman was, you're better looking." Lois saw the puzzled look on his face. "But, Lois, I AM Superman." "I know, but someone needs to tell him that that much gel is out. He uses way too much, you know." She ruffled his hair with one hand. "Besides, I like you better with glasses." Clark laughed. "I'll tell him." ` "Does it bother you to talk about yourself in the third person?" "Sometimes. Especially around you. I've always wanted to tell you the truth. But if I don't talk about Superman in the third person, I run the risk of losing Clark. And that's something I can't do. I can't lose me in a superhero." "I wouldn't want to lose you. Now, we need a little bit of a superhero. I want to go for a night flight and you flying around as yourself would be a bit dangerous. If I don't get the Pulitzer for exposing your secret identity, then no one else does either." Clark laughed. "There's something I've always wanted to do in front of you." "What's that?" "This." Clark moved out of her embrace and she watched as he loosened his tie. He started spinning and when he was finished, there stood Superman. "Wow!" "No," he said softly, "wow is what happens when I kiss you." Lois blushed. "Why don't we just see what happens when you kiss me? But before that... I have another question for you." "Anything." "Where do you put your clothes?" Clark laughed again. He moved his cape so it was tucked under one arm. "My mom put some pockets back here." "Your suit fits in there?" The three pockets were small, about the size of a tic-tac container. "Somehow, I can fold them up really small." "Even your shoes fit in there?" "Yep, and my boots when I'm not wearing them. I tried to wear them inside my shoes. But, man, they were uncomfortable, so I change them when I change clothes." "What about when you're wearing shorts? And I know I've seen you with your sleeves rolled up. Do you not wear the suit all the time?" "No, I wear it most of the time. I don't really get hot, but I hate long sleeves, so I pull the top part down and tuck it in my pants and roll up my sleeves." "What happens to the cape then? I don't know how your rear doesn't look the size of Montana with all that tucked in your pants." She looked critically at his backside. "And it looks just fine to me." Clark laughed. "That's why I liked the cape when my mom was making me different costumes - no one could see my rear end! The cape isn't part of the suit itself. See?" He spun for just a second. The top part of this suit hung from his waist. The cape was attached to two straps that wrapped around his shoulders, but Lois barely noticed. She was too busy gulping down her admiration for the well-formed, now-bare chest. She had seen Clark shirtless before, but for some reason it had never affected her like this. All she wanted to do was run her hands over the washboard stomach. Clark noticed her speechlessness. "Lois?" She couldn't tear her eyes away. "That doesn't explain what you do when you're wearing shorts." "Mom sews a pocket inside all of my clothes that I can't wear the suit under and I stick it there." "And you can still change that fast?" Clark opened his mouth to answer. "Oh, right, super-speed. How..." "Isn't that enough questions for now? I'll answer anything you want, but right now, I really want to kiss you. Can I?" Lois nodded. Faster than a blink of an eye, the stomach she was still staring at was covered by electric blue spandex. "Someday, you're going to have to show me how you do that." "The Superman striptease? What would the papers do if they found out? Besides, we've just gotten together. I'm not sure I'm ready to strip in front of you." Clark grinned at her. Lois blushed. "I said someday. And who cares if the papers find out? Everyone will think they're making it up anyway. Besides, I think you were about to do something else." "Really? I've forgotten." "Just kiss me, Clark." Superman... Clark, stepped directly in front of her and bent slightly to put his arms around her waist. He lifted her off the ground and kissed her. It was only quite some time later that she realized they were no longer standing on the sand, but floating among the stars. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 09:14:26 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Phillip Atcliffe Subject: Re: Ultra Woman review In-Reply-To: <026801c0ad6f$e1539420$916105a0@hrm.keele.ac.uk> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Thu, 15 Mar 2001 16:49:19 -0000 Wendy Richards wrote: > I wrote: > >>> [Snip] >>> [...] why did UW have a mask? Okay, the simple answer is that Lois *doesn't* wear glasses, but doesn't the mask suggest that UW *does* have something to hide?) <<< > And Phil answered: >> Well, yeah, she does -- Lois' face! [Snip II] << > No, you're missing the point, Phil. Because Superman doesn't wear a mask, no-one in *the L&C universe* thinks that he has anything to hide. Therefore they don't go around looking for 'Superman' when he's not being Superman. There is no suggestion that the Suit could be a disguise. > Lois, OTOH, as UltraWoman does wear a mask. Might that not suggest to interested parties that UW *does* have something to hide, and therefore start them asking questions about what UW does when she's not out saving people? Why is it she doesn't want people to see her face? And, if that raises the question of a secret identity in relation to UW, then why shouldn't it raise it (again) in respect of Superman? < All too true, Wendy, but does Lois have a choice? Lois Lane's face is very well known (especially to Perry and Jimmy), so she can't just leave it exposed, as it were. And since she already has short hair, she can't rely on the slicked-back look the way Clark does, nor on a change in manner and body language because she's been thrown in at the deep end, as it were, and hasn't had the time to develop a new persona for when she's UW. The mask is the _only_ thing that differentiates Lois Lane from Ultra Woman. So, yes, there is a very real danger that someone will start wondering what UW looks like behind the mask, and from that, whether Superman "walks among us." And Lois is in particular danger of being exposed by her colleagues from the DP because they are highly likely to recognise "Mad Dod Lane" in UW's more forceful moments. Just as well she didn't have the powers all that long. Phil ------------------------------------------------------------ Gravity is a Downer... So let's go flying! -- so sayeth Phil Atcliffe (Phillip.Atcliffe@uwe.ac.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 07:25:12 -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 Subject: Re: Wet White Shirt 2/2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This was fun, Carol! :D s p o i l e r s p a c e I enjoyed Lois's introspection while they were flying (I think the word "babble" is overused in fic, but her thoughts would tumble about like that). She *does* know Clark very well, apart from this one little (okay, huge) secret. And I like that she was honest enough to admit that if he'd told her right away, it would have been a disaster. And I take it this was before TOGOM or we would've had more angst! Some favorite lines: > Cheese of the Month > Club. Please! How stupid did he think she was? > > Pretty stupid apparently. > Superman was vulnerable to more than just Kryptonite. He was vulnerable > to her. Lois Lane. She had the power to hurt the most powerful being on > earth. > > That was scary. > "I wanted to tell you from the very beginning, but I could just see the > headline - 'Superman's Supersecret' right?" I *love* that he knows exactly what the headline would have been The boy has been paying attention... > I should > move to Africa or Siberia I like this whole rant about what she *should* do (the condensed version of countless revelation fics ;) but I have to say when I first read this, I mistook Siberia for Suburbia, which was a whole other mental image, and briefly amused me > He moved in to kiss her this time. This kiss was different than any of > their previous kisses and very different than any other kiss Lois had > ever been a part of. This was the kiss of two people completely, > hopelessly in love with each other. Awww... and see? Much kissier! > If I don't get the Pulitzer for exposing your secret > identity, then no one else does either." lol Very nice, Carol, thank you :) -- Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam / jernigan@bellsouth.net http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam http://personal.rdu.bellsouth.net/~jernigan/ The difference between journalists and other people is that other people spend their lives running from violence, tragedy, and horror and we spend ours trying to get in on it. --P.J. O'Rourke ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 08:58:54 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wanda McCants Subject: Re: Wet White Shirt 2/2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Carol, Great story with a beautiful ending. " What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" ......Langston Hughes Wanda ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 09:10:08 -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: Cell Phones MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Having just finished reading lots of Kerth-nominated fic, I discovered what seems to me to be an anachronism. Namely, the presence of cell phones in lots of first and second season fanfics. Whether it's Lois calling in an order for take-out, or Superman sticking his cell-phone down his briefs (love that image, Irene!), cell phones seem to be as omnipresent in fanfic as they are in today's society. But I began thinking -- when did we first see cell phones on L&C? One of the scenes that sticks in my mind from first season (ASU, I think) is a hoard of reporters rushing for the pay phones. ("All's fair in love and war." "Lois, this isn't war; this is *journalism*." "Your problem, Clark? You think there's a difference.") But not one of those reporters had a cell phone in the first season. In the second season, in Bolt from the Blue, Perry calls Lois to tell her to get downtown and cover the fight between Superman and Resplendent Man. Lois has a phone in her car, but it's a big, clunky thing -- nothing that would fit in her purse. In fact, she leaves it in the car, when she goes into the mausoleum to confront Gretchen Kelley. And, if I recall correctly, in That Old Gang of Mine, Clark traces Lois by her beeper, not her cell phone. In the third season, doesn't the clone talk on a walkie-talkie, two-way-radio kind of thing? The first time I remember seeing a cell-phone in L&C is in the fourth season. In Bob and Carol and Lois and Clark, Lois is waiting for a call back from whats-his-name -- the guy she wants to interview. She takes out a cell phone, and makes a big deal of turning it on, and setting in on the table in the restaurant. But it's presence wasn't taken for granted, the way our current cell-phones are. So, my question is, when did cell phones make an appearance in the show? And does it matter? Am I being overly fussy when I'm pulled out of my suspension of disbelief by the presence of a cell phone in a first or second season fic? There are lots of science fiction type things that we accept in L&C -- space stations, destructive sound waves, and so on. Should I grant the same courtesy to a real invention? But if we accept the presence of cell phones in the early season, a lot of the plots from the early season don't make sense, and, I think, some of the flavor of those episodes is missing. What do you think? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Genevieve -- who wants to see Sherlock Holmes getting a letter, and taking a hansom -- not communicating by e-mail and rushing into the underground. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 11:11:02 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Marilyn L. Puett" Subject: Re: Cell Phones The clone talked on Clark's cell phone if I'm not mistaken. After Lex zapped him with that "whatchamacallit", he gave the cellphone to the clone and told her to follow Lex and see where he took Martha. My first recollection of a cell phone in L&C is in the first season episode "The Rival" but it wasn't Lois or Clark who had the cell phone. It was Linda King. Remember that she was calling in her story using it. And Preston Carpenter called her on it while she was having lunch with Clark. And the ringing cell phone was what got her and Lois caught spying on Carpenter and his henchmen. The next episode that I can remember seeing a cell phone in is "Lucky Leon." When Clark and Mayson were having lunch together, Lois called him on his cell phone about the hijacked truck. Then of course in the end, Mayson was talking on a cell phone just before she got in her car ("Tell Clark and Lois that they aren't the only case I'm working on..."). ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 11:17:51 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: Wet White Shirt 2/2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Very enjoyable read. Charlotte ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 11:33:40 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: Cell Phones MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cell phones really started to drift in to the show from the second season, although the writers didn't seem able to make their mind up from the Beeper or mobile phone. I've often wondered about it too. However Lois definately had one in common use by season 3 because I remember wanting one like it very briefly (never did get one like it though). It seemed a stylish small thing. In "Ordinary People" Lois' cellphone got crushed when she dropped it when moving out of the way of being crushed by someone tryiing to kill her. Rowan :) -- -- -- LaneKent@aol.com Lois & Clark: Over 200 Links, News & Information About the TV Show and Its Cast: http://members.aol.com/lanekent For news of updates to my site: http://www.onelist.com/community/LaneKent ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 11:49:57 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Chris Carr Subject: Re: Cell Phones Lois and Clark took a cell phone with them to Smallville in GGGOH. Lois was fighting for it when she spilled the drink over Clark. Also, that was how Perry was able to have a conversation with each of them separately, at the same time. Because they had pagers in Neverending Battle, I assumed that they had borrowed it for the occasion. Chris ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 17:08:28 -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: Cell Phones MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I've always thought that the writers used devices like mobile phones (cellphones) when it suited them, and ignored them otherwise. As Chris says, a cellphone was used in GGGOH. And yet in a couple of other S1 episodes we saw throngs of reporters hurrying to payphones - in one episode (can't remember which), I'm convinced that was done only so that Lois could be seen to scare away another reporter so she could grab a phone. Then we had this exchange between Lois and Clark (from memory): Clark: This is journalism, not war! Lois: See, your problem is you think there's a difference. So sometimes Lois - and Clark - had cellphones and sometimes they didn't. There seems to me to be no logic to it - certainly not based on a logic that cellphones weren't common in 1993/4. And that's why in fanfic I don't have difficulty with writing characters using cellphones. Now, other technology I admit is a little trickier: in Green Card, currently being posted on the MBs and which is a very early S1 story, I have Lois and Clark making extensive use of the Immigration and Naturalisation Service's website. And in The Penfriend, Lois and Clark used a (fictional) equivalent of Amazon.com to buy book for each other and, as I said in my introduction to the story, I'm well aware that Amazon didn't exist in 1994! Is the use of such internet technology in stories set in the early seasons, when it wasn't developed to that point by then, off-putting or, as Genevieve described it, something which would jerk readers out of a story? Excellent question, Genevieve! Wendy -------------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 12:36:40 -0500 Reply-To: "Heidi A. Bingham" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Heidi A. Bingham" Organization: Militant Breastfeeding Cult Subject: Re: Wet White Shirt 2/2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Awesome! :-) ~ Heidi ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 11:28:59 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carol L Moncado Subject: Re: Cell Phones MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Mon, 19 Mar 2001 17:08:28 -0000 Wendy Richards writes: >> Is the use of such internet technology in stories set in the early > seasons, > when it wasn't developed to that point by then, off-putting or, as > Genevieve > described it, something which would jerk readers out of a story? > Personally - and of course I didn't watch the series in 93/4 etc. - but it doesn't bother me either way. Of course, my First Night is elseworld's (? - I think that's the right term) and in an upcoming portion I talk about Mark McGwire and his 70 home run season, with LCs first meeting being in 2000. But of course then the ages don't match up. That just occured to me - Clark's supposed to be 28 and Lois 26, but if they didn't meet until 2000... they would have met in 94 if the ages were right, so the Big Mac comment would be completely wrong - he would be having a horrid season with the A's not a great one with the Cardinals. So that raises another question - how big a deal is something like that? Believing that they are 28/26, but meeting in 2000 instead of 94? Oh, sheesh - now I may have to rework everything. *sigh* What now? How much is too much suspended disbelief? Is that even the phrase I'm looking for? You know what I mean. CM ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 12:38:43 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Marilyn L. Puett" Subject: Re: Cell Phones Wendy wrote: "Is the use of such internet technology in stories set in the early seasons, when it wasn't developed to that point by then, off-putting or, as Genevieve described it, something which would jerk readers out of a story?" >From 1993-95 (first 2 seasons) I had internet access at work but not at home. It wasn't until about 1997 that I had really good access at home. But my mind tends to forget that it hasn't been around forever -- just like cell phones. So for me, the mention of internet technology in a first or second season story wouldn't be off-putting. It's actually been around for a lot longer than most of us have been using it. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 10:06:12 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Betty Cheng Subject: Re: Cell Phones In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit With Lois and Clark switching between cell phone and beeper from episode to episode, I've always assumed they carried both, especially after S1 when Mr. Stern "modernized" the Planet. A lot of people I know who work on call, carry both a cell phone and a beeper because the beeper can get a signal in a lot of places where the cell phone can't. In "When Irish Eyes Are Killing", Clark located Lois by listening to her beeper's sound instead of her cell phone. Isn't this because if Clark calls Lois's cellphone, he would have to stay on the phone to keep it ringing or else leave the payphone he was using off the hook which is against his good manners? As for the episode where all the reporters ran for the payphones after the EPRAD press conference, could it be because they weren't allowed to use their cellphones? Like in hospitals where we have to turn cell phones off, may be cell phones aren't allowed at EPRAD because their signals can interfere with all the satellites and space equipment. Simba ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 13:12:20 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Marilyn L. Puett" Subject: Re: Cell Phones "...may be cell phones aren't allowed at EPRAD because their signals can >interfere with all the satellites and space equipment. > >Simba" I used to work in the communications hub for all of NASA's worldwide operations and I don't remember any cell phone ban in the building. It IS possible, that with all that network activity going on plus the securtity systems in the building, a cell phone just wouldn't operate very well there because of interference with the signals. Marilyn ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 14:09:33 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Adam Labotka Subject: The Exodus chapter II: Earthbound (part 1/?) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable This is the second half of my story The Exodus. The first half can be = found here http://www.zoomway.com/boards/ubbhtml/Forum5/HTML/004761.html = I know it's been a while but I hope to post about once a week, there = should be 3 or 4 more parts. Private and public feedback welcome.=20 ******=20 Many millennia passed. On their former home, their existence was all but = forgotten. The civilization eventually recovered and developed. Legends = and myths were all the knowledge that remained of their removed = brethren.=20 On Krypton, their fledgling civilization flourished. Development was = quick for the now Kryptonians. They were able to quickly adapt much of = their technology for uses that had previously been unnecessary. = Knowledge of their previous home was lost when the last of the original = colonists died. Kal-El became a legend, the great leader who led them = from chaos and destruction to a better place.=20 As the years passed, Kal-El and Liera's descendents continued to reign = as lords of Krypton. Under their leadership, they spread throughout the = globe and reached new heights. Kal-El's vision was realized as they = prospered peacefully on Krypton.=20 ******=20 Lara looked up as Jor-El stormed into the room. He was obviously = incensed. Groaning from the effort, she tried to get up, but her swollen = belly prevented it. Attempting to sooth him she said, "Things didn't go = well?" At his nod she continued. "Poor baby come tell me about it."=20 Jor-El sighed and went to join his wife on the sofa. She leaned into him = and rested her head on his chest, as he held her and began to describe = what happened.=20 "Well, I went to tell my brother, Sar, about my findings in relation to = the recent quakes. So I arrived at the throne room, and the guards admit = me." He sighed dejectedly. "It was obvious by the expression on his face = that he still hadn't forgiven me. He never understood why I would = disobey our father's wishes and abdicate the throne to spend my life = with you, as well as pursue my research." Jor-El paused briefly again.=20 He continued in a sad heavy voice, stroking Lara's hair as he related = the story. "Things did not start well. He obviously wasn't very open to = anything I was gonna say. He just glared at me as if he wanted to say = 'Get on with it, stop wasting my time.' So I presented my case that = these quakes were caused by a growing instability in the planet's = infrastructure." Sighing, he shifted his position before continuing.=20 "He sat there completely impassive as I told him how my preliminary = research showed the planet was beginning to shake itself apart. I = couldn't even tell if he was really listening to my words. When I = finished and offered to hand over my data for other scientists to = review, he called me a 'delusional scientist with intent to spread = panic.' He then dismissed me without another word, ignoring what I had = presented."=20 "He makes me so mad," Jor-El growled through gritted teeth. "Just = because of our falling out he refuses to listen to reason. I'm afraid = he's not gonna realize something should be done until it's too late." = Having finished relating the tale, Jor-El slumped back dejectedly. "I = pray that, upon review, I have made some error, or our entire race may = be doomed."=20 Lara looked at her husband and said soothingly. "Surely if you confirm = your data, even he will listen and we'll be able to put the best minds = on this planet to finding a solution. You've done what you could; = besides, maybe this is all premature."=20 "I guess you're right; I mean I'm not even sure that my experiments are = correct. Maybe it is nothing and I'm blowing it all out of proportion. = Until I do further research, nothing is certain. But if my findings are = true, we won't have time to do anything." Jor-El lightly kissed his = wife's forehead. "Thank you dear, I needed to rant."=20 "Anytime my love." Lara replied.=20 Suddenly the room began to shake. Jor-El held onto Lara protectively, = trying to cushion and protect her from being thrown around. After a = moment, it subsided, but many of the room's contents had been strewn = about. Suddenly Lara cried out. Jor-El turned to her concerned and = hurriedly asked, "Are you ok?" His voice filled with concern.=20 "I'm fine." Lara replied a bit breathlessly. "It's just that our child = suddenly began kicking and it surprised me. He's very active all of a = sudden, think he's protesting all the shaking around." Lara finished = with a chuckle, putting Jor-El's hand on her abdomen so he could feel = the baby move.=20 Jor-El smiled proudly. "That quake was worst than the last one, I was = just worried something might have happened to you or the baby. Boy, = you're right! He is kicking up a storm. He sure is a strong one." = Suddenly Jor-El frowned, remembering the situation.=20 Sadly, he said, "If only we weren't bringing him into such a world. He = may not even have a chance at life." Suddenly, Jor-El sat up very = straight and said in an authoritative voice, "I swear to you right now, = I will do whatever I can to insure our son survives and has a chance to = live his life. Whatever I have to do, I will insure he lives, instead of = perishing with the rest of us."=20 Lara replied, "You aren't in this alone, I'll help you out along the = way. Together we'll find a way to save our child. For now though let's = just rest, besides I'm hungry."=20 "How can you think of food at a time like this?" Jor-EL asked = incredulously.=20 "Because your son wants food, that's how," Lara replied sternly, but her = eyes told Jor-El she was joking.=20 "Not even born and he's my son already?" Jor-El asked teasingly. "Uh = oh."=20 She saw her husband smiling and thought mission accomplished as she went = in search of sustenance.=20 ******=20 Over the next few weeks, Jor-El poured over and over his findings = repeatedly. Each time, he reached the same inevitable conclusion; = Krypton was going to explode. He slammed his fist on the table in = frustration, knocking down several glass containers. He cursed as one of = them shattered, spilling a clear liquid all over.=20 Grumbling, Jor-El carefully cleaned up the mess. The stress was really = beginning to get to him. The quakes had continued to grow stronger, yet = his brother still refused to accept that Krypton was in trouble. Sar-El = insisted that it was a natural shift in the planet and would die down = eventually. Lara was also getting close to term, and he was worried = something would go wrong. Even if they were to die with the planet, he = wasn't sure he could handle anything happening sooner. Besides, he was = still hopeful that something could be done to save them.=20 He had been unable to find a way to save Krypton, it seemed inevitable = that the planet would destroy itself. Nothing could be done to prevent = it. The only obvious solution was to leave the planet and find residence = elsewhere.=20 Jor-El sighed. Finding another habitable planet would take time, but = even that daunting task fell short in comparison to how they'd get = there. So far, no Kryptonian in recorded history had left the surface of = the planet. Not only did they have to develop a way to survive in space; = a way to quickly travel the vast distance would be needed.=20 He rubbed his temples, trying to banish the growing headache; this was = getting him nowhere. The long hours spent researching were taking their = toll on him. Taking a few days rest would probably be a good idea, = besides Lara might need him. Looking around his lab one last time, = Jor-El stepped out and headed home.=20 ******=20 A few days later, Lara went into labor. Jor-El was grateful for his = decision to take some time off because it allowed him to be there for = the miraculous event. Despite all that was happening, he was happy. The = feeling of holding his newborn son in his arms for the first time was = indescribable.=20 As he looked down at his son, all the troubles of the world were = momentarily forgotten as he looked in awe at the wonder of nature. Lara = was resting from her ordeal, but Jor-El couldn't tear himself away. He = stayed with them for hours just sitting and watching them. Jor-El was = still getting used to the idea of being a father.=20 After a while, Lara sleepily opened her eyes and smiled at Jor-El. "Hi," = she mumbled. "You're still here?"=20 Jor-El chuckled. "Of course I'm still here. I couldn't tear myself away = from you two," he grinned. "So how are you feeling?"=20 Lara sighed. "Wiped out. I never realized how tiring this all was."=20 "Well, if you're up to it, we need to decide on a name for this little = guy," He said, indicating their baby. "We can't put it off much longer." = Jor-El took on a melancholy look and continued sadly. "There might not = be much longer."=20 "You're right. It might be pointless to name him, but we should. At = first I thought we'd have all this time, but then in light of your = findings, it just didn't seem like there was a point." Lara sighed = again. "Still I guess we should. Do you have any ideas?"=20 "Yeah, well I've been thinking a lot lately as I've done research, and = here sitting watching you two. I was thinking, how about Kal-El?"=20 "Kal-El? As in *The Kal-El*? The man of myth who brought us from chaos = into order? The supposed first lord of Krypton?" Lara said, sounding = somewhat surprised.=20 "Exactly," Jor-El replied. "He was the hope of our people, as our son = will be if we manage to spare him the fate of our world. I think the = name is very fitting."=20 She pondered for a moment, considering Jor-El's words, before = responding, "I like it. It seems fitting." Looking at their son she = said, "Kal-El," as if testing it out. "Yes. definitely fits. Kal-El," = she repeated.=20 "Kal-El, our son." Jor-El said, leaning over their son. "You are = destined to be the savior of our race. I swear I will find you a new = home where you can survive and prosper. Where you can find someone to = spend your life with as I have your mother. One whom you will be able to = have children with as well, so you can know the joy you've brought us, = however briefly."=20 Jor-El and Lara sat watching Kal-El in silence for a while.=20 ******=20 It was several days before Jor-El was able to return to his work. He had = been afraid to leave Lara and Kal-El alone while they were adjusting to = their new routine. Kal-El was still so small and helpless, it was hard = for Jor-El to leave, but he had to work. There wasn't much time left, = and so much planning to do.=20 First though, Jor-El needed to figure out how long they had left. By now = he should have enough data on the rate of increase of the intensity of = the quakes to make a reasonably accurate estimation.=20 As he made his calculations, he couldn't believe the results. He checked = them over and over again, but each time he reached the same inescapable = conclusion. In about two months, Krypton was going to explode.=20 ****** ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 21:35:54 -0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Elizabeth Reid Subject: Re: Thank you and 2 new parts of Universal MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit -----Original Message----- From: John Debbage <106532.433@COMPUSERVE.COM> To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Date: 16 March 2001 19:04 Subject: Thank you and 2 new parts of Universal >Hi, > >I'd like to thank everyone who has commented on the previous two parts of >this story. I'm so happy to know that it was enjoyed. > >As it seems that I'll have a busy day tomorrow, I've decided to post two >more parts today. I hope you'll let me know what you think of the latest >chapter. > >Yours Jenni Debbage > Dear Jenni, I was delighted to see that you've started Universal union, part three. I'm going to wait until it's finished, then print it up and read it. (I can't wait) Hope all is well with you, Liz ereid@iol.ie ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 23:41:05 -0000 Reply-To: Yvonne Connell Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yvonne Connell Subject: Re: Cell Phones MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Is the use of such internet technology in stories set in the early seasons, > when it wasn't developed to that point by then, off-putting or, as Genevieve > described it, something which would jerk readers out of a story? This one's always been a particular hobby-horse of mine, which Wendy knows to her cost . But for a good story, I'm willing to overlook little inaccuracies such as these. After all, all you have to do is pretend that the first season, although aired in 199whatever, was actually depicting life a few years hence ;) Yvonne (yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 22:26:01 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: Cell Phones MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/19/01 7:09:11 PM Eastern Standard Time, yvonne@YCONNELL.FSNET.CO.UK writes: > > Is the use of such internet technology in stories set in the early > seasons, > > when it wasn't developed to that point by then, off-putting or, as > Genevieve > > described it, something which would jerk readers out of a story? > Of course, we can't overlook the fact that in the series, certainly by season 2, Jimmy was regularly using the Internet to find all kinds of information for Lois and Clark. If you remember The Ides of Metropolis, the main plot was a plan by a computer software guy to shut down every computer in the United States by sending out a virus that would crash hard drives all over the place. Someone, either Lois or Clark, asked Jimmy wasn't it true that all computers were linked to each other. (And they still aren't. ) His response was yes. As we have learned from the Melissa and Love Bug viruses, it is actually a little more difficult, but not impossible to bring many computers to a stop. So at times, even the show acted like technology was more advanced than it really was in 1993. Ann A ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 07:32:31 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Chris Carr Subject: Re: Cell Phones > Is the use of such internet technology in stories set in the early > seasons, > when it wasn't developed to that point by then, off-putting or, as > Genevieve > described it, something which would jerk readers out of a story? Interesting question, and not one I'd really thought about before. (So, I guess the answer is no, it doesn't jerk me out of a story. At least it hasn't done so up to this point!) I suppose my lack of reaction could stem from several things. 1)Metropolis isn't in our world. I find the idea of the internet far less disconcerting than the idea of a working time machine, for example, but I accept that readily enough, simply because it is part of the series' canon. Who is to say that, in Lois and Clark's world, the internet didn't come into its own a few years earlier than it did in ours? 2)I've been too accepting! The internet is so much a part of our lives now that it is hard to imagine a time when all the resources it offers were not at our fingertips. Maybe it is too easy to take things for granted. 3)Has anyone here read any novels by Dick Francis? He has written three with the character Sid Halley in. The first was written in the mid- to late-sixties, the last somewhere in the mid-1990s. Sid, in all that time, has aged only a few years, but technology has marched on apace. (In the last book, we learn all about mobile phones and sim cards and email etc; in the first book there is a typing pool, complete, one assumes, with mechanical typewriters.) I've read and enjoyed all three books, but the differences are certainly distracting. This is a long-winded way of suggesting that perhaps, if the internet technology Wendy refers to were further removed in time from LnC's first appearance in 1994, it would be rather more disconcerting. Chris ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 11:23:29 -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 Subject: Re: Cell Phones MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Is the use of such internet technology in stories set in the early > seasons, > when it wasn't developed to that point by then, off-putting or, as > Genevieve > described it, something which would jerk readers out of a story? It's an interesting question :) We're now writing a sort of historical science fiction, which is an odd sort of hybrid! I don't get bothered by minor anachronisms, such as Amazon.com being around a year earlier, mostly because I couldn't have told you when Amazon got started and 1993 didn't seem unreasonable. If you'd told me it was around in 1983, it would have been much more jarring. But that does rely on the reader's historical ignorance and maybe that's not the smartest strategy ;) Although of course the world of Lois & Clark differs from ours in various significant ways (different presidents, geography, more mad scientists, etc) so I don't have trouble believing their technology might be more advanced in some areas -- heck, the show put colonists in orbit in 1993, which is more than we've managed! Actually, I get more hung up on music Some authors like to put songs into their fics, and it's really jarring to me if I happen to know that the song in question is years before its time. I can accept parallel evolution of cell phone systems, but not identical songs in different times. :) -- Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam / jernigan@bellsouth.net http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam http://personal.rdu.bellsouth.net/~jernigan/ The difference between journalists and other people is that other people spend their lives running from violence, tragedy, and horror and we spend ours trying to get in on it. --P.J. O'Rourke ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 13:56:35 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carol L Moncado Subject: First Night VI: Revelation, 1/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Here's part 1 of Revelation. Hope you like it! CM ***** >From Resolution? Lois was the first one awake the next morning. Though she had dozed off early, she hadn't slept well. She tossed and turned, grateful that Clark had chosen this night to float in his sleep so that she wouldn't disturb him with her restlessness. He was still floating above her when she woke up for good. She carefully left the room, needing to use the facilities. A few minutes later, she took a deep breath and opened her eyes. She looked at the stick in her hand. There were two pink lines. ***** Revelation Clark woke slightly when Lois left the room. He floated there, eyes closed waiting for her. It was still fairly early; maybe she'd come back in. He listened for her. She was in the bathroom, just like he thought, and it seemed that something wasn't right. He'd give her a few minutes to come to him. If she didn't, he'd go to her. He heard the door open and Lois sat on the bed. "Clark," she said softly. "Are you awake?" Clark rolled over so he was looking down at her. "What is it, honey?" "Will you hold me, Clark? Hold me and let me float with you?" Clark floated down next to her and took her in his arms. She buried her head into his chest and held on tightly as he floated them above the bed. Lois couldn't hold back the tears. Her sobs were muffled in Clark's chest, the tears wetting his bare skin. Clark was worried. What could make Lois this upset? He held her and placed soft, gentle kisses on her hair and forehead. Long minutes passed and Lois seemed to calm down, the sobs coming farther and farther apart. Clark's voice was muffled in her hair. "What is it, Lois? What's wrong?" Lois didn't look at him, but held out a hand. Clark took the little stick that lay there. He didn't know what it was. On one side were two little windows. In each window was a pink line. "I don't know what this is, sweetheart. What does it mean?" "It means that you were worried about all that compatibility stuff for nothing." "What?" "I'm pregnant, Clark." "WHAT?!" Clark looked at her. He raised a hand to her chin, tilting her head so that she was looking right at him. "What do you mean, Lois?" She looked into his eyes. "It means that I'm pregnant." "We're... we're... having a baby?" Clark couldn't believe what he was hearing. His wife was having his baby! He let out a whoop. "You're sure?" He sat up, in midair, and pulled Lois into his lap. Lois nodded. "Are you okay with this?" Clark asked softly. "I don't know, Clark. I mean I will be. I could never consider an abortion or anything if that's what you're wondering. Besides, this isn't just my child. This child is yours, too. And I know how much you want a family. And I know that we have problems still and that we wouldn't have chosen to start a family this way, this soon, but now that it's happening, it will just take some getting used to." Lois took a deep breath and put on a brave face. Clark kissed her gently. "I do want a family. And there is no one in this world who I would rather be the mother of my child." Clark placed one hand protectively on her stomach. Lois rested her head on the broad shoulder of her husband. "I'm glad you're glad. You realize this means that you get what you want." "What do you mean?" "I mean that we'll have to tell everyone that we're married to each other." Clark rested his cheek on her forehead. "Are you sure?" "Yes. We'll tell Perry first thing Monday, and the rest as it feels right. And we'll get rid of that apartment of yours and you can spend your nights..." "With you in my arms where I belong?" Clark finished for her. "Exactly." "Are we going to tell my parents while we're here?" "Your mom already knows. Well, she knows that something was wrong. That's what I talked to her about the other night. Yesterday, when we went into town, I bought a pregnancy test. And since I'm sure your parents heard that little outburst of yours, she probably knows." It was finally starting to hit Clark. He was going to be a daddy. He held Lois tightly, his eyes filling up with tears. "You're going to have a baby. I'm going to be a daddy." His voice was incredulous. A thought hit him. "You mean that even though we only... you know... once, you're pregnant?" Lois smiled, safe and content in the arms of her husband. "It only takes once, snuggle bunny. And it was pretty 'super'." Lois grinned an evil little grin. Clark threw back his head and laughed loudly. Once he calmed down, he repeated softly, "I'm going to be a daddy." ***** Clark floated them down to his bed and sat up against his headboard, holding his wife - and his *baby* - close to him. They talked in soft tones. "Lois, you realize this is going to mean a lot of changes, for us and not just telling everyone that we're married." "I know. Lots of things are going to change. I'm going to change. I'm going to blow up like a balloon and soon I'll look like a beached whale." "You'll always be beautiful to me." "Thanks, Clark," she said ruefully. "I don't know if I buy it, but we'll see." Clark wrapped one arm more firmly around her and his other hand played with her wedding rings. He kissed her hair. "Lois, I love you and I'll still think you're beautiful when you're nine months pregnant. Are you okay with all of this, sweetheart? I mean, really okay? You were crying pretty hard there." "I know. It was just the shock of it all. I mean, I knew I was a couple of days late, and I felt kind of funny, but I didn't really expect to be pregnant. I just figured it was stress or something. Pregnant was your mom's idea. When we were talking the other night, while you and your dad were in the barn, I mentioned it in passing. She suggested I might be pregnant. Like you said, we've only been together once, and even though it was pretty super, it wasn't something I really considered." "Well, neither one of us expected to be doing that kind of thing that night and neither one of us had any... protection to use. At least I didn't. It never even occurred to me. It never occurred to me to ask if you were on any kind of birth control." "Protection didn't occur to me either. And I wasn't on any kind of birth control, because deep down I knew that no guy could match up to CJ in my mind and so it wasn't really an issue. And to be perfectly honest with you," Lois smiled, "I wasn't really thinking about birth control. I was too busy trying to unwrap my wedding present." Clark laughed softly. "And I was too busy enjoying being unwrapped. But, Lois, are you happy about all of this?" "I think so, Clark. It is kind of a shock and until I met you a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't imagine having kids with anyone, even CJ. But now... now... I want this baby. It is a part of you and that is all that matters. It'll take some getting used to, and things won't be easy, and we'll have to move, but it's all going to be okay. I know it is." "Move?" "Clark, there's barely enough room for the two of us in my apartment, much less three of us. And I'd like to get settled into a new place before the baby shows up." "That's probably a good idea. But remember, all of our things can be moved and arranged and put away super speed without you lifting a finger." "You know, Clark, one of these days, we're going to have to try some of those things that you don't like to do super speed." "What things?" Clark asked innocently. "Things like what got me into this position in the first place." "Tonight. We'll leave as soon as it's dark and head straight home and put this new mommy straight to bed." Lois turned so she was facing him. She gave him a kiss that left them both breathless. "As long as I don't have to go right to sleep." And she kissed him again. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 00:36:07 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: The Kraz Man Subject: A Brand New Start I - Shattered Dreams (3/?) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit FROM PART 2... “C’mon, I should probably get you home.” “Clark, will you do me a favor?” “Yes?” “Show me.” Clark looked confused for a moment. “Show me the world through your eyes.” Clark could only smile. “Are you sure?” Lana nodded. Clark closed, and gathered Lana in his arms, and then took off. He took Lana around the world, showing her the most incredible things she had ever seen. He took her toward the North Pole, to show her the Aurora Borealis. To London, and Big Ben. India, and the Taj Mahal. He took her to many places he enjoyed in solace, simply to enjoy the beauty of things. However, Clark felt a joy he had never felt before. He was able to share these things with someone. Someone he cared about. As the morning dawned, they made their way back to Smallville. When they landed, Lana looked up at Clark. “Thank you. That was simply magnificent!” “No, Lana, thank you.” Slowly, as they looked into each other’s eyes, their lips met. ---------------- NOW ON TO PART 3... Clark and Lana continued to date. Clark fell in love with the idea of being able to share himself truly with someone. And Lana simply fell in love with Clark. Over the course of the year, they took many trips overseas, visiting exotic locales, and various places Lana had wished to visit. During one of these visits, Clark rescued victims of an over-turned boat and was photographed in the process. The next day, his picture appeared in various newspapers throughout the world. Luckily for Clark, in the process of the rescue, his glasses came off, and his wet hair seemed slicked back in all the photographs, so nobody recognized Clark. Clark and Lana immediately returned to Smallville, and consulted his parents. As Martha and Jonathon examined the various articles, noting the various pictures, something seemed to click in their minds. “You don’t think something that simple would work, do you?” “I don’t know, Martha. But you can barely tell its Clark, with his hair slicked back and no glasses. Plus, if you design some kind of outfit, most people won’t pay attention to his face, especially if you make it colorful and flashy.” “Mom, Dad. What are you trying to get at?” “Well, Clark, it’s obvious you can’t go into hiding with this. You’ve been doing these kinds of things for years. It’s only a matter of time until you do it once, and someone would recognize you. However, with these pictures taken, you have a very rare opportunity. You could come out of hiding, so to speak, in some kind of outfit. A uniform, so to speak.” “A uniform?” “I get it,” Lana chimed in. “Kind of like a disguise. Clark would use this uniform to perform his ‘stunts’.” “Exactly. Only it would be more of a public persona. Clark would be a different person, wearing the outfit. And by making it colorful and form fitting, it would draw attention away from Clark’s face, to make it even more of a disguise.” Jonathon thought about it. “Actually, if you don’t use a mask of any kind, then people wouldn’t suspect that this person was anything other than what he says he is, simply because he is showing that he has nothing to hide.” “I don’t know?” “Clark, you have to do this now. This is the perfect opportunity. The next time you might not be so lucky. At least this outfit will allow you to be more open. You’ve always complained about not being able to do more at a rescue because someone might see you. Now it won’t matter if someone sees you, because they’ll be seeing the identity, not Clark Kent.” Clark looked at his family, thinking of some of the possibilities. “Well, it would definitely allow me to help more openly. Let’s give it a try.” ------------------------------------------ Over the next several days, Martha and Lana worked on various designs and color schemes. Lana had some outrageous ideas, and Martha tried to keep it simpler. Eventually they decided on a basic blue spandex suit. To help break up the bright blue, they added red boots, and red underwear on the outside. As they examined it, something seemed to be missing. “I don’t like the plain chest. It just doesn’t look right, Lana.” “It’s not bad. But what did you have in mind?” Martha thought quietly to herself. ‘It should be something that represents Clark. But what? Of course, I’ve got it.’ She quickly headed for her bedroom, and opened the cedar chest at the foot of the bed. Moving aside some blankets, she found what she was looking for. “This is it. This will be perfect.” They quickly sewed on the “S” symbol on the costume. “Clark, come try this on.” Clark, who had been watching the Messenger Pre-launch with his father, got up and approached the ladies. “This doesn’t look bad Mom. I like the basic colors. Maybe we can even add a yellow belt, since the crest is red and yellow.” “Not a bad idea Clark, but try it on for now.” Clark took the outfit into the bathroom to try it on. He had to admit he liked this one. Although he wasn’t sure about the cape, it did seem to swish around nicely. All in all, not a bad job. He stepped out of the bathroom, and into the living room where his family had gathered. When Jonathon looked at his son, he couldn’t help but look surprised. “That’s my boy!” ----------------------- As the evening was winding down, Clark took Lana home. Having taken a couple of quick test flights earlier in the evening, he wanted to take a longer one, testing his speed and aerial abilities with the costume. Taking Lana home would allow him to kill two birds with one stone. During the trip, they had the radio on to listen to the Messenger lift off. The announcer was going on about this being the Messenger’s last shot. If this flight didn’t work, than the United Nations was going to cancel the Space Station Prometheus project. He also discussed with several colleagues how the project leader, Doctor Antoinette Baines, had been found guilty of sabotaging the project, but for unknown reasons, as she died in a helicopter explosion just before the knowledge came to light. As the countdown entered its final stages, Clark pulled into Lana’s driveway. As they entered her house, they moved to the television, both wanted to watch as the Messenger reached take off. However, as the countdown reached two minutes, Clark got a very odd feeling. He was unable to describe it, but it was odd nonetheless. It seemed to be some general sense of unwell ness. As the countdown hit the one-minute mark, the feeling became even more compelling. He was standing, not being able to sit down. Lana looked at him. “Is something wrong, Clark?” “I don’t know, but I have this really weird feeling. I think something is going wrong with the Messenger. I can’t explain it, but I think something is terribly wrong.” As the countdown reached thirty seconds, Peter Jennings’ voice came over the countdown. “The countdown has been stopped at 29 seconds for some reason. They are listing a small wiring failure as the problem. They are simply holding there for now.” As Lana turned towards Clark, he was no longer there. There was an odd whooshing and a small boom outside of her house. She knew where Clark had gone. ---------------- to be continued... ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 19:09:58 +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: Question about roses and the meaning of their colour MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey guys :) I'm trying (the 'trying'-part is important, here ) to work on a little thingy, and I was wondering if any of you knew the significance of white roses? Is it an expression of truce between two friends who had a fight? Or anything else? Thanks in advance. :) Helene :) (going back to writ...erm...trying ) Kaethel@club-internet.fr ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 19:18:49 +0000 Reply-To: ampaes@etsii.upv.es Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Comments: Authenticated sender is From: Amparo Palacios Escrig Organization: Universidad Politecnica Subject: Re: Question about roses and the meaning of their colour For me white roses always have mean "frinendship", and a friend of mine thought the same, but we don't know anything about flower languages:). If we are right it would suit you. Amparo ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 10:22:32 -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: Question about roses and the meaning of their colour MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit If you click "reply" to messages to the list from Amparo, it goes to him . Sorry, Amparo. The only things I know about roses is that red means love and yellow means friendship. What white roses mean I don't have any idea. Nan Kaethel wrote: > Hey guys :) > > I'm trying (the 'trying'-part is important, here ) to work on a little > thingy, and I was wondering if any of you knew the significance of white > roses? Is it an expression of truce between two friends who had a fight? Or > anything else? > > Thanks in advance. :) > > Helene :) (going back to writ...erm...trying ) > Kaethel@club-internet.fr ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 10:26:51 -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: Question about roses and the meaning of their colour MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I went to a web site about the meaning of flowers, and found more than I ever wanted to know. White roses mean charm and innocence. Nan Kaethel wrote: > Hey guys :) > > I'm trying (the 'trying'-part is important, here ) to work on a little > thingy, and I was wondering if any of you knew the significance of white > roses? Is it an expression of truce between two friends who had a fight? Or > anything else? > > Thanks in advance. :) > > Helene :) (going back to writ...erm...trying ) > Kaethel@club-internet.fr ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 13:27:03 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Annette Ciotola Subject: Re: Question about roses and the meaning of their colour MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/21/01 1:11:44 PM Eastern Standard Time, kaethel@CLUB-INTERNET.FR writes: << Hey guys :) I'm trying (the 'trying'-part is important, here ) to work on a little thingy, and I was wondering if any of you knew the significance of white roses? Is it an expression of truce between two friends who had a fight? Or anything else? >> This might help ... http://www.rose.org/public/connect/home.html?c=2551418&pageid=33991 It's taken from www.rose.org website Hope this helps Anne ;) Visit the Lois & Clark Nfic Archive www.annesplace.net "If something looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and talks like a duck ... chances are pretty good it is a duck." - Lois Lane; Strange Visitor From Another Planet "...Grab a bottle, hunker down and pray for daylight!" - Karen Walker; Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 20:03:28 +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: Question about roses and the meaning of their colour MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Amparo, Nan, and Anne, thank you for your very helpful answers. :) Anne, the website is a really great help, and actually a good resource for every time you want to use roses in a fanfic but don't know which meaning they hold (well, except for the red ones, 'cause that one is obvious ). Anyway, I think I'm gonna manage to work it out. :) Thanks again, guys! Helene :) Kaethel@club-internet.fr ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 15:16:12 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: John Debbage <106532.433@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Universal Union Book3/Part5 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 = Title: Universal Union Book3/Part 5 Author: Jenni Debbage Rating: PG-13 Comments: I'm posting early his week too. This is to allow these parts = to be posted to the mbs as Carol is unavailable from tomorrow. Again I'd like to ask for feedback on this third Book of Universal Union.= = I'd like to thank those who have emailed me to say that they are waiting = to read the whole story and I hope to hear their thoughts then. ~~~~~~~~~~ cont'd from Part 4 Deciding that a little distraction wasn't a bad thing, Lois pressed her curves ever closer to her husband until they were almost as one. "We= can discuss this later . . . much later," she breathlessly conceded. = With Lois this close, Kal lost all power of cognitive thought. = "Anything you say, sweetheart, anything you say . . . ." A few days later, their world fell apart. ***** And now Part 5 Chapter Three Witch-hunt = Kal-El stood on the same terrace from where his wife had surveyed t= he preparations for his inauguration so many months ago. Now winter was approaching and a heavily leaden sky hung oppressively over the city and the surrounding countryside; the rust-shot grey of the clouds reflecting = in the metallic sheen on the wide river mouth. Soon the snows would fall an= d his lands would once again be held in an unforgiving grip of ice and snow= . = Kal shivered inside his heavy greatcoat, pulling the cloned fur collar up= closer to his cold face. Why did the law decree that scientific interference in weather patterns should be outlawed? he mused. And yet, the vision of sheltering in front of a roaring fire with Lois warmly tucked against his side while outside the winter winds whistl= ed and rushed their way across the frozen landscape, did have a certain appeal. The thought brought a dreamy smile to Kal's face as he watched the crowds mill about in the streets below -- most of the traffic appeared to= be headed in the direction of the Palace approach-road. Strangely, Elva= r seemed just as filled with noble visitors as it had on that far off day i= n summer. Was there some celebration day pending that he had perhaps missed? He very much doubted that; the history of his people had been on= e of the first things that had been taught him when he was a child. This was, of course, the day of the open council session -- once in each season, the nobles of Krypton were invited to join a public meeting where they could raise matters of concern with the First Lord and his serving councillors. But, normally, that wouldn't create such interest t= o explain the large number of visitors. = More importantly, there was one individual addition to the populace = of Elvar that caused Kal great unease. Yesterday, while Lois and he had attended the formal opening of a new addition to Elvar's public library,= Kal had been disconcerted to spot his elder sister, Keira, amongst the crowd that had gathered in the wide square outside the building. = The First Lady had been particularly requested by Elvar's local governors to open the 'Earth Wing' of the library -- a department solely devoted to written publications, film and TV productions, as well as copi= es of famous paintings and sculptures from Earth. While on Earth, in additi= on to watching Lois and planning how best to engineer an introduction, Kal a= nd his bodyguards had spent some time in visiting museums(from traditional t= o state-of the- art), art-galleries and libraries and had scanned the most prised artifacts and books, so that on their return they could be recreat= ed here in Elvar. = The creation of the wing, where the people of her adopted city could learn of her native planet, and the city fathers' invitation that it should be opened by herself, had touched Lois deeply. During the proceedings, the young woman had displayed all the more endearing facets = of her complex personality, from earnest and intelligent at the dedication ceremony, through to elated and witty at the less formal lunch -- and Kal= was content to notice that Lois had won the approval of the local community. While Kal stood aside to allow his wife to be feted by the assemblag= e, he surreptitiously scanned the room for a sight of his elder sister or he= r unwelcome spouse -- he seriously doubted that the paranoid lord would let= Keira-Nor come alone into the enemy camp. His search, nonetheless, prove= d futile -- his sibling was definitely not inside the library. On a whim, he concentrated and sent a telepathic welcome to his sister, enquiring also as to her well-being. The short answer was unexpected and the content both mystifying and shocking. came the reply. Quickly seeking out his mother, Kal had demanded to be told if she h= ad known that her eldest daughter was in town. Lady Lara, a worried frown creasing her brow, had drawn him aside and explained that a hand written message had been delivered at Ro-Ellion, informing her of Keira's presenc= e in the city and appealing to her parents to stay away from the Nors' residence as any contact would only exacerbate her already uneasy situation. = It was clear that the state of Keira's marriage and home-life caused= the Dowager-Lady El much consternation and the caring son was reluctant t= o add to his mother's agitation by pursuing the matter, yet, from that moment, Kal had been unable to rid himself of the notion that Lois was on= ce again in danger. Unfortunately, he had no idea what kind of assault Rad-= Nor had planned this time -- so he prepared for every eventuality. The day's council meeting, being a public one, would necessitate the= opening of the grand-auditorium to the assembled aristocracy and thus cou= ld allow access to a daring assassin. This was a highly unlikely scenario = -- all visitors having to pass through the palace electronic security system= -- but the First Lord had decided to take no chances and had reinforced t= he palace-guard and alerted his own and Lois' personal bodyguards to be more= vigilant. After dinner the previous evening he had spent some time with Captain Ching, divulging his suspicions and his fears to his long-time friend and being assured that Ching would guard Lady Lois' life with all his considerable resources. Satisfied that he had taken every conceivable precaution, Kal-El lef= t his lookout point, high on the castle ramparts, and went to enquire wheth= er his lady was ready to attend her first open-council session. ***** The wide doors slid open and the royal couple walked slowly into the= great council chamber. Lois had been in this hall but once; back then sh= e had been a supplicant, seeking permission to lead the oath taking at Kal'= s coronation and so intent had she been on the success of her mission, that= she had paid little attention to her surroundings. On that occasion, the grand gallery had been dark and empty and partitioned off from the floor of the council room -- not so now -- the hall-divider had been removed and every available space was filled with t= he higher echelon of Krypton society; and all discussing with their neighbou= r the mysterious telepathic suggestion that they attend this open session. = At first, each recipient had concluded that the request had been issued b= y the councillors, but on arrival in Elvar, this assumption was found to be= wrong and the source of the enigmatic message had not yet been discovered= . = Their curiosity pricked, most of the nobles elected to attend the meeting= in the hope that their questions would be answered. The deafening hubbub stilled as the council, led by the First Lord a= nd Lady, filed inside and took their places. Lois sat in the smaller of the= two thrones that were placed side-by-side just a short way inside the entrance, and took advantage of the moments, while the ministers settled into their chairs, to look around her. The large gallery was circular an= d rose steeply to the lofty ceiling, where a number of doors punctuated a balustered walkway. Somewhat disconcerted by the sea of faces that stare= d back at her, she turned her attention to the body of the hall. The long council table had been moved to the back wall and the seats placed in a horseshoe shape, facing the audience, with Prime Councillor Trey at the head of the curve. When silence reigned, Lord Trey rose to his feet and declared in resonant tones, the second public session of Lord Kal-El's governance du= ly opened -- Lois had missed the first due to her poor health following the loss of her baby. Trey then continued to give an account of all that had= been done since the last meeting, the laws that had been passed, the problems that had been solved and the new projects that had been undertaken, mainly the construction of a futuristic irrigation system in the central deserts of Krypton that would alleviate the problems of droug= ht and prevent disagreements over water-rights such as Jen-Mai had with his neighbour during summer. A number of queries on these issues from the assembled company were answered by the ministers in question and their advisors and then the Prime Councillor moved on to new business. Lois felt her attention span beginning to wane as the rigid and highly-traditional meeting droned on. She had been intrigued to hear of the irrigation scheme, as it had had some bearing on what had befallen he= r during summer, but when the talk veered into technical data, the discussi= on soon went over her head. Instead, her wandering concentration centred on= the immobile form of her husband. Part of her mind had been aware that, for some considerable time, Kal had not been totally focussed on the proceedings, but was intent on studying the audience . . . as if he were keeping watch on something . . . or someone. = Kal was trying to promote an outwardly calm demeanor, but along his clenched jaw a muscle twitched -- a sure sign to Lois that her husband wa= s not as unruffled as he would like to appear. Her gaze followed along the= line of his stare and finally, her eye alighted on his particular quarry.= = High in the middle of the balcony, almost in the shadow of the balustrade= , sat a black-robed couple -- stiff-backed and pale of face. As Lois watched, their senses seemed to sharpen -- Keira blanched in apprehension= while Rad-Nor smiled evilly in anticipation. On the armrest of the throne by her side, Lois was conscious of Kal'= s hand clenching, but she had been so intent on trying to figure out what w= as distressing her lord that she had missed Lord Trey's request for any othe= r business and she had been blind to Lord Jun-Li's rising -- it even took some moments before her mind correlated Li's words. "I accuse the Lady Lois of the house of El . . ." here Jun-Li paused= for effect and to allow his now captive audience to appreciate fully what= he intended to say. "I accuse Lady Lois-El of dereliction of duty and conduct unbecoming the First Lady of Krypton; I accuse her of attempting = to corrupt the culture of our world and breaking down the social structure; and finally I accuse her of espionage for her home planet, Earth." The shocked silence was tangible -- then uproar ensued as the aristocratic lords and ladies could not refrain from questioning the trut= h of what they had just heard. They rose from their seats and addressed ea= ch other, even calling out their opinions to acquaintances situated further away in the auditorium. Some were quick to credit the charges while many= dismissed them out of hand, but most were simply incredulous. = Lois was stunned. She wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry -- or perhaps scream -- yes, screaming would be good -- but whether from fear o= r shock or anger she couldn't be sure. All these emotions were chasing through her brain and she was unaware that she had started to tremble. H= ow could they charge her of these crimes? She wasn't even sure if they were= crimes. And if they were and she were found guilty, what would be her punishment . . . would she be disintegrated? Would she end up in a containment chamber as a mass of floating molecules? Slowly, she became aware that Kal's arm had slid around her shoulder= and that his hand had taken hold of her shaking ones. She could see that= his lips were moving as he leaned closer and she tried very hard to concentrate on his words. "Courage, Lois!" He turned her stiff body to face him and looked de= ep into her eyes as he whispered, trying to reassure her of his love and support. "This is nonsense! No-one will hurt you. Lois! I won't let th= em -- I won't let them separate us!" A loud banging could be heard in the large chamber. From somewhere= Trey had produced a gavel and was continually bringing it down hard on th= e arm of his chair. The noise levels dropped steadily as people began to obey his call for order and to once more sit down in their places and attend the Prime Councillor. "Order! Order! I will have order! Anyone who will not be silent will be evicted!" Trey's voice could now be heard as the tumult settled.= = "These are serious charges and must be investigated! If, of course, my Lord Jun-Li can substantiate these accusations." "Indeed I can, Lord Trey, and will produce the validation at the Fir= st Lady's trial," Jun-Li pronounced. = "Trial?!" Lois mouthed, her voice having deserted her some moments earlier. An alarmed Kal-El squeezed his wife's shoulder and leaned close to h= er ear as he attempted to explain in hushed tones. "When one noble accuses another of wrong-doing then a trial must be convened to investigate the charges. It's the law! But they can't find you guilty! You haven't don= e anything!" "Why doesn't that reassure me?!" = "Sweetheart, don't be afraid! I can't stop the trial but they need = my permission to carry out the sentence!" "Great! Even you've got me guilty before the trial starts," Lois bemoaned hysterically. "Honey, that's not what I meant . . . it's just a precaution . . . .= " The couple's whispered conversation was interrupted by Lord Trey, wh= o having conferred with his fellow councillors, once more addressed the assembly. "In accordance with the law of Krypton, I have no choice but to comm= it Lady Lois-El for trial. However, before I do, I would like to enquire of= Lord Jun-Li what proof he has that the Lady is a spy. I wouldn't have considered that Lady Lois would have the technical expertise to communica= te with her home planet." "That might be so, but I have it on good authority that Lois Lane ha= s twice been in contact with Earth," Li stated somewhat pompously. "Yes she has -- and on my good authority." Lord Trey was pleased to= take some of the wind out of Jun-Li's sails, especially since it seemed that Remy and Kal had been correct in their estimation of this foolish lord. "Knowing that Lady Lois was concerned for the family she left behi= nd on Earth, I instructed our communications experts to log into Earth's telecommunication satellites and Lady Lois was able to 'phone home' -- I doubt that I need to state that our technicians were able to disguise the= source of these calls. There were two conversations, one to her mother a= nd the other to her sister and both were of short duration. I, myself, am o= f the opinion that these conversations should remain private, but if need b= e, the transcripts can be made available for examination." Trey used the pl= oy that his adversary had earlier and stopped to allow that information to b= e assimilated by the listeners. "Therefor, as no other communications wit= h Earth have been reported by our monitoring system, I rule that the charge= of espionage against the First Lady be dropped." "I agree!" Lord Remy was quick to second the motion. "And I!" A lord from the gallery stood to attention. "Agreed!" = And from the gallery came various calls of assent as noblemen rose t= o be counted. For a few moments Lord Jun-Li seemed rather confused. His gaze covered the mass of bodies before him, but then, seeming to draw inspiration from some unknown source, the man's backbone stiffened and he= spoke again. "Perhaps I have been a little hasty in my assumption that the Lady w= as spying, but that does not negate my other charges. Do you intend to dismiss these too, Lord Trey?" Sadly, Lord Trey could not do so -- the law demanded that the charge= s be answered. Sending an apologetic look to the royal couple he now considered dear friends, he raised his gavel and brought it down in a single hard blow. "I commit Lady Lois-El for trial! She will be brought before her peers to answer the said charges, tomorrow one hour before noon. Till then, she will be held in a containment chamber, guarded by the Lords Jen-Mai and Remy." Heads were nodding throughout the vast auditorium -- the law was being upheld and all was being properly conducted. Trey continued, "the Lady will be allowed the companionship and the counsel of= her mother-in- law, the honourable Dowager Lady of El." = The first minister held his breath for some moments as he waited to see if anyone would object, but, though there was a hum of conversation a= t this last statement, no one made any formal complaint. Lady Lara was a highly respected individual, and Jun-Li and whoever else had been responsible for this new attack did not feel sufficiently sure of themselves to also malign this well thought of noblewoman. With another bang of the gavel Lord Trey intoned, "I so decree!" A detachment of guards appeared by Lois' side; ones she had never before encountered -- it seemed the council were taking no chances that h= er guards might be sympathetic to the forlorn prisoner's plight. Within minutes she was removed from her husband's embrace, Kal reluctantly allowing his arms to fall away from her. He watched Lois as she was escorted from the room, his heartbreak showing clearly in his expressive eyes. "I love you," he mouthed, not daring to speak. Lois held back the tears that threatened and for the first time sinc= e arriving on Krypton, she wondered if she had made the right choice in leaving Earth. ***** ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 15:16:35 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: John Debbage <106532.433@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Universal Union Book3/Part6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Title: Universal Union Book3/Part 6 Author: Jenni Debbage Rating: PG-13 ~~~~~~~~~~ A worried and very despondent Lord Kal-El, tossed around in his bed.= = It was just far too big and far too empty for his comfort. This was the first night, since Lois had been ill due to the miscarriage, that they ha= d slept apart and, even then, he had slept on a smaller bed which the Lady Ver had thoughtfully provided in the sleepchamber. Kal was finding that= he didn't like being separated from Lois one little bit. He couldn't eve= n talk to her inside his head as she was locked inside a shielded chamber. = Thank goodness she had his mother to keep her company and Uncle Remy to guard her -- he refused to think of the other of her turnkeys. The thoug= ht of her being lonely and afraid tightened the band that had circled his chest in an iron grip ever since the moment Jun-Li had stood up and began= with those dread words . . . I accuse . . .' Kal could no longer keep still and, jumping up from his bed, he stro= de to the window and threw it open. The icy blast of wind that hit him was = no colder than the dread within his heart. How could he have let this happe= n? The fact that Rad-Nor was in town clearly meant that he was up to something nefarious. Kal had been so sure that he had covered every eventuality, but he had been intent on guarding Lois from a physical atta= ck and thus had allowed himself to be ambushed by a more subtle assault. A gentle knock fell on the bedroom door and a sympathetic and famili= ar voice spoke to him telepathically, Ching's thoughts died away - - afraid that perhaps he had been too presumptuous. But the habits of a lifetime are hard to ignore and the two had shar= ed their secrets and their worries; their joys and their expectations ever since a ten-year-old Ching had been assigned to take care of Kal; a boy just three years his junior. Together they had shared their academic lessons and also learned how to fight and protect themselves. Ching had been there when a young Lord Kal-El had struggled to study the arts of leadership, politics and protocol and, just as importantly, the art of military strategy. This was the custom on Krypton -- that the heir shoul= d be united with his personal bodyguard from a very early age, in the hope that a bond would be forged that would be impossible to break. And so it= was with Kal and his Ching. Within moments the door opened and a relieve= d Captain stepped inside. "Can't sleep, eh?" = "No . . . I miss her, Ching," Kal acknowledged with a sheepish grin.= = "One night apart and I fall to pieces. Doesn't say much for the omnipote= nt ruler of Krypton." "It just says that you love her," Ching intoned gently. "And yet, for all that, I couldn't protect her." Guilt and disgust coloured every nuance as the tortured husband flung himself across the ro= om to stare out the window once more. But Kal wasn't finished castigating himself. "What kind of husband am I to allow my wife to be sent for trial?". = "A beleaguered one, Kal! " In private moments like this, the formal relationship between the two men would be dropped -- it was a consensus they had reached long ago. Ching moved closer to his friend's side. = "There was nothing else you could do. It's the law -- you had to uphold it. Lord Trey knew that." "Thank goodness for Trey; at least the charge of espionage was dropped." This was certainly the most serious of the indictments and Ka= l was only grateful that Lois would not be so charged. Turning to face Ching, he declared belligerently, "If she's found guilty, I won't ratif= y the sentence. I won't have her censured or allow them to divorce us or send her back to Earth and I definitely will not sign papers to have her disintegrated and confined in a containment chamber -- no matter what it does to my role as First Lord." For Kal's peace of mind, the Captain decided not to indulge the younger man's fretting and he let a small amount of impatience tinge his words. "Well, you can forget the last one. The charges aren't serious enough to warrant the ultimate penalty. And, besides, Lois didn't do anything wrong. No one is going to find her guilty." "I wish I could be sure of that . . . but you saw Jun-Li. He's pompous and self-opinionated and he believes he's on a witch-hunt to sav= e Krypton from the evil alien . . . ." "I couldn't disagree with you there, but I doubt that the other councillors will back his bigoted charges. After all, the council and mo= st of the aristocracy were happy with your choice of an Earth woman for your= wife. Now Lois might be a little more independent and feisty than what they're used to, but I think that most admire her courage. It took a lo= t of guts to escape from Ballen's mob." Ching could see that his words wer= e making some impression as the dejected slump of Kal's shoulders firmed determinedly. "Rad-Nor might have found a pliable tool in Jun-Li, but t= he rest of the councillors won't be so easily manipulated." "You think that Rad-Nor's behind this?" Kal asked, at last showing some signs of animation. "Don't you?!" "Oh yes! I believe that Rad-Nor's responsible for all of it -- from= the beginning -- Lois' poisoning, Rochelle's death, the kidnapping! And now this crazy trial! If only we could prove it!" Ching nodded his head in agreement, then added speculatively, "I wonder how Jen-Mai will vote on the verdict?" "That will be interesting. I don't doubt that he's another of Nor's= paid lackeys but I suspect that he has too healthy a respect for his own skin to actually risk coming off the fence. No, he'll wait to see how t= he wind blows before committing himself and Nor will let him. Nor won't ris= k losing both his pawns if this doesn't go his way." Kal took another turn= around the room and dropped into a chair by the fireplace. His hands ros= e to cover his face then pushed up into his thick dark hair. "I'm sure you're right and Lois will be acquitted . . . I just wish I knew she was doing okay." "Well, you can't contact Lois or your mother, but I stopped off at their suite on the way here and found Lord Remy firmly camped out for the= night in the antechamber and he's not about to move for anything. The anteroom isn't shielded." Kal's eyes brightened at Ching's information. = "And, I found that I'm pretty well acquainted with the captain of the gua= rd detail, so I had a quiet word and warned him that there could be some attempt made on the First Lady. He promised me he'd stay alert and let u= s know if there was any trouble." "Was it Mica?" At Ching's nod of affirmation he went on . . . "then= Trey did as I asked." Captain Mica was one of the Security Forces who had accompanied them= on their journey to Earth. In fact, it was he who had led the small detachment which had been sent to the surface on short shopping trips for= Lois' favourite things and, though Kal had allowed only his two personal guards to remain with him on Earth for very good reasons, he considered Mica to be a competent and trustworthy officer. Kal was relieved that Lo= is was in his care . . . or his custody, whichever way you chose to look at it. But he refused to give into melancholy again, after all, brooding wouldn't help Lois. = "Thank you, Ching, for keeping your head while I acted like a spiritless wimp . . . ." "It wasn't my love who was imprisoned -- I don't know how I'd act if= Zzz . . ." Ching's voice died away as his skin flushed a dull red. His love for Lady Zara-El was completely unacceptable and he was never quite sure if Lord Kal was aware of his deep feelings. It was definitely not something that the two men had ever discussed. The First Lord watched the gamut of emotions chase across his friend= 's face. The relationship that his sister shared with his bodyguard was something that would need to be addressed soon, but not at this particula= r moment . . . Lois had to be rescued first. So, with much regret, Kal cho= se to pass over his friend's mistake. He extended a hand and squeezed Ching= 's shoulder -- offering a silent gesture of commiseration for what Ching had= to consider would be a hopeless love -- even he could not be sure of a happy ending for the couple. = Giving himself an internal shake, Kal returned more optimistically = to the problem in hand, "Nevertheless, I needed you to pull me out of my blue-funk and for that, I thank you, but we really should get to bed . . = . being tired and listless tomorrow won't be much use to Lois. I might jus= t contact Uncle Remy first, though." "Good idea, Kal." Ching bowed his head slightly. "If you should nee= d me, I'll be right across the corridor. Goodnight, Kal." = "Goodnight, Ching." Once alone, Kal spoke telepathically with his Uncle and was reassure= d that everything was well. Lady Lara had arrived some time earlier with Jor-El and both had dined with Lois, inviting Lord Remy to join them. Th= e old statesman was able to inform his great-nephew that Lois was in good spirits and that anyone wishing to harm the First Lady would do so over h= is dead body. With a surprised grin, Kal told his uncle that he hoped that would not be necessary and with a lighter heart, a lonely First Lord managed to find sleep. ***** Thankfully, for Kal's equilibrium, Lord Remy had chosen not to infor= m his great-nephew of the conversation he had overheard after both he and Jor-El had left the ladies to their night's rest. Alone, with a woman sh= e had come to trust and rely on, Lois curled up on the silken counterpane o= f the bed and gave way to a flood of tears. "Oh, my dear," Lara sat softly down by her daughter-in-law's side an= d very tenderly smoothed her hand up and down the weeping girl's curved back.. "You have a good cry, Lois; it will do you good . . . ." "Maybe I shouldn't have come here . . . ." Her words were muffled b= y the bed cover and by her tears. "No one wants me here . . . ." Lara strained to hear and was swift to reassure. "Lois, you know that's not true!" The older woman pulled against the supine body, draggi= ng the sobbing young woman to face her. "Lois, Kal loves you, and he needs you here with him. He needs his wife." "He needs an heir . . . and I kill babies . . . ." Lois refused to look into her mother-in- law's face and her fingers tangled in the silk coverlet. = Shocked to the core by the dejected child's statement, Lara placed h= er hands on either side of Lois' face and forced her to look into her eyes. = "Lois, no! That's just not true! You are not to blame for the loss of t= he baby and I don't care who says differently or how many times they say it = -- they are wrong and unforgivingly cruel!" Once certain she had gained Loi= s' attention, Lara went on, her voice imbued with determination. "My dear, = I want you to listen to me . . . really listen. My son is a remarkable you= ng man and I've known, almost from the time he was born, that he was destine= d to lead my people -- and he will be a fine leader, perhaps even a great one. But Kal is not infallible, and his role is an isolating one. He needs advice and support and love to help him to fulfil his destiny. The= counselling he can get from his ministers -- and not all of it will be good, but that's a topic for another day -- and he has family and frien= ds who love him dearly. But none of that is enough." The elderly noblewoma= n paused to assess how deeply her words were affecting her listener and she= was not disappointed; Lois' smooth brow was drawn in concentration. "It would seem my son is so made that he needs to share his life with one special person and in all of the wide galaxies, Kal chose you, Lois, to b= e his anchor . . . his safe haven . . . the other half of his soul." Lois'= sobs had stilled and the silence of the room was broken only by the sizzl= e and spark of the glowing fire burning brightly in the grate. "When first= you arrived, dearest, I admit I was a cynical and selfish old woman, doubting that you could be any of those things for my son and selfish enough to want them only for Kal's sake. Now that is no longer true. I want the best for my son and for my daughter too. Lois, you have made a place for yourself in my heart; you are quick-witted and persevering . . = . ." "Annoying, you mean . . ." Lois interrupted with a watery smile. The surrogate mother returned the smile and raised a hand to brush away the tracks of her daughter's tears. " . . . . resolute . . . and courageous beyond measure, and you are no longer alone. For as long as I= have breath in my body, I will be here for you. So, please, my dear, you= mustn't give up." A hiccup surprised Lois and she laughed self-consciously, but the gl= ow was back in her soul. "Give up?!" she snorted. "Lois-El never gives up!= " Another hiccup and the two women fell giggling back onto the bed. = Outside, Remy listened quietly at the door. He had been a little worried= for his beset young relative. The old man had not been blind to the fact= that Lois was putting on a brave front all through the evening meal. = However, it seemed that Lady Lara-El had managed to console her and to li= ft her spirits to such degree that they were laughing . . . . = Good! The old lord laughed too. He had always known that that nie= ce of his was made of the right stuff, even when she had been a flighty youn= g girl and was chasing after her shy betrothed. Poor Jor-El! He hadn't stood a chance against his birth-wife -- he still didn't -- but then Jor never seemed to mind; he was happy in his laboratory. And they were a contented couple, each sure of the other's love. = That night, keeping a lonely watch, Remy settled himself on the larg= e couch in front of the fire, his old bones grateful for the warmth. = Earlier, his fellow supervisor, Jen-Mai, had paid a short visit to assure= himself that the accused was still under lock and key, then had taken himself off to spend the night in more suitable quarters. Jen-Mai enjoy= ed his comforts. In the quiet of the night, the old man sent up a fervent prayer to the fates, that the younger Lord and Lady of El would also be allowed to share a long and happy married life. ***** tbc in Part 7 ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 15:33:11 -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: Cell Phones In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" Hi Chris:; I am an avid Dick Francis fan with little time to read him lately. I knew about the first two Sid Halley books (my favorites) but which is the third? Carolyn > > Is the use of such internet technology in stories set in the early > > seasons, > > when it wasn't developed to that point by then, off-putting or, as > > Genevieve > > described it, something which would jerk readers out of a story? > >Interesting question, and not one I'd really thought about before. (So, I >guess the answer is no, it doesn't jerk me out of a story. At least it >hasn't done so up to this point!) > >I suppose my lack of reaction could stem from several things. > >1)Metropolis isn't in our world. I find the idea of the internet far less >disconcerting than the idea of a working time machine, for example, but I >accept that readily enough, simply because it is part of the series' canon. >Who is to say that, in Lois and Clark's world, the internet didn't come into >its own a few years earlier than it did in ours? > >2)I've been too accepting! The internet is so much a part of our lives now >that it is hard to imagine a time when all the resources it offers were not >at our fingertips. Maybe it is too easy to take things for granted. > >3)Has anyone here read any novels by Dick Francis? He has written three >with the character Sid Halley in. The first was written in the mid- to >late-sixties, the last somewhere in the mid-1990s. Sid, in all that time, >has aged only a few years, but technology has marched on apace. (In the >last book, we learn all about mobile phones and sim cards and email etc; in >the first book there is a typing pool, complete, one assumes, with >mechanical typewriters.) I've read and enjoyed all three books, but the >differences are certainly distracting. This is a long-winded way of >suggesting that perhaps, if the internet technology Wendy refers to were >further removed in time from LnC's first appearance in 1994, it would be >rather more disconcerting. > >Chris ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 15:24:21 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Dennis Arendt Subject: Re: Question about roses and the meaning of their colour MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I've always heard that white roses meant purity, yellow-friendship and red, love. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kaethel" To: Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2001 10:09 AM Subject: Question about roses and the meaning of their colour > Hey guys :) > > I'm trying (the 'trying'-part is important, here ) to work on a little > thingy, and I was wondering if any of you knew the significance of white > roses? Is it an expression of truce between two friends who had a fight? Or > anything else? > > Thanks in advance. :) > > Helene :) (going back to writ...erm...trying ) > Kaethel@club-internet.fr ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 15:31:45 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Adam Labotka Subject: Teaser: Second Thoughts MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Ok this is a teaser so it will be a while before more comes, at least = until I have finished my other WIP and written a lot more. This is a = Double Jeopardy/Seconds rewrite.=20 Public and private feedback welcome. ******=20 Clark Kent entered Bibbo's Ace O' Clubs. The smell of alcohol and = cigarette smoke assaulted his sensitive nose. The first thing he saw was = a poster advertising Wanda Detroit singing that night at the bar. After = looking at the poster for a moment, he approached the bar.=20 Bibbo looked up from putting a spout on a bottle and saw Clark = approaching. He asked, "and what can I offer you today?"=20 "Information," Clark answered as he continued to approach the bar.=20 "The capital of Connecticut is Hartford," Bibbo replied sarcastically.=20 Clark gave his head a little shake at Bibbo's comment. "I'm from the = Daily Planet," he said.=20 Still heavily sarcastic, Bibbo replied, "the food critic, at last."=20 "No, I'm a reporter, and I'm a friend of Loi.of ah, of Wanda Detroit's. = Maybe you can get a note to her."=20 "Ahhh ... all right," Bibbo muttered as he reached for a napkin to write = on. "What's your name?"=20 "Cla." Clark suddenly paused remembering what Jimmy told him about Lois' = story and her acting like Wanda from said story. He quickly decided = identifying himself as Clark might not be wise, if Lois really though = she was Wanda. After a brief moment he continued, "Kent, Mr. Kent."=20 'Wanda', who had been watching from behind the kitchen doors, emerged at = that point. "Kent, is that really you?" she asked somewhat = incredulously.=20 Clark turned and saw Lois coming out of the kitchen doors. An incredible = feeling of relief flooded through his body as he realized he'd finally = found her. He crossed the distance to her and wrapped his arms around = her tightly, as if he might never let go again.=20 "I've been looking for you," he said, his voice cracking slightly with = emotion. "I've been very worried about you. It's not safe here; let me = take you someplace secure."=20 "Well Kent, if you think that's best. That crazy woman from the = newspaper has been after me, and of course there's that deal with Clark. = I could use a place to lay low," 'Wanda' replied, clinging to 'Kent'.=20 Clark led 'Wanda' out of the bar and hailed a taxi. As they waited, = Clark wondered what to do next. Lois clearly wasn't in her right mind, = and a quick scan revealed a possible concussion. Just to be sure he = x-rayed her left ankle and saw the scar. He held in a sigh of relief.=20 Lois was obviously in need of medical attention, but getting her to = cooperate would be difficult. 'Wanda' thought that she was wanted by the = law, and 'Lois Lane' tried to kill her. Most likely, she would resist = any attempts to take her to a hospital. Still, Clark felt she needed to = be checked out by a doctor.=20 While these thoughts were churning in his mind, a cab pulled up. Clark = helped 'Wanda' inside and directed the driver to his apartment. He would = take her there and see about getting someone to check her out, at his = apartment. Hopefully that would keep her from being alarmed, while still = getting the attention she probably needed.=20 As the taxi drove away, Lex watched from his car.=20 ****** ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 15:07:00 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Vicki Krell Subject: Re: Teaser: Second Thoughts MIME-version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Adam, I liked this a lot! Please write more when you have a chance. :) It was a pleasure to read this version, which has Clark sensibly and logically REMEMBERING what Jimmy told him about Lois thinking she was Wanda, and choosing to use the name Kent instead of Clark, unlike the incredibly stupid and annoying way he ignored the warning in the episode and screwed everything up! Vicki (who apologizes for that run-on sentence...) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 16:06:01 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Becky Bain Subject: Re: Question about roses and the meaning of their colour In-Reply-To: <004c01c0b232$24b62680$ea759ec2@oemcomputer> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Helene said: >...I was wondering if any of you knew the significance of white roses? According to the poet John Boyle O'Reilly: "The red rose whispers of passion, And the white rose breathes of love, Oh, the red rose is a falcon, And the white rose is a dove." Which probably doesn't help you much... Becky rbain@qwest.net "I do not like to form in my mind an idea that I don't have any proof of." - Rosa Parks, from her autobiography Stride Toward Freedom ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 15:39:29 -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: Question about roses and the meaning of their colour In-Reply-To: <004c01c0b232$24b62680$ea759ec2@oemcomputer> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hi Helene, I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think white roses means purity and in the context of friendship - a pure, courtly platonic friendship with no overtones of passion. This CAN'T be about LnC in that case! (g) Irene --- Kaethel wrote: > Hey guys :) > > I'm trying (the 'trying'-part is important, here > ) to work on a little > thingy, and I was wondering if any of you knew the > significance of white > roses? Is it an expression of truce between two > friends who had a fight? Or > anything else? > > Thanks in advance. :) > > Helene :) (going back to writ...erm...trying ) > Kaethel@club-internet.fr ===== www.originalequestrianmusic.bigstep.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 17:53:14 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carol L Moncado Subject: Re: Universal Union Book3/Part5 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Jenni - anytime you want to post more please do! I can't wait to see what happens!! Hurry!!!! CM ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 22:06:52 -0600 Reply-To: truitt22@flash.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: timothy truitt Organization: tnt technical services Subject: Re: Teaser: Second Thoughts MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I like this Adam - Hope you don't wait too long before posting. merry Adam Labotka wrote: > Ok this is a teaser so it will be a while before more comes, at least until I have finished my other WIP and written a lot more. This is a Double Jeopardy/Seconds rewrite. > Public and private feedback welcome. > > ****** > > Clark Kent entered Bibbo's Ace O' Clubs. The smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke assaulted his sensitive nose. The first thing he saw was a poster advertising Wanda Detroit singing that night at the bar. After looking at the poster for a moment, he approached the bar. > > Bibbo looked up from putting a spout on a bottle and saw Clark approaching. He asked, "and what can I offer you today?" > > "Information," Clark answered as he continued to approach the bar. > > "The capital of Connecticut is Hartford," Bibbo replied sarcastically. > > Clark gave his head a little shake at Bibbo's comment. "I'm from the Daily Planet," he said. > > Still heavily sarcastic, Bibbo replied, "the food critic, at last." > > "No, I'm a reporter, and I'm a friend of Loi.of ah, of Wanda Detroit's. Maybe you can get a note to her." > > "Ahhh ... all right," Bibbo muttered as he reached for a napkin to write on. "What's your name?" > > "Cla." Clark suddenly paused remembering what Jimmy told him about Lois' story and her acting like Wanda from said story. He quickly decided identifying himself as Clark might not be wise, if Lois really though she was Wanda. After a brief moment he continued, "Kent, Mr. Kent." > > 'Wanda', who had been watching from behind the kitchen doors, emerged at that point. "Kent, is that really you?" she asked somewhat incredulously. > > Clark turned and saw Lois coming out of the kitchen doors. An incredible feeling of relief flooded through his body as he realized he'd finally found her. He crossed the distance to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly, as if he might never let go again. > > "I've been looking for you," he said, his voice cracking slightly with emotion. "I've been very worried about you. It's not safe here; let me take you someplace secure." > > "Well Kent, if you think that's best. That crazy woman from the newspaper has been after me, and of course there's that deal with Clark. I could use a place to lay low," 'Wanda' replied, clinging to 'Kent'. > > Clark led 'Wanda' out of the bar and hailed a taxi. As they waited, Clark wondered what to do next. Lois clearly wasn't in her right mind, and a quick scan revealed a possible concussion. Just to be sure he x-rayed her left ankle and saw the scar. He held in a sigh of relief. > > Lois was obviously in need of medical attention, but getting her to cooperate would be difficult. 'Wanda' thought that she was wanted by the law, and 'Lois Lane' tried to kill her. Most likely, she would resist any attempts to take her to a hospital. Still, Clark felt she needed to be checked out by a doctor. > > While these thoughts were churning in his mind, a cab pulled up. Clark helped 'Wanda' inside and directed the driver to his apartment. He would take her there and see about getting someone to check her out, at his apartment. Hopefully that would keep her from being alarmed, while still getting the attention she probably needed. > > As the taxi drove away, Lex watched from his car. > > ****** ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 22:53:12 -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: Cell Phones MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I want to thank everybody who documented use of cell phones in the show. Apparently they used them more that I remembered, and it isn't quite as much of an anachronism as I thought it was. Still, in season one, Linda King used her cell phone for the Metropolis Star in order to scoop the Daily Planet reporters, and the implication is that the cost-cutting Daily Planet didn't provide cell phones for their employees. I did some research after I posted about this on Monday. It appears that it was the Telecommunication Act of 1996 that opened up additional bandwidth (or whatever it's called), which is what allowed the cellular companies to market to the masses. What does this all mean for fanfic? I dunno. Except that it's a whole lot easier to get Lois in jeopardy, plunging towards the snapping jaws of certain death, when she doesn't have a cell phone. For me, when I read fanfic, I'm usually trying to relive the feel of the first or second season, especially since those were my favorite seasons. So it may be that these small things bother me more that it will other people. Your mileage may vary. If I were to write a story, I might give Lois and Clark a cell phone, but I'd probably make it clear that it was expensive to use, paid for by the Daily Planet, and to be used only for business. I also *wouldn't* give a cell phone to Lucy Lane or the general public. But that's me. And please don't for a minute think I didn't enjoy your story just because it had a cell phone in it. It might have made me blink, think twice, and wonder. But a story is more than just the historical atmosphere. And that brings up another point. Back when it aired, Lois and Clark was promoted as Superman in modern times. There is certainly nothing wrong with moving Lois and Clark into 2000. It's merely keeping them modern. Carol L Moncado wrote: > Of course, my First Night is > elseworld's (? - I think that's the right term) and in an upcoming > portion I talk about Mark McGwire and his 70 home run season, with LCs > first meeting being in 2000. But of course then the ages don't match up. > That just occured to me - Clark's supposed to be 28 and Lois 26, but if > they didn't meet until 2000... they would have met in 94 if the ages > were right, so the Big Mac comment would be completely wrong - he would > be having a horrid season with the A's not a great one with the > Cardinals. > So that raises another question - how big a deal is something like that? > Believing that they are 28/26, but meeting in 2000 instead of 94? Oh, > sheesh - now I may have to rework everything. Fictional heroes are well known not to age as fast as normal people. Sid Halley's not the only one -- Simon Templar had the same problem, as he only aged about five years between 1929 and 1945. I wouldn't rework anything, Carol, but I would try to avoid making any obvious inconsistencies in your story. If you want Lois to be 26 in the year 2000, make sure you don't mention she was born in 1966 or 67. You don't have to actually *say* she was born in 1973, but keep it in the back of your mind. You may be able to work it in in a subtle memory ("When Reagan was elected, I was in second grade") or some such thing. Little things like this can really make your story hold together, make it more believable, and give it a bit of a polished air. My sister, who writes historical stuff, has a reference book with astronomical data. If she is setting a scene on March 25, 1627, she'll look up to see what phase the moon was in, and when the sun set at the required latitude for that date. I think this is going a bit too far, but she's got the book, and she wants to use it. Of course, I've co-written a couple of stories with her, and she's driven me crazy. Telling me I couldn't have them walking in the moonlight, because there was a new moon that night.... Like anyone would care! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 23:48:23 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "MoesyL47 L." Subject: Re: Cell Phones MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi Carolyn and Chris, Dick Francis is one of my all-time favorite authors (and a charming person).= =20 I loved the first two books about Sid Halley, Odds Against (1965) and Whip=20 Hand (1979). The third, in 1995, was Come to Grief. It's been several years= =20 since I read the two original books, and a bit less since reading Come to=20 Grief. I don't remember being distracted so much with the technological=20 advances -- at the time I was just happy to get to read another Sid Halley=20 book. :-) I do understand how it might be somewhat jarring to read all thre= e=20 one right after the other though -- then you couldn't help but notice all th= e=20 differences.=20 Maureen ****************** >From Chris: << Has anyone here read any novels by Dick Francis?=A0 He has written three >with the character Sid Halley in. The first was written in the mid- to >late-sixties, the last somewhere in the mid-1990s.=A0 Sid, in all that time= , >has aged only a few years, but technology has marched on apace.=A0 (In the >last book, we learn all about mobile phones and sim cards=A0 and email etc;= in >the first book there is a typing pool, complete, one assumes, with >mechanical typewriters.)=A0 I've read and enjoyed all three books, but the >differences are certainly distracting. =A0=20 In a message dated 3/21/01 3:37:23 PM Eastern Standard Time,=20 cschnall@MED.CORNELL.EDU writes: > I am an avid Dick Francis fan with little time to read him lately. I > knew about the first two Sid Halley books (my favorites) but which is > the third? >=20 >=20