From: "L-Soft list server at Indiana University (1.8d)" To: "ARTF@MemoryAlpha.nil" File: "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L LOG0108C" ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 10:08:48 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Phil Atcliffe Subject: NEW: Imbalance Part 19 [And now, slightly late, courtesy of my srizonified ISP B-(, we present for your delectation and edification, part 19, "Nabbing Nigel" -- and thanks to Diane and Marilyn for the title. ;) Okay, so the mercs are in the bag, so to speak... now for the *big* fish! Now read on:] ***** Nigel took his time leaving the building. A basic principle of "trade- craft" that the SIS had taught him was not to be conspicuous, even when time was of the essence, so, as he had done in Boston, he allowed a reasonable "cooling-off" period before taking his leave. The term "cooling off" was both literal and figurative; during this waiting period, he would take the opportunity to compose himself, both physically and mentally, and check his surroundings for any potential threats, ultimately departing the scene after having a leisurely cup of coffee in a nearby diner. He really would have preferred Scotch after the tension and uncertainty of the last half an hour, but it was much too early for that if he was to pass as an ordinary citizen. It was ironic, he reflected, that the one place that he would have been able to get a drink at this time of day and not have it seem remarkable was at Metropolis Airport! 'Well, coffee will have to do,' he thought as he came down the stairs. It was a shame that he couldn't take the elevator, but he didn't want anyone to note where he got on, or off -- or, for that matter, that he'd been there at all. Perhaps it was a slight over-reaction, but such habits had served him well in far less friendly places than Metropolis, and he didn't propose to abandon them now. A sound came from far below in the stairwell -- a door slamming -- and he halted, flattening himself against the wall. It was extremely unusual for anyone to use the stairs in this building (he'd checked; that's why *he* was using them), and Nigel was professionally disinclined to accept the existence of coincidence; if there was such a thing, anything that emerged from it was just as much a threat, and should be dealt with in the same manner, as the results of direct purpose. His hand crept slowly to his shoulder holster and the automatic in it... There was an odd *whoosh*, which echoed even more peculiarly in the confined space of the stairs, and Nigel blinked behind his dark glasses as a sudden rush of wind heralded the appearance of... a very oddly-dressed man, indeed. He was wearing what could only likened to a circus costume, complete with cape and tights, but one that, for all its bright primary colours, was decidedly less ostentatious than those Nigel had seen in the past. Of perhaps more importance, he was standing there with his arms crossed and a definite frown on his face, blocking Nigel's path. Nigel's initial reaction was to ignore him and continue on his way, shouldering his way past as would any ordinary city-dweller, and he went to do so before his mind finally began to interpret what his eyes were seeing; then, he stopped in his tracks and stared. The man was *not* merely "standing there", blocking the stairs... he was *floating*, a good two or three feet off the ground, glaring at Nigel, their eyes on a level! And then he spoke, and Nigel, already wary after one more unbelievable occurrence on what seemed to be a morning full of them, realised that this was not a person who could safely be ignored. "Hold it right there, sir. Your men are all in custody, and you're going to join them. Put the briefcase down and give me the gun." 'Is this buffoon trying to arrest me?' Nigel wasted no time on pleasantries; he drew the automatic and fired. 'I think not. Let's see how well he floats with a few bullets in him!' The man didn't move when the pistol was produced, nor did he seem at all worried about it. The quiet *phut* of the silenced weapon produced no reaction at all. *Nigel* was the one who reacted -- a split-second later, the whine and crash of a ricochet triggered well-honed reflexes and made him duck instinctively. Or, rather, he *began* to duck; he'd barely started to move when a chilling sight made him freeze where he was. A blue-clad arm was hanging motionless, inches away from his face... and in its hand was a bullet! "I think you'd better let me have that, before you hurt yourself," said the owner of the arm, and Nigel later concluded that this must have been just one shock too many that day, for he didn't resist as the automatic was gently but firmly taken from him. Of course, when the hand that removed it from his grasp then squashed it into something resembling a wadded-up tissue -- except that it was made of *steel* -- the temporary paralysis left him, and a burst of adrenaline drove him to flee. He needn't have bothered; the thought had barely formed when he was yanked off his feet, his sight blurred and he felt a sharp, piercing blast of wind all around him for an instant. When the world came back into focus, Nigel rather wished it hadn't, because he was now out in the open air, on a rooftop -- and he recognised it from the view; it was one of the buildings he had selected for his missile teams to work from. And he wasn't alone; there was a policeman there, and at his feet were four familiar figures, each of them securely bound and quite helpless. "Here's the leader, as promised," said a voice from behind him, addressing the cop. Nigel didn't have to turn around to recognise it as that of the "buffoon", who was obviously more than he appeared. Quite what he was, Nigel didn't know -- except that, if he was responsible for the capture of Nigel's entire team, then he was a truly formidable foe, with what seemed to be fantastic abilities. Could *he* possibly have been the reason that the 747 didn't crash? The idea was almost impossible to believe -- but so was the airliner's miraculous escape. And Nigel's own sudden... dislocation to here from the stairwell of a building several blocks away in a fraction of a second. Only now, as he was dropped to the surface of the roof, did Nigel realise that he was as firmly tied up as his underlings. He watched as the man in the costume took the briefcase over to the cop and opened it; that ought not to have been possible without everything inside the case being incinerated, but what was a lock and a self-destruct system to someone who could do what this person had in the last few minutes? Nothing, apparently. A gust of wind -- a natural one this time, not the result of the stranger's actions -- made it hard to hear, but Nigel, in a sudden fatalistic mood, presumed that the man was briefing the policeman on its contents. Snatches of conversation reached him, the words "FBI", "control system" and "check for tampering" confirming his fears. 'It appears,' he thought, 'that the "jig is up", as they say here.' Once the authorities examined the 747 and his briefcase... After that, it was no surprise when the man came over, squatted down next to him and said, in a tone that, save for the topic of discussion, almost sounded like someone making polite conversation, "You obviously went to a lot of trouble to make that airplane crash -- mind telling me why?" Nigel did mind. He had no intention of helping the authorities with their enquiries -- unless, of course, it could benefit him in some way. But the time for plea-bargaining was still in the future. Whatever this gaudily- garbed person was, from the way he'd been talking to the cop, it was doubtful that he was connected with the legal system -- at least, not yet -- and so Nigel would hold his peace until he had to deal with someone who could make deals which would stick. "Holding his peace" in this case meant remaining silent, but that only seemed to inspire the man to speculate, half talking to Nigel, half thinking out loud. "Now, why would someone go to so much effort to set up a plane crash right in the middle of Metropolis? It doesn't make sense; if you just wanted to kill someone on the plane, why not simply use a bomb?" Nigel, who was watching him curiously, saw his head jerk at that and a new light enter his eyes, as though the thought of a bomb had sparked a connection in his mind. The man's gaze locked with his as he murmured, his voice a peculiar amalgam of horror, amazement and triumph, "Of course! The plane was merely a means to an end. That joystick... *you* were flying the plane, weren't you -- and aiming it right at the Daily Planet! The Planet was the real target! Which means... you must be working for Intergang!" Nigel had both been expecting that, and not expecting it. The entire operation had been set up to keep as much distance as possible between the operatives and their employers, but it was somehow completely unsurprising that this man would take the bare facts and somehow make the necessary leaps of logic to arrive at the correct conclusion. Because he had been half-expecting the truth to out, he was prepared for it, and so was able to present a perfect poker face, one that, from years of training and experience, never revealed anything that its owner didn't want it to, to his captor. Or so he thought, until he saw a tight smile form on the man's face, not realising that, while he could control his face, he couldn't do the same for his heart rate... "So *that's* it!" the costumed figure said, now obviously angry -- which was uncharacteristic for him, Nigel thought. "Well, when your boss sends his lawyers to get you off -- which they *won't*; be sure of that! -- you can give them a message for him: I know who he is, and the Daily Planet -- and especially Lois Lane -- is under my protection. Any more attempts on her life, and he might just end up like your gun!" And then he was gone, with as little warning as his appearance in the stairwell and as suddenly as Nigel had found himself on this roof. Nigel reflected on the... curious man's last words as he waited for the police to arrive -- which they eventually did, in force. He was cuffed and loaded into the back of a police car, as were the mercenaries, but his mind was more on what had been said to him by that most unusual person -- and that, in a way, it was a shame that he wouldn't be able to fulfil the commission that he had been given. Nigel wasn't expecting any help from his employers; indeed, the Churches were more likely to tell their lawyers to deny that they'd even been in the same city as Nigel, much less met him, should he be foolish enough to tell the police that they'd employed him. That was part and parcel of being a freelancer: you got the money, and you were expected to do the job -- nothing more, nothing less. You were also expected to keep your mouth shut. This suited the Churches, but they were likely to regret it in this case; having no contact with Intergang, not even through their lawyers, meant that Nigel couldn't pass on the message that he had been asked to deliver. 'Oh, dear,' he thought to himself, a small, mocking smile playing over his lips, 'It seems that Mr Church and his underlings will have to deal with Miss Lane's "protector" without benefit of forewarning. What a shame...' He took a certain minor, but nonetheless satisfying pleasure in contemplating the outcome of a meeting between the man in the cape and Bill Church, Junior. The very thought was ludicrous, and he laughed quietly, much to the astonishment of the police and FBI agents in the car -- whose presence and expressions brought him back to the here and now. Oh, well, at least there was some enjoyment to be gained from this sorry situation, some small measure of revenge to be inflicted on his idiotic clients. Nigel had a feeling that it would have to last him for a very long time... ***** [...or, perhaps, not quite as long as he might prefer... Meantime, Clark has to get back to the Planet -- Lane and Kent have a story (or two) to write! Find out about that -- and Lois' reaction to certain pieces of news -- next time.] Phil ---- Gravity is a Downer... So let's go flying! -- so sayeth Phil Atcliffe (atcliffe@perdicas.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 11:20:13 -0500 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: Imbalance Part 19 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey there! Enjoyable as always! Glad Nigel is under control and can't wait to see what happens when CK gets back to the Planet! CM ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 22:45:43 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Meredith Knight Subject: Question: Clark's apartment MIME-Version: 1.0 I'm battling to work out the layout of Clark's apartment in Clinton Avenue. I've tried watching some of the episodes from Season 1 (all I have!) and it's very frustrating - there are just glimpses here and there, with very little help for piecing it all together. My main question is, how do the bedroom and bathroom relate to the living room? Does the bathroom lead off the bedroom, or are they separate? And can one get from one to the other without being seen or heard from the kitchen/living room? I'm also wondering about the living room itself. In The Rival, Perry hides in a closet near the bottom of the stairs from the front door, and there's a table right in front of the closet. In The House of Luthor, Perry serves his chilli on a dining table that's right near the stove. In other episodes, there doesn't seem to be a table around at all. Is it just a case of the set getting rearranged to suit each episode, or is there a definite layout that I'm missing? -- Meredith Knight ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 23:16:06 +0100 Reply-To: Yvonne Connell Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yvonne Connell Subject: Re: Question: Clark's apartment MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Meredith, We've all struggled with this one . Basically, most of us have come to the conclusion that you may as well decide on your own layout, and stick with it. As you've discovered, the program makers rearranged the set from episode to episode to suit their own requirements. Heck, there's even been dispute on this list as to whether his apartment is on the ground floor or at the top of the building! Personally, I always go for the penthouse option, because he's been seen climbing stairs to get to it, and Martha pushes him off the balcony outside his window at one point, and sometime in the NK arc one of them is clearly standing on a balcony whilst the other is inside, and they're gazing at each other through the window. Have fun! Yvonne (yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 18:19:25 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: Question: Clark's apartment MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 8/15/01 5:53:22 PM Eastern Daylight Time, meredith@PUTWET.DEMON.CO.UK writes: > My main question is, how do the bedroom and bathroom relate to the > living room? Does the bathroom lead off the bedroom, or are they > separate? And can one get from one to the other without being seen or > heard from the kitchen/living room? > My best recollection is that the bathroom was off the kitchen. The bedroom seemed to be sort of through and archway from the living room. There weren't any doors, so it would have been hard to sneak from any part of the apartment to another without being seen. That's why Clark had to kiss Toni Taylor when Lois was in the apartment -- so she wouldn't see Lois leave. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 18:05:00 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Cindy Leuch Subject: Re: Question: Clark's apartment Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Zoom has a virtual tour of Clark's apartment (ca. season 3) on her zoomway.com site. Looking at it sure straightened some things up for me. I would recommend taking a look at that. GO CYCLONES! Cindy Leuch isuleuch@hotmail.com _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 17:18:09 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: April Sycamore Subject: Isn't it ironic?? L&C Comments: To: afolcslife@yahoogroups.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed I was watching "The Ides of Metropolis" yesterday night. Remember the part where Lois says to Clark: "Your wife has spent the entire day at the beauty parlor. She's died her hair RED, CUT it all off--just to please you--only it's GHASTLY..." Isn't it ironic that a few years later between season 3 and 4, Teri does that exact thing for "Since you've been gone?" Cuts ALL her hair off, and dies it RED?? I just thought that was so funny!!! april _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 19:10:18 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: Isn't it ironic?? L&C On Wed, 15 Aug 2001 17:18:09 -0600, April Sycamore wrote: >I was watching "The Ides of Metropolis" yesterday night. Remember the part >where Lois says to Clark: "Your wife has spent the entire day at the beauty >parlor. She's died her hair RED, CUT it all off--just to please you--only >it's GHASTLY..." >Isn't it ironic that a few years later between season 3 and 4, Teri does >that exact thing for "Since you've been gone?" Cuts ALL her hair off, and >dies it RED?? I just thought that was so funny!!! > >april > Yes!!!! I always thought that was funny, too! I wonder how many other fans noticed that? Shadowfax ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 19:21:15 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: The Author's Mind... updated :) I really enjoyed the interview, as I've been enjoying all of them. It was a fascinating idea for a website! Shadowfax On Sun, 12 Aug 2001 13:41:46 EDT, Crystal Wimmer wrote: >Hi everyone :) > >This wee, on the Author's Mind, come discover the creation of one of >FoLCdom's most popular Elseworlds. Come take a look into the genesis of >Brave New World, and see what was going on in Chris H's mind as she created >this wonderful story! > >-Crys- >Manager, The Author's Mind... >Come take a look into the Author's Mind at: >www.geocities.com/authorsmind/main.html ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 19:47:04 -0500 Reply-To: peabody Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: peabody Subject: Re: Isn't it ironic?? L&C MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Never let it be said that I ignored a "Teri's hair post" > On Wed, 15 Aug 2001 17:18:09 -0600, April asked: > > >I was watching "The Ides of Metropolis" yesterday night. Remember the part > >where Lois says to Clark: "Your wife has spent the entire day at the beauty > >parlor. She's died her hair RED, CUT it all off--just to please you--only > >it's GHASTLY..." > >Isn't it ironic that a few years later between season 3 and 4, Teri does > >that exact thing for "Since you've been gone?" Cuts ALL her hair off, and > >dies it RED?? I just thought that was so funny!!! and Shadowfax responded: > Yes!!!! I always thought that was funny, too! I wonder how many other > fans noticed that? I thought that Teri's "orange crewcut" (that's what a few of us were calling that hairstyle) was just too similar to Lois' line from Ides of March to be a coincidence. I had a few theories at the time, that ranged from Teri letting Warner Bros. and ABC know she wasn't happy with the show, to Teri letting her husband know that she wasn't happy with his behavior. Teri's stuck to her story about the hairstyle being done for SYBG, but having seen that film, I can't see the necessity for it (or any reason why Teri couldn't have worn a wig for the 6 weeks or so that they were shooting the film) I still think there's some other reason behind it, and would love to hear other folc's expound on their theories ;) Pat Heidkamp peabody@ameritech.net pattijean@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 18:02:31 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: StarKitty Subject: Re: OT - NBCI closing - Problems for FoLCs sites MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Yeah, I had the same problem. I just switched my site over to geocities and I'm planning on doing the same with Nan's site. Tara ------------------------ I'm starting a Procrastinators Anonymous group . . . I'm going to get started on it tomorrow. No, really! Lieutenant Colonel StarKitty Team: SG-6 - Search/Rescue Unit: Sorcerers of the Tau`ri www.stargate-sg1.com http://www.geocities.com/thestarkitty/ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rowan Fuller" To: Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2001 1:39 AM Subject: OT - NBCI closing - Problems for FoLCs sites > Hi everyone > > Sorry if this has already been said, but I have been out of circulation for > some time. I have just been notified by someone - after enquiring why I was > having problems uploading to nbci (formally xoom). It seems that NBCI is > closing down its webhosting. > > This does affect my website greatly (as I am sure it will others) as it is > where I store most of the pictures and multimedia files etc. At this stage I > don't know what I am going to do. Rest assure my site will remain in some > form, however I don't know how long it will take for me to get the multimedia > files back up and where. I recommend anyone wanting any of the pictures or > multimedia on my site had best get downloading while they still can - if they > still can. > > Sorry to take up your time. > > Rowan :) > -- -- -- > LaneKent@aol.com > website homepage:http://members.aol.com/lanekent > > > > . ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 01:45:19 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Bethy Em Subject: NEW: Alien Gift (8/?) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Thanks for your comments, Carol, Pam and James. :) Carol -- you'll find out what woke Elsha up...later. :-P "(Dance camps can wait - some things in life are more important!*BG*)" /mouth drops open. What? You don't like my dancing? /innocent look James -- Thanks for those notes. I fixed those errors so they won't appear in future versions (now if only I could be sure of no errors in future sections...) Pam -- I completely forgot about Perry's judgement in TPvLL; I just remembered Constance from other stories/eps/etc, and used her. And as requested, one dropped shoe coming up. Comments and kind critiques appreciated here or at bethyem@yahoo.com. Previously: He came in to sit on the bed behind Lois and put his arms around the both of them, drawing the three together into a tight embrace. Lois glanced up at him, a bit surprised, but then reciprocated. By now, Elsha's tears had subsided, and she was content to rest in their embrace. He sat there, gently rocking them, until he felt Elsha's mind slow down into the gentle hum that remained when she slept. "Shh." He put his finger on his lips and then pointed to the sleeping child. Lois nodded, and he settled Elsha back down in her bed, tucking her in after he stood up. Taking Lois's hand, they returned to their own room to sleep. * * * Part Eight "So, you wanna tell us about your dream last night, Elsha?" Lois wasted no time in bringing up the subject the next morning over breakfast. They had barely sat down to mounds of Clark's delicious pancakes (which he couldn't even enjoy, as Superman was needed almost as soon as he finished the batter) when Lois popped her question. She was hoping Clark would be there, but, having no idea how long he'd be gone, she wasn't about to wait. Elsha just looked up at her quizzically. "Dream?" Her face looked so innocent and confused and Lois had a hard time believing that Elsha could possibly be hiding anything, but she also found it hard to believe she had no memory of what had happened in the middle of the night, either. "You know, the one that made you scream in the middle of the night, and then cry for almost a half-an-hour before going back to sleep." "What are you talking about? I don't remember any dream. Or any screaming or crying." She looked so serious, but still... Lois couldn't be sure. Tentatively, she reached a probe into Elsha's mind. {Getting better, Momma, but you're still pretty clumsy.} Lois could 'hear' the grin in Elsha's mind. {Go easy on me, it's not like I've been doing this all my life.} She knew that it was almost, if not totally, impossible to lie in a mind conversation, so she asked again. {Are you sure you don't remember anything about last night?} {Honest, I don't remember anything in between falling asleep after you read me the next chapter in *The Secret Garden* and waking up this morning to Daddy's pancakes.} Though baffled, Lois had to believe her. There was no mistaking the honesty in her mind-voice. {Okay, I believe you. We'll just have to watch out for it happening again, okay?} "Now," she said, switching to normal speech, "you ready for another helping? We've still got a little ways to go to finish getting that meat on your bones." She grinned, and then giggled as they staged a mock battle over who got to use the syrup first. After breakfast she had to hurry to get ready for work. Though this house was wonderful, it was quite a bit farther from the Planet than their old apartment, which meant she had to leave earlier than she was used to. "Cla--Daddy's not home yet, Elsha and I need to leave for work. Can you tell where he is?" They had quickly discovered that while Lois needed close proximity to telepathically communicate with Elsha, Clark could do it from miles away. "Yeah, he just finished cleaning up a small fire in an abandoned warehouse. He was talking to the fire chief...something about...arson?" She looked up at Lois for clarification. "It's when someone sets a fire on purpose, for whatever reason." She put the second earring in and then hopped around in the entryway, trying to put her heels on without sitting, or falling, down. She dropped one and stifled a curse. Stupid fashion driven shoes! "Okay. Anyway, he's on his way home now." "Oh, good. Then I won't be late." At that moment, Clark flew in the back door. "Hi, honey, I'm leaving for work," Lois called. "See you at lunch!" She blew a kiss to Elsha, who giggled as she 'caught' it, one to Clark, and then grabbed her keys and hurried out the door. Two seconds later, she popped her head back in. "Clark, should I write up a story on this morning? Or was it not important?" "No, Eduardo was there," he called back. "He was on his way in to work and saw the smoke, so he said he'd write it up." "Okay. Thanks. Love you!" And she was off. * * * Lois got caught up chasing sources and didn't make it home in time for lunch. She made good progress, though, and made it home in plenty of time for dinner. Excited about how her story was coming along, she entered the house with jubilant spirits. "Hi, Honey, I'm ho-ome!" she called out, pleased to hear Elsha's giggle in response. After shedding her coat and bag, she poked her head into the living room to find Elsha stretched out on the couch, flipping through a brightly colored art book. "Hiya, Mom. Guess what?" "Hmm...I don't know...you're getting married!" Taken from Lois' childhood days, this was a game they played often. Lois' best friend when she was seven, Rebekah, always came up with that question in response to a 'guess what?' It caused no end of giggles to the little girls and proved to work as well with Elsha. "No," Elsha squealed, "better!" "What?" "I've got a loose tooth!" "Wow!" By this time, Lois had progressed to the couch, and she peered seriously into Elsha's wide-open mouth. A little pink tongue proudly wiggled a front tooth, almost imperceptibly. "I'm impressed. So, we gonna make tooth stew when it comes out?" Elsha made a face. "Tooth stew? Yuck." "Hey," Lois said with a shrug, "you never know. It could be good." She tried to keep a straight face, but failed. Giggling, Lois reached out to tickle Elsha, making sure to be careful of her ribs. She needn't have worried, since Elsha merely screamed with laughter. "So, munchkin, where's your dad?" Elsha's face instantly sobered. "What's wrong?" "I don't know. He wouldn't tell me. He went into the kitchen to make dinner, and even closed his mind!" she finished indignantly. "You know what? I bet he's just jealous that he's gonna have to let the Tooth Fairy into your life. I'll go talk to him, but I want you to promise you won't listen in, okay?" She shook her finger menacingly, failing once again to keep a straight face. "Got it." When Lois entered the kitchen, she found Clark had used her trick of taking frustrations out on vegetables. Unfortunately, neither the vegetables nor the cutting board could handle his strength and both were sitting in a pulp on the counter. Clark sat dejectedly at the table. "Clark?" Her voice was soft, almost menacing. This was a far cry from the joyous scene she'd just left. "Is there something I should know about?" "Oh, Lois." He got up to put his arms around her and just held her. Confused, she hugged him back, trying to impart the strength and comfort he was seeking. She didn't think this was a Superman pity-party; Elsha could usually pick those out a mile away. And she doubted it was anything to do with her parents; their relationship was rocky enough with both Lois and Clark to lessen the impact of any bad news. But what else could it be? They made up their own little unit, not really depending on anyone but the others in this small family, so it made sense that anything to affect Clark this much would be something that affected their family. One or all of them. But what? What could possibly have changed so drastically since that morning, when she left behind a giggling girl and cheerful husband to go to the Planet? Well, the giggling girl was still here, but where had the cheerful husband gone? "Clark?" she asked, getting worried. "What's going on? What's wrong?" She bit her lip to keep back the torrent of words following her thoughts. Just give him time to answer and he'll explain everything. She took comfort in that fact. He was Clark, he could take care of anything. Right? "Dr. Klein called a little while ago." Dr. Klein? Oh, no! Was there a problem with the gravity machine? Fear filled her and Clark seemed to read her thoughts. Maybe this telepathy thing was spreading... "The home gravity unit is progressing fine and should be ready for installation early next week." "So what's the problem, then?" He maneuvered her into a kitchen chair and peeked through the door to make sure Elsha was okay. Then he continued in a quiet voice. "Dr. Klein was going through some of the other data he'd gathered and came up with an alarming theory. Right now it's still technically in the theory stages, but he's pretty confident it'll turn out to be truth." "So what is it, already?" Lois demanded, frustrated at the lack of real information. When she had information, she could determine the enemy and make plans to fight it. But right now, there was no enemy. Nothing to fight. And nothing made her feel more helpless. "Remember how he said the higher gravity is putting stress on her heart?" She gave him a look that said, "DUH! How could I forget?" "Sorry. Okay, well I knew this girl in high school who had a heart problem and she couldn't do anything strenuous because it was too hard on her heart. So she didn't take gym class, and never played sports, and always had a pass to be late to class, because she wasn't allowed to rush." "Just get to the point, Clark." "I'm sorry. Anyway, Klein thinks that, even with the compensation at home, Elsha's heart won't be strong enough in normal gravity to...well, *do* anything." Lois frowned, perplexed. "I don't understand. What exactly do you mean?" Clark sighed. By now they were both sitting at the table and he rested his arms on the tabletop. "Basically, if he's right, Elsha will never run, or dance, or skip, or jump, or play sports or do a cartwheel, or maybe even walk, outside of the protective environment of our home, that is, assuming the contraption does everything we're hoping it will." Wide-eyed, Lois felt almost numb. Hey, their life was full of crazy complications, what was one more? Strangely, she almost wanted to laugh. She thought back to her own childhood. Because of the tomboy tendencies she had favored, trying to win her father's approval, she had been an incredibly active kid. Always playing sports, tag, hide and go seek, capture the flag, traipsing down the creek looking for crayfish...all things that required a lot of exertion. Aside from the writing that she had always enjoyed, she didn't know what was left for a kid. What kind of life could Elsha lead? Her stubborn side reasserted itself and an idea struck. "Wait a minute! Don't you think if she were going to have problems like that we'd have noticed it by now? I mean, it's been almost over a month..." Her voice trailed off as Clark shook his head no. "She's still in the cast for her broken leg, remember? We've been carrying her everywhere anyway." Oh. Yeah. And because of her other injuries, crutches hadn't been a feasible choice, gravity-complications notwithstanding. Argh! This was so frustrating. "So what are our options? We could lock her up in the house, only allowed in areas with the home gravity unit -- would she be able to stand in that level gravity?" She barely even took in Clark's nod before charging ahead. "Or we could get her a wheelchair. Would that work? No, if her heart can't handle walking, she be able to push herself. Motorized! Yes, we could get a motorized wheelchair!" Lois muttered randomly to herself for a few seconds before jerking her head up in a burst of triumph. Clark looked thoughtful, pondering the idea. Then he spoke. "You do realize, Lois, that this is still in theory stages? She could be perfectly fine, or she could be partially limited but still able to walk." Really? That was a relief. "But at least we have a plan for all contingincies. Because the wheelchair idea still has some merit, right? I mean, especially if it was motorized..." She looked up, her expression filled with hope, silently begging Clark to offer her some small reassurance that no matter what, it would be okay. "Yeah, I think that might work. We'll have to consult Dr. Klein. It's just...even with that, either way, her life will never be normal." Lois raised her eyebrows skeptically. "And you thought that it would have been before? What are you, crazy? She's got a psycho reporter for a mom, a 'blind' author who moonlights in tights as a dad, not to mention she's from another planet and can read minds. Frankly, I almost think walking and running will be the least of her worries." She reached over and pulled Clark toward her for a kiss. "I love you. And together, the three of us can make it through anything, right? After all, we've done pretty good so far with two aliens in the family, haven't we?" she gently teased him. She knew Clark had some insecurities about being an alien, but recently, with their marriage and Elsha's own extraterrestrialism, he didn't obsess about it nearly as much, and could even appreciate the more special aspects most of the time. "I love you, too. I better get dinner started. Why don't you go in and spend some time with Elsha? I think she needs to be cheered up, too, Miss-Positive-Thinker-who-has-so-much-optimism-she-probably-thinks-she-could-take-over-the-world." "Oh, so, that's what you think about me. Well, then what are you, Mister Optimistic?" she retorted, sticking out her tongue and escaping into the living room before he had a chance to respond. She risked a look back and cherished the sight of his grin. Yup, definitely: together, they could take on the world. * * * "And Dickon helped him," Clark read, "and the Magic -- or whatever it was -- so gave him strength that when the sun did slip over the edge and end the strange lovely afternoon for them there, he actually stood on his two feet -- laughing." With that, Clark closed the book, having finished the night's chapter of *The Secret Garden.* After dinner, where conversation had been purposely kept light, they had gotten Elsha ready for bed and settled down to read, Clark on one side of her and Lois on the other. Since Lois had read the night before, it was now Clark's turn. But, naturally not wanting to miss anything (from Elsha as much as the book), Lois still stayed and listened. Reading aside, this was family bonding time. "And now, it's off to sleep for you, Elsha." Her eyes grew wide and she opened her mouth, but before she could say a word, Clark cut her off. "And don't even think about asking for more! That's the end of the chapter and as far as we're going tonight." "But we're so close to the end!" she protested. "All the more reason to savor it," Lois chimed in, trying to keep her tumultuous thoughts away from the story. How ironic was it that Colin, the cripple boy in the story, was just now learning to walk, right after they had found out Elsha may never be able to? However, she could take hope -- Colin's efforts would be rewarded with success by the end of the story. Then again, it *was* still that, a story. Clark leaned over and kissed Elsha goodnight, and Lois followed suit. "I love you, honey," she said, still surprised at how much emotion those simple words evoked in her, and at the force they carried so soon into their mother/daughter relationship. "I love you, too." She yawned and Lois grinned. With an unsaid "I told you so," she and Clark left the room. They split up outside Elsha's door and went through their routine of shutting off lights, checking locked doors, and meeting again to go upstairs. Clark could simply do a quick check on his own, but unless circumstances intervened, Lois liked the feeling of equality, of shared protectiveness that came from the ritual. After getting in bed, Lois stared into space, thinking. After a month's worth of practice, she was getting adequately adept at erecting mental shields to keep Elsha from accidentally hearing any of her thoughts. Plus, Elsha had an inherent set of ethics that kept her from 'listening in' when she wasn't supposed to. Lois wasn't sure how far those ethics reached, so even though her instinct was to trust Elsha, she still tried not to give her too much temptation. Protectiveness added to her almost unconscious decision, as she didn't want Elsha subjected to too many adult concerns too soon. Let her have time to be a child; she'd certainly had enough troubles in her short life as it was. And now this new burden... Clark placed a hand on hers and she jumped. "Sorry," she muttered. "I was...thinking." "I could tell," he replied. "Wanna talk about it?" She analyzed her feelings for a second and realized, "No, Clark, actually, I don't. Right now I'm so mixed up inside that I just want to think. I mean, we've already come up with possible plans of action, but nothing can really happen until the casts come off. So what's the point of worrying and re-hashing everything and all that when we don't even know what's going to happen? And I know that talking usually helps me relieve my fears, but right now I kinda want to hold on to them, you know? Because they give me the strength to fight. So, no, despite all that, I don't really want to talk about it." She hesitated, and then, "Is that okay?" Clark smiled, as usual, at her babbling. And in reassurance. "Of course it's okay, Lois. Just don't keep it all inside until the boiling point, okay?" "Okay. And...thanks." She didn't want to shut him out if he wanted to talk, but she really didn't feel up to facing a whole discussion about it right now. She snuggled closer to Clark and laid her head on his shoulder. Right now, she just wanted to cuddle. Half-an-hour later, as Lois and Clark were just ready to nod off, they heard Elsha scream. "Again?" Clark asked, but Lois was already out the door. As she tore down the stairs, she realized that she had forgotten to talk to Clark about Elsha's lack of memory of the previous night's incident. She ran to Elsha's bed, grateful for the night-lite in the hall, and immediately started rubbing the sobbing girl's back. She shushed and murmured, trying to comfort her. The only response she received was a strong feeling of falling. Elsha was projecting the sensation, along with the fear. Nobody to help, nobody to stop the descent; Lois had to force herself not to cry out at the strength of the terror -- and what she felt was second-hand. Clark arrived and she could tell by the expression on his face that he felt it, too. But right now was no time to ask Elsha about it. She was too busy trying to quell her tears. Lois cast a worried glance at Clark and then continued her ministrations. After a time, Elsha calmed down and went straight back to sleep. It was funny, whenever Lois had a nightmare, she would get up and do inane little tasks in order to avoid going back to sleep. Sleep held more monsters, more fear. Yet Elsha seemed to take much less time to recover from her mental ordeal and return. Quietly, she and Clark headed back to bed. "She was falling." Clark stated it as a fact. "You felt it, too?" He nodded. "But it was more than just falling. A lot of people have dreams of falling that don't provoke that strong of a reaction. And there was something else there, something that contributed, but I couldn't get a hold on it. I don't think it was even clear to Elsha, which made it that much more vague for me. We'll have to see if she can pinpoint it better in the morning." Lois was impressed, all she'd gotten was the terror from falling. But his last comment reminded her, "Oh, I talked to her about the dream from last night at breakfast, and she didn't remember it at all." Clark furrowed his brow. "Not at all?" "No. Did you happen to bring it up with her?" "No, I knew you were planning to, and decided not to make her relive it any more than was absolutely necessary. Nightmares are a lot less frightening in the daylight, but that doesn't make them fun to remember. At least not so soon." Lois nodded slowly. "Think we should bring this one up tomorrow?" Clark paused for a second and then said, "I don't see why not. If she doesn't remember, it won't hurt, and if she does, it may help to us to understand them and therefore prevent any more." He flipped out the light and pulled Lois into a comforting embrace. "We'll just keep playing it by ear, the way we always do." She smiled, even though he couldn't see her. And this from the man who always liked a plan! * * * TBC... _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 21:20:45 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carol L Moncado Subject: Re: NEW: Alien Gift (8/?) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > "(Dance camps can wait - some things in life are more > important!*BG*)" > /mouth drops open. What? You don't like my dancing? /innocent > look No - I love your dancing *BG*, but get your priorities straight!*VBG* > And > as > requested, one dropped shoe coming up. > She put > the second earring in and then hopped around in the entryway, trying > to put > her heels on without sitting, or falling, down. She dropped one and > stifled > a curse. Stupid fashion driven shoes! I found the dropped shoe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hehehe!!!! Seriously - poor Elsha, though not remembering is probably a blessing, though Lois and Clark can't help her work through them then. And then the whole gravity thing... They have so much to work through, but at least they are together! Stronger together than apart, you know! More soon please! CM ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 21:58:24 -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: Smallville promos I don't know if this has been posted here yet or not. My apologies if it has. WB has three promos for Smallville on their site. They are interesting and piqued my interest for the show. Get a load of the bald Lex. http://www.thewb.com/smallville The song playing in all three promos is "Song Yet To Be Sung" by Perry Ferrell. It's haunting! (That's a compliment, btw. ) I wonder if it will make it to the radio. The young man playing Clark is nice looking, though he doesn't look 15. 20 maybe ... He looks familiar to me, but maybe that's because, as people have said, he looks like a young Chris Reeve. I'd be curious to hear what people think of the promos. Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 03:42:45 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Avia Tikotsky Subject: H.G. Wells on the Hallmark Channel - US I'm sorry if this was mentioned before, I'm behind on my e-mail as usual ;) The Hallmark Channel will be showing "The Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells" on Saturday August 18th at 2:pm (ET/PT). Hope the US FoLCs will enjoy it! Avia ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 11:12:20 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicola Baker Subject: Re: NEW: Imbalance Part 19 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Several things... > [And now, slightly late, courtesy of my srizonified ISP B-(, srizonified? what's that when it's at home? Loved Nigel trying to shoot at Supes and almost getting shot himself. > it was somehow completely unsurprising > that this man would take the bare facts and somehow make the necessary > leaps of logic to arrive at the correct conclusion. That's our Clark! > This suited the Churches, but they were likely to regret it in this case; > having no contact with Intergang, not even through their lawyers, meant > that Nigel couldn't pass on the message that he had been asked to > deliver. 'Oh, dear,' he thought to himself, a small, mocking smile playing > over his lips, 'It seems that Mr Church and his underlings will have to > deal with Miss Lane's "protector" without benefit of forewarning. What a > shame...' ROTFL. Nic ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 11:24:38 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicola Baker Subject: Re: NEW: Alien Gift (8/?) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I like your choice of bed-time book. I hope Elsha's dreams are nothing serious, but knowing that problems make a story better, I suspect that the dreams are... less than benign. Nic ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 10:48:07 -0400 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: The Author's Mind... updated :) In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" I still cannot seem to gain access to Wendy's section. It comes up, blinks, then disappears:( Carolyn >I really enjoyed the interview, as I've been enjoying all of them. It was >a fascinating idea for a website! > >Shadowfax > >On Sun, 12 Aug 2001 13:41:46 EDT, Crystal Wimmer wrote: > >>Hi everyone :) >> >>This wee, on the Author's Mind, come discover the creation of one of >>FoLCdom's most popular Elseworlds. Come take a look into the genesis of >>Brave New World, and see what was going on in Chris H's mind as she created >>this wonderful story! >> >>-Crys- >>Manager, The Author's Mind... > >Come take a look into the Author's Mind at: > >www.geocities.com/authorsmind/main.html ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 10:49:15 -0400 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: H.G. Wells on the Hallmark Channel - US In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" Hi Avia: Missed you at LAFF:( Yes, I did mention this in a tidbits on the other list. However, I don't get the cable channel it is on:( Thanks, Carolyn >I'm sorry if this was mentioned before, I'm behind on my e-mail as usual ;) >The Hallmark Channel will be showing "The Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells" on >Saturday August 18th at 2:pm (ET/PT). >Hope the US FoLCs will enjoy it! > >Avia ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 10:00:55 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: Smallville promos On Wed, 15 Aug 2001 21:58:24 -0500, Kathy Brown wrote: >The young man playing Clark is nice looking, though he doesn't look 15. 20 >maybe ... He looks familiar to me, but maybe that's because, as people have >said, he looks like a young Chris Reeve. He looks like Jack to me, Kathy. In fact, when his pic flew by on the first promo, that's who I thought it was, until I realized that the boy who played Jack would be older now. The actor *does* look like a young Chris Reeve, too, though. > >I'd be curious to hear what people think of the promos. > I'll definitely watch it, even though my interest in LnC was primarily for the romance between Lois and Clark. Arrrggh to the bald Lex, though. :( I know that he was bald in the comics, but I always liked John Shea as Lex. Shadowfax ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 12:28:32 -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 promos On Thu, 16 Aug 2001 10:00:55 -0500, Shadow Fax wrote: >He looks like Jack to me, Kathy. In fact, when his pic flew by on the >first promo, that's who I thought it was, until I realized that the boy who >played Jack would be older now. The actor *does* look like a young Chris >Reeve, too, though. Hey, that might be it! Good eye. >Arrrggh to the bald Lex, though. :( I know that he was bald in the >comics, but I always liked John Shea as Lex. Oh, I'm with you. John Shea is just ... just ... yummy. Kathy (dodging the tomatoes. Well he *is*! ) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 11:37:55 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: April Sycamore Subject: Re: Isn't it ironic?? L&C Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Maybe it was a mixture of those things that made her die her hair and cut it. Maybe she was tired of being stereotyped as Lois Lane, it's hard to say. It's all so confusing, I've almost given up on understanding it all!!! >From: peabody >Reply-To: peabody >To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU >Subject: Re: Isn't it ironic?? L&C >Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 19:47:04 -0500 > >Never let it be said that I ignored a "Teri's hair post" > > > On Wed, 15 Aug 2001 17:18:09 -0600, April asked: > > > > >I was watching "The Ides of Metropolis" yesterday night. Remember the >part > > >where Lois says to Clark: "Your wife has spent the entire day at the >beauty > > >parlor. She's died her hair RED, CUT it all off--just to please >you--only > > >it's GHASTLY..." > > >Isn't it ironic that a few years later between season 3 and 4, Teri >does > > >that exact thing for "Since you've been gone?" Cuts ALL her hair off, >and > > >dies it RED?? I just thought that was so funny!!! > >and Shadowfax responded: > > Yes!!!! I always thought that was funny, too! I wonder how many other > > fans noticed that? > >I thought that Teri's "orange crewcut" (that's what a few of us were >calling >that hairstyle) was just too similar to Lois' line from Ides of March to >be >a coincidence. I had a few theories at the time, that ranged from Teri >letting Warner Bros. and ABC know she wasn't happy with the show, to Teri >letting her husband know that she wasn't happy with his behavior. > >Teri's stuck to her story about the hairstyle being done for SYBG, but >having seen that film, I can't see the necessity for it (or any reason why >Teri couldn't have worn a wig for the 6 weeks or so that they were shooting >the film) I still think there's some other reason behind it, and would >love >to hear other folc's expound on their theories ;) > >Pat Heidkamp > >peabody@ameritech.net >pattijean@aol.com _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 13:36:21 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Phil Atcliffe Subject: SF expletives (was: Imbalance Part 19) On Thu, 16 Aug 2001 11:12:20 +0100, Nicola Baker wrote: Quoting me: >> [And now, slightly late, courtesy of my srizonified ISP B-(, > srizonified? what's that when it's at home? One of my favourite SF expletives, from E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman book "Masters of the Vortex". Supposedly the vilest, most crude word in the language of one particular planet; "translates" as something like "descended from generations of dwellers in foul, stinking mud." Very effective as an imprecation that almost no-one will recognise -- and thus, be offended by -- but which allows me to express certain feelings succinctly. 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 (atcliffe@perdicas.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 14:57:40 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: Re: The Author's Mind... updated :) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 8/16/2001 10:48:29 AM Eastern Daylight Time, cschnall@MED.CORNELL.EDU writes: > > I still cannot seem to gain access to Wendy's section. It comes up, > blinks, then disappears:( > > Carolyn > I need to know if anyone else is having problems with Wendy's link, or any of the other links. I've had one person who's Netscape seemed to be allergic to the site, but beyond that this is the only problem reported... and I'm out of ideas. Anyone out there know what to do to help Carolyn out? I can get in from both Explorer and Netscape... so I'm not sure what the problem is :( -Crys- Who is still really new at running a site ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 14:02:22 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Re: NEW: Alien Gift (8/?) Loved this part, but we need to kick to plot in geer a little, IMO. James ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 14:09:36 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Both Board are down! THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! James ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 12:21:29 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: New Story: Heritage 1/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Disclaimer: The familiar characters and scenes in this story are the property of DC Comics, Warner Bros. and whoever else can legally lay claim to them, and no infringement on their copyright is intended, but the story and new characters are mine. This story has been cooking in my head for some time--ever since I wrote Doppelganger, actually. How do you tell a child that he's actually a clone of his father, who just happens to be Superman, created by his father's greatest enemy in order to destroy him? And what happens afterwards? Anyway, I finally took the plunge on Zoom's boards and now here. I hereby present CJ's story.... Heritage By Nan Smith The day the world changed for CJ Kent started out as an ordinary, if somewhat cold day in early November. It was the kind of day when everyone wears hats and coats, and the sky is a dreary grey. The sun is up, but you can't see it, the trees have lost most of their leaves and the ones that remain look like limp, dirty rags hanging from the branches and one good, solid rain will sweep them all away. CJ was out the door early this morning. Backpack slung over his shoulder, he started briskly down the sidewalk toward school. His punctuality had nothing to do with any particular like or dislike for his classes; CJ was an excellent student. His speed this morning was to try to make it to school before Wyatt. Wyatt Dillon would have been a fourth grader, and was CJ's best friend at school. The fact that CJ had been a grade ahead of Wyatt until this year wasn't a matter of concern for him. The two boys had been friends since CJ, a veteran first-grader had met Wyatt on his first day of kindergarten. Wyatt, the youngest of six brothers, was always the child with the oldest clothes, passed down to him from his older siblings, the one with the most beaten up bicycle, and the one who somehow always made the best grades of all of them. He'd been jumped ahead a year, this fall, and was now in CJ's fifth grade class. And therein lay the problem. Wyatt was the smallest boy in the class, and that made him a prime target for Biff Larson. Biff was the biggest kid in sixth grade by a good margin. He and his three pals, Jake, Red and Clarence (alias Grunt), hung around together, a little clique of boys who were generally avoided by the other students. They never did anything within sight of the yard monitors, or the teachers, but their behavior before and after school was another story. Most recently, Biff had started a new before-school sport: arm wrestling. It wouldn't have been so bad if it had all been in fun, but Biff's opponents weren't given a choice and the stakes were generally lunch or milk money, and occasionally anything else of value on the victim's person as well. CJ hurried. Wyatt and he had managed to avoid the "game" so far by getting to school early and making sure they were on the school grounds by the time Biff's crowd arrived. Biff had mentioned it to him in passing a day or two ago and that had put CJ on alert. The yells and shouts of encouragement he could hear ahead of him as he approached the school informed him that he was too late. He broke into a run that brought him inside of a minute to the scene where Biff stood, grinning contemptuously at Wyatt, holding out his hand for the boy's lunch money. Wyatt's clothing was dirty and torn in two places, and CJ didn't need to guess hard at the means Biff's friends had employed to force Wyatt into the unequal contest. "Hey, there, it's the other one!" Grunt's voice matched his nickname. "It looks like we're in luck. You're next, Shorty." CJ stood his ground. "Come on, Wyatt, let's go. We're gonna be late for class." "Not 'til he pays up," Biff said. "He lost fair and square." CJ snorted. "Against *you*? That's not fair!" A push from behind sent him staggering against Wyatt. "Okay, Shorty, tell you what." Red was grinning at him. "You get to wrestle Biff next. If you win we'll let you both keep your money, but if you lose you gotta hand it over today and tomorrow." "Uh uh," CJ said. "You know fighting's against the rules." "In school," Jake said. "We're not in school, yet." He gave CJ a push to his knees beside the wooden crate that was used as the field of contention. "Now, kid." CJ looked desperately around. There was no one who would help him, he knew. Everyone was afraid of Biff and the others, and the few kids within view were keeping their distance. Well, he'd done without lunch once or twice before for one reason or another... He gritted his teeth and set his elbow on the box. Biff's grin looked like a shark's teeth to him as the bigger boy planted his elbow firmly and gripped CJ's hand. Grunt intoned, "One, two, three...go!" It wasn't going to be a contest, CJ thought, but he'd learned from his mom never to give up without a fight, so he tensed his muscles and tried to force Biff's hand toward the crate. Biff's hand hit the wood two seconds later. For a shocked second, no one moved or spoke. Then, Biff said, "No fair! You caught me off guard. Count for us again, Grunt." Grunt repeated his count, and again, CJ slammed Biff's arm down onto the crate. CJ stood up, not sure how it had happened, but knowing that he'd won. "I win. Come on, Wyatt. We're going to be late." "You cheated!" Biff roared. CJ and Wyatt ran. ********** All day, the two boys were aware at every recess that Biff, or one of his cronies was watching them. At the 4th through 6th grade lunch period, Grunt managed to get next to CJ and Wyatt in line and say, "After school, you're toast. Just wanted to let you know." The two boys glanced at each other, but neither said anything while Grunt was within earshot. When the bell rang for the end of lunch recess, Wyatt looked at CJ. "What are we gonna do?" he whispered. CJ shrugged. "I dunno. I guess we could report it to Mr. Grunlow." "Yeah, and you know what he'll do. Biff's dad's a city councilman. Grunlow'll give Biff a warning and that will be it. Just like the time Billy Turner reported him." Billy Turner had ended up with a bloody nose and two black eyes, and insisted he didn't know who had done it, but CJ knew, and so did everybody else. He bit his lip, trying to think. There had to be a way out of this. His dad always told him that you could usually think your way out of any ordinary mess, if you used your head, but this didn't seem ordinary, at least not to him. CJ was a popular boy in school, in spite of the fact that he was at the head of his class. He didn't usually get picked on. By two o'clock, he was in a mild panic. The final bell rang at two fifteen and then he and Wyatt would be on their own. How were they going to get away from Biff and the others? Not for a moment did he indulge in the illusion that Biff would go after them alone. Ms. Peterson, his fifth grade teacher, was reminding them of their reading assignment for tomorrow. CJ had already finished the entire book, but he hadn't told her that. He glanced out the classroom window, estimating how long it would take them to make it to the gate and if they would have time before Biff got out of his class. The sixth grade classrooms were on the second floor. They might be able to make it... The bell rang and Ms. Peterson dismissed the class. CJ picked up his backpack and headed for the exit, Wyatt on his heels. They had a few minutes' start and they made the most of it. The Kent home was close, and waiting to undo the safety lock on Wyatt's bicycle would have taken too much time. The two boys ran, taking a shortcut that CJ knew. Unfortunately, neither of them had taken into account the possibility that Biff or any of his friends might skip class. The four larger boys were waiting for them as they rounded the corner. Biff grinned, looking more like a shark than ever to CJ. "Thought you were gonna get away, didn't you? I don't like cheaters." "I don't cheat!" CJ retorted. "I won, fair and square!" "No little shrimp like you beats Biff arm-wrestling," Jake said. "You musta cheated and now you're gonna pay." CJ glanced frantically around, looking for an escape route. The four boys had boxed them in. Red lunged for Wyatt and pinned his arms behind his back. Biff cracked his knuckles. "Get him," he said to Grunt and Jake. Both boys grabbed for CJ. This was it, he figured. What, he wondered, would his mom do in a spot like this? The answer hit him suddenly. He'd never done it before, and it might not work, but it sure couldn't hurt to try. He sucked in his breath and yelled at the top of his voice: "Help, Superman!" ********** (tbc) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 22:06:54 +0100 Reply-To: Yvonne Connell Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yvonne Connell Subject: Re: Both Board are down! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Darn, that means I've got no excuse to put off writing tonight... Yvonne (yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 16:43:45 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Re: Both Board are down! I think it is ironic that the Queen of Fear is the most optimistic of the bunch... James On Thu, 16 Aug 2001 22:06:54 +0100, Yvonne Connell wrote: >Darn, that means I've got no excuse to put off writing tonight... > >Yvonne >(yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 18:25:25 -0500 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: Both Board are down! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay so I just realized I responded to Yvonne instead of the list! Lastson seems to be up! I was on for a while, then got an error, but got back on close to right away. Redboots however is another story! But like Yvonne - I need to be writing! CM On Thu, 16 Aug 2001 22:06:54 +0100 Yvonne Connell writes: > Darn, that means I've got no excuse to put off writing tonight... > > Yvonne > (yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 18:27:23 -0500 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: Valley of the Shadow, 9/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Here is part 9. Promise it gets better before TOO much longer! Anyway - the heat wave ep gives the name of the Metropolis baseball team as the Metropolitans so that's what it is (changed from the Comets in the previous section). Lois and Lex were at the same baseball game as Jimmy and Clark and then a week later... ***** Part 9 Clark sat down at his desk, trying desperately not to look at the desk of his wife. *Wife,* he thought bitterly. Only two weeks earlier it had been the most wonderful word he knew and now all it brought was bitterness. Lois was gone. The baby was gone. What did he have left to live for? He loved Lois with all his heart. He loved the baby. He knew the child would never be born, would never grow up, never really exist, but he still loved the child as much as he would have if he or she had been born and then something happened. There was a big ache in his heart, a hole that had appeared when he received the first email from Lois telling him that there wasn't going to be a baby. A hole that increased in size with each passing day. A hole that told him there wasn't going to be a little piece of them to love and cherish. Today was the day. He was going to talk to Perry. He needed a change. He couldn't deal with the apartment anymore. Lois' things were still there as were the little items that they had bought together for the life that Lois had been carrying. He took a deep breath and stood up. Lois was coming back to work tomorrow and he didn't want to be here. It had been hard enough the time he'd seen her as Superman. Rescuing her was easy. Dealing with her was not. He had finally come up with an idea. He knocked on Perry's door. "Perry? Can I talk to you?" Perry looked up from the article he was editing. "Sure, son. You know you can always talk to me. What is it?" Clark sat on the couch. "I want to be reassigned." Perry raised an eyebrow. "What?" He should have known this was coming. "John's going on vacation and Bill was supposed to replace him. But Bill had a heart attack and can't go on the road with the Metropolitans. I'd like to take his place." "Baseball? You want the baseball beat?" Clark nodded. "I grew up listening to the Cardinals and Royals on the radio and watching them whenever we could get a game on T. V. I played some in high school and I've gone to games a couple of times a year my whole life. I can give you the stats of any player in the league - from the hot new rookie in St. Louis to Barry Bonds - who might break the home run record this year. I can do the job." It didn't hurt that he'd sped-read the sports sections from the whole season the night before. "It's not that, Kent. I know you can do it, but you're an investigative reporter, not a sports guy." Clark looked pleadingly at his editor. "Please, Perry. I need to get out of town for a few days, weeks, years. I can't deal with things here anymore." "So that's what it is. Lois is coming back tomorrow and you don't want to be here." "Not just here. I can't deal with being at home either. Lois' things are there and the things that we bought before she..." Clark's voice trailed off, unable to continue. Perry sighed. As much as they tried to keep things quiet, rumors were spreading like wildfire about Lois, Clark and the baby. He hated to waste one of his best reporters on a baseball team, but Clark wasn't going to be much use here. And Lane and Kent, the hottest reporting team the Planet had ever known, was definitely on the fritz. He'd lose both of them if he tried to make them work together. "Please, Perry." Perry couldn't take the look of anguish and the tears that threatened to spill behind the wire rimmed glasses. "Okay. Go." "Thanks. I'll leave this afternoon. The team's plane takes off at three for Cincinatti. They play the Reds tomorrow. Good thing that the Planet has a permanent seat on their plane. The road trip lasts two weeks. I'll be back then." Perry nodded, having difficulty holding his own tears back, as the young man left the office. ***** Clark picked up the bag he had stashed under his desk in the hopes that Perry would agree to the plan. As he stood, his heart stopped. Without even looking up, he knew. She was here. He turned and went up the stairs, knowing his wife would take the ramp. He was wrong. Lois had made the same assumption about Clark. They almost collided, but managed to avoid each other. As hard as she tried, she couldn't avoid looking at him. He was still incredibly handsome, but he also looked as haggard as she felt. Good. He deserved it. He deserted her after she had miscarried their baby - the one he had claimed to want so badly. Maybe he regretted it, just a little bit. She hoped he had the same tortured dreams at night as she did. "Hi." His voice hadn't changed. "Hi. I'd ask how you are, but... I think I already know." Clark sighed. She was as beautiful as ever, in a sad sort of way. But she had been getting his emails. She had to know how much this was tearing him apart. "Are you going somewhere?" Clark looked at the bag he held. "I'm going to travel with the Metropolitans for a couple of weeks." "Football." "Baseball, Lois." Lois could feel the tears start to come as he spoke her name, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. "Right, baseball. Well, don't get hit in the face by one of those pucks." "Right, Lois." Clark smiled a sad smile, reminded of the grin and the teasing that would have accompanied the conversation a few weeks earlier, to be followed by a kiss, or two, and then... Clark shook his head. He didn't want to go there. "Um, I've got to go. The plane leaves in less than an hour." "You hate flying commercial." "I know, but I have to." "Right. Well, good luck." "You, too." Clark looked in her eyes for just a moment. Something was missing that had been there before. They had a glassy look to them. It broke Clark's heart to see the heartache there and he wondered about it. Maybe she was covering up in her emails. But in that instant, whatever he had seen - or not seen - disappeared and she was even colder than she had seemed when they first met. "Bye, Lois." "Bye... Clark." Clark turned and walked to the elevator, his head hung so that his chin was almost touching his chest. He didn't look up until after the elevator doors had closed in front of him. ***** Clark gratefully settled into his window seat on the plane. He hated flying commercial, Lois had been right about that, but he really didn't have a choice. He didn't know what he was going to do about Superman. It would be difficult to take off in the top of the ninth with the game tied or something, but he'd just have to deal with it. Once Superman had reappeared - with a rather lame excuse - crime had actually slowed down. As long as Superman kept showing up, things would stay that way. He hoped. As long as he was sitting by the window he might be able to keep nosy reporters out of his business. Seeing Lois had been almost more than he could deal with. He hadn't known just how deep the hurt had gone. It tore him to his very core. He loved his wife very much, even though he had only spoken with her twice in the last two weeks. No matter what she had done to their child, he loved her. He just wished that she would talk to him and try to help him understand. Maybe if she did, he'd know where she was coming from and they could work through things together. "Clark!" The voice interrupted Clark's internal meanderings. He looked up. "Hi, Bruce." Bruce Jones sat down in the aisle seat. "Since when does the great investigative reporter join the lowly sports guys? Uncovering a conspiracy trying to help the Cubs win the World Series?" Clark had to chuckle a bit at that. "No. I don't think that'll ever happen. John's on vacation and Bill had a heart attack. He's going to be fine, but no travelling for a while." "You're right. Not even Superman could help the Cubs win a Series. So why you? Perry not happy with your last story and sending you out to pay your dues?" "No, I volunteered." Bruce looked slightly shocked. "And left that lovely wife of yours behind?" Clark turned to stare out the window. "She doesn't mind." "Ah. Touchy subject. Say no more. Need some time away and what better way than baseball. You been following this Pujols kid? Not looking forward to seeing him in St. Louis next week." Clark turned back to the LNN-Metropolis reporter. At least baseball was a safe topic. "He's been pretty amazing. They were right to name him NL Rookie of the Month in April, May and June. The way he's going, he'd have to really blow it to not be named Rookie of the Year. And, hey, he made the All-Star Team." "Ah, so he's not just a pretty face; he does know his baseball." "I grew up listening to the Royals and Cardinals, so I have to keep up. Dad would kill me if I didn't." Bruce clasped Clark's shoulder with one hand. "Well, hey, Rodriguez is giving me an interview on this flight, so I gotta get. But, we're glad to have you." He stood and started to walk off, but turned back. "Clark, I don't know what's going on with you and Lois - I'm sure the rumors will be flying before long, but I don't put much stock in them - but talk to her. Whatever you do, don't let the lines of communication close. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. That's why I'm out here, on the road for LNN-Metropolis, eleven months out of the year." Clark nodded and turned back to his window. He hoped no one else would bother him. ***** Lois had planned on sitting at her desk and trying to get reacquainted with her place of employment, but seeing the picture sitting there made it too much. The sight of her and Clark laughing and so obviously in love was more than she could bear. She did pick it up and look at it sadly for a moment, but she didn't return it to the regular spot. Instead she put it upside down in her top drawer where she wouldn't have to look at it every day. She walked into Perry's office and sat dejectedly on the couch, waiting for the editor to return from a staff meeting. Seeing Clark had taken more out of her than she thought it would. He had made it plain in his emails that he didn't want anything to do with her, just reinforcing what Jimmy had told her almost two weeks earlier. It had been all she could do to keep from losing herself in his once warm chocolate eyes. His eyes had looked different somehow - something was missing from them that had been there before. She wanted to believe that it was his love for her that was missing - it would make accepting things easier if he didn't love her anymore - but that wasn't it. It had still been there - he still loved her. That was something, but his last email had said something else. She closed her eyes and tried to block out the site of the computer screen that appeared unbidden. Lois - I know you are going through a tough time - I am too - but I know that I am coping well. From what Lucy has told me and from your emails, I see that you are doing well, too. I think that we need to acknowledge that our problems are not going away and that we both need to get on with our lives, even if we do so separately. I know that I am ready to get on with things. I hope you are too and that you aren't living in the past. What happened, happened, but let's not let one bad event ruin the rest of our lives. Clark He had seemed so callous and cold. She didn't know how he thought she had it all together from her emails. Some of them had been rather frantic. But, he wanted to get on with life, without her, according to his email, but he still loved her. His eyes had told her. He had never been able to hide anything when she looked in his eyes. Lois sighed. Maybe she should find a new job. Maybe she should move to Alaska or South Africa or somewhere and she'd never have to see him again. As long as she wasn't in an area that had earthquakes or tidal waves or hurricanes. She didn't want him rescuing her anymore either. The two times he had rescued her had been more than a bit awkward. She sighed. Work wasn't going to be easy, but maybe it would be a bit easier without Clark around to deal with. ***** Perry started just a bit when he realized that Lois was sitting in his office, but retained his composure. He hadn't become the editor-in-chief of the world's greatest newspaper because he could yodel, but all of his years of experience hadn't prepared him to deal with two star reporters who were married and having problems of the magnitude of Lois and Clark's. He sat on the edge of his desk and looked at Lois. No matter what had happened, what she had done, this was obviously taking its toll on her. It must not have been as easy to deal with as she would have thought. "I didn't think you were coming back until tomorrow, darlin'." "I'm just here to look around and reconnect. I don't start working again until tomorrow." "Didn't look like you ever stopped. Didn't Clark write up Superman's rescue of you the other day?" "Yes, he did." "Doesn't sound like you were taking it easy then." "It was just that once. I couldn't sit around any longer and I wanted to find out who was behind Clark's kidnapping." Perry couldn't help but noticed she hesitated just a bit before she said Clark's name. "You wanted to find out who was behind the kidnapping?" He raised an eyebrow. Clark had told him about the emails he'd been receiving from Lois. From the sound of them Lois wanted absolutely nothing to do with Clark or investigating his disappearance. "Even though... even though," Lois took a deep breath, "things aren't going well with Clark and I, I still want to know what happened. You know me and a story. Like a pit bull, right?" Lois didn't have much conviction behind her words. "Right." Perry took a deep breath. "Why don't you get out of here and relax this evening and come back ready to work tomorrow?" "Sounds like a good idea." Lois stood and picked up her purse. She started to walk out of the editor's office. She paused by the door and then turned to talk to Perry. "And Perry?" "Yes, Lois?" "Thank you for reassigning Clark." Perry shook his head. "It wasn't my doing, Lois. He asked to be reassigned." "Oh." Lois stared at him for a minute and then left. Clark had asked to be reassigned. He wanted to be gone before she ever showed up. Didn't sound like a guy pining away for his wife, now did it? Instead he was probably at 35,000 feet glad to be away from her. ***** There was another email waiting for Clark when he arrived at his hotel. He was getting sick of emailing back and forth, but his wife obviously didn't want to talk to him face-to-face. Clark - It's probably good that you are going out of town. We really don't need to deal with each other right now. Things are too difficult. You don't seem to want to understand what happened and why and until you do, I don't know that there's a future for us. I'm ready to move on with my life and I hope you are too. Lois The emails seemed to be getting shorter and shorter. They also seemed to have taken on a tone of finality. Not want to understand? Move on with his life? More than anything he wanted to understand what happened and why, but she wouldn't explain it to him, even if he asked her straight out. Maybe she hadn't gotten that email - she hadn't responded to it directly, after all. And as for getting on with his life, he wanted to do that with his wife, not without her. He longed to hold her in his arms; to wipe away the tears that she had to be crying no matter how strong she tried to act over cyberspace; to kiss her soft lips; to float with her in the clouds; to wrestle with her in the surf off their island laughing the whole time; to lay together under the stars at night in the bed in their little cottage; to float with her above their bed in their apartment; to lay on the couch and watch television with one hand on her belly where their baby was growing; to eat dinner together at their favorite Italian restaurant in Milan; to have a picnic in the middle of the field in Kansas; to give her a hickey behind the Tasty Freeze; to make-out in the hayloft; to just be together; to look into her eyes and know that she understood everything about him; and to have a chance to heal together. If only that was what she wanted too. Clark flopped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He struggled to keep the tears back, but it was the same losing battle he had been fighting for two weeks. At least his parents would be home soon. In fact, they'd be flying through St. Louis while he was there and they'd be able to sit and talk. He'd gotten a hold of their travel agent and arranged for them to have an extended layover. He knew they'd be surprised, but they'd understand. ***** Superman landed in front of the stunned mugger. The teenager was stuck inside a trashcan, his arms and legs flailing. "What was that for?!" He was also indignant. "I believe you owe the lady an apology." "For what?" Superman just rolled his eyes. "The cops will be here soon. I suggest you change your attitude." He turned to the woman whose purse he held in her hand. "Are you okay?" "I'm fine." Lois almost glared at him. "Are you sure?" Clark was concerned for his wife. Even though they were separated he still loved her and something wasn't right. He had been patrolling Metropolis before that evening's game in Chicago when he noticed Lois half-heartedly fighting for her purse. The Lois he knew would have had the man on his knees begging for mercy, but she hadn't really even fought back. "I'll be fine." She turned to walk away only to find her way blocked by the electric blue outfit of her husband. "I'm worried about you, Lois. Something doesn't seem right." "There's nothing wrong with me, *Superman*. Now if you'll just get out of my way..." "Lois..." "Listen to me. I want you to leave me alone. I am fine and I don't need your help." She crossed her arms and stared at the ground. "If you're sure you're okay..." "I told you I'm fine." They stood there in an awkward silence for a moment. "How's your trip?" "It's fine. I better go." "Right. Gotta save the world." Lois turned to walk away. "Lois..." She didn't stop but just walked off to talk to the police who had finally arrived. Superman stood there for a moment and watched her. Finally, he sighed and raised one arm above his head, heading for the solitude of the skies. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 18:37:28 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Subject: Couple refused right to adopt because they don't argue enough Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_375813.html?menu=news.quirkies ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 19:02:54 -0500 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: Valley of the Shadow, 10/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay - my bad! Had a "brain fart" and forgot that I had posted part 9 already and so I apologize! I also apologize for not posting Monday - it's been one of those weeks! Comments appreciated! CM CK has gone on the road with the Metropolitans (previously the Comets - but an ep corrected me), and Lois is back at work. ***** Part 10 Superman landed in front of the stunned mugger. The teenager was stuck inside a trashcan, his arms and legs flailing. "What was that for?!" He was also indignant. "I believe you owe the lady an apology." "For what?" Superman just rolled his eyes. "The cops will be here soon. I suggest you change your attitude." He turned to the woman whose purse he held in her hand. "Are you okay?" "I'm fine." Lois almost glared at him. "Are you sure?" Clark was concerned for his wife. Even though they were separated he still loved her and something wasn't right. He had been patrolling Metropolis before that evening's game in Chicago when he noticed Lois half-heartedly fighting for her purse. The Lois he knew would have had the man on his knees begging for mercy, but she hadn't really even fought back. "I'll be fine." She turned to walk away only to find her way blocked by the electric blue outfit of her husband. "I'm worried about you, Lois. Something doesn't seem right." "There's nothing wrong with me, *Superman*. Now if you'll just get out of my way..." "Lois..." "Listen to me. I want you to leave me alone. I am fine and I don't need your help." She crossed her arms and stared at the ground. "If you're sure you're okay..." "I told you I'm fine." They stood there in an awkward silence for a moment. "How's your trip?" "It's fine. I better go." "Right. Gotta save the world." Lois turned to walk away. "Lois..." She didn't stop but just walked off to talk to the police who had finally arrived. Superman stood there for a moment and watched her. Finally, he sighed and raised one arm above his head, heading for the solitude of the skies. ***** Clark had been gone for almost two weeks, returning only to Metropolis as Superman, and it seemed like he had been gone forever. First had been Cincinnati and the Reds, then Philadelphia and the Pirates, followed by Chicago and the Cubs. Now they were finally in St. Louis. The Metropolitans were on a five-game winning streak, but they didn't match up well against the Cardinals. It was going to be hard for Clark not to let his bias show through in his reports, but he didn't want to be on Perry's bad side on top of everything else. The emails were coming farther and farther apart and were getting shorter and shorter. He was losing Lois. It wouldn't have mattered if he was in Metropolis instead of on the road. This had started before he even left. At least his parents would be here soon. He was at the airport and was pretty sure their plane was on approach. He lowered his glasses and sure enough they were sitting on the plane, worried looks on their faces. He didn't really mean to listen in, but he couldn't help overhearing that they were concerned about him and the change in their agenda. A few minutes later, they were walking down the jet way towards their son. Martha sent an almost scared look at Jonathan as she saw the haggard face that she barely recognized. She turned her full attention to her son. "Clark, what is it?" She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him for long moments. "Mom. Dad. I'm sorry to change your itinerary, but I didn't know if I'd get a chance to visit Kansas after you got back." Clark gave his father a hug as well. As they started towards the baggage claim, he continued, "I don't really want to talk about it here. I'd rather hear about your trip for now and then after we get you to the hotel, we'll have dinner." They collected the bags and then boarded the MetroLink, a train that would take them towards downtown. They got off at Union Station and headed towards the hotel. "Clark, this is too nice. We don't need a hotel this fancy," Martha protested as she looked around at the plush decorations. "You deserve it, Mom. Especially after I changed your itinerary without talking to you about it." "Sit. And tell us what's going on." Clark sat on the couch, between his parents and told them the whole story. He told them about the problems they were having, about the baby and the emails and everything else. By the time he was finished, there were tears running down his mother's face and his father was clearing his throat repeatedly. "Clark, I wish there were something we could do." Martha was sympathetic, but the unspoken communication with her husband had confirmed that this was something that Clark had to handle himself. As hard as it was, they couldn't interfere. "Would you call her, Mom?" Martha took a deep breath. "Do you think it would do any good, Clark?" Clark sighed. "Probably not." He stared at his hands for long moments. Finally, he stood. "I've got to get down to the ballpark. That's why I'm here. I'm travelling with the Metropolitans. I just had to get away." He handed them two tickets. "Here's some press passes. You can join me in the box if you want to. Fox Sports Northeast is interviewing me here in a little bit as a part of a series they're doing on the people who travel with the team. You're welcome to come with me now or hang out here for a while or not come at all. There's some great shopping in the Station and you can take the Metrolink down to Busch Stadium or all the way to the river if you want to see the Arch while you're here." Clark started to walk out the door. "And Mom, Dad. Thanks." He left as his parents looked at each other. ***** The last thing Lois expected to see as she flipped through the channels in her apartment was her husband's smiling face. She stopped to see what it was. "Up next," came the announcer's voice, "more of our continuing series on those who travel with the Metropolitans. Tonight, Clark Kent of the Daily Planet. After these messages." Lois made sure that there was a tape in the VCR and pushed the record button on the remote. Even though this wouldn't be an in depth interview and probably wouldn't last more than thirty seconds, she wanted to be able to play it over and over again. Two minutes later, the Arch and the Mississippi River appeared on the screen. "Tonight we are joined by Clark Kent of Metropolis' own Daily Planet. Clark is new to the sports beat, but not new to baseball. He followed the Royals and the Cardinals from his home in Kansas as a child. So, Clark, what's it like being on the road?" Clark smiled. "It's different. I've traveled all over the world but this is the first time I'm actually following a baseball team. It's different, but I'm enjoying it." Lois almost melted when Clark's pearly whites filled the screen and his voice was almost more than she could take. He looked good, she admitted. She thought he was a more tan than he had been when he left, but he also had a few more wrinkles around his eyes. Or so she thought. He hadn't said anything about what it was like to leave his wife behind, but maybe the other guy had been told not to ask any personal questions or something. "What's the hardest thing about being on the road for you, Clark?" "Well, probably living in hotels out of a suitcase. It's not something I've ever enjoyed. And flying. I hate flying." Lois couldn't help but smile. Clark loved flying, but felt there was something unnatural about flying in a metal tube instead of under his own power. "Kinda odd for someone who's traveled the world, isn't it?" Clark laughed and flashed that million-watt smile of his. "Probably." "What about your family? Is it hard leaving your wife in Metropolis?" Or maybe he hadn't been instructed to leave the family alone. Lois leaned in to catch every word, every nuance. She saw Clark take a deep breath before he started. "Well, it's always hard being on the road without your family. I'm no different than anyone else there." "Now, isn't your wife expecting your first child? It must be hard to miss that." Lois sucked in her breath. She hadn't expected that question and she could tell Clark hadn't either. She leaned in even closer. For a moment, she thought she saw tears in Clark's eyes, but he recovered quickly. "No, my wife isn't expecting a child right now." The confusion was evident on the face of the interviewer. Everyone remembered the attempt to blackmail Superman. "Ah, well, maybe someday. There's nothing like having kids." The camera focused in on Clark's face. "What's the best thing about being on the road?" Clark laughed. "The hot dogs, the nachos, the ice cream. There's nothing like the food in a Major League ballpark." "Well, it was great talking with you, Clark. We're glad to have you on this trip with us." The camera focused solely on the other man. "Next, we have John Marcus, the Metropolitans sensational new shortstop just acquired from Montreal. Stay tuned." Lois stared at the television. Clark *had* flinched when talking about his family, but few people would have noticed since he smiled broadly the rest of the time. Maybe he didn't miss his wife as much as he wanted the reporter and the rest of the world to believe. She sighed, wiped the tears that were her constant companion and went back to her packing. ***** Clark trudged wearily up the stairs to the apartment he shared with his wife. Exhaustion was something new to him, something he didn't like. He hadn't slept more than about an hour or two a night since he found out about the baby and it was catching up with him. He didn't need as much sleep as most people, but this was getting ridiculous. He slowly unlocked all of the locks that Lois insisted on and pushed the door open. As he walked in, he stopped in surprise. Lois' last email had said she would be stopping by the apartment to get her things, but this was more than that. The couch and entertainment center were gone and had been replaced with the things that had been in his apartment the first couple of weeks they were married. He set his bag down and looked around the rest of the room. The paintings were gone as were the rest of the decorations and homey touches that Lois had put on the place. He walked into the kitchen and wasn't surprised to see the few dishes his mom had given him when he decided to settle down in Metropolis, even before he married Lois. The bedroom was no surprise either. The double bed he had occupied alone was there as was the dilapidated dresser. In one corner were some boxes. Taped to them was a piece of paper. Clark quickly strode over and read the delicate writing he had come to love. Clark - I tried to make sure that you have at least what you need. I didn't want the baby things that we bought, so I left them. I know how badly you want children, so maybe you can use them someday. At least you know that you are able to. I know how much that possibility bothered you. Lex helped me find a new apartment. I'm still at the Planet, so if there is something that I forgot, you can bring it to me there. I never wanted to hurt you, Clark, and I don't hate you, no matter what has happened between us. I'll always love you and the baby we never had. I just wish things had been different. Lois Clark sat slowly onto the old bed. The tone of the note was completely different from the emails he had been receiving, almost as though two completely different people wrote them. Too bad that wasn't possible. She still loved him, but didn't think there was any hope for them together, or else why would *he* need the baby things without her. He tried to keep from remembering the time they had bought things, but he couldn't help it. SSSSS "Clark, do we really need to look at baby stuff yet? I'm not even three months pregnant. And we already have a bunch of stuff from your mom." Clark laughed and put his arm around her waist, pulling her close. "No, we don't have to, but it'll be fun." He turned his head and kissed her hair. "Come on, please?" Lois smiled. "Oh, fine." They walked into the baby store, arm in arm. They spent almost an hour in there, looking at all the different baby things. Neither one of them had any idea that there were so many kinds of things that people needed when having a baby. And how expensive some of them were. There were a couple of things they just couldn't resist, so they made their purchases and walked home together. They stopped to pick up some take-out on their way home. Pasta. Clark smiled knowing what they were in for tonight. They didn't even eat their dinner before their libidos got the better of them. Lois unloaded the baby things and held up her favorite. It was a little blue sleeper with a big S shield on it. "Ours will be the only baby who actually should be wearing this," Lois informed her husband. Clark groaned as he started to set out the containers on the counter. She walked over and put her arms around him, resting her cheek against his back. "And that's just fine with me! I'm glad Superman is the daddy of my baby." "Are you sure about that?" "Of course. I don't like that you're gone so much, but *you* are Superman and there is no one I would rather be the father of my children." Clark turned around in her embrace until he was looking deep into her eyes. Lois reached up and removed his glasses. "Those things tend to get in the way." Clark just smiled, knowing what was coming next, running his hands gently up and down her sides. Lois reached up with one hand and pulled his head a little closer until their lips were touching. The gentle contact lasted only seconds before the kiss became more intense and the passion began to mount. Soon table was occupied and shortly after that, they were floating near the ceiling, clothes finding their way to the floor, chairs or counter below. Later, Clark floated them into the bedroom and set them down gently on the bed. Lois sighed as she cuddled in next to him. "And to think, we didn't even need the pasta." SSSSS Clark tried to push it out of his mind. It was the last time he had made love to his wife. Minutes later he had been called to a car accident and the next day he had been kidnapped. He reread the note. This time something else jumped out at him. Lex. Lex had helped her find a new apartment. So even though she still loved him, she was willing to have some kind of relationship with the man she knew was his archenemy. Well, Superman's archenemy. She knew how much Lex hated him; they had just never been able to prove anything. And now they were apparently... something. He had seen them at the baseball game several weeks earlier and knew there was *something* going on between the two of them. Clark sighed. Would the heaviness on his shoulders and in his heart ever go away? ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 02:12:15 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Bethy Em Subject: NEW: Secret Affairs (1/1) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Secret Affairs By Bethy Rated PG-13 Please finish reading before judging. It's short. He watched her drop her shopping bags on the floor as she slid into the chair across the table from him. They were seated in a secluded corner of the hotel restaurant, a perfectly romantic spot. He couldn't help looking around nervously, though. “What’s wrong, Clark?” she asked. “I’m just not sure we should be doing this, that’s all.” He had that little feeling in his gut that he got whenever he did something he shouldn't. “Come on, you’re such a worrywart!” she laughed. “Anyway, you’ll forget all about that when you see what I bought at Veronica’s Secret,” she purred. He smiled a half smile and thought once again just how beautiful she was. Too bad...Uh-uh. Wrong track. Thoughts not going there. Not now. “So do I get to see it?” he asked suggestively, trying to shake that feeling of doom and enjoy himself. “Uh-uh-uh, you naughty boy!” She laughed. Oh, how he loved that sound. If only he could hear it more often. He would do just about anything to make her laugh. “You’ll just have to wait until we go upstairs. In private!” In response, he pulled the room key out of his suit coat pocket and dangled it over the table. He could fulfill that request. “Well, our room is all ready for us, sheets turned down and even mints on the pillows.” There was that laugh again. “Do you want to head up there now? Or order a drink first?” Now. Now, please say now! “Oh, what’s the hurry? Let’s have a drink.” Darn. He flagged down a waiter, they ordered their drinks and he settled back in his chair to gaze upon her beauty. Suddenly he jumped. Her foot was on his leg! He took a quick peek through the table to see that she had removed her stockinged foot from its pump and was now seductively drawing it up and down his calf. Did she know what she was doing to him? “Oh...” he groaned. “Maybe we should just skip those drinks.” “Why?” she asked innocently. “Something wrong?” Her eyebrows rose along with a pert grin. “You know very well what’s wrong!” he growled. He lunged forward as if to tickle her and she jumped back with a playful shriek. “Just wait ’til I get you upstairs!” “Oh, yeah?” she answered challengingly, resuming her foot ministrations on his leg. “And what exactly do you plan on doing to me there?” Before he could launch into a...detailed...description of his plans, his cell phone rang. “Oh, no!” he groaned inwardly. “Not now!” He pointed a finger at her sternly as he drew the phone from his pocket. “I’ll deal with you in a minute.” She laughed and he flipped the phone open, answering in a professional tone, “Clark Kent.” His expression softened when he heard a soft, “Daddy?” “Yeah, CJ? What is it?” He paused for a second and then suppressed a sigh. “You don’t feel well?...You threw up? I’m sorry...Did the babysitter give you any 7-UP?...She didn’t? Well, tell her Daddy said you could have some...What’s that? Yes, she’s right here...You want to talk to her? Okay, here’s Mommy.” He held the phone out over the table to Lois and sighed. “So much for our night out.” THE END Gotcha! Comments welcome here or at bethyem@yahoo.com _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 12:43:53 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: Smallville promos MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Kathy wrote: > Oh, I'm with you. John Shea is just ... just ... yummy. > > Kathy (dodging the tomatoes. Well he *is*! ) Oh, I agree! He's very good-looking indeed. And there's even something about Lex himself which appeals to me (I bet that surprised a lot of people ). Of course he's evil, but there's just something about him... ;) Wendy -------------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 18:28:55 +0200 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: Smallville promos MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Wendy wrote: > Oh, I agree! He's very good-looking indeed. And there's even something about > Lex himself which appeals to me (I bet that surprised a lot of people ). > Of course he's evil, but there's just something about him... ;) LOL! Why am I not surprised, huh? Just from looking at your picturial efforts for Second Thoughts, I knew that you did have a *thing* for Lex. ;) Helene :) (grinning, ducking and running ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kaethel Kaethel@wanadoo.fr ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 12:57:41 EDT 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: Smallville promos MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 8/17/01 7:46:17 AM Eastern Daylight Time, w.m.richards@HRM.KEELE.AC.UK writes: > Of course he's evil, but there's just something about him... ;) > Lex is what 's called a "bad boy", and he really smooth with his charm....:-) "What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" ......Langston Hughes Wanda ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 14:00:54 EDT 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: NEW: Secret Affairs (1/1) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Real cute. Ha Ha Ha "What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" ......Langston Hughes Wanda ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 13:07:31 -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 promos On Fri, 17 Aug 2001 12:43:53 +0100, Wendy Richards < w.m.richards@HRM.KEELE.AC.UK> wrote: >Of course he's evil, but there's just something about him... ;) LOL, yes, exactly. That's what makes him so dangerous, his good looks and charisma. Even without resorting to threats, he can often get people to do what he wants. It's also what helps maintain the fascade of an honest businessman. If he looked evil and let that part show through, people would be suspicious. But like Mindy Church, who used her "ditz" routine to disarm people, Lex Luthor used his earnest charm. I think this is also why the "twist" worked in The Lex Files, when Leslie Luckabee turned out to not be Lex's son. Not only did he look like Lex, he also had a similar kind of charm. Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 19:07:12 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Meredith Knight Subject: Re: Question: Clark's apartment In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Thanks again, you guys. I did the virtual tour (very neat!) but the apartment wasn't like that in Series 1. I think the kitchen went back through where the bedroom was in the tour. *shrug* I rewrote the story section to make it a bit vaguer. Cindy Leuch writes >Zoom has a virtual tour of Clark's apartment (ca. season 3) on her >zoomway.com site. Looking at it sure straightened some things up for me. I >would recommend taking a look at that. -- Meredith Knight ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 12:50:59 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: More Questions for fanfic MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hi guys! I have some more questions for the fanfic that I'm currently working on. In a police force, what's the difference between an Inspector - as in Inspector Henderson - and a lieutenant as in Lieutenant Sipowitz on NYPD Blue? Also, in an organization like the NIA, what would be the formal title of an investigator? Would it be 'Agent' so-and-so as in Agent Scardino (Yuck!) or would there be something different that they could be called? Thanks for your help. Irene ===== sirenegold@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 12:56:52 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Karen Subject: Re: Valley of the Shadow, 10/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Wonderful chapter, wonderful chapter...There was just one little thing that I /had/ to comment on. You see, I'm from the Pittsburgh area, and I kind of got this shocked gasping type look on my face when you said Clark had gone to Philadelphia and the Pirates. *dies* It's the Pittsburgh Pirates. :P :) Not that the dummies even deserve to be /called/ a team currently. *gripes* Especially after they whined a new stadium out of the state, and are still losing. *grumps again* But that's OT... :P Anyway, it /was/ a wonderful chapter!! Keep it up, and I'm sorry if someone else has already commented on the Pirates thing, I get digests so I'm a little behind. :P ~~ Karen ===== ~ Men are from Earth, women are from Earth. Deal with it. ~ If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done? ~ Can vegetarians eat animal crackers? ~ If someone with multiple personalities threatens to kill himself, is it considered a hostage situation? ~ "He's dead, Jim. You grab his wallet, I'll grab his tricorder." -- Anonymous __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 15:45:18 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: More Questions for fanfic On Fri, 17 Aug 2001 12:50:59 -0700, Irene D. wrote: >In a police force, what's the difference between an >Inspector - as in Inspector Henderson - and a >lieutenant as in Lieutenant Sipowitz on NYPD Blue? Actually, Sipowitz is a dectective on NYPD Blue, not a lieutenant. His boss was Lieutenant Fancy. (Though now they have that new guy, can't remember his name -- I'm sure if I were a little younger, I'd call him a hottie. ;)) I think Inspector is a step or two up the food chain, but my only proof is from TV. For example, on the old 'Barney Miller' series, Barney was the Captain and head of the squad, but Inspector Lueger was higher still. >Also, in an organization like the NIA, what would be >the formal title of an investigator? Would it be >'Agent' so-and-so as in Agent Scardino (Yuck!) or >would there be something different that they could be >called? This I don't know, though we do refer to FBI and CIA investigators as "agents". Is it an official title though? On XFiles, don't they just refer to Fox Mulder as "Mr. Mulder"? Or do they call him "Agent Mulder"? Oh, and as an aside to everyone on the list -- please remember to include the specific type of question in your subject line when you ask fanfic questions. I've been seeing a lot of topic headings lately with the subject "fanfic questions", etc., which don't help readers differenciate between the various threads. For instance, this one could have been something "Investigator Titles? (fanfic question)". Thanks! Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 15:50:03 -0500 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: Irene's inspector questions MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Also, in an organization like the NIA, what would be > the formal title of an investigator? Would it be > 'Agent' so-and-so as in Agent Scardino (Yuck!) or > would there be something different that they could be > called? Okay - I know this isn't exactly first hand information or anything, but I know he researches the heck out of his books so... In one of Tom Clancy's books, John Clark - a CIA *agent* - is emphatic that they are just that *agents* not spies or anything else, so... Also, the NIA, like the CIA, is an agency, so they should have agents - not sure what makes one a "special agent". Take that for what you will. Hope it maybe helps a little. CM ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 14:30:48 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: More Questions for fanfic In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Thank you, Kathy and Carol, for your quick responses. I appreciate it. Kathy and list, I apologise. I totally forgot our new rule re: questions. I won't forget again! Irene --- Kathy Brown wrote: > On Fri, 17 Aug 2001 12:50:59 -0700, Irene D. > wrote: > > >In a police force, what's the difference between an > >Inspector - as in Inspector Henderson - and a > >lieutenant as in Lieutenant Sipowitz on NYPD Blue? > > Actually, Sipowitz is a dectective on NYPD Blue, not > a lieutenant. His boss > was Lieutenant Fancy. (Though now they have that new > guy, can't remember his > name -- I'm sure if I were a little younger, I'd > call him a hottie. ;)) > > I think Inspector is a step or two up the food > chain, but my only proof is > from TV. For example, on the old 'Barney Miller' > series, Barney was the > Captain and head of the squad, but Inspector Lueger > was higher still. > > >Also, in an organization like the NIA, what would > be > >the formal title of an investigator? Would it be > >'Agent' so-and-so as in Agent Scardino (Yuck!) or > >would there be something different that they could > be > >called? > > This I don't know, though we do refer to FBI and CIA > investigators as > "agents". Is it an official title though? On > XFiles, don't they just refer > to Fox Mulder as "Mr. Mulder"? Or do they call him > "Agent Mulder"? > > > Oh, and as an aside to everyone on the list -- > please remember to include the > specific type of question in your subject line when > you ask fanfic questions. > I've been seeing a lot of topic headings lately with > the subject "fanfic > questions", etc., which don't help readers > differenciate between the various > threads. For instance, this one could have been > something "Investigator > Titles? (fanfic question)". Thanks! > > Kathy ===== sirenegold@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 16:35:48 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Phil Atcliffe Subject: NEW: Imbalance Part 20 [Late again, courtesy(?) of my ISP, who are _not_ my favourite people at the moment... The good news is, things should be back to "normal" next week -- when I go back to work! Anyway, the crooks are in the bag, the MPD and FBI are wondering if they can believe what they *thought* they saw that led to the guys they have in custody ending up that way... and everyone at the Daily Planet is scrambling around trying to work out what the frak just happened! But, naturally, one pair of reporters have a head start on _that_... Now read on:] ***** Superman swooped over the Metropolis skyline at blinding speed. He didn't slow down when he landed on the roof of the Daily Planet building, merely abandoning air travel to disappear at super-speed into the stairwell. Seconds later, Clark Kent strolled into the newsroom, whistling softly to himself -- quietly, but still loudly enough to earn him glares from some of the people there whose nerves were still feeling strained. He didn't seem to notice -- or react, at least -- until he reached Lois' desks and leaned down to murmur to her, "You okay?" Lois, intent on getting hold of her source at the NTSB, hadn't heard him come in, and she jumped in surprise, just a little, at the sound of his voice so near to her ear. "Oh!" she gasped -- softly; surprise or no, Lois had learned long ago to keep her voice down instinctively, lest someone else hear something that they should not. "Hi. All well?" Studying him carefully -- he didn't *look* any different -- she added, even more quietly, "*You* okay?" After all, she was realising, *this* -- Clark -- was the man she'd seen, minutes earlier, wrestling with a *jumbo jet*, directing it away from the Planet building. She was aware that he was capable of many impressive things; she'd flown with him, as well as seen other displays of his abilities -- but this, what he'd just done, was even more spectacular, and had surely required greater strength than he could possibly be capable of... or, she was realising simultaneously, perhaps not. It seemed that he really *was* capable of that... and possibly more. Much more. Just what were the limits of Superman's abilities? *Were* there any? "Yep," he replied, equally softly. "Plane safely on the ground, no-one hurt, bad guys in custody. Now we get to write it up." "*Bad guys?*" Lois yelped, shock over-riding "instinct" for once, making lots of nearby heads turn. "*What* bad guys?" she hissed, remembering where she was and who was listening; she wanted desperately to know what he was talking about, but not to have it spread all over the newsroom. Clark looked startled for a second, then rolled his eyes at his own stupidity. "Oh, of course," he said, "you don't know, do you? The plane--" He stopped suddenly, looking around at the multitude of curious faces staring at them -- all, he had no doubt, with long ears. "--is something that we'd better discuss in the conference room." Lois didn't need any further hints; she was up out of her chair and halfway to the room in question almost before Clark could follow her. She threw the doors open and dived into the room, pausing only to reflect, as Clark closed the door behind him, that she'd spent more time in that room in the last week than she had in the previous month, before grabbing him by the lapels and half-screaming (but quietly), half-imploring, "Okay, Kent, *give! * What's this about bad guys?" Clark calmly removed her hands from his jacket and got her to sit down, all the while telling her what had happened. She paled at the realisation that the entire affair appeared to have been set up just to kill her, but her shock quickly changed to anger. "Okay, that does it!" she railed, launching herself out of her chair and pacing around the room in fury. "Do you know how many people nearly got killed by those maniacs? I am going to nail the Churches' lousy hides for this! I am going to blow their entire sleazy outfit *wide* open!" "Lois..." came a level reply. She whirled to confront him, not wanting to listen to appeals for reason or moderation... ...and found herself facing a man she'd never seen before. This was not the Clark Kent she had worked with; this was not the man she had breakfast with, or looked at apartments with, or who took her on trips to Europe; this was not even the guy in the flashy suit who'd saved her life from Intergang - *how* many times now? No, this was... a *statue* -- and yet, he wasn't; he was still a man, very much made of flesh and blood, and yet somehow, he gave the impression that she was beholding a living, breathing figure of something harder and stronger than mere flesh -- stone or metal. It was a startling sight, even after everything else that morning, and Lois felt stunned by it. How could someone she thought she knew -- not all that well, but still... -- change so radically? Clark had mentioned once that Superman had picked up a nickname, some time and place that he still wasn't prepared to discuss -- the "Man of Steel". Now, Lois knew why; he could have been a model for one of those gigantic statues of New Communist Man that the old Soviet Union used to love to erect -- heck, right now, he could *be* one of them! "Lois..." he repeated, and his voice, though still soft, matched his presence. "I *do* know how many people nearly died this morning, and I promise you, we *will* bring down Intergang for this -- together. But we've got to do it the right way. I could easily go in and wipe out the Churches and destroy everything they own -- how could they stop me? -- but what would be the point? All that would do is send the message that 'might makes right.' That's not what I stand for; that's not what *you've* fought for, all this time. We do it the *right* way, or we're bigger hypocrites than everyone we've ever exposed." Lois slumped, her anger overwhelmed -- and she saw him relax, the imposing figure of human steel once more becoming the man she worked with. "Thanks, Clark..." she whispered, sure that he could hear her. "You're right. I... I just got so *angry*... All those people... they could have *died* -- because of *me!*" To her horror, she found that she wanted to cry, and clenched her fists and hung her head in an attempt to keep from breaking down. "Hey..." he said as he came over to her. He really wanted to put his arms around her, but he was sure that it wasn't the right thing to do -- not yet, not *him*, even though she probably really needed it -- so he settled for putting one finger under her chin and lifting her head very gently so that her eyes met his. "It's all right. It's okay to be angry. *I'm* angry - - and we both have every right to be angry. What we have to do is to channel that anger -- use it to put those 'maniacs' out of business, once and for all." "Yeah..." she agreed, visibly shaking off her tears by pure determination. 'My God, you've got one hell of a backbone, Lois Lane,' Clark thought as she walked back to her chair and sat down. She looked up at him and asked, her voice once more full of the familiar fire, "Any ideas how we start this channelling process?" "Maybe... I think one possible lead is to find out who *this* maniac is -- the one who actually masterminded this morning's affair." He picked up a legal pad and pencil from the desk, opening the pad to a clean page. "He wasn't carrying any ID -- deliberately, no doubt -- nor would he talk. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera with me, but *this*--" Suddenly, the pencil flashed across the paper, and Lois' eyes went wide. "--isn't too bad a likeness. Recognise him?" He handed her a sketch of Nigel's face -- a good one. Lois couldn't put a name to the subject, but there was something vaguely familiar about him, as though she'd run across him *somewhere*, but couldn't remember where. She felt she ought to know him; this picture was easily as good as any police artist's work, or even one of the old, pre-computer-enhancement identikit pictures. Which gave her an idea... She opened the conference room door and yelled, "Jimmy!" in a commanding voice. A commendably short time later, the young photographer poked his head into the room, quipping, "You bellowed, Lois?" Lois just looked at him, her eyes conveying the message, 'You'll keep, kid,' but all she said was, "Clark's got a sketch of a guy involved in the plane crash. Run it through the computer and see what you can find about him. Oh, and it's top priority." Jimmy muttered to himself, "What *isn't* top priority around here?" Nonetheless, he took the sketch and headed across to the conference room PC. Lois was somewhat annoyed that he was crashing their party, as it were, but she realised that it made sense for him to use the machine, since it was free -- and besides, he'd work that bit faster if she was there, breathing down his neck. Extra supervision or not, it wasn't long before Jimmy was turning to her and saying, "Here you go. The best match for CK's sketch is a guy by the name of Nigel St John." He waited a moment while the screen filled with information from the Planet's world-wide database network. "Nice guy," he commented sarcastically. "British, ex-SIS, wanted for a whole bunch of stuff... including multiple counts of murder, arson, terrorism and... *treason?* What do you want to know about this guy for?" "Read the evening edition," Lois growled in reply. The young man said no more, but his expression was eloquent. "Thanks, Jimmy," Lois said as she shuffled him out of the room with a warning that St John had nothing on her if she found that he'd said anything about this to anyone other than Perry. Jimmy rolled his eyes in reply, but he was smiling too, so Lois figured he'd got the message. Once the door was firmly closed behind him, she faced Clark with a quizzical expression. "'CK'?" He laughed. "Yeah. Jimmy christened me that on Friday. I've had worse." Lois said nothing, dismissing her partner's new moniker as one more inexplicable action of the male of the species, and sat down at the computer. By now, a full-face photo of St John occupied the centre of the screen. "Is this him?" Clark bent down to look over her shoulder, leaning on the back of the chair. Lois suddenly found herself very conscious of his closeness, but it didn't feel threatening -- in fact, she rather liked it. He was... comfortable to have around. She might have taken that thought further, but he spoke at that moment: "Yep, that's the guy. Let's see what we know about him..." What was known about Nigel was more than enough to confirm that he could have done the deed, which they knew anyway; and that he *would* do it, provided only that there was enough money in it -- and if there was one thing with which the Churches were well-supplied, it was money. Of peripheral interest was the minor diplomatic wrangling about to begin over his person; there were a heck of a lot of warrants out there for St John's arrest. The British probably had the edge, though, since theirs went back furthest; he was a known rogue from their Secret Service, after all. "No known connections with either the Churches or Intergang, but that fits the pattern," Lois said. "No-one ever said Intergang was stupid; they always get in an 'independent' when they have a job like this. Better security that way..." "Well, we'll see if that holds up. He wouldn't talk to *me*, but he struck me as a guy who always has an eye out for the main chance, and plea- bargaining would be right down his alley. Who knows, maybe he'll give the Churches a few nervous moments by implicating them... I don't imagine any mud would stick, but it might take a while for them to shut him up -- one way or another -- and who knows what might shake loose in the commotion?" "Yeah..." said Lois thoughtfully. "You've got a point there..." She suddenly grinned wickedly. "...so, in the interests of aiding and abetting the police, the way every responsible citizen is supposed to, I think I'll send this stuff to my favourite Inspector, to help him create the kind of commotion that we want." One rapidly-typed e-mail message later, Lois swivelled in her chair to regard her partner. "There it goes," she said with satisfaction. "Let's just hope it does some good." "Yeah," replied Clark. "Meantime, we've got a story to write -- more than one, actually. And I guess we'd better tell Perry what it is. I reckon he might want to hold a fair amount of the front page for this..." "Okay, but before we tell him, how are we going to divide this up? I wasn't able to get much from the airport or the airline, or even from my source in the NTSB. The cops aren't saying anything -- big surprise there!" she growled sarcastically. "Well, I think I'd better write the story of the attack and the rescue. I've already got most of the facts -- rather more than I can really use -- although anything that you've found out will be helpful. Maybe you could do a sidebar on what you saw, and what it was like in the newsroom..." Lois had begun to scowl almost as soon as he'd started talking. Did this... this... this *man* think she was just going to step aside like some kind of doormat and let him grab the headlines of a story this size while all she, his supposed partner, got was the crumbs? She remembered his earlier sympathy, and then his rock-like implacability on the subject of doing things "the *right* way", and felt totally confused, which only fed her burgeoning anger. By now, she was close to eruption point, but Clark forestalled her by holding up one hand while going on, "...but that's not really important. Let me handle the dry stuff while you write the *big* story." *That* made Lois pause, just as she was about to yell at him. So close was she to letting fly, as it were, that her mouth hung open for a few seconds while she reined in her anger and moderated the furious scream that had almost emerged to a more normal tone. "The *big* story?" she echoed, "...And what would *that* be if it's not what just happened?" Clark looked surprised. "Superman, of course." He hesitated for a moment, before continuing, "I don't want to sound egotistical or anything, but the plane crash is really small potatoes compared to me -- or, I should say, that's how the Press are going to look at it. Personally, I'm more interested in how we tell the public that someone *hired* St John to shoot down an airliner right over the city, and how much we say about *why* they did -- I'd just as soon not inspire any copy-cat assassin wannabes -- but then, I've known about me for *years*. I'm pretty much old news..." He grinned at that, and Lois found herself responding to the self- deprecating humour in his voice. "So..." she said carefully, "you write about what you're interested in, and I... write about you." "Yeah -- to start with, anyway. I have no doubt that you'll be able to help me with the plane crash -- and I was serious about that side-bar..." He paused and grinned again, a delightfully wicked one this time. "Think of the fun we can have, interviewing the witnesses..." Lois snorted, trying to avoid bursting out laughing. 'Oh, yeah,' she thought, 'I can just imagine: "So tell me, Mr Naylor-- Ralph -- how did it feel to look out the window at 400 tons of certain death coming right at you? Did your laundry bill receive a sudden increase?"' The thought of Ralph's reaction set her giggling, and she dared not look at Clark for fear she would crack up completely. Nonetheless, she had to stake her claim. "Okay, you're on..." she half-said, half-laughed, "but Ralph's *mine! *" "Fine," Clark replied evenly, his voice tinged with the barest trace of... *something*; Lois couldn't quite identify it, but it was not anything she was used to hearing from him. "You look after Ralph, and you'd better do Cat as well; I *don't* think it would be wise for me to interview her. But you can leave Mr Everett to *me*..." The last word made Lois look around at him. He was frowning slightly, staring into space (or, she supposed, with those remarkable senses of his, he could be looking at something outside the conference room -- or even the *building*) and half-smiling grimly. He muttered something under his breath, and Lois had to strain to make it out. What she did hear amazed her: "...make snide remarks about *my* partner, will you, you..." Her eyes widened and she stared at him for an instant -- then his face returned to its normal pleasant appearance and he looked over at her. Lois hurriedly rearranged her own expression and tried to think of something to say. She ran her mind back over what they'd been talking about before his... unusual outburst, and thankfully came up with a logical continuation of their discussion. "So, I'll give you a hand with the plane crash, and you'll... help me with the Superman story?" "Yes and no," he answered. This time, Lois didn't bother to hide her surprise. How was she going to write about him if he wasn't going to help her? But Clark smiled reassuringly and continued, "I don't think I want to help you write that story, Lois. Oh, I'll tell you everything you want to know, but I think it would be better if this one had a Lois Lane by-line, rather than Lane and Kent." Lois had progressed from surprise to downright stupefaction. "Are you *serious?* I mean, you're right, Superman going public is *huge* -- probably the biggest story since... since... *ever!* And you don't want a by-line?" "No, Lois. That is, yes, I'm serious. I don't think I should write, or even contribute to this story, except as its subject. I told you before; I want *you* to write about Superman. You're an experienced, respected journalist; your opinion, your work, will have a lot of influence on how I'm perceived - - but it's got to be honest. I *don't* want to have any input into that other than just being who and what I am. If I'm to make my home here, I want the people of Metropolis -- and the world -- to know the truth, or as much of it as I care to make public, and I want them to accept me on that basis. If that's going to happen, then I can't be involved in introducing myself. I'm not a politician, and I won't play the PR games that they do. But I know I can trust you to do the right thing." Lois felt humble -- and awed, and relieved, and a whole lot of other things, all at once; but, despite this mind-whirling combination of feelings, one thing stood out. 'He must *really* trust me,' she thought. "Thank you, Clark..." she said quietly. "That's quite a responsibility you're putting on me. I-- I'll try to live up to it." "That's the least of my worries," he said. "You just do what you think is right; that's all I ask." He looked at his watch. "And, with that in mind, we'd better get out of here for a while. We've got stories to write, and I think there are a couple of people we should interview before we settle down to work on the plane crash. After that... it's time Superman gave you that interview I promised you, but I don't think Perry will believe you talked to me-- *him* over the phone. Where should we go for that -- your place? Mine? Somewhere else altogether?" "Uh... how about your place?" she replied. "I haven't seen it since you fixed it up." A part of her, somewhere deep inside, was amazed to hear those words coming from her mouth. Lois Lane, going to a good-looking guy's apartment, even if it was to work? It didn't know whether to be jubilant, panicked or simply shocked. It didn't matter; its "voice" was swamped by the overwhelming feelings running through Lois as she got up, ready to head out into the newsroom and then... and then, she had no doubt, to make history. "My place it is." Clark smiled as he held the door for Lois. 'Here we go, Kent,' he thought sardonically. 'The storm is about to break, the circus is about to start. Still, at least you'll get a better idea of what Lois thinks of you...' Lois headed for her desk to collect her laptop and all the other stuff that she thought that might possibly need for such an important interview, while Clark headed for Perry's office to tell their boss that the partners had some hot leads on the plane crash and the mystery "hanger-on". She was feeling exhausted from the roller-coaster ride that her emotions had been on in the last hour or so, but the prospect of *this* story -- in its way, the scoop of all scoops -- fired her enthusiasm and imagination. She might crash heavily that night, but it would be worth it! With their editor's eager blessing -- these two were turning out to be a better team than he'd dared to hope -- the reporters headed out into the bullpen, their exit the centre of attention of more than one pair of disbelieving or jealous eyes... some of which became distinctly nervous when one or other of the partners headed straight for *them!* ***** [Wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall for those conversations... er, "interviews"? But then, once the DP staff have been thoroughly cateschised, Lane and Kent have stories to write -- including that exclusive interview with a certain super-hero. Find out about that, next time...] 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 (atcliffe@perdicas.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 18:02:04 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: More Questions for fanfic MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 8/17/01 3:54:43 PM Eastern Daylight Time, sirenegold@YAHOO.COM writes: > In a police force, what's the difference between an > Inspector - as in Inspector Henderson - and a > I think to some extent it depends on the police force. In my city, the ranks within the police department go sergeant, lieutenant, captain, major, deputy chief and of course police chief. To my knowledge, there is no rank called "Inspector". > Also, in an organization like the NIA, what would be > the formal title of an investigator? Would it be > 'Agent' so-and-so as in Agent Scardino (Yuck!) or > would there be something different that they could be > They would be either Agent or Special Agent. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 23:14:02 +0100 Reply-To: Yvonne Connell Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yvonne Connell Subject: Re: Smallville promos MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Oh, I agree! He's very good-looking indeed. And there's even something about > Lex himself which appeals to me (I bet that surprised a lot of people ). > Of course he's evil, but there's just something about him... ;) Yup, I've got to agree, too. And it's not really the 'bad boy' thing, as someone suggested; he's just got a certain charm, and he's good-looking. Not a patch on Clark, of course, but one *can* pitch one's standards too high ;) Yvonne (yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk) (remembering a lovely line from The American President along the same lines...) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 15:34:44 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: Re: More Questions for fanfic MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In researching 'Secrets' I found that, in the CIA, what we might refer to as 'agents' are called officers, and officers recruit 'agents' in other countries to do dirty work for them. A strange thing and seems to differ from Clancy's book. So even though the CIA is an agency, they have 'officers' who recruit 'agents'. Quite frankly, whatever we think we know from research and reading is, in my opinion, only what the CIA wants us to know and so is probably not reliable, but only what they think we should know without knowing anything much, you know? :) Jude ----- Original Message ----- From: "Irene D." To: Sent: Friday, August 17, 2001 12:50 PM Subject: More Questions for fanfic > Hi guys! > > I have some more questions for the fanfic that I'm > currently working on. > > In a police force, what's the difference between an > Inspector - as in Inspector Henderson - and a > lieutenant as in Lieutenant Sipowitz on NYPD Blue? > > Also, in an organization like the NIA, what would be > the formal title of an investigator? Would it be > 'Agent' so-and-so as in Agent Scardino (Yuck!) or > would there be something different that they could be > called? > > Thanks for your help. > > Irene > > ===== > sirenegold@yahoo.com > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger > http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 17:09:23 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Diane Trim Subject: Re: Valley of the Shadow 10/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii S P O I L E R S P A C E "The tone of the note was completely different from the emails he had been receiving, almost as though two completely different people wrote them. Too bad that wasn't possible." Well, this is a glimmer of hope! Maybe Clark will start putting things together and realize that he and Lois have been cruelly manipulated. Nice, but sad section. I'm looking forward to them having a real conversation soon (the Superman rescue didn't count as a conversation!). Diane --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $0.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 17:11:11 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Diane Trim Subject: Re: New Story: Heritage 1/? In-Reply-To: <3B7C1D39.DD888EF6@earthlink.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii S P O I L E R S P A C E Nan: I'm so glad you posted here! This is a neat premis--revelation in the second generation. I'm hooked! Diane --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $0.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 17:29:57 -0500 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: Imbalance Part 20 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey there! Loved it as always! More soon! CM ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 20:09:17 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debbie Evans Subject: how do i unsubscibe from this list? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I have tried several ways and have not been successful. Can someone please tell me the proper procedure? Dee ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 17:26:59 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: Irene's inspector questions In-Reply-To: <20010817.155005.-183975.6.cmoncado@juno.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Thank you, Ann and Jude, for your help. I think that my police officer will be called 'Detective' and my NIA agent will be addressed as 'Agent.' This seems to be the consensus after reading everyone's response. Thank you, everyone, for all your help. Irene ===== sirenegold@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 19:14:59 -0500 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: Valley of the Shadow 10/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Oh - don't worry, Diane - real conversations coming up - hope they're to your liking!*EG*! CM ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 19:12:18 -0500 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: More Questions for fanfic MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Jude -you are correct - it's been a while! I can "see" the scene in my head and got mixed up. Officers recruit agents - hope JOhn Clark doesn't find me on a dark night for getting it wrong because he was so adamant in the book! Also true about the CIA controlling what we know about them - take political thrillers with a grain (or block) of salt when it comes to that kind of thing! CM On Fri, 17 Aug 2001 15:34:44 -0700 Judith Williams writes: > In researching 'Secrets' I found that, in the CIA, what we might > refer to as > 'agents' are called officers, and officers recruit 'agents' in other > countries to do dirty work for them. A strange thing and seems to > differ > from Clancy's book. So even though the CIA is an agency, they have > 'officers' who recruit 'agents'. Quite frankly, whatever we think > we know > from research and reading is, in my opinion, only what the CIA wants > us to > know and so is probably not reliable, but only what they think we > should > know without knowing anything much, you know? :) Jude > ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 17:51:17 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: New Story: Heritage 2/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Heritage 2/? by Nan Smith Clark Kent was interviewing City Councilman Francis Larson III when he heard his son's yell for help. CJ was a confident, self-reliant child. If he was yelling for Superman, then it was a real emergency. Quickly, he turned to Larson. "One last question, Mr. Larson. Do you have any comment on the city's permit process for the new shopping center being planned for the New River district?" Larson shook his head. "Not at this time. I have a meeting in five minutes. Nice to talk to you, Mr. Kent." He turned away, and didn't see it when Clark strode quickly toward the men's room. Clark smiled grimly to himself as he ducked through the door. He'd figured that question would end the conversation quickly. Lois was deep into an investigation on that very thing, and the more she looked, the more irregularities she turned up. Clark made a lightning change and was on his way toward his son's voice in the matter of a split second. ********** CJ didn't really expect Superman to respond, but it had been a shot. Grunt pinned his right arm and Jake had him by the left. Biff drew back a fist, the grin on his face one of malicious pleasure. CJ heaved backwards against the other two boys, and to his astonishment felt Grunt release his arm. CJ ducked, and Biff, unable to stop the blow, struck Jake square in the nose. Blood sprayed and Jake screamed in pain and fury. Grunt and Biff grabbed for CJ, who rolled away. Red released Wyatt and lunged for him as well, managing to snag him by his arm. Wyatt, ever loyal, landed, yelling like a wild man on the larger boy's back, and wrapped both arms around his neck. Red let go of CJ to grab at Wyatt. Grunt and Biff tackled CJ, one from each side and bore him to the ground. CJ struggled frantically, but the two were pinning him with their full weight, and he waited for the inevitable beating. But it never came. The weight of the two boys was abruptly lifted from him, and he peered up, unbelieving, to see Superman grasping each boy by the collar. Grunt and Biff struggled for an instant and then gave up. "What's going on here?" Superman demanded, sternly. "Those little shrimps attacked us!" Jake said, furiously, apparently completely unaware of how unlikely the story sounded. Blood dripped from between his fingers onto his sweater. Wyatt dropped from the Red's back, looking ruffled and bruised, but surprisingly in control. "Don't believe them, Superman. They were getting ready to beat up CJ." Superman was looking at the two boys whom he held. His eyebrow rose. "Well, well...you're Councilman Larson's son, aren't you, Francis? I thought I recognized you." CJ got to his feet, wiping Jake's blood from his chin. At Superman's remark, he turned to stare at his Nemesis. Francis? That was almost as bad as Clarence! "Yeah." Biff tried to look righteously angry, and failed. "If you make trouble for me, my dad'll make you pay, Superman. You better let us go." Both of Superman's eyebrows went up this time. "Well, we'll see about that," he drawled. "I think four to two odds aren't particularly good, especially when the two are smaller than any of the four. Let's see what your fathers have to say when they pick you up at the local police station." He drifted upwards, and CJ saw the look of terror on Biff's face as his feet left the ground. "You two stay where you are. If you don't, I'll have to find you, and I might be a little irritated with you." He glanced at CJ. "You and your friend go on into your house, CJ. I'll tell your mom and dad what happened." ********** CJ and Wyatt were silent as they entered the Kent home on Hyperion Ave. They had the place to themselves for a little while before CJ's mom got home. Marta was supposed to go over to her best friend's house until four, Jonny was in Metro Elementary's after school program, and Jimmy was still in day care at the Planet. CJ had begged for the privilege of being allowed to stay at home alone after school, this year, and his mom and dad had agreed, as long as he followed the rules. He sincerely hoped that this incident wouldn't make them change their minds about it. "What do you suppose is gonna happen?" Wyatt asked. "Biff's gonna be pretty mad." "He was already pretty mad." CJ pointed out the obvious. "Let's talk to my mom and dad when they get home. Maybe they can help. You better call your house and tell 'em where you are." "Yeah." Wyatt reached for the phone. "Mom'll be home pretty soon. I'll tell Hank." Hank was Wyatt's oldest brother, CJ knew. He was a high school senior this year. CJ headed for the kitchen. Dad usually left some kind of snack for when he got home from school, and he wasn't disappointed. He stuck his head through the door just as Wyatt hung up the phone. "Dad left us some milk and cookies. Come on and have some." CJ was on his fourth cookie when he heard the sound of a key in the front door. Wyatt didn't appear to hear anything and looked up in surprise as CJ stood up. "What'sa matter?" he mumbled, through a mouthful of cookie. "I think my mom's here," CJ said. "CJ!" his father's voice called. "In the kitchen, Dad!" CJ sank down into his seat again. A moment later, the kitchen door opened and his father entered the room, CJ's four-year-old brother trailing behind him. "Where's Mom?" CJ asked. "She had an appointment," Clark said. He glanced at his watch. "I'm going to pick up Jonny and Marta in an hour." He snagged two of the cookies off the plate, handed one to Jimmy and leaned against the counter. "I hear you two had a little adventure today." "Superman told you, huh?" CJ said. "Just that he heard you yell for help and he showed up to find you in a fight with four bigger boys. What happened?" For the next half-hour, CJ and Wyatt between them went over in detail the events that had led to the fight a short time before. His father asked for descriptions of everything that had happened, and for the first time, CJ began to see why his father and mother were the Planet's best reporters. Not the smallest detail escaped his notice, and he seemed to know instantly if CJ or Wyatt had left something out. When they had finished, he nodded. "I think it's time Mr. Grunlow had a visit from the Daily Planet," he said. "Don't worry about Biff. Superman told him he'd have his eye on him and his friends. And I suspect Mr. Grunlow will be more interested in paying attention to reports of misconduct in the future." He smiled at CJ's expression. "Mr. Grunlow is a good man, son. He just sometimes has too much respect for authority." He glanced at his watch. "I need to pick up your sister and brother. Wyatt, would you like to stay for dinner?" "Sure, Mr. Kent!" CJ knew that Wyatt liked to eat at the Kent house. He'd told CJ that his dad's cooking was the coolest. CJ had to agree. Nobody cooked like Dad. Of course, nobody cooked like Mom, either, but the only one who would eat most of her stuff was Dad. CJ didn't understand how he did it. "Okay, why don't you call your mom and ask permission, and we'll get started when I get back. Come on, Jimmy, time for another ride in the car." ********** Later that evening, when his father had left to take Wyatt home, CJ stuffed his books and papers into his backpack for school tomorrow. In spite of his dad's assurance that he didn't need to worry about Biff and his friends, he was a little apprehensive. Biff wasn't the kind of guy who let anybody stop him from doing what he wanted to do. He'd heard that last year Biff had been on probation for bicycle theft, or something, but the rumors had died down and no one had dared to ask him, anyhow. The thought occurred to CJ quite suddenly that maybe that was where Superman had met him before. He'd called him Francis. Involuntarily he grinned. So Biff's real name was Francis, was it? That explained why he went by 'Biff'. "All done with your homework?" His mom poked her head into his room. She'd come in while Clark was cooking dinner and had gone into the kitchen to talk to him. CJ had discovered that if he listened closely, he could sometimes hear people talking in other rooms, even if they were speaking in low voices, but Marta had her music turned up too loud for him to make out what they were saying. It wasn't that he eavesdropped on a regular basis, but Mom hadn't been feeling well, lately and CJ knew his dad was worried about her--which made CJ worry, too. "Yeah," he said. "We did it together. Wyatt helped me with the math, and I helped him with his English." "That's good," Lois said. She came into the room and sat down on the end of his bed. "Your dad tells me you nearly got into a fight today." "Almost," CJ said, wondering why his mom was asking about it. "I didn't start it." "I know that," Lois said, a slight smile in her voice. "I'd even have known it if your dad hadn't told me. You're just like him, sometimes. The only times I've ever known you to fight was when you couldn't avoid it, or when somebody was getting picked on." CJ shrugged uncomfortably. "I guess." "So," his mom said, casually, "Biff made you arm wrestle him?" CJ nodded. "Yeah. And when I beat him, he said I cheated. I don't cheat, Mom." "I know." Lois's smile had turned a little wry. "It must be in the genes." "Huh?" "Nothing," she said. She glanced at the clock. "It's only eight-thirty. Don't go to bed yet, okay? Your dad and I want to talk to you when he gets back." CJ felt as if someone had hit him in the stomach. "Mom...you're okay, aren't you? I mean, you went to the doctor today, didn't you?" "Did your dad tell you that?" Lois looked a little annoyed. "No. I heard Dad bugging you about the doctor the other day." "But we were in the..." She stopped and looked at him closely. A little smile quirked at the corner of her mouth. "Martha was right," she said, with apparent irrelevance. "Kids grow up much too fast. I'm fine, honey. The doctor did a couple of tests, and we know exactly why I'm not feeling up to par. I thought I was too old, but apparently, Mother Nature didn't think so. Don't tell anyone yet, okay? You're going to have another brother or sister in a few months." "Oh." CJ wasn't sure whether he liked that, but he guessed there wasn't any way out of it at this point. At least Mom wasn't sick or anything, but little brothers were trouble, like the time Jonny had gotten into his rock collection and used his specimens for slingshot ammunition. And sisters were a real pain in the neck, sometimes. He wasn't sure which one he would want less. "Gee, that's great." His mother laughed. "Don't knock yourself out with enthusiasm, sweetie. Your Dad and I weren't exactly expecting this, either, but it will be okay. You'll see." "What will be okay?" Clark Kent appeared suddenly in the doorway. "Wow, you're back awfully fast," Lois said. "The traffic was light. What will be okay?" "I just told CJ about the new addition." Clark laughed. "Oh. I can see he's thrilled. Almost as thrilled as you are." "And you like it, too," Lois accused him. "Can I help it if I think you're beautiful when you're pregnant?" Clark sat down next to her on CJ's bed and planted a kiss squarely on her mouth. CJ averted his eyes. His mom and dad always embarrassed him when Dad started smooching Mom in front of everybody, but he guessed it was better than some of his friends' parents who were divorced, or separated, or just fighting. "I think we're embarrassing our son," Clark said. "We'll behave, honest. Right now, we need to talk to you, CJ. It's something pretty important, so why don't you close the door?" ********** (tbc) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 20:30:17 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: Smallville promos On Fri, 17 Aug 2001 13:07:31 -0500, Kathy Brown wrote: >That's what makes him so dangerous, his good looks and >charisma. Yes, I could see how he managed to captivate Lois in the first season and to fool Clark in the Wedding Argggh. It's just hard to believe that such a charismatic man can be so utterly evil. Like it or not, humans respond to good looks and charm and have a hard time believing that evil can lie beneath it. And that was one reason why I liked Lex so much. Not only was he eye candy (and ear candy - I just love his voice!), but he could create conflict in the viewer. To be mesmerized by his charm and yet to know that we should be revolted by his evil . . . . The one way Lex's character could have been improved, IMO, would have been to make him have one redeeming quality. To have him love someone, for example. Not the sick obsession he had for Lois, but an honest, selfless love. Or to have his ruthless actions be driven by his sincere belief that a Master Plan of his own creation will result in the betterment of the human condition. He would be less of a one-dimensional comic-book villain and would probably create some interesting conflicts in viewers. ;-) Shadowfax ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 21:44:52 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Natascha Kortum Subject: Re: Valley of the Shadow 10/? Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Hi Carol, I managed to read part 10 last night (after reading and rereading part 9 on the boards ) but was unable to respond. I am not sure why, but it does look like progress to me! :) But having Clark come home to an almost empty apartment (after reliving those happy scenes from their shopping spree) was hard. It hurt! Once again, excellent writing. BTW, the title is very appropriate. But please lead us out of the darkness now! A nice WAFFy, cheery section would be good right about now. They need to talk!!!! Natascha _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 18:58:56 -0700 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 August 24 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hi FoLCs! A good bit of activity even with the main board down. Thanks again to Zoom for creating a mirror board so we could get our fix Check out the latest on the L&C Message Board Index and Links page at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Meteor/7378/lnc.html New stories this week: BURDEN OF CONSCIENCE: RACONTEUR27 MY FRIEND 2 COMPLETE VIGNETTE HAZEL SECRET AFFAIRS COMPLETE VIGNETTE BETHY SHADES OF GRAY: CINDY LEUCH New part(s) posted: THE BEGINNING OF FOREVER: JALMG16 FEAR OF DISCOVERY IV: YVONNE CONNELL HERITAGE: NAN SMITH IMITATION OF LIFE: CHRISTY LANDRUM LONELY IS THE MAN: JON WOLFFE SECOND THOUGHTS: WENDY RICHARDS SURVIVAL OF THE SIGNIFICANT: MANOFSTEEL20 VALLEY OF THE SHADOWS: CAROL MONCADO WOUNDED ANGELS: LOTE TREE AND JONWOLFFE Completed stories this week: none New TOC's Superman's Shower by Carol Monacado WOUNDED ANGELS: LOTE TREE AND JONWOLFFE Added to the Archive this week: Ambition by Tank Wilson and Wendy Richards Don't Tug On Superman's Heart by Adam Labotka Ever After by ChrisH. The Exodus II: Earthbound by Adam Labotka First Night by Carol Moncado My Friend by Wendy Richards Surfacing Memories by Kaethel That Old Obsession of Mine by Wendy Richards Enjoy! Dawn & the Index Crew __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 19:00:48 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: lcfic Subject: Oops :) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii That should be the 17th, not the 24th :) Dawn __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 23:38:27 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: More Questions for fanfic MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 8/17/01 3:54:43 PM Eastern Daylight Time, sirenegold@YAHOO.COM writes: > Also, in an organization like the NIA, what would be > the formal title of an investigator? Would it be > 'Agent' so-and-so as in Agent Scardino (Yuck!) or > would there be something different that they could be > called? > It would not be "agent" but I have no clue what it might be. I'm sure someone else will help. :) --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 12:51:01 +0930 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jill Kaye Subject: Re: Smallville promos In-Reply-To: <01b701c12711$e4214f00$916105a0@hrm.keele.ac.uk> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >Kathy wrote: > >> Oh, I'm with you. John Shea is just ... just ... yummy. >> >> Kathy (dodging the tomatoes. Well he *is*! ) > >Oh, I agree! He's very good-looking indeed. And there's even something about >Lex himself which appeals to me (I bet that surprised a lot of people ). >Of course he's evil, but there's just something about him... ;) > > >Wendy Probably the same thing that attracted Lois to him :) ~Larissa~ >-------------------------- >Wendy Richards >w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 01:47:34 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rachel Madden Subject: NEW: "The Legend of Norcross and Judd: Exposition" (3/?) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Here's an onslaught of new characters. Prepare yourselves. ;) Enjoy! -Rachel :) * * * "So what do we do now?" Serena slowly looked up from her Rolodex and gave Perry a "get away from me" look. "Go bother Bill. I'm in the middle of something." Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Perry ambled over to where Bill was sitting and plopped down in the chair beside his desk. "Will you tell me what's going on? Ser's in her 'Don't-touch-me-or-I'll-chew-your-head-off' mood." Billy smiled at the eager youth. "I would think you heard everything during your unexpected eavesdropping, hmm?" Perry, chagrined, blushed and ducked his head. "You were about to tell the Chief the best part of your story...something about Frederickson?" "Well, kind of. This latest jail break was Fredrickson's twelfth. And we all know that under usual circumstances, most criminals cannot break out of jail twelve times over a span of four years, right?" "Right," Perry agreed. "So we were thinking that Frederickson's lucky breaks are due to some *un*usual circumstances. Get my meaning?" "You think someone on the inside is helping him?" "Could be. Maybe a guard. Maybe one of his partners from the past." "How are you planning on proving it, though? I mean, if your assumptions are correct?" Billy grinned. "Tell me, Perry...what comes after twelve?" "Thirteen...why?" Perry creased his brow, confused. Then, he saw the meaning of his words. "Oh!" * * * Nate Walters, warden of Holton Prison for Men (est. 1919), smiled at his newest inmate. Patrick Frederickson widened his eyes slightly. The smile was horrid. A cross between a sneer and a grimace, Walters' smile made his blood curdle for about two seconds, then faded away into his memory, like a nightmare that disappears as soon as you wake up. "Let's see, here...." Walters sifted through several papers lying in front of him. "This is some record you have here, Frederickson...quite impressive." He looked over the round rims of his eyeglasses at the scruffy man standing on the other side of his desk. "Have a seat." Frederickson, wiry and blessed with a full head of red hair, gently pulled up a chair and sat in it. "We run a tight ship here, Frederickson. The prison that transferred you here was obviously not as well-run." Frederickson just stared. "You will be guarded at all times. Isolation cells *do* exist here, so I will advise you not to push your luck." Walters glanced at Frederickson again. He was still staring straight ahead. "Recreation time is from 2 to 5 in the afternoon. Breakfast is at seven, lunch at twelve, and dinner at six. And you can stow the smirk." Frederickson wondered how Walters had known he was smirking without looking up from his papers. "This is *not* a facility where doctors make appointments to talk to you about what you've done, nor is this a place where a perky maid comes into your cell every morning and makes your bed and puts a chocolate on your pillow...got it?" Frederickson nodded. He had heard this sermon before. "Porter!" Frederickson could have sworn that the guard who walked through the door almost saluted Walters. "Get him out of here." Walters gestured at Frederickson. "See you later," he said, flashing another wicked smile at Patrick. Frederickson was being led down the hall to his cell when he heard Walters' voice resonating off the walls. "By the way, Frederickson...no one has ever escaped from Holton alive. No one." Frederickson just smiled. * * * "Uh...Mr. Walters?" "What is it, Crandall?" Walters asked without looking up from his desk. "There are three guards waiting in the next room...transferred from MSP also, I believe." "Oh, right...I almost forgot. Send them in, please, Crandall." Steven Crandall breathed a sigh of relief as he left the room. Talking to the warden after meetings with inmates was not particularly a good idea. "You can go in now," he said to the three, bouncer-type men sitting in the waiting area, nearly breaking the chairs with their bulk. Gary Scott stood up along with Andrew McCormick and the guard simply known as Dusty. "Thank you, Mr. Crandall. It was a pleasure meeting you." After the three had gone into Walters' office, Crandall realized that a prison guard known for his brutal disciplinary methods had spoken politely to him. He spun around and looked at the door Scott and the others had just passed through. Raising his eyebrows, Crandall murmured a thoughtful "hmm" to the pencil box sitting on his desk. * * * "Ah, Mr....Scott, is it?" Scott nodded curtly and gestured at his fellow guards. "Andrew McCormick and Dusty, my colleagues." "Of course," Walters said, smiling. "Sit down, please." After everyone was situated -- Dusty remained standing -- Walters asked, "So you're all from Metropolis State Prison?" All three men nodded. "Why exactly were you transferred?" McCormick smiled sheepishly. "Well, frankly, sir, the warden at MSP didn't like the way we handled the prisoners. We all admit now that some things we did were wrong...we're just a little rougher than the other guards." "But we saw the men you have here when we were escorted inside," Scott added. "Looks like you could actually use a little physical discipline with these guys." Walters acknowledged this with a smile. "Sometimes it certainly seems like it." He paused and looked at Dusty, who stood as if his toenails had grown into roots, content to let his partners do the talking. "But I need to know...have you ever killed a prisoner, whether accidentally or on purpose?" Scott stared at his hands, which were resting in his lap. He looked up briefly, saw Walters' stern face, then immediately lowered his head again. "Yes." The smile spread across Walters' face again. "Good." That was when Scott noticed how strange Walters' smile was. It looked almost like he was grimacing, his lips pulled flat against his gums so that they appeared white. He had an extreme overbite, which made things even more strange. Scott glanced at McCormick and Dusty, wondering if they had noticed this peculiarity about their new boss. But they were smiling too. He slowly began to show his teeth, his reluctance evident. The warden assigned them new posts and the meeting was over. But the three guards hadn't told Walters the real reason they were transferred. And chances of telling him were very slim. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 07:06:55 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: What makes Lois Lois? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 I know it's bad form to answer your own post , but I'm going to do it anyway - virtual tomatoes don't hurt - much. :-D I said: >What I see when I watch the show is a self-centered, emotionally scarred >young woman who has built walls around herself in order to avoid dealing >with relationships. -- snip discussion of interpretation of Lois -- I realized, after thinking about my favorite fanfics/authors, that it=92s really not necessary that I share the authors=92s interpretations of Lois in= order to enjoy their stories. Many of my favorite authors do have interpretations of Lois that are close to my own, but OTOH, there are many authors with completely different views whose stories I love too. It's not important to me that the fictional Lois match the Lois I see on screen. What's important is that Lois is consistent in the characterisation established by the author. Case in point is one of my perennial favorites: the Lois's Revenge/Clark's Response duo. Do I really believe that Lois would take that particular revenge on Clark? No. Does it matter? Not a bit. Lois=92s behavior is consistent with the character that Beverly established and the result is a side-splittingly funny story that I would be quite sorry to have missed. Lois's actions worked in the story because of Beverly's skill in setting everything up, and I've found that that's generally the case - the author's presentation is what draws me to the story, not whether his/her interpretation matches my own. Two of my very favorite authors consistently write Loises who are different from =93my=94 Lois. And yet I l= ove their stories and never miss a one. How do other readers feel? Do you find, as I do, that sharing the same view isn=92t important? Can you still enjoy stories where the characters ar= e different from your own interpretation? Or do you find that your favorite authors have interpretations of the characters that closely match your own? Shadowfax ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 05:20:57 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Diane Trim Subject: Re: New Story: Heritage 2/? In-Reply-To: <3B7DBC05.B160EB4A@earthlink.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Nan: S P O I L E R S P A C E Very nice! I love the subtle hints about CJ's powers. I can't wait for the third part when Lois and Clark have that little "talk" with their son! Oh, and about the baby: Lois and CJ might not be happy about it, but I am! Diane --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $0.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 16:34:54 -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 promos On Fri, 17 Aug 2001 20:30:17 -0500, Shadow Fax wrote: >The one way Lex's character could have been improved, IMO, would have been >to make him have one redeeming quality. To have him love someone, for >example. Not the sick obsession he had for Lois, but an honest, selfless >love. Heh heh, did you read S5, by any chance? I'm not sure if it was "love" or not, but Lex did get married ... ;) Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 16:47:38 -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: What makes Lois Lois? On Sat, 18 Aug 2001 07:06:55 -0500, Shadow Fax wrote: >Can you still enjoy stories where the characters are >different from your own interpretation? Or do you find that your favorite >authors have interpretations of the characters that closely match your >own? Yes ... and yes. I think I probably most enjoy stories where the characterization matches my own views; I don't find myself jolted out of the story as often by something that strikes me wrong, which enhances that wonderful "lose yourself in the story" feeling. However, I also enjoy different interpretations, as long as the author has done a good job of defining the character. One example is Debby Stark's Dawning series. Her Clark (and Lois, but especially Clark) is not the Clark of the show, but I enjoyed that universe very much. Since she'd laid so much background for her characters over the course of the long series, I felt comfortable there and could immerse myself pretty easily. Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 16:49:41 -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: how do i unsubscibe from this list? On Fri, 17 Aug 2001 20:09:17 EDT, Debbie Evans wrote: >I have tried several ways and have not been successful. Can someone please >tell me the proper procedure? What have you tried? >From the email sent by the listserv when you subscribe ... "You may leave the list at any time by sending a "SIGNOFF LOISCLA-GENERAL-L" command to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU." You may also visit ... http://listserv.indiana.edu/archives/loiscla-general-l.html and click on "join or leave the list". Good luck, Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 22:13:56 -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: Fanfic Recommendation: "Every Little Thing" I just read the story "Every Little Thing" on the Archive tonight, and I am ROTFLMAO! Kudos to Molly for writing a very funny story. The far fetched premise: the mayor wants Superman to keep a diary of every hour of his life for a week, to document what he does. But Superman is not above embellishing here and there ... Everyone has their own sense of humor, but I found this extremely funny! Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 23:40:42 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: New Story: Heritage 3/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Heritage 3/? by Nan Smith CJ obeyed and without thinking, pushed in the locking button. Mom and Dad were both looking kind of worried and he wondered if he'd done something wrong after all. They didn't seem mad at him, though. When he turned around to resume his seat at the small desk they'd bought for him at the beginning of the school year, Dad had removed his glasses. CJ had never seen his father without his glasses before. Even when they'd gone to the beach, Dad had gone swimming with them on, which Wyatt, Marta and he had all thought kind of funny. Dad had just explained that he couldn't see without them and wanted to be able to find his way back to the beach. CJ figured he was kidding, and the subject had never come up again. Now, he stared at his father. Dad looked kind of familiar, not in a Dad way, but he couldn't quite figure out how. Clark smiled a little at him, and it looked to CJ as if he was sort of nervous, which was really funny, because Dad *never* got nervous--at least, unless you counted that big award last year--a Pulzer Prize or a Pitzer Prize or something like that. He and Mom had won it together and both of them had to make speeches, and Dad had nearly dropped his certificate, his hands were shaking so hard. But this wasn't anything like that, so what was he nervous about? Clark fiddled with his glasses. "CJ," he began, "you know what we told you, years ago, about how you came to us?" "Sure. You adopted me from one of your relatives who couldn't keep me." He'd always wondered about that. They'd never told him who the relative was. A horrible thought struck him. "They don't want me back or anything, do they? Because if they do, I'm not going!" "No, nothing like that." His father put a hand on his knee. "This isn't bad, son, at least I don't think it is. It's just something about your background that you need to know. I was hoping we wouldn't have to tell you this so soon, but what happened today showed me you need to know, now." CJ didn't know how to take that, but he waited. What was Dad talking about? "We couldn't possibly give you back to your biological parents even if we wanted to--which we wouldn't in a million years," Clark said. "This is a little hard to explain, okay? Lois and I adopted you when you were about a month old, but you're a relative of mine, all right, and a lot closer than anyone but only three other people--your Grandmother and Grandfather Kent, and Dr. Klein--know. You're my biological brother." CJ just stared at him, blankly. "I know this sounds crazy," Clark said, "but hear me out, okay?" Numbly, CJ nodded. Dad was actually his *brother*? This was weird. "That's not the most important part," Clark continued. "In the beginning, your mom and I thought we would never be able to have kids." "I know," CJ said. "That's why you adopted me." "Only in the beginning," Lois said, quietly. "Long before we found out that Marta was on the way, we wouldn't have given you up for anything, because we loved you. As a matter of fact, we fought to keep you when someone nearly took you away from us." CJ had never heard that story before. "You're kidding! Why would someone do that?" "That's all part of what we want to explain to you," Clark said, quietly. "You see, CJ, you really are a very special person--and not just to us, although," he added, with a smile, "you were always special to us, even before we knew the rest." CJ controlled the urge to squirm. It embarrassed him when his mom and dad got mushy about him, even though he knew it was because they loved him. Clark smiled at him. "Sorry, son, I don't mean to make you uncomfortable, but this is important. Did you know that I'm adopted, too?" "Yeah, you told me. But if I'm really your brother, how can--I mean--" CJ found himself floundering, not quite able to explain what he meant. "That's what I'm going to explain," his dad said. "Let me tell you how your grandma and granddad found me. You see, most people think they're my real parents. Back when they were young, they discovered they couldn't have children, and they were refused adoption, too. In May of 1966, they were driving along a country road in Kansas when they saw what looked like a meteor in the sky. They saw it crash in Schuster's Field, and your grandmother, being who she is, had to investigate." He grinned, and CJ echoed the grin. Grandma Kent would never change, even when she was ninety, he thought. "What they found," his father continued after a moment, "surprised even her. You see, it wasn't a meteor. It was a tiny spaceship, and inside was a baby boy. That baby boy was me." CJ absorbed that in silence. He stared at his father's face with the beginning of comprehension. "A spaceship?" he repeated. "I'll show it to you sometime," his father said. "It's hidden on your grandparents' farm. Anyway, they took me home, named me Clark Jerome, and raised me as their own son." He was looking hard at CJ, now, and CJ felt as if butterflies had suddenly moved into his chest. No wonder his dad's face looked so familiar and different at the same time. He'd met Superman a few times, mostly when he gave them a lift to the Kent farm, and his picture was everywhere. There was even a statue of him in the park, honoring him for saving the world from the Nightfall Asteroid, with a canopy over it to keep the pigeons off. "You're--" Clark was nodding. "I became Superman after I moved to Metropolis so I could help people and still have a private life. That's very important to your mother and me. You mustn't tell anyone, not even Wyatt, at least until he's older. This is something no one must ever find out, unless you know without a doubt that you can trust him--and even then, think twice because it's a very dangerous secret. You're not invulnerable yet, and people might try to control Superman through you--or your mom, or your brothers and sister--if they knew the truth. Do you understand, CJ?" "Uh...Yeah. I get it. I won't tell anyone." CJ was having a little trouble digesting the whole thing, but he understood what Superman was saying. Any of the zillions of bad guys he brought in would love to know that Superman had a family and who they were. CJ had seen plenty of videos that used that kind of scenario. He wasn't anxious for it to happen to his family. Clark handed Lois his glasses, rose to his feet and moved to a clear spot in the bedroom. CJ held his breath, knowing somehow that what he was about to see was going to be very interesting. Suddenly, his father became a spinning blur and CJ felt his jaw drop. The blur stopped, and in Clark's place stood Superman. He closed his mouth with an effort. "Wow! That is *so* cool!" Superman grinned a neat twin of Clark's smile and came to sit next to Lois again on the foot of the bed. "If you want, I'll take you flying in a while. Would you like that?" CJ nodded, enthusiastically. Who wouldn't want to fly with Superman? But he hesitated, still curious. "But, you said I'm your brother? How can that be?" "That's a long story that's a lot more complicated, and we'll save it for another day," Clark said. "The point is, you're my son, but you're also my brother--a Kryptonian, like me. I started to get stronger, and my super-hearing began to come in when I was about your age. From what you told me this afternoon, I think you're beginning to get your super-strength." "*That's* how I beat Biff, today," CJ said, slowly. "But I'm not anywhere near as strong as you." "No, and you won't be for awhile," Superman said. "But it's starting. You're going to have to be careful that you don't hurt someone accidentally, and if you notice anything else unusual, tell me right away, okay?" "Okay." CJ turned to look at his mother. She looked proud, but at the same time, he was surprised to see her wipe a tear from her cheek. "What's the matter, Mom?" "Nothing, really." She sniffed determinedly. "It's just hormones." Clark put his arm around her. "It's okay, honey." "I know. Clark, I think you should check to see if he has any other powers beginning to appear. I think his super-hearing may be starting to come in, too." Superman looked back at CJ. "Is it, do you think?" CJ hesitated. "Maybe. I've got really good hearing." "Well, we'll find out. Don't worry--it's a slow process. It's not going to descend on you all at once. I didn't fly until I was eighteen, but that might have been because I didn't know I could. At least, this time we have some idea what to expect. We won't have to do as much guessing as your grandparents and I did when I was growing up." He stood up. "Would you like to go for a short flight, now?" CJ jumped to his feet. "That would be great!" Lois smiled. "Don't be gone too long, guys. I'll leave the window open." ********** CJ had to admit to some nervousness as Superman led him to the window in his parents' bedroom. He'd seen how the superhero--his dad!--had carried Biff and Grunt by their collars earlier today, but he didn't think he'd do it that way with him. He was right. Superman slipped an arm around his waist and without warning the pull of gravity dropped away. Then, before he could speak or even take a breath, they were floating out the window as lightly as feathers. All CJ could think of was the scene from Peter Pan when the children had flown away, but this was even better because he didn't have to imagine it. Superman's arm was tightly around his waist, and he knew without a doubt that his dad--he couldn't really think of Superman as his brother--wouldn't drop him. He looked back, to see the house dwindling behind him and realized that they were rising toward the clouds. Below them, the city was becoming a mass of bright lights in every color that he could imagine. "How do you like it?" Superman asked, raising his voice a little so he could be heard over the sound of the wind. "It's great!" He could see his dad smiling widely. "I always wanted to fly!" "Well, in a few years you'll be doing this under your own power." Superman speeded up slightly, and suddenly they were surrounded by cold, damp mist. A cloud, CJ realized, belatedly. Almost as he realized it, they emerged from the cloud and above them was a black sky, spangled with stars. "Oh, wow! This is cool!" CJ could see the constellations more clearly than he ever had with his telescope or even when they had gone camping in Yellowstone National Park. He had never realized before how many there were. He could see the bright, familiar ones, but there were others, smaller and not so bright, and if you looked carefully, there were even more that were smaller, as if they went on forever. "See that light?" His father pointed to a slowly moving pinprick of light, far above. It would have been invisible from the ground. "That's Space Station Prometheus. And over there is a passenger plane headed from Paris to Metropolis. Did you know the military tracks me when I fly? I figure that's where some of the UFO reports came from before Superman made his appearance." CJ found himself laughing. The thought of his dad being mistaken for a UFO was somehow extremely funny. Then he noticed that they were moving again. "Where are we going?" "I thought we might drop in on Grandma and Granddad Kent," Superman said. "The sun's only just set in Kansas right now. Would you like to see them?" "Sure!" CJ would have seized on any excuse to prolong this incredible flight, and Martha and Jonathan Kent were his favorite grandparents, anyway. Not that he didn't like Grandma Ellen and Grandfather Sam, but he was always afraid if he got fingerprints on Grandma Ellen's mirrors that she'd have a major breakdown or something. Superman accelerated, and they left the lights of Metropolis behind within less than a minute. Suddenly, CJ laughed. His dad glanced at him "What?" "Nothing. I was just thinking that I owe Biff something after all. I think I'll tell him thanks, tomorrow." "Just don't tell him why," Superman said. "Not a chance," CJ squinted his eyes against the wind in his face and his grin widened. "Not even a little one." ********** (tbc) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 06:36:40 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "C.C. Malo" Subject: Re: What makes Lois Lois? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Shadow Fax asked: <> Like Kathy, I most enjoy stories where the characterization matches my own interpretation. Where either Lois or Clark act in a way or have a characteristic that contradicts a major aspect of what I thought the show's characterization was, I find myself thrown out of the story. For me, at that point the fic is no longer an L&C fic but a Natascha & Fred story. But I'm probably at the extreme end of fic readers in this respect because I'd get thrown out of the fic if Clark had blue eyes.:) I also get disconnected from the story if Perry, Martha, Jonathan, and Ellen are not "in character", but for some reason variations in Sam Lane, Jimmy, and to a lesser extent Lucy seem fine. No idea why:) And of course Luthor can't be a good guy and must smoke cigars. Again, like Kathy, I loved Debby's Dawning series and never thought the characterization was that off from the show although Clark does deviate a little from the show's Clark, but not in a major character defining way. Carol ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 13:45:49 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicola Baker Subject: Re: New Story: Heritage 3/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit s p o i l e r s p a c e Nan, this continues to be great. CJ has reacted well to the shock of his Dad being Supes. I wonder... how will Biff react to his thanks? Nic ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 13:50:04 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicola Baker Subject: Re: NEW: Imbalance Part 20 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Phil and Wendy, This is a fun ride. > "*Bad guys?*" Lois yelped, shock over-riding "instinct" for once, making > lots of nearby heads turn. > "The plane--"... "--is something that we'd better discuss in the conference > room." LOL. Hope they have fun with Ralph, he deserves it (in any universe). Nic ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 12:53:18 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: Fanfic Recommendation: "Every Little Thing" I thought that this story was very funny, too, Kathy. Lois and Clark's discussions about what Superman was writing in his diary had me in stitches. Molly's fics have an offbeat humor that usually has me rolling on the floor. The quirky things that her characters do and say are *so* unexpected that I frequently find myself bursting out laughing! :-D Shadowfax On Sat, 18 Aug 2001 22:13:56 -0500, Kathy Brown wrote: >I just read the story "Every Little Thing" on the Archive tonight, and I am >ROTFLMAO! Kudos to Molly for writing a very funny story. The far fetched >premise: the mayor wants Superman to keep a diary of every hour of his life >for a week, to document what he does. But Superman is not above embellishing >here and there ... > >Everyone has their own sense of humor, but I found this extremely funny! > >Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 14:22:51 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: The Author's Mind... updated :) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey there... It's that time of the week again :) My apologies that this comes so late in the day, but the storms in Hampton have been something to dread. I also haven't had the opportunity to have the author check her page, so if there are any misakes please yell at me, not at her . Today's author is a personal favorite of mine. In person, she's very sweet and special... on paper, she's brilliant... and special . Pam Jernigan is one of those few authors that can manage an intriquite A-plot without losing her B-plot along the way. Come by the Authors Mind, and find out how she does it! This week: Pam Jernigan, on her excellent story, Tryst. Come read all about it!! -Crys- Manager, The Author's Mind... Come take a look into the Author's Mind at: www.geocities.com/authorsmind/main.html ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 13:36:37 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: What makes Lois Lois? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 On Sun, 19 Aug 2001 06:36:40 EDT, C.C. Malo wrote: >I also get disconnected from the story if Perry, Martha, Jonathan, and Ellen >are not "in character Out of curiosity: which of Lois=92s mothers do you expect writers to conform= to, Carol? The mother whose concern for her daughter=92s happiness led her to say, on the day of her daughter=92s marriage to the handsome and charming= third-richest man in the world, that it wasn=92t too late to back down? Or the self-centered alcoholic? I would guess that whichever mother you see as the one who raised Lois would influence your interpretation of her character. About Dawning: Like Kathy and Carol, I love Dawning, too. Dawning's Lois is probably one of the closest to my own interpretation. I'll probably never see an *exact* match since everyone sees Lois as filtered through their own unique life experiences. :) Shadowfax ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 17:13:13 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Genevieve Clemens Subject: Re: What makes Lois Lois? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Shadow Fax wrote: > > On Sun, 19 Aug 2001 06:36:40 EDT, C.C. Malo wrote: > > >I also get disconnected from the story if Perry, Martha, Jonathan, and > Ellen > >are not "in character > > Out of curiosity: which of Lois’s mothers do you expect writers to conform > to, Carol? The mother whose concern for her daughter’s happiness led her > to say, on the day of her daughter’s marriage to the handsome and charming > third-richest man in the world, that it wasn’t too late to back down? Or > the self-centered alcoholic? Or which of her fathers? The one building cyborgs, who, none-the-less, appeared proud of his daughter's professionalism in Requiem for a Superhero, the one who brings a robot home as *his* finacee, when Lois is introducing her parents to Clark, or the one from the fourth season, who called her "pumpkin," if I recall correctly? Originally Shadowfax had asked: <> For myself, I enjoy fanfiction that challenges my views, that makes me think of a character in a different way, or makes me re-watch an episode and reevaluate what I thought I saw. (Although, to be honest, since my views of some characters are decidely minority views, actually finding a story which agrees with me, makes me happy.) But after a while, reading the party line (generally, X and Y are in love, they realize it, and fall into bed) gets a bit tedious, in any fandom. (And I read in many different fandoms.) But there are always the stories that show you a *different* side of the character, that make you sit up and take notice, that make you *think* -- and that's why I keep reading fanfiction. -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 15:45:14 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Heritage: 4/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Heritage: 4/? by Nan Smith The next morning dawned bright and clear, and CJ crawled out of bed to the aromas of pancakes and bacon and eggs cooking. There wasn't any smell of anything burning, so CJ concluded Dad was making the breakfast. He scrambled into his clothing and hurried down the steps to discover Clark in his work clothes, minus his jacket, and attired in a barbecue chef's apron, expertly flipping pancakes. Looking at his father, it was a little hard to believe what had happened last night. Somehow, you just didn't think of Superman cooking breakfast like any ordinary guy, he thought. But Superman was really just Clark Kent, his dad, and had done this kind of thing for years. There wasn't any reason he should change now. Then, he noticed something different. Dad wasn't using a pot lifter, and the handle of the iron skillet had to be pretty hot. He'd made the mistake of touching it one day some years before. "Isn't it hot?" he asked. "Sure." Clark winked at him. "I figured you'd be wondering this morning if it was all some kind of weird dream, so..." He left the sentence unfinished as he deftly transferred the pancakes to a plate, added a healthy serving of scrambled eggs and bacon and set the plate on the kitchen table. "There you go. There's butter, three kinds of syrup and strawberry jam. If you want anything else, you know where it is." "This is fine." CJ reached for the orange juice pitcher. "Where's everyone else?" "Your mom took them with her. I thought maybe Superman should fly you to school this morning--just to remind Biff and his friends that there's a good reason they shouldn't try to start anything with you and Wyatt. And then, I thought perhaps Superman should have a short talk with Mr. Grunlow. It's about time someone told him what kind of extortion racket Biff and his friends are running." CJ nodded, his mouth full of pancakes. "I guess," he said, a trifle thickly around the food, "if Superman tells him, he'll have to believe it." His dad gave a little smile. "Respect for authority can work both ways," he said. And so, a short time later, Superman touched down in front of the elementary school gates and set CJ gently on the ground. Wyatt, standing just inside the fence, watched with wide eyes as Superman followed CJ onto the school grounds, and allowed him to indicate the direction of the main office. Out of the corner of his eye, CJ saw Biff and his cronies watching them stonily and quelled a small jab of nervousness. Superman glanced casually in the direction of the boys, gave them a very faint smile and turned back to Wyatt and CJ. "Thank you, CJ," he said clearly. "If you or Wyatt have any more problems, just yell." "We will, Superman," CJ assured him, and watched the Man of Steel stride toward the office, his cape swaying behind him. It was too bad they couldn't follow him, he thought, wistfully. He'd love to see the expression on Ms. Wentworth's face when Superman walked in. "What's up?" Wyatt asked. "How come Superman brought you to school?" "He's making sure Biff and the others know he's watching them," CJ said. "Come on, let's go get in line." ********** "So," Jonathan Kent said, "how is CJ handling it?" "Okay." Clark floated in mid-air, holding the paint can for him. He could have done the whole job in a few seconds flat, but he knew his father preferred to do it himself. Jonathan was now semi-retired as he neared his seventieth birthday, but he liked to keep active. It didn't feel right, he had explained, to be lying in bed when the sun was coming up. "We still have to explain the clone thing to him. I'm not sure how he's going to take it." "Well, you could always just sort of leave it out. No one really knows except a few of us". "I don't want to lie to him," Clark said. "Where he came from doesn't matter, unless it matters to him. It's who he is *now* that's important." "Then, it's up to you and Lois to be sure he understands it," Jonathan said, quietly. "He knows how much the two of you love him. I think, in the end that's what will count the most." "You're probably right," Clark said. He floated back a few feet to view the final touches his father had put on the house trim. "Looks nice." "Your mom wants everything right for the family this Thanksgiving," His father said. "Is Jimmy going to be able to make it this year?" "So he says," Clark said. "I promised that Superman would fly his whole family out for the holiday. I had to play the guilt card, though. He didn't want to inflict a new baby on you and Mom during the holiday weekend." Jonathan Kent laughed. "Does he have any idea how much Martha wants to see her new godson?" he asked. Clark grinned. "Not until I told him how hurt Mom would be if they didn't come. Sandra was dreading going to her parents' place, though, so I got her on my side and together he was no match for us." Jonathan descended the ladder. "Good. You're learning, son. Maybe by the time you're my age, you'll be as devious as your mother." "Not possible," Clark said, cheerfully. He glanced at the sky for the fourth time in the last hour. "I hope this paint has the chance to dry before that storm hits." "It will," Jonathan said, calmly. "The air's dry. The weather front won't be here before morning. I wanted to get the painting done before the first big snow of the season, to tell you the truth. I have the feeling I won't get another chance before spring." "Why?" "Just a feeling. Turn on the hose, will you? I've got paint all over my hands." A few minutes later, the two men trooped into the farmhouse kitchen. Martha Kent took one look at them and laughed. "I swear, Jonathan, you get more paint on you when Clark helps than when you do the job alone. Go take a bath." She turned to her son. "Do you know you've got a big green streak across the top of your head? You better get rid of it, or people will wonder who threw paint on Superman!" She dropped her voice and mouthed the last word, silently. "Grandma," Marta's distressed voice said from the doorway, "Patches caught a mouse and I think it's still alive. She's under the wood stove with it. What should I do? I'm afraid she's going to kill it!" "Oh, heavens!" Martha looked helplessly at Clark. "Can you do something about it, Clark?" Clark rolled his eyes at his father, who smothered a grin. Experience as a farm kid told him that Patches, the calico cat, was there exactly for that purpose, but, of course, Marta didn't know that and she felt sorry for the mouse. He went into the living room where CJ was sitting on the overstuffed sofa, petting the shaggy head of the terrier/ beagle mix that had adopted the Kent farm five years ago. Buster hadn't taken no for an answer, and his unswerving persistence had finally won over even Jonathan Kent, who had sworn he wasn't adopting any more confounded house pets. Buster was paying no attention whatsoever to the drama being enacted by the wood stove, being far too occupied with the fact that CJ was unerringly scratching a spot that had been irritating him all day. CJ looked up as his father entered the room, and grinned. "Hey Dad, did you know your hair is green?" "Your grandmother already told me." Clark knelt down to look under the stove and winced. "Um, Marta, I think it's too late. I'm sorry, honey." Marta burst into tears and fled from the room. CJ shook his head. "I told her it was too late," he said, "but she wouldn't believe me." Clark started to follow his daughter, but then CJ's words sank in and he paused. "*How* did you know it was too late?" "Well--" CJ hesitated and lowered his voice. "I looked to see. I know one of Superman's powers is to see through things. I tried real hard, and for a second, I could see Patches and--and the mouse." He made a face. "It was kind of blurry, and it didn't last long." Clark figured that was just as well. He nodded slowly. "I see." He glanced after Marta. "I better go talk to your sister. We'll discuss this tonight when the littler kids are asleep, all right?" "Uh-huh," CJ agreed. He resumed the scratching of Buster's neck. "It's a little scary, you know?" He added, thoughtfully, "I hope Patches doesn't catch any more mice while we're here." "Yeah," Clark said, making a mental note to be alert for the eventuality. "We're going to have to run a few tests and find out what you can do. Later, though. Marta's pretty upset." ********** By the time Clark had soothed Marta's distress and taken time to wash the paint from his hair, dinner was ready. Superman had flown the family to the Kent farm as soon as the kids had arrived home this afternoon. It was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, a little over two weeks since the encounter with Biff and all the planes were grounded in Metropolis due to an early snowstorm. After due consideration, Clark, as Superman, had saved the day and given the children a thrill at the same time. He would be bringing Jimmy, his wife and new son to the farm in the morning to participate in the Thanksgiving festivities. Jimmy and later his pretty wife had become fixtures around the Kent farm on holidays in recent years. "I'll just have salad," Lois said. She was looking a little pale around the mouth. Martha glanced at her in concern. "Don't you feel well, Lois?" Clark looked sympathetically at his wife. Unlike previous pregnancies, with this one she was having her morning sickness in the afternoon and evening. It was just as well that he did the cooking in the Kent household, he reflected, or everyone would be making peanut butter sandwiches for their dinner. The only thing Lois had been able to stomach so far in the evening had been green salad, iced tea and sweet and sour pork imported from Shanghai, courtesy of Superman Express. Even her usual love for chocolate ice cream had disappeared, to be replaced with peppermint, which she usually hated. Clark, however, knew better than to comment on the situation, based on previous experience. "Um, we have some news," he said. ********** CJ didn't understand the fuss over the whole thing. Babies were smelly, messy, and noisy, not to mention all the stuff Mom and Dad had to cart around with them when one of his younger siblings was little, and there was always a special disposal pail sitting in the bathroom, half full of used diapers. Jimmy had only finally been trained last year, and he'd thought it was over with, but no such luck. Grown-ups were weird, that was all there was to it, even Dad and Mom. A cold, wet nose nudged his knee and he glanced down. Buster was sitting at his feet, a pleading expression in his eyes as if he hadn't eaten in a week. CJ felt a tug of sympathy, even though he knew very well that Buster's bowl was full of kibbles. Careful to be certain that no one was watching, he sneaked a sliver of baked ham from his plate and slipped it to Buster, who snatched it and gulped it down as if he were half-starving. He looked up to meet his father's eyes. He hadn't thought of it before, but Dad being Superman probably explained how he always seemed to know when one of them was skirting the rules around home. Clark's eyes crinkled slightly in silent amusement and his left eyelid flickered in a slight wink before he turned back to the other adults. Dad could be pretty cool, sometimes CJ thought. After dinner, Mom and Grandma and Granddad Kent retired to the living room with Jonny and Jimmy while Clark and the two older children did the dishes. Dad could probably do them in seconds, CJ thought, wistfully, but he was holding himself to normal human speed because Marta didn't know, yet. He wondered if his sister and brothers would get super powers, someday. After all, they were only half Krypton people, or whatever you called them. It would be kind of nice, he decided. Marta was a pain sometimes, like the time she'd decided that all brothers had cooties and wouldn't let him touch her stuff for a couple of weeks, or the time she'd taken his alarm clock to time the toad races in the back yard and left it there and made him late for school. But one thing he had to admit was good about Marta; she wasn't afraid of animals like a lot of girls he knew and sometimes she was almost okay. He hoped she got super powers, too. It would be kind of lonesome if he was the only Kent kid who could do stuff like that. It was still kind of weird to see Superman doing something on TV and remind himself it was really Dad. Last week when he waded in on that gang fight and CJ had seen some scruffy-looking punk break a bottle over his head, he'd been scared for a few seconds before he remembered that nobody could hurt Superman. Someday he'd have the same power, he thought. Then he'd never have to worry about falling out of trees or burning his hand on the stove again, or anything. Behind him, the smash of a glass on the linoleum made him jump. He turned to see his sister staring at the mess she had made in consternation. "Hey, watch it!" CJ said. "It slipped," Marta said. "I'm sorry, Daddy." "It's okay," Clark said. "I'll clean it up. Don't touch the broken glass or you'll cut yourself." "I'll get the broom." CJ went to the little broom closet next to the back porch and removed the broom and dustpan. "Get the mop, too," Clark directed, which made sense as the glass had been half full of milk. CJ pulled out the sponge mop, but the handle caught on a cord dangling from the shelf above and before he knew it, a can of bug spray, a dust buster and a broken toaster rained down on his head. The toaster struck him squarely on the forehead, shattered and fell to the floor in a scattering of miscellaneous parts. CJ cried out and clapped a hand to the spot in sheer reflex. In a split instant, his father was at his side, removing his hand from his forehead to examine the injury. For a second there was silence. His father stared at the place the toaster had struck. After a moment, he said, "Are you hurt?" Numbly, CJ shook his head. He wasn't hurt, he realized in mild astonishment. His forehead didn't even hurt where the toaster had hit him. "You broke Grandma's toaster," Marta informed him with sisterly smugness. "Yeah, well, you broke her glass!" CJ retorted, nettled. "Easy there, kids," Clark said. "And break it up. Let's get busy and clean up this mess." ********** (tbc) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 06:44:30 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "C.C. Malo" Subject: Re: What makes Lois Lois? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 8/19/01 2:36:54 PM, shadowfax27@HOTMAIL.COM writes: << Out of curiosity: which of Lois's mothers do you expect writers to conform to, Carol? The mother whose concern for her daughter's happiness led her to say, on the day of her daughter's marriage to the handsome and charming third-richest man in the world, that it wasn't too late to back down? Or the self-centered alcoholic? >> Both these 'mothers' have melded in my mind into one -- the caring Ellen is just one part of a complex character who has flaws too. Alos, Lois is like her in some ways -- both women are intense, can get obsessed about something, and both like to be in control. Sometimes fics are too over the top with Ellen and she's written as such a negative character. But she's not the one who gave L&C the old baby crib. Genevieve asked: <> I guess this is why I can accept almost any interpretation of Sam Lane in a story. The show's writers were so inconsistent in writing him, plus the physical difference between the 2 actors was so pronounced that it seemed to emphasize the character difference. One thing that has often puzzled me is why fanfic writers are often harder on Ellen than they are on Sam. Does that reflect the show, too? Carol ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 08:05:02 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Heritage 5/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Heritage 5/? by Nan Smith "Don't worry about the toaster," Martha Kent said, some time later. "I'm just as happy to throw it away. Your father kept promising to fix it, but he never seemed to get around to it." Clark glanced at his dad, who looked guilty. "I was going to get to it, eventually," he protested, but without conviction. "You've been saying that for the last four years," Martha said, with a nudge of her elbow to his ribs. "It was becoming a fixture on that shelf. Is CJ okay?" "He's fine," Clark said. "Not even a red mark." "You think it might be because of his super powers?" Jonathan asked. Clark nodded. "I think so. When did you first notice it about me?" "Well, that's kind of hard to say," Jonathan said. "You fell out of a tree when you were seven and broke your leg, but I don't think you ever got hurt after that. At least, not seriously." Martha was obviously making an effort at recall. "Jonathan, do you remember the time he fell off the barn roof?" Jonathan looked surprised. "I'd forgotten that," he admitted. "You weren't hurt, so...." He broke off. "You'd lost your baseball," Martha explained. "Don't you remember?" Clark frowned. "Sort of. I went up after it, didn't I?" Martha nodded. "You were just about CJ's age," she said. "You climbed up after the ball, and just as you grabbed it, I came out the kitchen door. I must have startled you, because you lost your grip and fell. I was sure you'd been killed, but you just had the air knocked out of you. You didn't even have a bruise." "So the invulnerability was kicking in," Clark said. "CJ has the beginnings of several super powers. I probably did, too, but didn't notice at the time." "Probably," Martha said. "You weren't looking for them, after all. Mostly, by the time you noticed, the power was pretty much full-blown." "Yeah." Clark sighed. "I guess he and I will have to go some place private and check out his abilities--see how they're developing. Not this weekend, though. There's too much going on." "It isn't as if it's urgent," Jonathan said. "If I remember, you were on the 7th grade wrestling team, and nobody noticed anything strange." "I was pretty strong," Clark admitted, "but not so much that anyone thought it was unusual. It didn't really get like that until somewhere around 8th grade--about the time I started growing a little bit of a beard. I only had to shave about once a week, but I went through razors like crazy. It's going to be interesting to see how CJ's powers develop, now that we know what we're looking for." "At least he'll have you to cut his hair," Martha said, with a tug at the lock that always fell across Clark's forehead whenever he let it grow a little. "It was a good thing longish hair was in style until you figured out how to cut it. I thought we were going to have to buy you a guitar or something for awhile." "If I could carry a tune in a bucket, it might have made sense," Clark said. "Any musical talent in our family has to come from Lois's side." "Maybe," Martha said, "but Marta has a lovely voice, or haven't you noticed?" "I'd noticed. She takes after Lois, fortunately." Clark lowered his glasses and glanced toward the living room. "CJ's waiting for me. I better go talk to him." ********** CJ looked up when his father came into the room. Mom had taken the younger kids upstairs for baths a few minutes before, and he had been waiting for Dad to come talk to him, like he'd promised. It was crazy, the way everything was changing for him; it was as if the things that he'd known were solid and safe all his life had somehow switched around and all of a sudden, everything was different. One day he'd been an ordinary school kid, and the next he'd found out his father was Superman and that he was going to have Superman's powers himself, someday. He wondered if Dad expected him to be a superhero like Superman when he grew up. Not that it seemed like such a terrible thing, but CJ wanted to choose what he wanted to be, not what someone else wanted. On the other hand, hadn't Dad told him once that there was nothing he couldn't be? Maybe that meant that his Mom and Dad wouldn't mind if he decided to be a fireman, or a policeman, or even an astronaut. Maybe he could do like Dad and be a superhero sometimes and a regular person the rest of the time. It would be kind of cool to fly through the air in a bright costume and rescue people, but he didn't really want other people to know the rest. Nobody would want to play baseball with him if they knew he could hit a home run every single time, except maybe Wyatt. Maybe sometime he could tell Wyatt about everything. "Hi, kiddo," his dad said. "Want to go for a walk?" "Sure." "Good. I figured we could talk better where Marta couldn't hear us." His dad took CJ's coat from the rack by the door and handed it to him, then slipped on his own leather jacket. CJ wondered if he really needed it. He was Superman, after all. The air was chilly outside, CJ thought, but he wasn't particularly cold. The sky here in Kansas was almost as clear as it had been when he'd flown with Superman that night his mom and dad had told him about what was starting to happen to him. Absently, he rubbed the spot on his forehead where the toaster had struck. He'd been surprised, but he hadn't been hurt. Did that mean he was starting to be invulnerable? The word was hard to pronounce, even in his mind but he knew what it meant. It meant he couldn't be hurt by any ordinary means--eventually, anyway. He didn't want to test it, yet. "Does your forehead hurt?" his dad asked. "No." CJ touched the spot again. "I mean, I felt it hit me, but it didn't hurt. Am I invulnerable?" "Probably not completely, yet," Clark said. "I wasn't completely invulnerable until I was about fifteen, but it took a lot to hurt me. I even fell off the barn roof once and wasn't hurt." "Really?" "Yeah. Your grandmother reminded me of it." "Wow." "Are you cold?" CJ shook his head. "No." Clark was silent for a moment. "Is there anything you'd like to ask, now that you've had a chance to get used to this whole thing?" CJ shrugged. "I dunno. I don't know what to ask about." "Yeah." His father dropped a hand on his shoulder. "It's always hard to be put on the spot. Anything you wanted to ask always disappears." Dad was pretty smart, sometimes, CJ thought. He seemed to know things about kids that most grownups forgot. "That's about it." For a few minutes, they walked in silence. "It's weird, you know," CJ said, finally. "I mean, I look like anybody else, but I'm not like other people. I'm a--what do you call it?--an alien." "No, you're not," Clark said. "You're a native of Earth, CJ. You may be a Kryptonian, but you were born on Earth." CJ thought that over. "Dad, how can I be your brother? You're lots older than I am." Clark laughed. "I guess it seems like that," he agreed. "I'm about thirty-one years older than you are but, you're my brother, all right. As a matter of fact, you're my twin brother." That was even more confusing. CJ tried to make sense of what his father had told him and couldn't. "I don't get it." "I know. It's a little confusing, but I'll try to make sense of it," Clark told him. "You see, back when your mom and I were first married, we thought we couldn't have kids. I mean, I'm a Kryptonian. I'm less related to humans than a--than a clam. At least, we thought so. At least a clam was born on earth and I wasn't. Since then, Dr. Klein has decided by studying me, that humans of Earth and humans from Krypton are somehow related. We don't know why or how, but except for the powers, we're essentially human. Anyway, the local adoption agency turned us down, too, and we'd just about given up. Then, one night everything changed. We found you. Someone had sneaked into the house and left you with us, wrapped in a Superman blanket." CJ had never heard this story before. "Who?" "We didn't know," his father said. "All we knew was that we had this little miracle baby, together with a note that said you belonged to us. We weren't about to argue. Our lawyer helped us arrange things, and we adopted you, privately." "So, then what happened?" "About three months later, someone started trying to take you away from us. Someone tried to run your mom off the road, they searched your nursery; there was even an attempt to kidnap you from your day care. We weren't going to let anyone take you away from us, so we started investigating, while you stayed here on the farm with my mom and dad." "What did you find out?" CJ couldn't contain his curiosity. This was all new to him. "Well, I won't take you through the whole thing, but it turned out that an old enemy of ours was behind it. Do you know what a clone is, CJ? "Sure. We studied them in Science class. A clone is a genetic copy of another animal or plant. They make them in labs for different things." "Exactly. Well, this person had gotten a sample of Superman's hair and made a copy of me. He was going to raise that child as his son, and use him to attack Superman, when he was grown. Only someone else was afraid of what would happen if he succeeded. He stole the baby and gave him to Lois and me. That baby was you, CJ." CJ was silent, trying to process that. Finally, he said, "So I'm just a copy of you." There was a sick feeling in his stomach. "And you kept me, to keep me away from him?" "No." Clark's hand tightened on his shoulder. "CJ, you were the son we never thought we'd have. It didn't matter to us who you were, or where you'd come from because we loved you. The only thing we were afraid of was whether something would go wrong with you the way it had with other clones that had been made, up until that time. Dr. Klein assured us you were healthy and normal. We caught the guy behind the whole thing, managed to convince him you were the child of one of my relatives, and that his clone was dead. That was the end of it. There was never any question whether we wanted to keep you. You were ours, and we weren't going to lose you for anything." "But I'm only a copy of you." "So what?" His father--or brother, CJ thought--knelt down until their eyes were on a level. "CJ, Dr. Klein said it to me back then, and I'll say it to you now. Clones appear in nature all the time. They're called identical twins. Physically, they may be copies of each other, but they're not each other. They're different people, just as you and I are." "But--I grew in a laboratory. In a vat of chemicals, or something." "So? I was born on an alien planet that exploded and killed almost all of our species. Does that make me less of a person?" "N--no." "Of course not. *Where* you came from isn't important. It's what you are and what you become that counts. You're my son, and you always will be. Your mother and I love you very much and we're very proud of you, CJ. Don't ever doubt that." He stood up. "Come with me; I want to show you something." Feeling very confused, CJ obeyed. Clark led him around the farmhouse to a spot some distance from the old building amid a stand of trees. "Do you remember seeing this before?" CJ shook his head. He'd never been on this part of the Kent property before. Dad and he had built a tree house in an oak tree partway toward Rocky Cove, but here, in another tree was another battered tree house. In the darkness, he shouldn't have been able to read the letters painted on the sign that had been nailed to the railing, but the words were clear even in the starlight. "'Fortress of Solitude'," he read, slowly. "This was my tree house when I was about your age," Clark said. "We didn't know where I'd come from, or how. It bothered me a lot. I came up here a lot to think, and, of course, my friends and I came up here to get away from girls." CJ shared a grin with Clark, but his father wasn't finished. "Come on up" They drifted slowly upward until his dad set him down on the old, wooden platform. "Go on in. There's something here that I want you to see." Once inside the tree house, Clark moved over to a wooden box that sat in one corner, brushed a few dry leaves and a layer of dust from its surface, and opened it. "Here." Inside the box, CJ could see a glow. His dad reached into the box and lifted out...something. It was round, a little larger than an orange, and looked like a model of the earth, except for the way it glowed. Clark held it out to him. "This is the navigational system that brought my ship to Earth," he said. "My father left me a message in it, to tell me where I came from. I've never been able to get it to repeat what it showed me, but in it was the story of what happened, and why I was sent here. I--" He broke off. The globe lifted gently from his hand, hovering over his palm, and before their eyes, the continents blurred and changed. CJ stared at it. "Is that--" Clark was nodding. "That was Krypton. I always wondered if there were any other messages in it, but if there were, it's never seen fit to give them to me." The glow was brightening. CJ backed away half a step, but he wasn't really afraid. So many things had happened to him in the last couple of weeks that he thought maybe his surprise circuits were a little burned out. The glow became dazzling, and then it faded. Between Clark and CJ a man stood. He seemed to look the two of them over, and then-- The voice was as much in his head as his ears. "My son, Kal-El," he began, "that you hear this message means that you have now reached that next most important stage of your life. You have married and become a father." The eyes seemed to survey CJ, and he experienced the sensation that somehow the hologram--it *must* be a hologram, he reminded himself--was looking straight at him. "Fatherhood is a privilege and a sacred duty of our House," the voice continued. "You are expected to be fair with your children, to love them and to protect them with your very life, as your mother and I have done all within our power to protect you. I cannot give you any better advice than this, in the limited time left to us. Treasure your children, Kal-El, for in them is the blood of our world and hope for the future." As the man finished speaking, a woman moved into view as if she had entered via an invisible door. She smiled, but said nothing, and the glow slowly faded. The globe settled back into Clark's hand and the continents became those of Earth once more. "That was new," Clark said after a moment. "I've always known that the globe is attuned to me and apparently responds to certain cues. Somehow, it recognized you." "Was that your real father?" CJ whispered. "That was Jor-El and his wife, Lara," Clark confirmed. "And you heard what he said to me, CJ. The globe knew you were my son. I hope you know it, too." CJ felt his eyes start to water and struggled for a moment not to cry. Boys his age didn't cry, he reminded himself, but the tears wouldn't stop. Clark stepped quickly over to him and put an arm around him. CJ buried his face in his father's jacket. ********** (tbc) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 10:27:29 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: Smallville promos On Sat, 18 Aug 2001 16:34:54 -0500, Kathy Brown wrote: >Heh heh, did you read S5, by any chance? I'm not sure if it was "love" or >not, but Lex did get married ... ;) > Yes, I read and enjoyed S5. That wasn't what I had in mind, though. By season 6, Lex's character had been pretty much established as being thoroughly evil and I wouldn't have found it believable to have him fall unselfishly in love with anyone. I was thinking more along the lines of him having a family that he loved, like in the Godfather. When the cold- blooded murderers got done executing people, they would come home to their families who loved them. Marlon Brando's last scene in the movie had him playing with one of his grandchildren. Now that I think about it, though, I can't picture the hedonistic Lex romping on the floor with the kiddies, so I guess that wouldn't have worked, either. Since you're such a Lexphile, I'll bet that you'll be watching that new series Maalox Men or Maalox X or whatever the name is. ;-) The promos looked pretty interesting; the show looked like some kind of variation of Blade Runner. It'll be nice to see John Shea play a good guy (I *think* he's a good guy; I got a little confused about who's doing what.) Shadowfax ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 12:48:42 -0400 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: The Author's Mind... updated :) In-Reply-To: <110.3ed6f14.28ad71a4@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" Hi Crys:) Thanks for trying to help me:) I rechecked the site and was able to access Chris H's page. Wendy's page now blinks to a Yahoo Geocities search page but I was able to "capture" (timing and ambidextrous ability required!) the text in a copy and paste procedure, so I will print it out later and read it. Pam's page does not load at all:( Carolyn >In a message dated 8/16/2001 10:48:29 AM Eastern Daylight Time, >cschnall@MED.CORNELL.EDU writes: > > >> >> I still cannot seem to gain access to Wendy's section. It comes up, >> blinks, then disappears:( >> >> Carolyn >> > >I need to know if anyone else is having problems with Wendy's link, or any of >the other links. I've had one person who's Netscape seemed to be allergic to >the site, but beyond that this is the only problem reported... and I'm out of >ideas. Anyone out there know what to do to help Carolyn out? I can get in >from both Explorer and Netscape... so I'm not sure what the problem is :( > >-Crys- >Who is still really new at running a site ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 14:07:41 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: Re: The Author's Mind... updated :) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 8/20/2001 12:49:21 PM Eastern Daylight Time, cschnall@MED.CORNELL.EDU writes: > > Thanks for trying to help me:) > > I rechecked the site and was able to access Chris H's page. > > Wendy's page now blinks to a Yahoo Geocities search page but I was > able to "capture" (timing and ambidextrous ability required!) the > text in a copy and paste procedure, so I will print it out later and > read it. > > Pam's page does not load at all:( > After checking with several people who actually know what they're talking about , the problem seems to be Geocities and Netscape. They don't like one another. Depending on your computer speed, which version you use, and what exact advertisement is running at the time... well, it's touch and go. I'd recommend accessing the site with Explorer, or even just AOL's explorer. Netscape doesn't like Geocities... again, I'm clueless why. -Crys- who slinks back to her corner ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 14:29:53 -0400 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: The Author's Mind... updated :) In-Reply-To: <11.194c0060.28b2abed@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" No slinking, Crys:) It appears that I have no Netscape access at the moment either, so I will try again. Not sure I can use explorer since Netscape is the only program I think we have here. I will try again:) Thanks, Carolyn >In a message dated 8/20/2001 12:49:21 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >cschnall@MED.CORNELL.EDU writes: > > >> >> Thanks for trying to help me:) >> >> I rechecked the site and was able to access Chris H's page. >> >> Wendy's page now blinks to a Yahoo Geocities search page but I was >> able to "capture" (timing and ambidextrous ability required!) the >> text in a copy and paste procedure, so I will print it out later and >> read it. >> >> Pam's page does not load at all:( >> > > >After checking with several people who actually know what they're talking >about , the problem seems to be Geocities and Netscape. They don't like >one another. Depending on your computer speed, which version you use, and >what exact advertisement is running at the time... well, it's touch and go. > >I'd recommend accessing the site with Explorer, or even just AOL's explorer. >Netscape doesn't like Geocities... again, I'm clueless why. > >-Crys- >who slinks back to her corner ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 15:28:29 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: FF: A Little Help, part 8, conclusion MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Authors note: This fic is gratefully dedicated to Marns... for her wonderful listening ear, her willingness to talk when I'm in the worst of moods, and being a friend when I was hurting... and really needed one. Without her, I think I would have climbed the walls during LAFF rather than writing a fic! Thanks also to all of those that nagged me to finish this! I couldn't have done it without you!! -Crys- Chapter Eight The road to wellness was never easy. Lois figured that out somewhere close to a year into therapy. Despite extended sessions, and even some of the group therapy that she had dreaded, she still needed a small dosage of the antidepressant to keep her equilibrium. Dr. Evans told her that she might always require it - that her own body might never be able to keep enough Serotonin available for use without help - but that bothered her less than it once had. She had her dosage down to once a day, three hundred milligrams a dose, and it seemed to work well enough. She kept the bottle on the kitchen table so she never missed it, and kept another bottle in her purse - just in case. She was managing it. Lois never did realize when she went into remission. It wasn't a sudden thing - today you're sick, tomorrow you're not - but rather a gradual diminishing of the troublesome symptoms. She never realized when Clark settled in either, but she had a feeling it was soon after his flight to Smallville. Truthfully, she wondered why he had waited so long. Perhaps if he'd spoken to his folks earlier, he wouldn't have been so damn careful with her at first. Little by little, the world began to revolve on its axis once more, rather than revolving around Lois. Perry began trusting her with the decent stories, and Clark began leaving her alone for more than ten minutes at a time. The horrible lack of control ebbed as well, and once more she was able to get mad, to be sad, or to just argue for the sport of it without feeling as though she would lose herself in the tirade. She never thought she'd be relieved when Clark yelled at her, but that was the final stroke of healing. He didn't see her as fragile any longer - because she wasn't. * * * "It was a stupid thing to do!" he ranted, hands on his hips in full Superman pose. Lois looked up at her husband and scowled. "It was not stupid!" she corrected. "It was my job! If I plan to keep that job I have to do my best." "Your best does not mean getting yourself killed," he said angrily. Lois brushed her dripping bangs out of her face with hands that were just as wet, before answering with a forced calm. "I did not get killed," she reminded him. "Because I was here!" She shrugged. "I know you're there when I need you," she reasoned. "No," he said quietly. Far too quietly. "I know it was a risk," she admitted. "But I got the pictures." "Leave that to a photographer," he said bitterly. "So you can fish them out of the river?" she asked incredulously. "Would that be better?" "It sure as hell couldn't be worse!" "I'm fine!" she said again, brushing wet hair back out of her face once more. "A little wet, but otherwise just dandy." "If I had been a minute later..." he began. "I would have treaded water," she said flatly. "They wouldn't have seen me up under the dock, and I'm perfectly capable of swimming until they got out of the area." "It was an unnecessary risk," he muttered, but the heat was diminishing. "Define unnecessary?" she said gently. "How about having that slime out on the street when we could give these pictures to Henderson and have him behind bars." "You could have told me," he pouted. "I could have watched you, and made sure you were safe." "You weren't there to tell," she clarified. His anger began anew. "Then how did you know I'd get to you in time?" he asked fiercely. "What if I hadn't heard you call for help." "I would have dog-paddled," she said, shaking her head. "They weren't shooting at me, after all. I only jumped in because I was afraid they'd see me." "You jumped thirty feet into the river!" "Well, yeah," she admitted more warily. "Maybe not one of my brighter moves, but it worked out okay." She shifted the bundle she still held in her hand. "The camera survived," she added with a grin. "Great," he admitted. "You have a wet camera of...?" "Emmings passing the money," she grinned. "Clearly. There was no one in my way, either. He isn't even supposed to be in town this week, and I have him passing laundered money." "Unless the police can prove..." "They can! You know they can! Henderson had already nailed Batting, the guy that took the cash. He just needed the source, and that's Emmings." Clark took a deep breath and relaxed his posture slightly. "And you're okay?" he asked again. Lois' eyes softened. Her husband was coming back, she realized. The sweet one. The one that had pulled her out and hugged her fiercely before he'd broken into a hysterical yell. The one that used to argue with her all the time, and made up so well that it was worth the argument. "Feel better," she asked. He nodded, looking slightly abashed. His looked changed to one of irritation when she grinned at him. "What?" "You yelled at me," she said through the smile. "You deserved to be yelled at." "No," she corrected. "You yelled at me because I did something foolish, and because that's what you do." "So?" "When was the last time you let me have it?" she asked softly. Clark watched her for a moment, and she could almost see the gears turning. Clark hadn't so much as raised his voice to her in months. He hadn't trusted her to react within reason. Today, he hadn't thought about it at all, and that was almost worth the reaming out she had taken. "I love you," he told her simply. She grinned again. "Then get me home so I can get you out of that wet suit," she suggested. "Nope." "What?" she asked in confusion. "Police station first," he corrected. "We need to drop off that film you took a swim for. Then we'll go home." "Promise?" she asked suggestively, barely restraining herself from hugging her husband in public while he was wearing the red and blue. "Absolutely," he agreed. * * * It had happened more and more since then, but that had really been the first time he'd reacted without thinking. He'd reacted as himself, instead of acting as though she needed to be packed in cotton. She knew he needed that freedom as well. Just as she needed to know that she could blow up at him and he wouldn't overreact, so he needed to blow up at her occasionally. Yes, he'd even had a reason, but that was irrelevant as far as she was concerned. "Eighteen months." Lois turned to the sound of her husband's grumble. "What?" "They finished the trial," he told her as he pulled out his notebook and tossed it on his desk. "The slime only got eighteen months." "I thought they convicted him on drug charges, as well as the money laundering?" she asked, reaching past him to snag the notebook from his desk. She scanned his notes, her face bearing the fury she felt at the injustice. "Henderson said it was plea bargained," Clark explained. "They convicted on personal usage rather than intent to sell, and in return he passed on a few names of the upper echelons of the money ring." "That's lousy," she complained, tossing the book down again. Clark shrugged as though he'd expected it. "Money buys the best lawyers," he reasoned. "But at least we don't have to worry about him trying it again." "Why's that?" she asked, smiling slyly at his expression. "Superman had a little talk with him," Clark admitted, a small grin slipping through. "Something about watching every move he made whether he was in prison or not," he told her as he slipped his arms around her waist, tugging her nearer to him. "The poor guy almost wet his pants, he was so scared." "That's awful," Lois said with a laugh, slapping her husband's chest in mock reproach. "What about truth, justice, and the American way?" "I'm rapidly learning that the 'American way' includes threats," Clark admitted. "If the law won't help you out, you just have to use what you have." "Mmm," she agreed, leaning up into a kiss. Clark returned it easily, his arms tightening ever so slightly. "So," he began. "Mmm. How was your day?" "Good," she admitted. "Appointment go okay?" he asked. "Yeah," she told him. "It really did. This was the last private session, unless I start having problems. Oh, and a med-check in six months." "No more therapy?" he asked softly. "Not direct," she clarified. "I still have to go to the weekly stress management meeting, and Dr. Evans said to call her at the first sign of symptoms if they should recur. She doesn't think they will, though." "You're all better?" he asked gently. She shrugged at that. "It's not something that goes away completely," she admitted. "But I know the signs now, and I know what to do about them. The medication keeps the chemical balance right, and the stress management techniques should keep me from getting overwhelmed." "Sounds good," he admitted, kissing her gently on the forehead. "I also have you," she told him carefully. "Always," he agreed with a grin. "But in this case I'm not sure what that means." "Just that you might see those trouble signs earlier than I do," she explained. "And if you do, I need you to point them out. I don't want it to get bad again." "I can do that," he promised. She hugged him securely, listening to his heartbeat for a few moments before releasing him and backing away. "So, how long will it take you to finish that write-up for Perry?" she asked, her voice not betraying the emotion she was feeling. "Ten minutes, tops," he told her. "Then you want to celebrate?" "Dinner," she said with a grin. "I'm feeling like cheesecake." "That's not dinner," he corrected. "That's dessert." "Okay, how about dinner in LA," she requested. "And then dessert." "Los Angeles?" She shrugged. "Beautiful sunsets," she suggested. Clark laughed gently. "You earned it," he told her. "LA it is." "I love you, Clark," she told him softly. "I know," he replied with a grin. "I love you, too." She watched him a moment more, as he seated himself and began to type out the story just a little faster than most people would be able to. In a few minutes he'd finish, and then they'd have dinner and return to the townhouse to make love. Maybe, if she wasn't too anxious to get back, she'd talk him into taking her out to see one of the local bands while they were on the West Coast. Clark glanced up, smiling. She watched lashes lower as he moved his attention back to the computer screen, and saw the gorgeous frown as he studied what he'd written intently. He was beautiful to look at, she reminded herself. Even more wonderful to touch. Then again, maybe they'd skip dinner and just head straight home. -The End- ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 15:23:04 -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 promos On Mon, 20 Aug 2001 10:27:29 -0500, Shadow Fax wrote: >Since you're such a Lexphile, I'll bet that you'll be watching that new >series Maalox Men or Maalox X or whatever the name is. ;-) The promos >looked pretty interesting; the show looked like some kind of variation of >Blade Runner. It'll be nice to see John Shea play a good guy (I *think* >he's a good guy; I got a little confused about who's doing what.) LOL! I think it's called "Mutant X," and yes, from what I read on their website, John Shea is the lead, a good guy. Though I have a feeling there will be shades of gray with all the characters. I'm sure I'd call myself a Lexphile, but maybe a JohnShea-o-phile? Now, Leanne ... there was a Lexphile. ;) Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 17:06:52 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Natascha Kortum Subject: Re: FF: A Little Help, part 8, conclusion Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Awwwwwwww! Crystal, what a wonderful ending to a great,educational and WAFFy story. This is exactly what I needed after a mad day at work! Thank you, Natascha (already looking forward to your next fic) :) _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 17:14:28 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: The Author's Mind... updated :) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 8/20/01 2:08:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time, JCWimmer@AOL.COM writes: > It's probably the new version of Netscape. I'm on a listserv for webdevelopers in my area (and mostly I have no clue what they're talking about) and they complain constantly about Netscape, particularly the new version, and how it doesn't like much of anythign they do! So don't feel bad, Crys. --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 21:55:04 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Bethy Em Subject: Re: NEW: Secret Affairs (1/1) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Wanda, I'm glad you liked and thank you so much for replying. :) Bethy _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 17:34:00 -0500 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: Valley of the Shadow, 11a/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay - here's part 11! Hang in there - I promise the next segment is MUCH better (and the one after that better still!) It was longer than I planned so it is 2 sections here (to make sure it's not too long and the list moms don't hate me!*BG*) However, there is a real conversation (or two) without any outside interference in this section so... Comments appreciated! CM ***** Clark dreaded work the next day, but the Metropolitans were on a home stand, so he had to put in an appearance at least. He tried not to look at Lois' desk, but couldn't help it. The first thing he noticed was the huge bouquet of red roses sitting in the middle of it. The second was that the picture of them was gone. He lowered his glasses and looked at the card still in the holder and the envelope. Lois - Never forget that I am thinking of you. Looking forward to tonight. Lex He should have known. Only Lex would send such an overwhelming display of flowers. At the same time, Clark mentally kicked himself. Why hadn't he thought of flowers a month earlier? It would have been something at least. "Clark - my office now." He had missed the gruff voice of the editor-in-chief, but still wasn't looking forward to whatever Perry was about to say. His tone hadn't been one Clark liked. Clark sat on the couch as Perry indicated and waited for the older man to begin. "The roses aren't from you are they?" Clark shook his head. "Hells bells, I wish he would just vanish off the face of the earth." Perry couldn't conceal his disdain for the wealthy intruder in the lives of his two star reporters. "I need to tell you some of the things that has been going on while you were gone." Clark nodded. "First, great articles. Now, I follow sports, but I'm not really a baseball guy. What was the deal with the 'Could Superman save the Cubs?' story?" "Well, they're off to a good start, but the question is, can they hold on? Supposedly, this guy and his goat had gone to all the games in the Cubs old stadium, but they wouldn't let the goat in the new one. Legend has it that he put a curse on the Cubs saying that as long as they played at Wrigley, they'd never win a World Series. And they haven't in living memory. Something like 93 years. On the plane someone mentioned that not even Superman could help. We talked about it some more on the plane and some people in Chicago picked it up. The Cubs management heard about it and wondered if they *could* sign Superman or if having an alien on the team was against the rules." Clark shrugged. "I went with it." "Oh. Well, if you believe in all that hocus-pocus... Anyway, the article from St. Louis on how things have changed and stayed the same since you went there as a kid was great. I saw your interview while you were there." Clark stared at his hands. "I can't believe he asked a couple of those questions." Clark didn't say anything. Perry took a deep breath and continued the unpleasant assignment he had given himself. "While you were gone, Lois moved." Clark nodded. "And Lex has been around here. A lot." Clark still stared. "Great shades of Elvis, kid. You and Lois are made for each other. Anyone with half a brain knows that." "It's not that easy, Perry." "Do you love her?" "Of course I do. I've loved her since I was eighteen and nothing will ever change that. She left me a note that says she still loves me, but that it won't work out. It contradicts everything she's said and done in the last month. Things just aren't going to work out for us. We won't have the fairy tale ending. She's moved on with her life and I'm trying to do the same thing." "She's still your wife, Clark." "I know, Perry. But she doesn't seem to want to be." "I just want to warn you, son. It won't be easy for you around here right now. I've talked to John and he's willing to work on local sports for a while if you want to stay on the road with the Comets. " "That would be great, Perry." "Lex will probably be in at least once today. He usually is. And he and Lois have been having dinner together at least a couple of times a week." Perry struck his desk with one of his balled up fists. "That man..." "It's okay, Perry. I'll deal with it." Clark stood. "Thanks for giving me the heads up. The Metropolitans have an afternoon game today anyway, so I'll be out early. I'll have the story to you as soon as possible." Perry nodded as the younger man left and then rested his head in his hands. If only there was some way he could get Lois and Clark back together. Lois refused to talk about what was going on, but Perry knew that she was hurting. Something else was wrong, too. She just wasn't her old self. She was mellower and less determined - more like a doormat than he ever thought he would see Lois Lane. He just wished he knew what it was. ***** Lois wasn't ready to deal with her husband. She still thought of him that way even though they hadn't spoken in two weeks and it had been another two weeks before that. Well, unless you counted the rescue, but they hadn't really said much. But she had to go to work. She wished more than anything she could shake off this lethargic feeling that hadn't left since she lost the baby and she didn't understand the undeniable attraction she was feeling towards Lex Luthor. Her new apartment was much nicer than her old one. It was really more expensive than she could afford, but Lex owned the building so he had worked it out for her. She stood on the balcony, overlooking the incredible city bathed in the morning light. She hadn't wanted to move. She still held out hope that they would work things out, but Clark had mentioned an email that it would be better if she was gone when he got home, so she had left. The phone call from Martha hadn't helped any either. She listened to the message several times and now had it memorized. *Lois, I told Clark I couldn't interfere, and we can't. This is something the two of you have to work out together, but I want you to know that if you ever want to talk we're here for you, too. You're our daughter and we love you no matter what's going on with you and Clark.* Then Martha had sighed, sounded like she was going to say something else, but hung up instead. Lois wondered what exactly Clark had told them. A part of her wanted to call Martha and sob her heart out, but something held her back. She had Lex and for now he was the friend she needed. He had been there for her when Clark wasn't Lois sighed. She could put it off no longer. She had to go to work. At least Clark would still be covering the Metropolitans and they wouldn't be working together. She had put her foot down on that, though she didn't think Perry would have pushed it. ***** Once again, Clark knew before he even looked up that Lois entered the room. He tried desperately not to look in the direction of her heartbeat, but he couldn't help himself. As he looked up, his eyes met those of his wife. She froze as she realized what was happening. He heard her heart rate increase. He still had some effect on her. For what that was worth. Lois had also tried not to look, but the first thing she did every morning when she came in was look at Clark's desk. She couldn't help it. She wasn't surprised to see her husband sitting there. She knew that he was supposed to be in today. She was surprised by the look she saw in his eyes. Those deep, chocolate pools that were so easy to drown in. Even from across the room, she could see the anguished look, the desperation, the heartache and defeat. And the love. All in the split second before they both looked away. She made her way to her desk and wasn't surprised to see the roses that had to be from Lex. He had taken to sending her things lately. She wasn't sure she liked it, but she always accepted them graciously. He had an effect on her that she couldn't explain. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the intoxicating fragrance of the flowers. "Here." She turned in surprise at the sound of Clark's voice. He was holding out a cup of coffee to her, his eyes downcast. "Thanks." She took the offered cup and tried a sip. "You remembered how I like it." "Of course, I did. Why would I forget how my wife likes her coffee?" Clark still didn't look at her as he spoke, but rather focused on the rings that still graced her left hand. "Um, I couldn't help but look at the card. I hope you two are happy together." He turned and walked away. Lois blinked in confusion. First he brought her coffee and called her his wife - which she was - and in the very next breath he wished that she would be happy with Lex. No matter what, she would never be unfaithful to her husband, and Clark was still her husband. Lex was just a friend. She wouldn't be the one to start divorce proceedings; Clark would have to do that. Lois reached out and took the card. When she read it, she understood the comment that Clark had made. What he didn't understand was that Lex was taking her and her mother out to dinner. She thought Lex might be interested in Ellen at first, but more and more it was becoming obvious that Lex was interested in her instead. In the beginning, Lois had been ambivalent to the increasingly forward passes that Lex had been making, but lately, he had started to seem more and more attractive and her husband more and more distant. If Clark decided that he didn't want to be married any more, she'd have someone to lean on. That was something, at least. ***** ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 17:33:09 -0500 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: Valley of the Shadow, 11b/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Later that afternoon, Clark walked into the staff meeting a few minutes late. "Clark, so nice of you to join us." Perry actually wasn't being sarcastic. He was really glad to have Clark back. "Sorry, game went into extra innings." Clark looked around and noticed the only empty seat was right next to Lois. He decided to lean up against the wall instead of pushing his way through the crowded room to sit next to someone who wanted nothing to do with him. Perry motioned to the empty chair. "Have a seat, son." "I'm fine really." "Sit." Clark sighed as he heard the no nonsense tone in the boss's voice. He moved through the crowd, muttering apologies as he went. He finally sank into the seat indicated. He was glad that he was between Perry and Lois or else he would have had to look at her throughout the meeting. It was hard enough to hear her breathing so close to him. The meeting lasted another twenty minutes. As everyone stood to leave, Perry spoke once more. "Lois, Clark, sit." Both of them lowered themselves back into the chairs they had just vacated, trying not to look at each other. After the room cleared, Perry began. "Look you two, I don't know everything that has gone on between you, and I don't want to, but here's the deal. This tension is killing my newsroom. Neither one of you are to leave this room until you work something out. Understood?" Lois and Clark both nodded. Perry turned and walked out of the room. The couple didn't speak for a long time. "Look, Clark..." "Look, Lois..." They spoke at the same time. They both stopped at the same time, too. "Go ahead, Lois." "No, you, Clark." "Fine. I'm moving out of the apartment, too." "Fine. Where are you going?" "I don't know yet. I heard about a place over on Clinton that might work. I think I can afford it." "I know what you can afford. I know how much you make, remember?" "Yeah, well. If it's the place I think it is, it has a perfect balcony for me to get in and out." "Right. The superhero thing." Lois stood and walked over to look out the window. "You supported it, you know." "I didn't expect it to take my husband away from me." Clark turned to look at her. "It didn't take your husband away. You left." Lois refused to turn around. If that was what he wanted to think... "No, Clark. You left. You always left." "I always came back." Their voices were getting louder. He lowered his to hiss. "You didn't complain about the superpowers when we were flying to Paris or to the Caribbean." Lois chose to ignore that last. "Yes, you always came back. Except the last time." "It was Kryptonite, Lois. What choice did I have? I couldn't move." "Until I saved you." "Right. You saved me, Lois. I'll never be able to thank you enough for that." "Well, you saved me often enough. But you never came, Clark. Not when I needed you most." Lois still didn't turn from the window. "I don't know what you're talking about. I never knew that you needed me." "Sure, Clark. Listen. We're both adults and we're both professionals. We can put aside our personal problems while we're at work. Besides, you'll be out of the office covering the Metropolitans, so we won't have to see each other much." "Is that what you want? To pretend that we never happened?" "What's happened, happened, Clark. We can't change it and we can't go back. So, can we agree to be professionals?" "Sure, Lois. Whatever you want." With that, Clark stood and left the room. Lois continued to stare out the window as the tears began to flow freely once again. ***** Lois set her purse down on the end table. "Thank you for dinner, Lex. It was delicious." Lex shut the door behind him. "Anything for you my dear." "Can I get you a cup of coffee?" She headed into the kitchen, feeling slightly uncomfortable. No matter how long it had been since she and Clark had lived together, he was still her husband, not Lex. It just didn't feel right being here with him. "No, thank you. I must be going, but there is something I wanted to give you first." He reached into his jacket pocket and removed an envelope. Lois returned with a cup of hot chocolate for herself. "What is that?" "See for yourself." He handed it to her. Lois looked puzzled, but opened the envelope. She pulled out the papers that were inside and looked at them. It took her a few seconds to realize just what she was reading. She slowly read it out loud. "Petition for the dissolution of marriage." She looked up at him. "What is this? Did you get this from Clark?" She had a hard time believing that Clark would file for divorce and give the papers to Lex. "No." He pointed to papers. "You are the petitioner." "Oh." She sat down, not quite comprehending what Lex was saying. "See this way, you can get on with your life." "I'm not ready for this, Lex. I love Clark, you know that." "I know, but, my darling, isn't it obvious he doesn't want anything to do with you?" He saw Lois' shoulders slump. "I'm not trying to be crass or reopen old wounds..." "The wounds aren't old, Lex. They're still fresh." "I know, Lois, but this way, you can take the next step and work on getting on with our lives." "Our lives?" Lex sat down next to her, brushing a strand of hair back from her face. "Well, yes, darling. You and me together." "I'm not ready for that, Lex. You know that. I've told you that." "Of course. Not right away. But isn't it time for you to move on?" Lex was smart enough to know when he had pushed far enough. "Don't worry about it for now. I'll leave them here and you can think about it, okay?" Lois nodded as Lex kissed her forehead. She really didn't want to think about it, but she wanted to get Lex out of there so that she could go cry herself to sleep once more. ***** Later that night, Superman hovered outside Lois' apartment. She didn't know that he checked on her every night. He made his rounds and this was always the last place he stopped. For the fifth night in a row, she was crying herself to sleep, only this night it seemed worse. He couldn't take it anymore. He floated down to her window and hesitantly knocked. He saw Lois get up from her bed and walk towards the front door. He knocked again and she turned in surprise. He was grateful when she walked over and opened the window. "What do you want?" She stepped back from the window and crossed her arms in front of her. Clark stepped onto the windowsill and into the apartment. "I saw you crying and I wanted to make sure that you were okay." "You were spying on me?" It was almost a statement. Lois didn't have the strength, or even the desire, to be indignant. "No." Clark shook his head. "I just wanted to check on you, to make sure you were really doing okay." "I don't need your help. I don't need you to look out for me. I am perfectly capable of doing that on my own." Clark tried unsuccessfully not to roll his eyes. "If you say so." "What?" "You're with Luthor, aren't you?" That was the last straw. Lois felt she had put up with about all she could take from Clark, but still there wasn't the conviction behind it there would have been even a month earlier. "Just because you don't like him doesn't mean he's as evil as you think he is." "Lois..." "No, Clark. Listen. Just because you think Luthor is evil personified doesn't mean that he is. You aren't always right, you know." "I know that, Lois, but Luthor..." "*Lex* has been nothing but kind to me and my mother since this whole thing started. He has been there for me when you have been off saving the world. So don't try to tell me that you have the right to decide who I see and who I don't." "Lois..." "Please leave, Clark." "I just want to talk to you." "I don't want to talk to you. Not now. Not after everything that's happened." "I just want to understand..." "Understand what? Why I moved out? Why the world is more important than your wife? Can't help you there. That's all you." "Lois, there is nothing in this world more important to me..." "Than saving it on a regular basis. I remember." "NO! Lois, you have to believe me..." "It's too late for that, Clark." "But, the baby..." "What about the baby, Clark? The baby is gone and isn't ever coming back. There's nothing anyone, not even you, can do about that." "I know that, Lois, but..." "No buts, Clark. Now please, leave. And don't come back. Not until..." "Not until what?" "Never mind. Now go." Clark turned, saddened, and stepped onto the windowsill. He glanced around the room and noticed some papers sitting on the coffee table. Divorce papers. He sighed as he turned his attention back to Lois. It really was over, but he couldn't help what he said next. "I'll still keep checking on you." "Please don't." "I can't help it, Lois..." Lois couldn't take it any more. She pushed him out the window and shut it behind him. He was still watching as she went back into her bedroom and threw herself onto the bed, sobbing. "...because I still love you." Knowing there was nothing else he could do, and knowing he couldn't bear to watch her any longer, he flew off. ***** Clark sat in his new apartment on Clinton, mulling over the conversation he had had with Lois earlier that night. Her words had been angry, but her tone had been defeated. He didn't understand what was so different about her lately. Even though she'd been working and doing some of her normal investigative... stuff, there wasn't the same fire that had been there before. Maybe she was having second thoughts about the... He couldn't even bring himself to think the word. It felt like someone was stabbing him in the heart every time he thought about it. Whoever thought Superman couldn't be hurt was so very wrong. He wished he knew what the deal with her was. At least one of the situations he had rescued her from recently, she normally would have gotten out of without his help. And the divorce papers. He knew it had been over a month since they'd had a civil conversation, but divorce papers? Were things really that far gone? Things were so bad that divorce was the only answer without even trying to work things out? Lois must think so or she wouldn't have gone to the lengths to get them. That meant she had a lawyer - or that Lex was providing one for her. Clark could see that. He could even see Lex putting her up to it. But Lois still had to have been the one that actually told him it was okay to have the papers drawn up. He sighed as he readied himself for bed, knowing even as he did that sleep would be hard to come by again this night. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 21:30:47 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Chief Pam Subject: Fanfic Recommendations Updated MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Yes, believe it or not, Pam has finally updated her fanfic recommendations page... with 15 new recommendations going back to stories updated last December (Also note the new email address: chiefpam@nc.rr.com I got a cable modem! Makes FTP uploads ever so much faster...) http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam and look for "Pam's Picks" :-) PJ who needs a new sig file ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 20:19:37 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Heritage 6/9 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Heritage: 6/9 by Nan Smith "CJ, wake up! It's snowing!" Marta's excited voice broke through the layers of sleep. He opened his eyes reluctantly. It had taken him longer than usual to fall asleep last night; there had been so many things to think about but somewhere along the line, the thoughts had become a jumble of dreams. This morning, things seemed clearer. He was still CJ Kent and his mom and dad sure didn't care where he'd come from. Did it really make any difference? Shoving aside a few nagging doubts, CJ crawled out of bed. "First dibs on the bathroom!" he stated, and beat Marta out the door. The house already had that "Thanksgiving" smell, he thought, descending the stairs a short time later. He could definitely smell turkey cooking, and there was the scent of nutmeg and sage in the air. Grandma must be up and beginning her Thanksgiving preparations. Outside, he heard the telltale "whoosh" of Superman's arrival, and a moment later, someone knocked on the front door. Conditioned by years of life in Metropolis, CJ checked out the window, to see Uncle Jimmy's wife, Sandi, with their new baby in her arms, standing on the porch. He opened the door. "Hi, Aunt Sandi," he said. "Come on in. Where's Uncle Jimmy?" "Superman went back for him," Sandi said, stepping through the door. "It sure smells good in here!" CJ grinned and nodded, then, recalling his manners, he looked at the baby. "How's Perry?" he asked. "He's fine," Sandi said. CJ shut the door behind her. It didn't seem that cold to him, but he thought that might be for the same reason that Dad didn't really feel the cold. There was another "whoosh" outside. CJ glanced out the window in time to see Dad take off, leaving Uncle Jimmy to walk up the farmhouse steps alone. A moment later, Clark came slowly down the stairs as CJ opened the door. "Hi, Uncle Jimmy." "Hi, CJ." Jimmy stepped inside and pulled off his knit cap while CJ closed the door a second time. "Hi, CK." He sniffed, deeply. "Mmm. Something sure smells good." At that moment, Martha appeared in the kitchen door. "I thought I heard Superman leaving. I'm glad you were able to come," she added. Her smile became wider. "Oh, is that Perry? May I hold him?" CJ moved out of the way of the adults and looked at his father. Clark winked at him. "Come on, CJ, let's go get some breakfast while your grandmother plays with the baby," he said. Martha smacked him lightly on the shoulder as he went by, and CJ grinned. His Grandma Kent's love of babies was legendary. The smell of cooking turkey was even stronger when they entered the kitchen, and CJ inhaled appreciatively. His father did, too. The two glanced at each other and grinned. It was going to be a great dinner, CJ thought. Along the windowsill, he could see several of Grandma's homemade pumpkin pies cooling and with them a couple of mince pies and some of his favorite, apple pie as well. "Where's Granddad?" CJ asked. "Probably out finishing the chores," Clark said. He lifted his glasses and glanced around. "Yep. He's in the barn. Why don't you go out and see how close he is to being done?" "Okay." CJ went out the kitchen door, not even bothering with his coat. Snowflakes brushed his face, cold and sharp and all around him, the tiny, glittering flakes fell unendingly. Here and there, patches of snow were beginning to collect on the ground. He could feel the temperature, but he wasn't cold. Was this part of being invulnerable? Only, he wasn't, he reminded himself, at least not completely. He didn't have enough faith in it if Biff should try to punch him, or something, anyway. "Granddad!" he called. "In here, CJ." His grandfather's voice answered him from the barn. CJ followed his voice and found him dragging a large bag of chicken feed from the back storeroom. Without asking, he stepped up to help. Whenever he'd visited the Kent farm, he'd always helped his Granddad with the chores. He and Jonathan had been friends from as far back as he could remember. The bag moved much more easily. Jonathan raised his eyebrows, in much the same way as CJ's dad. "Not bad, kid. Thanks for the help. Say--where's your coat?" "Back in the house," CJ said. "I'm not cold." "Oh." Jonathan said. "I guess you don't feel the cold as much, huh?" "Not anymore," CJ said. "This is kind of weird, Granddad." "I know." Jonathan smiled a little wryly. "Can you imagine what it was like for your father, when this started to happen to him? Martha and I didn't know what to think, at first--or even if it wasn't some figment of his imagination." "I guess so," CJ admitted. "I never thought much about it, but I guess it would be pretty scary." "It was," his grandfather admitted. "Once we realized that it was real, we had to tell Clark how we'd found him. We didn't know where he'd come from, of course. We'd thought maybe he was some kind of Russian experiment or something, and we were afraid that if the government found out about him, they'd take him away from us. It turned out, later, that we'd been smarter than we knew." "Why?" "Oh, there were these paranoid government types who thought your dad was the advance man for an alien invasion. Their leader was a nut case--Trask, I think his name was--who was determined to kill Superman, no matter how many people he had to hurt or kill in order to reach him. That was back when Superman first appeared, of course. It wasn't easy for him, but at least now people know Superman's on their side--except for the occasional wacko or criminal, of course." "Sure," CJ said. Everybody he knew thought Superman was great--except Biff and his friends, naturally. "I'm not going to let anyone know about me, Granddad, or about Dad or anything. Um--" He hesitated a second. "Dad told me last night about me being a--a clone." "Oh, that." Jonathan shrugged. "He was worried about telling you about it, but he thought you deserved to know the truth. CJ, it doesn't matter. You're as human--" He grinned suddenly. "--Or Kryptonian as he is. All that happened is that you were started out another way than most of us, but the result was the same. Lots of infertile couples have babies that were started in a laboratory, too. There isn't much difference as far as I can see." "Yeah," CJ said. He'd heard all about that lady in Metropolis who'd had six babies all at once. They had talked about it in his science class when it happened. Suddenly, he felt better. "I guess there isn't." "That's my boy," Jonathan said. "Come on, let's go back inside. I could use a cup of hot coffee." "Dad's making breakfast for the rest of us," CJ said. "Uncle Jimmy just got here." "Oh." His grandfather chuckled. "I guess Martha's playing with the baby, right?" "Yeah." CJ grinned back at him in complete understanding. "I haven't had breakfast yet, either." "In that case, let's go. But CJ," Jonathan said, more seriously, "after this, wear your coat out in the winter, even if you don't need it. People will notice if you don't." He hadn't thought of that. "Okay. Sorry." "That's okay. Clark made some mistakes in the beginning, too. Just try to think ahead, All right?" CJ nodded. "All right." ********** By the time they got back to the kitchen, Clark had a stack of pancakes sitting on a platter in the middle of the kitchen table, the stack of dishes, pots and pans that had been in the sink when CJ had left had vanished, and he was grilling sausages and bacon on the stove. The electric coffeepot on the sink board was perking vigorously and filling the kitchen with the aroma of coffee. CJ sniffed deeply. He'd tasted coffee once, and it hadn't been anything like he expected. Mom had explained that it was an acquired taste and then had to explain what an acquired taste was. CJ wasn't sure he'd ever learn to like the way it tasted, but he still liked the smell of percolating coffee. Jonathan shut the door behind them. "That coffee almost done?" he inquired. "Just about another minute," Clark said. "Need any more help out there?" "Naw. CJ helped me," Jonathan replied. "There isn't as much to do, now, anyway." "Something smells good," Lois said, entering the kitchen. "That would be the turkey," Clark said. "Where are the kids?" "Marta's in the living room helping Martha change the baby," Lois said. "Jonny and Jimmy are getting dressed." "Have a seat," Clark invited. "CJ, will you get the silverware?" "Sure, Dad." CJ obeyed, while Clark poured coffee for his father and Lois. "How are you feeling this morning?" Clark asked her, quietly. "I was hoping you'd sleep later." "You know me," she said. "I can't ever sleep late here. The sounds aren't anything like Metropolis." "That's it," Jonathan said. "That rooster is going to be chicken and dumplings tomorrow." "Oh, no!" Lois protested. "He didn't wake me up! I'd miss old Eggbert if he wasn't here. It was just so quiet--no taxi horns, no police whistles, no sirens--that's what woke me up." "Oh," Jonathan said. He grinned. "Okay, Eggbert gets a reprieve, this time." He sipped the coffee and smacked his lips. "Nothing like real coffee. None of those flavored kinds that your mom likes." Dad, CJ noticed, wisely said nothing. He squeezed into the chair next to his granddad and reached for the orange juice. Clark had turned back to the stove and was now shoveling the sausages and bacon onto a platter. "Here you go. Help yourselves. Would you like some, Dad?" Jonathan shook his head. "I had breakfast at five," he said. "I'll just stick with coffee." Marta marched into the room, looking pleased with herself. "I just diapered the baby!" she announced. CJ rolled his eyes. ********** (tbc) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 13:51:12 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicola Baker Subject: Re: Valley of the Shadow, 11b/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Gosh, darn it, they were so *close*! Perry had the right idea, shame he let Clark leave without finishing the conversation. Hurry up and get them *talking*. Please? Nic ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 08:40:09 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: What makes Lois Lois? On Mon, 20 Aug 2001 06:44:30 EDT, C.C. Malo wrote: >Both these 'mothers' have melded in my mind into one -- the caring Ellen is >just one part of a complex character who has flaws too. Alos, Lois is like >her in some ways -- both women are intense, can get obsessed about >something, and both like to be in control. Sometimes fics are too over the >top with Ellen and she's written as such a negative character. But she's not >the one who gave L&C the old baby crib. > LOL. True! > >One thing that has often puzzled me is why fanfic writers are often harder on >Ellen than they are on Sam. Does that reflect the show, too? > I see the two Ellen Lanes as two distinct characters. Not only because of their behavior, but because of Lois's relationship with her mother. She seemed to rely on her first mother for emotional support, was looking forward to her coming to her wedding. While she loved her second mother, Beverly Garland's character was a bit of a pain at times, more of an emotional drag than anything. In Dead Lois Walking, Ellen Lane was more concerned that her daughter's death sentence and subsequent escape from prison had obviated an increase in her own medication than she was about her daughter's welfare. I see the second Ellen Lane as being more self-centered and more preoccupied with superficial matters. (What can you say about a woman who hires a wedding consultant to say that in order to express your love, you need to buy five hundred white doves? ) I couldn't see the second Ellen Lane telling Lois to back down on her wedding day. I picture her saying, after Lois expressed her doubts, "You can't back down now, Lois, what would everyone think of *us*?" With emphasis on the "us," because she would see her daughter's marriage as a reflection on herself. I don't know what you mean about fanfic writers being hard on Ellen Lane, but if you think that they portray her as being self-absorbed and an emotional drag, then I agree with those her have written her as such, at least if they're using Garland's character as model. I prefer her first mother to her second, however. Lois's first season parents would fit into a good drama; her second set of parents were caricatures, more suited to burlesque. This is nothing against the actors who portrayed them. I like both Beverly Garland and Harve Preston; they did a good job with the characters they were given. It's just that I don't like to think of Lois as having had a terrible childhood with no emotional support from anyone and I don't like to think of Lois's mother as being a superficial, self- absorbed woman. Unfortunately, that's the picture painted for us in later seasons. The picture of Lois's background that I get from watching the first season is not quite as grim. Her childhood is not as happy as Clark's, but that's because her relationship with her father and her parents' relationship with each other was so bad. Lois is close to her sweet and loving mother and sister, both of whom express concern for Lois's happiness. In spite of her younger age, Lucy seems quite motherly; she wants her sister to meet a "super guy" and urges her to date more often. Her mother vehemently tells Lois that it's not too late to call off her wedding, even on her wedding day, and tells her daughter to follow her heart. I don't know if writers choose her second set of parents because they accept the later canon rather than the earlier canon, or because her second parents are easier to write. The buffoons from the later seasons have salient characteristics that are easily captured on paper; the earlier characters would present more of a challenge, IMHO. I'm not knocking writers who choose her later set of parents, though, or saying that the writers use them *only* because they're easy to write. There are some excellent stories out there where the very talented authors chose to use Lois's second family rather than her first. Sorry this is so long, but your comments really got me thinking . . . . Shadowfax ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 14:54:44 +0100 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: NEW: Imbalance Part 21 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE [Payback is hell, so they say... well, when Ralph and co. are involved,=20 we can certainly hope so... But after grilling-- er, *interviewing*=20 their fellow luminaries at the Planet, Lois and Clark have stories to=20 write -- including *that* interview... Now read on:] ***** Lois looked around her as Clark ushered her inside the spacious, and=20 now bright and airy -- and, above all, *clean* -- apartment an hour or=20 so later, their other interviews complete -- and she grinned wickedly,=20 remembering Ralph's reaction to her questions and Everett's pale face=20 after Clark had finished with him. She pushed those thoughts aside to give the apartment her attention. In=20 the space of a week, Clark had done an amazing job of renovation and=20 redecorating; though, given what she knew about him, she'd bet the work=20 had been complete in far less time than that. And she did like it, even=20 though she still preferred her own apartment; her own place was more=20 ordered, less informal, had furniture and d=E9cor more suited to her=20 taste... It was clinical. And cold, and unwelcoming. It wasn't a *home*, unlike=20 Clark's apartment. Shoving those thoughts away, she recalled herself to her surroundings=20 and to Clark's offer of a drink. "Coffee," she answered, "as long as=20 it's not instant." "Lois, I've taken you around the world for coffee," he told her, a=20 chuckle in his voice. "Knowing your tastes as I do, would I even *dream* of offering you instant?" She raised an eyebrow as beans were produced from the freezer, ground=20 -- by hand -- and placed into a filter machine. "You keep a cow out on=20 that balcony of yours, too?" she enquired dryly. He grinned. "Wouldn't be any good if I did, since you only drink low-fat milk," he reminded her. Handing her a mug of delicious-smelling coffee=20 minutes later, he gestured towards the comfortable seating area of his=20 living room. "Okay, Lois, what's up?" he demanded, holding her gaze with an uncomfortably penetrating stare. "What do you mean?" "Lois, you've been... behaving strangely since the thing with the=20 plane. It's not shock -- you've been over that for a while now. I know=20 *precisely* when your heart rate returned to normal. You're reacting=20 differently to me, and I want to know why." "I don't know what you mean," she insisted. A grim expression came over his face, and he turned away from her. "You know, Lois, I thought it was all okay with you. You knew I'm an alien.=20 You knew I could do all these things -- I told you, the first time we=20 met properly. Okay, today may be the first time you really saw me in=20 action, but I thought I knew you better than that -- that you wouldn't=20 withdraw from me just because I'm... different." 'What??' Lois jumped to her feet, slamming her mug down on the coffee=20 table without even noticing the sloshes which left puddles on the=20 planed-down wood. "Clark, what *are* you talking about?" He turned to face her, some emotion burning in his eyes which she=20 couldn't recognise. "Lois, I felt it. You went distant on me. Oh, yeah,=20 we worked together back there, just like before; we'll get some great=20 stories out of this. I'm not talking about how you react to me as a=20 partner; I mean the way you react to me as a person." She stared at him, wondering what on Earth she'd done to give him that=20 impression. Or... was this perhaps a sign that Clark 'Superman' Kent=20 wasn't as confident of himself as a person as she'd thought? "Clark... I *don't* have a problem with you being from another planet. I think maybe what is a little different in the way I see you is that now, I *really*=20 believe it. Before, I... I thought I probably believed you, but I=20 wasn't sure... I was always wondering whether there was some other=20 explanation that you were keeping from me. Now, I *know*. And... it's=20 just kind of a lot to take in. Especially as..." She hesitated, saw that he was watching her intently, seeming to=20 believe her, so she continued, "Especially as what you did this morning=20 was so incredible, so *amazing*, that it took a while to take in that=20 you're really capable of *doing* things like that." She gave a helpless=20 shrug. "I mean, it's not that flying me to Paris isn't pretty=20 incredible... but you lifted a 747! In mid-air!" He inclined his head. "Sorry. I guess I take what I can do kind of for=20 granted, since I know my limitations-- " "Limitations?" she interrupted him before he could continue. "Do you=20 *have* any?" That made him laugh. "Well, yeah... Remind me to tell you about a=20 certain green rock one of these days. But, Lois, as a favour to me,=20 that's *not* for publication, okay?" "Okay. But you make sure you tell me, you hear?" "Sure," he agreed. He took a step towards her. "Lois, I'm sorry=20 about... about what I suggested. You know, most of the time, being an=20 'alien' really doesn't bother me in the least. I'm comfortable being=20 who I am, and I like what I can do. But it's other people's reactions=20 which can sometimes hurt... and it would really hurt if you rejected me=20 as a friend because of who I am." Lois was about to object strenuously to his suggestion that she'd even=20 consider such a thing, but then she saw the sincerity in his eyes, the=20 expression which told her that he really did want to be her friend. She=20 smiled at him instead. "Nope, you're stuck with me, Kent. But, for now,=20 one question before we get on with this interview stuff -- just *how*=20 strong are you?" He grinned and came closer still, shrugging his jacket off his=20 shoulders and rolling up his shirt-sleeve. Holding out his arm towards=20 her, he winked. "Feel." A smooth, tanned forearm; a light covering of hair running up his arm=20 to disappear under the shirt-sleeve; no spare flesh anywhere; and a=20 strongly muscled bicep. To her surprise, Lois found herself needing to=20 swallow before placing her fingers lightly on his bicep. His skin felt=20 warm, the muscles beneath her fingers powerful; but if she didn't know=20 the truth, he felt no different from any other fit male specimen. Catching her eye, he murmured, "Squeeze." She did, and a moment later, he raised his arm upwards; to her shock,=20 she found herself being lifted off the floor. With a stifled screech,=20 she clutched at him; he steadied her and lowered her back down. "Sorry -- couldn't resist," he teased her. "Now, come on -- how about=20 that interview; then we can decide how we want to present the rest of=20 the stuff." ***** If Clark hadn't already been familiar with Lois' work, the next couple=20 of hours would have shown him why she'd earned the reputation of being=20 Metropolis' best reporter, with five Kerth awards to her name. Her=20 interview technique was very impressive: tough, but also occasionally=20 slipping into gentle persuasion... only to reveal the hidden dagger of=20 another, heavily disguised, killer question. She asked him questions=20 about his Super side which no other reporter had ever thought of asking=20 him before, and she caught him every time he tried to present an=20 evasive answer as a real one. In the end, he had to tell her on a few=20 occasions that the questions she was asking were ones he was not yet=20 prepared to answer. One of those related to how long he'd been on Earth, the answer to=20 which was going to be important for keeping his identity secret. Lois=20 already knew that he'd grown up in Kansas, and that he'd been adopted=20 as a child; she presumed from what he'd told her that he'd arrived here=20 as a baby, but, on reflection, she realised that she didn't know how=20 long his journey through space had taken, and he might not know either.=20 The Kents could have found a toddler, or even a small child, rather=20 than the baby she'd been picturing. He must have landed in Kansas before the age of ten, at the very least,=20 and from his reactions when he'd talked about his dead foster parents,=20 she was sure that the Kents had found him a long time before their=20 deaths; there was real pain there, which could only come from the loss=20 of someone very dear to him, and that depth of feeling took time to=20 build. She still remembered how much it had hurt when her father had=20 walked out on her mother and his daughters; however she might feel=20 about the man now, his leaving had been so painful because it brought=20 to an end, as surely as death, 12 years of loving him and trying to win=20 his approval. So she was surprised when Clark said that he'd only been here for a few=20 days. She challenged him on it, and he became openly evasive -- or did=20 he? "That's the truth, Lois," he said finally. When she stared at him=20 in disbelief, he met her gaze evenly and added, "And it's certainly=20 what I want the public to know -- if Superman has only been here for a=20 short time, no-one's going to connect him with Clark Kent, born 1966,=20 raised in Kansas, alumnus of Midwestern State, former reporter for the=20 Gotham Recorder..." But then he'd smiled one of those megawatt smiles of his, and=20 continued, "And before you accuse me of lying, Lois, let me say=20 something: everything I have told you about me is true -- including the=20 things that are apparently contradictory. There *is* an answer to your=20 questions, and I will explain everything in good time, the way I=20 promised." The look she gave him made it clear that she remembered his promise,=20 too, and that she didn't intend to be fobbed off this way much longer.=20 He threaded his fingers through his hair and gave her a rueful smile.=20 "I know, I'm asking you to take a lot on trust, and I do owe you that=20 explanation. But not now, okay? That one's strictly for you, and I=20 think we need to concentrate on getting Perry what he needs at the=20 moment. Okay?" Her answering nod told him that the matter was only postponed. Not that=20 this was a bad thing; he did *want* to tell her everything, and her=20 words earlier suggested to him that perhaps the time was now right.=20 She'd said that she didn't fully believe him before seeing him in=20 action. Perhaps now, she'd find the story of his universe-hopping=20 easier to believe? He certainly hoped so. If he was to have any chance=20 of winning Lois for himself, he could have no secrets from her. Eventually, she finished interviewing him and disappeared into the=20 kitchen to write up her story; he stayed where he was to put together=20 the main story of the 747 going out of control; later, he would show it=20 to her and get her to add in anything she wanted. They worked in near-silence for over an hour, broken only by occasional=20 requests for clarification from one to the other. Clark could have=20 finished much sooner than Lois, but, in deference to his partner, he=20 didn't use super-speed... much. Finally, he heard her stretching, and,=20 a moment later, her chair-legs scraped back. "I'm done. Want to see?" Clark hesitated. He *did* want to see what she'd written, as much to=20 find out how she viewed him as to check that she wasn't saying anything=20 he didn't want made public. But... was this a test? Was she trying to=20 see how much he trusted her? And, in asking himself that question, he realised that he *did* trust=20 her. He didn't need to see what she'd written about him -- about=20 Superman. He knew it would be good, and he knew that she would have=20 been discreet. So he smiled, getting to his feet to meet her half-way.=20 "No, that's okay, Lois. You just send it to Perry, then we can finish=20 the plane crash and St John stories." She held his gaze for a moment. "You sure?" He nodded. "You don't need me to approve your work... and I've never=20 really enjoyed reading about myself. Besides, you hate it when I edit=20 your copy -- and anyway, we have more important things to do." Her faint smile as she turned to find his telephone socket so that she=20 could plug her modem in told him that he'd made the right choice.=20 ***** >From the Daily Planet, evening edition: --------------------------------------- MIRACLE OVER DOWNTOWN Near-Disaster Averted by Flying Wonder by Lois Lane and Clark Kent A Boeing 747 airliner carrying 600 passengers was attacked and=20 sabotaged over the downtown district of Metropolis this morning in what=20 is suspected to be an attempt to destroy the offices of the Daily=20 Planet and kill members of its staff. Atlantic Shuttle flight 865 was shot at by four men wielding Stinger=20 surface-to-air missiles, or SAMs, thought to have been stolen from a=20 local Army base. In addition, investigators from the National=20 Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Authority and the FBI=20 have found that the airplane's flight control system had been tampered=20 with in such a way that their leader, identified as Nigel St John, a=20 former British SIS agent turned mercenary, could over-ride the cockpit=20 controls, effectively seizing control of the aircraft from the flight=20 crew. The sabotaged system was activated shortly after SAMs hit two of=20 the 747's engines, and the airplane was put onto a collision course for=20 the Daily Planet building. The horrifying prospect of an aircraft-building collision of far=20 greater magnitude than any previous such disaster was only averted=20 through the intervention of... CALL HIM SUPERMAN Exclusive Interview with Aircraft Saviour by Lois Lane His name is Kal-El. He looks like an ordinary man, albeit one with=20 rather garish taste in clothing. But, to hundreds of passengers aboard=20 Atlantic Shuttle flight 865 this morning, and to thousands of people in=20 downtown Metropolis, including the staff of the Daily Planet, he is the=20 reason they are alive. And to five men, currently under arrest and=20 facing charges ranging from terrorism to attempted mass murder, all=20 related to the same near-disaster, he is the personification of Nemesis. He is a refugee from a dead world, the sole survivor of his people.=20 And, like so many of the "poor and huddled masses" which this country=20 has taken in, he wants to repay our generosity by doing what he can to=20 make life better for everyone. As Metropolis saw today, what he can do=20 is quite a lot. He says he is "here to help"... ***** Returning to his apartment late that night after a few minor rescues,=20 Clark spun out of the suit and into jeans and a t-shirt. As he made=20 himself coffee, he smiled with genuine satisfaction. This had been a=20 good day, in lots of different ways. He'd made his debut as Superman,=20 and in such a way that no criminal could be in any doubt about either=20 his abilities or his determination to stop crime. He'd made the=20 acquaintance, as Superman, of some of the city's law enforcement=20 officers and convinced them of his bona fides and his wish to help. And=20 he'd introduced himself to the world at large, via the media. And therein lay the most important reason for him to be happy. Lois. Lois had been *impressed* with his performance as Superman; that was=20 extremely pleasing. He'd seen the admiration in her eyes when he'd=20 returned to the newsroom, and again when they'd written up the stories=20 together. Even better, however, she'd been *concerned* for him. One of=20 the first things she'd asked him on his return was whether he was okay;=20 she'd said it anxiously, showing that she cared about him. That was=20 certainly a sign that she saw him as a friend -- at least. He couldn't stop himself smiling giddily at that recognition. Lois=20 cared about him! Lois Lane, the woman whose reaction to him, only a=20 week earlier, had made him wonder whether he'd done the right thing in=20 leaving his own universe behind, *liked* him. Her behaviour towards him=20 later, here in his apartment, had confirmed that impression --=20 especially after she'd been angry at his suggestion that she saw him=20 differently following his debut. Lois liked him. He'd also been delighted with the article she'd written for the Planet;=20 his decision to trust her, though it hadn't been an easy one to make,=20 had been entirely the right one to take. She'd more than justified his=20 trust in her. Nothing was revealed which he'd asked her to keep quiet,=20 and yet she'd still managed to put together an excellent piece for the=20 Planet with some personal information about Superman. Superman was from=20 another planet. He wanted to help, and he believed in truth, justice=20 and saving lives. He didn't and would not consider himself above the=20 law. He wanted to work with the police and other official=20 organisations, rather than to supplant them. He was invulnerable... The=20 article had said everything which needed to be said at this point, to=20 reassure and inform the public about this new and strange being in=20 their midst. More than that, Lois' article had carried an overtone of approval and=20 admiration. Anyone reading it would know that Lois Lane,=20 highly-respected journalist, was impressed by Superman; not to the=20 point of losing her objectivity, but certainly to the point of=20 recognising in the super-hero someone who was honest and decent and=20 admirable. That, Clark knew, would go a long way towards ensuring his=20 acceptance by this new world. While the Daily Planet took the lead in=20 declaring that Superman was welcome, other newspapers would think twice=20 about questioning the alien visitor's bona fides. Lois liked him. And Lois was more than fulfilling her side of the=20 bargain they'd made on the night they'd met properly. Clark mused again=20 on the thought that had been in his mind since that afternoon: it was=20 time to tell Lois more of the truth about himself. Now, all that=20 mattered was finding the right time, and he hoped it would be soon. ***** [What's that "old" saying -- "you're only as good as your next story?"=20 Well, not in *this* case... ...as Lois and Clark will find out next=20 time. Plus, certain *other* people react to the appearance of Superman=20 with... shall we say, less than enthusiasm -- which will have=20 repercussions in the future for our favourite reporters.] Phil=20 ---- "If you let a smile be your umbrella... you'll get wet teeth!" -- a forgotten comedian, quoted by me: Phil Atcliffe (Phillip.Atcliffe@uwe.ac.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 10:09:47 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Charlotte Fisler Subject: Re: NEW: Imbalance Part 21 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Keep it coming, Phil. Not only the story but the commentary and your many signatures. I'm enjoying all three. Charlotte ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 15:38:03 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: What makes Lois Lois? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Shadowfax wrote, in a very interesting post: > I don't know if writers choose her second set of parents because they > accept the later canon rather than the earlier canon, or because her second > parents are easier to write. The buffoons from the later seasons have > salient characteristics that are easily captured on paper; the earlier > characters would present more of a challenge, IMHO. I'm not knocking > writers who choose her later set of parents, though, or saying that the > writers use them *only* because they're easy to write. There are some > excellent stories out there where the very talented authors chose to use > Lois's second family rather than her first. I know I've tended to use Presnell/Garland as my models, not so much because they're caricatures which are easier to write, but because we saw a *lot* more of them, and so I feel that I know more about them. What can you say, really, about the Ellen Lane of HoL whom we saw on-screen for little more than about five seconds? Sure, she did seem to care about her daughter's well-being - although I find that difficult to take, in a way, because if Lois's mother was genuinely a caring individual, then surely we'd have seen more of her, a la Martha Kent? So in a way I'm not sure that I can recognise the 'kind' Ellen as Lois's mother. But even if I didn't think that way, I'd still find it impossible to allow *that* Ellen to replace the image of Beverley Garland in my mind, because Garland was in so many S3 and S4 eps. While I do feel that I got to know the Sam Lane of RfaS a little better than his ex-wife, again we saw so much more of Harve Presnell. Yet I think some of my depiction of Sam Lane is somewhere between the two. The Sam Lane I've written twice who has some odd views about aliens is probably closer to the S1 Sam than the Sam Lane who saved Superman's life in HIWTHI. But that may be partly due to the fact that, while Lois almost never mentioned her mother in S1, she did say some pretty strong things about her father, including his attitude to her academic work and his wish that she'd been a boy - so those remarks from Lois have helped to shape the characterisation of Sam Lane in my head. Does anyone remember: did Lois comment on her mother's alcoholism during S1, or did that come later? The brittle alcoholic image does suit Beverley Garland's Ellen far more than the Ellen we saw so briefly in HoL. Wendy -------------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 09:54:55 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: HoL: Did he *spit* in the wine? I watched "House of Luthor" this morning on TNT and noticed-- or may have noticed -- something I hadn't before. In the wine cellar, when Lex was about to cage Superman, he was tasting wine from his various barrels. As the scene opens, we see Lex sipping from a glass, then wincing as he spit the wine back, saying it wasn't ready yet. Then Mrs. Cox comes in with Superman, and Lex greets him by gesturing with a glass of wine, seemingly to invite Superman to have a drink with him. My question -- did he offer Superman the same glass that he'd just spit into?? Kathy (there's always something new to love ) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 10:02:13 -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: Fanfic Recommendations Updated On Mon, 20 Aug 2001 21:30:47 -0400, Chief Pam wrote: >Yes, believe it or not, Pam has finally updated her fanfic recommendations >page... with 15 new recommendations going back to stories updated last >December Wow, Pam, you must by psychic! Last night, for the first time in ages, I went through my bookmark list to clean out the outdated ones. One of the sites I visited was your Picks page but, noticing that it no longer seemed to be actively updated, I reluctantly deleted it. (Though not before adding a few of your recommended stories to my "to read" list.) And now this morning, you post this! Must be my lucky day. :) Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 09:45:40 -0500 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: Imbalance Part 21 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Excellent as always. Great writing - good move for CK to trust LL. More soon please! CM ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 09:26:51 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: April Sycamore Subject: Superman shirt Comments: To: afolcslife@yahoogroups.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Hey everyone! You know the superman shirts that were on that Jcpenney commercial? Well, my parents got me one!!! It's dark dark blue, almost black, and the "s" is silver. There is silver glitter all around it and then in the middle written in red it says, "supergirl." Sorry, I was just so excited I've been telling everyone, and since no one else seems to care, I thought I'd tell all of you L&C fans!! April _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 09:00:26 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Heritage 7/9 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Heritage 7/9 by Nan Smith By afternoon, the snow was several inches deep and showed no sign of slowing down. CJ and Marta drafted Jimmy and Clark to help them build snow forts, and a short time later the Great Battle of Smallville was waged in the front yard, Jimmy and CJ against Clark and Marta. When the snowballs had been exhausted, the four of them trooped back into the house, leaving their soaked boots on the front steps. >From the kitchen, CJ could hear the chatter of voices. Jonny and Jimmy were glued to the television, engaged in some sort of video game that appeared to involve numerous space ships and spectacular explosions. Naturally, Jonny was winning, but that didn't seem to discourage his youngest brother, who sat cross-legged on the rug, his tongue clamped firmly between his teeth and a ferocious scowl on his face. "How about some hot chocolate?" Clark asked. "I think I can smell it." At that moment, Martha emerged from the kitchen, a tray of steaming mugs in her hands. "If you ladies and gentlemen are through playing in the snow, how about something to warm you up?" Jonathan followed her out. "This storm doesn't show any sign of stopping soon," he said. "I'm glad we finished the painting, yesterday." "Me, too," Clark agreed. CJ glanced out the window. If anything, the cloud of flakes was thicker. A new layer of snow was rapidly covering the area they had disturbed a short time ago. "Do you ever get snowed in, here, Jonathan?" Uncle Jimmy asked. "Now and then." CJ's grandfather settled down comfortably in his favorite chair. "I figure the snow plows are already busy in town. Rachel's going to have her hands full with fender benders and stranded drivers by this evening." "We'll be able to get home, though, won't we?" Sandi, looking a little worried, had appeared in the kitchen doorway as well, the baby in her arms. "No problem," Uncle Jimmy assured her. "Superman doesn't have visibility problems, does he Clark?" "Not that I've ever heard," CJ's father agreed. "Besides, he can fly above the clouds. Don't worry, Sandi. He'll get you home all right." "Where's Lois?" Jimmy asked. "She was feeling tired and went upstairs for a nap," Martha said. "Who wants hot chocolate?" Everyone did. CJ sipped the hot liquid carefully, and caught an approving wink from his grandfather. He felt pleased with himself. The hot chocolate was steaming, but it didn't burn his mouth at all. His dad had told him that Uncle Jimmy knew about Superman, but Aunt Sandi didn't. He wasn't sure if Uncle Jimmy knew about him, yet, although he'd probably figure it out sooner or later. Except for his dad and grandfather, Jimmy was one of the smartest people, for a grownup, that CJ knew. And of course, there was Marta. He was going to have to remember to be careful not to do anything different in front of her or anybody, just the way his dad did when he wasn't being Superman. He could just see Marta blabbing about it to her friends, and that would be the end of their secret. He almost missed seeing his father quietly head for the stairs. Dad was still a little worried about Mom, CJ thought. He was probably going to check on her. CJ would be glad when she was past this being-sick stage. She always looked pale and kind of greenish in the afternoon, now. He didn't like it when Mom felt bad. She did her best to hide how she was feeling, but he knew better. Maybe, he thought, hopefully, her nap would make her feel better for the turkey dinner. It didn't seem fair that she should miss out on Grandma's great cooking just because she was going to have another baby. Quietly, he separated himself from the group and drifted toward the stairs. No one had noticed his departure, and he quietly ascended the steps after Clark. When he reached the second floor, he could hear his father's voice, and his mother's softer reply. After a moment's hesitation, he knocked on the door. There was an instant's silence and then Clark opened the door. "Hi, CJ. Is something wrong?" "No. I just wanted to see if Mom was still feeling bad." "Oh. Come on in." Lois was lying on top of the bedspread, and even in the dimness, CJ could see the pale, greenish tinge on her face. "Oh, Mom! You're going to miss the turkey!" Lois smiled wanly. "It's okay, CJ. Your dad's going to bring me some sweet and sour pork from Shanghai. It's the only thing I seem to want right now." "I'll ask Mom to make you a salad and some iced tea to go with it," Clark said. He surveyed the expression on CJ's face. "What's the matter, son?" "I just don't like it when Mom feels bad. She's going to miss Thanksgiving dinner because the baby's making her sick. It's not fair." His father smiled a little. "No, it isn't," he said. "But unfortunately, that's the way it works, sometimes. Things aren't always fair. That's why it's up to us to help her as much as we can right now. Your grandma's planning dinner for about six o'clock, so just before that, I'll take off for Shanghai to get your mom's dinner. Fortunately, there's a Chinese place in town, so your Aunt Sandi won't think anything of it when I bring in Chinese food. It's up to you to help keep Marta and the younger ones distracted so they don't notice I'm gone. Okay?" CJ nodded. Lois smiled at him. "Don't worry, honey, this will only last a few weeks. It only seems longer." "Sort of like the day before Christmas?" CJ asked. "Sort of," Lois said. "Thanks for wanting to help, sweetie. It makes it better." ********** In spite of everything, though, Thanksgiving dinner was fun. The fact that Mom was having "traditional Thanksgiving sweet and sour pork", as Uncle Jimmy dubbed Lois's meal, made CJ laugh, and he felt better about it. Working on his third serving of turkey and mashed potatoes, he had to think that his family was luckier than some. He'd taken a big bag of cans to school for their yearly food drive for families that weren't as lucky, so he knew some families weren't having turkey at all. He tried to imagine what it would be like having corned beef hash for his Thanksgiving dinner, and couldn't. It wasn't fair, but as his dad had said, sometimes things weren't fair. Maybe, he thought, that was one of the reasons Dad had become Superman. When he grew up, he decided, he'd try to do something to help, too. It only seemed right that he could use the super powers he'd have someday for somebody besides himself. "When you're finished with that turkey leg," his grandmother said, "would you like some dessert? How about pumpkin pie--or, maybe apple?" CJ nodded vigorously, his mouth full of mashed potatoes. "CJ's being a pig," Marta said, disdainfully. "He eats *all* the time. Brothers are gross." "Marta!" Lois said, sternly, "Well, he is," Marta said, sticking out her lower lip. "Maria says he's going to be fat." "That will be enough, young lady," Lois said, in her no argument tone of voice. "I'm not interested in Maria's opinion, and you will mind your manners or you'll miss dessert, tonight. Is that clear?" Marta subsided, sulking. CJ waited until his mom wasn't looking and stuck his tongue out at his sister. Uncle Jimmy saw him, but didn't say anything. CJ finished a last, large bite of turkey and smiled angelically at his grandmother. "I'm done, Grandma." "Good," she said. "Clark, how about you help me bring in the pie?" ********** Thanksgiving, as it always did, went by too fast for CJ. When he left the Kent farm via Superman Express on Sunday afternoon, after helping his grandfather with the animals, CJ waved vigorously to his grandparents until the farm was a tiny, dark speck in the distance, sitting among a wide expanse of snow. Then he looked at his father's face. "Are we coming back for Christmas?" Clark laughed. "Yes, but we won't be flying into Wichita until Christmas Eve. We have to go to Grandmother and Grandfather Lane's condo the day before that." "Oh," CJ said. That meant getting dressed up in his best outfit and having dinner in a restaurant. Grandmother Ellen cooked a lot like Mom, which kind of figured. Still, it wasn't so bad. He liked Grandmother Ellen, even if she did get a lot of headaches and Grandfather Sam was a pretty smart guy, although he did have some weird ideas, sometimes. CJ just didn't think you could get muscles by swallowing some kind of nasty-tasting stuff out of a bottle, although Grandfather Sam swore his "Biceps-in-a-Bottle" was a hot-selling item. CJ remained skeptical. When they arrived back in Metropolis a few minutes later, it was late afternoon and a light snow was falling. The steps up to the townhouse were inches deep in ice and snow. Superman set CJ down on the sidewalk and stared at the coating. The layers of ice began to steam, and in less than a minute, the stairs were clear. CJ hurried up the still slightly warm flight of steps and let himself in, hearing the "whoosh" behind him as Superman took off for his return trip. The house was cold, and he hurried to turn up the thermostat and switch on the television. He tuned in right in the middle of an LNN newscast and was about to switch channels when the weatherman came on. All the Kent children except Jimmy liked to watch the LNN weather forecaster. He was a funny little man who wore a variety of strange costumes purporting to represent the weather in different parts of the country. Personally, CJ was unable to see the connection, but the antics he went through to demonstrate the kinds of weather people were experiencing was better than a Milton the Monster cartoon, and they always tried to watch him. At the moment, his face was turning pink as he blew up a large, purple balloon. What that had to do with the fact that he was predicting heavy snow for the next day CJ couldn't begin to guess, but there was a fifty-fifty chance that the schools would be closed tomorrow, and that got his attention. If tomorrow was a snow day, it meant he and Wyatt were going to have the whole day free. And maybe Mom and Dad would let them go to the park for part of the time, if they promised to stay out of trouble. The purple balloon exploded with a loud pop and a shower of confetti, and the weather guy pretended to shake his fist at the howls of laughter from the off-screen camera operators. Suddenly a flood of balloons rained on the man from above, filling the screen with purple. The picture faded and an advertisement for Abercrombe's Flea Collars came on. Outside, he heard the "whoosh" of Superman's arrival again and a moment later, his mom opened the door. CJ turned off the television. Now was his chance to grab the family computer before Marta got home. He'd check the online weather forecast and then leave a message for Wyatt. After that, there might be some leftover pie in the fridge. Dad had promised he'd take some of it off Grandma's hands, and maybe Mom wouldn't mind if he got himself a snack.... ********** "Now, you do exactly what Wyatt's mom tells you to do, you understand that, CJ?" his mother repeated. "If she tells you that you can't go to the park, that's too bad. I don't want to hear that you gave her any argument." "Sure, Mom," CJ agreed. He grinned at his sister, who was pouting. "It's not fair!" Marta said. "CJ gets to stay with Wyatt, and I have to go to the Planet and stay with all the babies, just because he's a year older!" "And because Maria's mom has to work," Lois reminded her. "Maybe the next time it will be different. Hurry, now. I don't want to be late." "Where's Daddy?" Marta asked. "I bet he'd let me stay here." "I bet he wouldn't," Lois said, firmly. "Get in the Jeep, now, kids, and you seatbelt yourself in, Marta, no arguments." CJ looked at the television screen out of the corner of his eye. The amateur video footage showed the devastation around a South American city where a huge earthquake had struck early this morning. The newscaster was saying something about Superman digging into the ruins of a hospital, looking for survivors. He knew where Dad was, all right, but he wasn't going to tell Marta. He had to resist the urge to tell her to stop whining, though. Marta and her best friend, Maria, had recently decided all boys were pigs and never missed the chance to tell him so, and he'd taken every opportunity to show them how right they were. But just now, his mother had enough trouble without him adding to it, and besides, if he stirred things up with Marta, Mom might not let him go to Wyatt's after all, so he kept quiet. It was some ten minutes later that CJ clambered out of the Jeep in front of the apartment that housed Wyatt's family. CJ hurried up the steps and entered, then ran up three flights of stairs to his friend's floor, disdaining the elevator. The thing was so slow that the one time he and Wyatt had been in it, he'd thought for a while that it had stalled. Wyatt opened the door at his knock. "Hi, CJ!" "Hi," CJ said. "Where's your mom?" "In the kitchen. You want to watch TV for awhile?" "Sure," CJ said. "Did you ask her about the park?" Wyatt shook his head. "We'll ask her after she's finished her coffee. Brandon and Joe just left a few minutes ago, and the others are still asleep." Wyatt's apartment was always messier than his place, CJ thought, which made sense, because of all the kids. Besides his five older brothers, Wyatt had two sisters, one of them in high school and the other one a little older than CJ. There was a pile of laundry on the living room sofa and the Dillon family cat, Custer, was sleeping on his back in the middle of it. Wyatt grabbed the remote control from under the coffee table and turned on the television, keeping the sound low. Milton the Monster was just coming on, and the two boys settled down on the rug to watch. As Wyatt had said, they'd wait until his mom had finished her coffee before they asked about the park. By that time, CJ figured, she'd be happy to get rid of them for awhile. It was going to be a great day. ********** (tbc) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 16:04:08 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Bethy Em Subject: NEW: It's Not Easy Being Me (1/1) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed ************************************** It’s Not Easy Being Me By Bethy and ShivaSaavik Comments welcome here or privately. Rated G ************************************** I will not be defeated. I have survived teenage boys, John Travolta in *Grease*, and Prom nights. I will not let one tights-wearing, underpants-showing, flying man beat me! He puts me through so much, though... Fire, rain, explosions -- not to mention that infernal wind! Sheesh, you’d think he could manage to fly a *little* slower then that! What’s his hurry? It’s not like the fate of the world depends on how fast he gets there! Well, maybe it does. Still! There’s only so much SuperGel can stand. And the SuperGel is name only. I do not have super strength. I do not shoot eye beams. I do not fly. I hold hair in a position that is dictated by the person to whom the hair belongs. I am hairgel. Supergel, maximum hold guaranteed. But I am not super. It’s just a name. ‘Hair gel for those who do daily activities’ was taken. But he is Superman and since so much of his life is spent doing ‘super’ things, I suppose he would be drawn to the SuperGel. A liiiiittle warning might have been nice! 70 mile-per-hour wind velocity is *not* conducive to my capabilities. I didn’t even recognize him. He stood in front of the mirror with his red boots (which would shame a fire engine), bright blue tights (tights, can you believe it?), red underwear (yeah, right -- what idiot in his right mind lets his underwear show? Especially *red* underwear. There are easier ways of getting a lady’s attention without flashing passion-red briefs at her. Really.) and swirling cape. I just thought he never outgrew childhood tendencies. You know, a kid whose parents made him read the dictionary for fun. I thought something wasn’t right in the head, but then, who asks me? All I do is hold hair. I thought my job wouldn’t last long. After all, the first thing he did after applying me was go jump out the window! Dressed as he was, though, I wasn’t surprised. He was obviously seeking attention, and suicide definitely will get you that! Especially with a cape swirling behind... Boy, was I in for the surprise of my life. We went down, sure, everything’s hunky-dory. But then we came right back up. And fast! I wanted to protest -- I wasn’t made for this kind of abuse! I wasn’t made for any kind of abuse! Naturally, any protests I considered went...well, out the window. Instead, we flew (which people aren’t supposed to do. More importantly, which I’m not supposed to do. Except in airplanes.). Fast. I was straining my limits, trying to keep his hair in place, but the wind almost blew me right off! Finally we slowed down and I breathed a sigh of relief. I could relax again. But no. No, instead, we went from the frying pan into the fire. A one block blaze, to be more precise. Heat + SuperGel = a big no-no. A smelly, big no-no. Fortunately, he moved too fast for the fire to take affect, but still. Fire???? Well, he stopped the blaze, soaked in the praise and then decided to soak in the water. Now, I know water will put a fire out, but he took it to extremes. He zoomed off to the Arctic and jumped right in. Fully clothed. In water. Water! Not exactly helpful to a gel’s job -- even ‘SuperGel.’ So what that there was an oil spill? So what that he had to save the marine life? Did he ever stop to think of me? Of course not! I don’t even like fish, anyway! But dolphins are kind of nice... And then he was done and in this building somewhere. He hopped in the bathroom for a quick change...and that’s another thing. You put your clothes on and then apply the hairgel. Not the other way around! When he was done, he looked in the mirror and I cringed. His hair was a mess, all loose and hanging and... Eugh. He didn’t even re-apply me! It was the lowest point of my career. Until the next day with the explosion. And then next day stopping that asteroid. And the next, and the next...and let’s not forget the instance where the crocodile bit his head. I haven’t. But I bear it with the best of my ability. No one will ever accuse me of shirking from my duty. Even though I secretly long for the boy who used so much of me that his date’s face got stuck in his hair. Instead I face everything else. From fire to water to stuff I don’t even recognize. Or want to. Or need to. Sigh. It’s not easy being me. The End Note: Blame ShivaSaavik, not me. It was her idea. (ShivaSaavik wants to know why she is the first with this idea. Especially since she doesn't watch L&C!) Anyway, no, we were not on drugs. Or drunk. We hadn't eaten in a while, though... Never mind, this is how we are normally. :D Bethy (and ShivaSaavik) _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 12:55:00 -0400 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: Superman shirt In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Carolyn >Hey everyone! You know the superman shirts that were on that Jcpenney >commercial? Well, my parents got me one!!! It's dark dark blue, almost >black, and the "s" is silver. There is silver glitter all around it and then >in the middle written in red it says, "supergirl." >Sorry, I was just so excited I've been telling everyone, and since no one >else seems to care, I thought I'd tell all of you L&C fans!! > >April > > > > >_________________________________________________________________ >Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 19:54:11 +0100 Reply-To: Yvonne Connell Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yvonne Connell Subject: Re: Fanfic Recommendations Updated MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Well, done, Pam - there are some excellent stories there, I see :) Good choices! Yvonne (yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 15:56:00 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Singin Drew Subject: Re: HoL: Did he *spit* in the wine? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Yes Kathy, as a matter of fact he did... When I first noticed that, I just assumed it was Lex being mean by offering Superman the "not quite ready" wine..... But that has always just been my opinion... let me know what else you think... Kristin PS- Something else that has bothered me: In Bob & Carol & Lois & Clark, Lois turns on her cell phone to make sure it is working and she gets a dial tone... Maybe it's my yearws working at Sprint PCS, but it bugs me because everyone knows, cell phones don't have dial tones!!! ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 00:57:55 +0200 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Ursula Bento Subject: Re: NEW: It's Not Easy Being Me (1/1) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This one really got me grinning girls! You have my Kerth award vote for the cutest Supes tale. Start writing whenever you're hungry okay? Ursie ----- Original Message ----- From: Bethy Em To: Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2001 6:04 PM Subject: NEW: It's Not Easy Being Me (1/1) > ************************************** > It's Not Easy Being Me > By Bethy > and ShivaSaavik > Comments welcome here or privately. > Rated G > ************************************** > > I will not be defeated. I have survived teenage boys, John Travolta in > *Grease*, and Prom nights. I will not let one tights-wearing, > underpants-showing, flying man beat me! > > He puts me through so much, though... Fire, rain, explosions -- not to > mention that infernal wind! Sheesh, you'd think he could manage to fly a > *little* slower then that! What's his hurry? It's not like the fate of the > world depends on how fast he gets there! Well, maybe it does. Still! > There's only so much SuperGel can stand. > > And the SuperGel is name only. I do not have super strength. I do not > shoot eye beams. I do not fly. I hold hair in a position that is dictated > by the person to whom the hair belongs. I am hairgel. Supergel, maximum > hold guaranteed. But I am not super. It's just a name. 'Hair gel for > those who do daily activities' was taken. > > But he is Superman and since so much of his life is spent doing 'super' > things, I suppose he would be drawn to the SuperGel. A liiiiittle warning > might have been nice! 70 mile-per-hour wind velocity is *not* conducive to > my capabilities. > > I didn't even recognize him. He stood in front of the mirror with his red > boots (which would shame a fire engine), bright blue tights (tights, can you > believe it?), red underwear (yeah, right -- what idiot in his right mind > lets his underwear show? Especially *red* underwear. There are easier ways > of getting a lady's attention without flashing passion-red briefs at her. > Really.) and swirling cape. I just thought he never outgrew childhood > tendencies. You know, a kid whose parents made him read the dictionary for > fun. I thought something wasn't right in the head, but then, who asks me? > All I do is hold hair. > > I thought my job wouldn't last long. After all, the first thing he did > after applying me was go jump out the window! Dressed as he was, though, I > wasn't surprised. He was obviously seeking attention, and suicide > definitely will get you that! Especially with a cape swirling behind... > > Boy, was I in for the surprise of my life. We went down, sure, everything's > hunky-dory. But then we came right back up. And fast! I wanted to protest > -- I wasn't made for this kind of abuse! I wasn't made for any kind of > abuse! Naturally, any protests I considered went...well, out the window. > > Instead, we flew (which people aren't supposed to do. More importantly, > which I'm not supposed to do. Except in airplanes.). Fast. I was > straining my limits, trying to keep his hair in place, but the wind almost > blew me right off! Finally we slowed down and I breathed a sigh of relief. > I could relax again. > > But no. No, instead, we went from the frying pan into the fire. A one > block blaze, to be more precise. Heat + SuperGel = a big no-no. A smelly, > big no-no. Fortunately, he moved too fast for the fire to take affect, but > still. Fire???? Well, he stopped the blaze, soaked in the praise and then > decided to soak in the water. > > Now, I know water will put a fire out, but he took it to extremes. He > zoomed off to the Arctic and jumped right in. Fully clothed. In water. > Water! Not exactly helpful to a gel's job -- even 'SuperGel.' So what that > there was an oil spill? So what that he had to save the marine life? Did > he ever stop to think of me? Of course not! I don't even like fish, > anyway! But dolphins are kind of nice... > > And then he was done and in this building somewhere. He hopped in the > bathroom for a quick change...and that's another thing. You put your > clothes on and then apply the hairgel. Not the other way around! When he > was done, he looked in the mirror and I cringed. His hair was a mess, all > loose and hanging and... Eugh. He didn't even re-apply me! It was the > lowest point of my career. > > Until the next day with the explosion. And then next day stopping that > asteroid. And the next, and the next...and let's not forget the instance > where the crocodile bit his head. I haven't. > > But I bear it with the best of my ability. No one will ever accuse me of > shirking from my duty. Even though I secretly long for the boy who used so > much of me that his date's face got stuck in his hair. Instead I face > everything else. From fire to water to stuff I don't even recognize. Or > want to. Or need to. > > Sigh. It's not easy being me. > > The End > > Note: Blame ShivaSaavik, not me. It was her idea. (ShivaSaavik wants to > know why she is the first with this idea. Especially since she doesn't watch > L&C!) > > Anyway, no, we were not on drugs. Or drunk. We hadn't eaten in a while, > though... > > Never mind, this is how we are normally. :D > > Bethy (and ShivaSaavik) > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 18:45:23 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Heritage 8/9 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Heritage 8/9 by Nan Smith True to the plan, Wyatt's mom was more than willing to let the two boys go out on their own, on the condition that they go only to the park and if they got cold they were to come straight back. Since the park was only a few blocks away, this seemed reasonable. Wyatt and CJ agreed immediately to the restrictions. While Wyatt got his coat, gloves, hat and boots, CJ scratched Custer's stomach. The big, yellow tabby purred roughly, half-closed his eyes and stretched, looking indecently pleased at the attention. While Wyatt was struggling into his boots, his brother, George, still in his pajamas, emerged from one of the bedrooms, scratching his hair and looking sleepy. At least, CJ thought it was George. His twin brother, Barry, had a freckle just above one eyebrow, and CJ didn't see it, so this was probably George. Barry and George were in the eighth grade over at Maxwell Middle School and both played in their school band. George, if CJ remembered right, played the trumpet, while Barry's instrument was the drums. CJ had been here a few times when he had been practicing for some school event, and now made a point of being elsewhere whenever Barry was working on a new selection. He wondered how the other kids stood it. "Hey, kid," George said. "Howya doin'?" "Okay," CJ said. "Wyatt and I are going to the park." "Don't freeze," George said. He headed for the kitchen. Wyatt stood up, stamping to settle his foot down into the second boot. "Let's go, CJ." They went down the stairs, avoiding the creaky elevator since, CJ pointed out, they wanted to get to the park sometime today. Outside, the sky overhead was a clear blue, but to the north, heavy black clouds were massing. CJ figured they could probably count on more snow this afternoon. The sidewalks were a trampled, muddy mess, lined with brownish snow and from not far away he could hear the distinctive sounds of the snowplows, busy clearing the streets of the snow that blocked them. They had already been to Wyatt's street. Small mountains of dirty snow lined the roadway, and the parked cars were half-buried in brownish-white. The sidewalk was slippery, too. There was a muddy path where people had walked, but the mud was half-frozen as well, and they had to mind their steps or they might wind up on the ground, as Wyatt discovered the hard way. Still, it took more than slipping on the sidewalk to dampen their enthusiasm. The walk to the park took a little longer than usual, but they arrived at last. The entire area not sheltered by trees was covered by a good two feet of snow. A number of children were building snowmen and several boys about their age were engaged in constructing snow forts. "Let's go over and see if the duck pond is frozen!" Wyatt suggested. CJ thought that sounded like a good idea. Last year in spite of the city rules, a number of kids had gone skating on the ice. Of course, that had been in January when the top layer had gotten thick enough to hold their weight. Right now, he wouldn't care to test it. The pond was indeed frozen over. Several pigeons were hopping around on the surface, pecking at things, but CJ figured they weren't very heavy. In fact, if he looked hard, he could see big silver-colored fish swimming around under about a quarter of an inch of ice. He blinked and the scene became ordinary again. Wow! That must have been his x-ray vision kicking in, just like it had at the farm. "Whatcha looking at?" Wyatt wanted to know. "Nothing," CJ said. "Let's go over to the trees and build igloos!" "Okay," Wyatt agreed. There was one place in the treed section of the park where a small clearing made an open space surrounded by evergreens. CJ and Wyatt had found it some time ago and often used it for games during the summer as well as the winter. It was so private and quiet, with nothing but the occasional birdcalls to break the silence. The big, bushy evergreens blotted out most of the sounds of the city beyond and gave them an illusion of being all alone in the wilderness. A small stream, barely more than a foot-wide trickle that fed into the duck pond, bordered on one edge of the clearing and it made great wading on a warm, summer day. Now, of course, it was frozen solid. CJ put one foot tentatively on the surface and pulled it back when he felt the ice begin to crackle under his weight. "Too thin?" Wyatt asked. "Yeah," CJ said. He turned to survey their clearing. The small expanse was deep in snow, and the possibilities were endless for two boys with equal amounts of energy and imagination. CJ began to clear an area, banking up the snow into thick walls. Wyatt hurried to help him, and before long they had the makings of a snow fort, meant to repel any number of invaders, though the exact identity of the enemy was unclear. Tiring of the sport at last, they deserted their post to return to the more populated section of the park. They cut through the trees where only a sprinkling of snow had penetrated the pine branches. Pine needles crunched under their feet and the scent of the evergreens was thick in the air. CJ sniffed deeply. "It sure smells like Christmas," he said. "I can hardly wait." "Me, either," Wyatt agreed. "My dad's going to be home by then. He called Mom and us on Thanksgiving. He says they're almost done with the construction and if nothing goes wrong, he'll be flying back in three weeks." "That's great," CJ said. "I'd sure hate it if my dad had to travel all over the world to work, like your dad." "Yeah," Wyatt said. "But he's making a lot more money this way. Mom says we're going to move to a bigger apartment after Christmas. It'll be nice not to have to share my room with two brothers. George and Barry have their music junk all over the place and there's no room for my stuff." CJ had seen Wyatt's room. It was about the size of the Kent laundry room and a lot more crowded. A thought struck him. "You'll still be going to the same school, won't you?" "Oh, sure. It's only a couple of blocks away, over on Elm Street. We'll be closer to your house." "That'll be great! We can walk to school in the morning!" "Yeah," Wyatt agreed. He shivered a little. "I'm kind of cold. We should probably go home and get lunch. We can come back later." "Yeah," CJ agreed. He wasn't cold, but he couldn't tell Wyatt that. A distinctly nippy breeze that they hadn't noticed in the sheltered clearing had sprung up while they played and the wind chill made the air feel colder than it really was. A light sprinkle of flakes filled the air as they emerged into the open and CJ looked around in surprise. The sunlight had dimmed and he saw that the black clouds he had noticed earlier this morning now covered half the sky. A faint haze had drifted across the sun as well. There were still children in the park, but the numbers had thinned noticeably and the mothers and nannies with the smaller kids had disappeared. "Wow," Wyatt said. "More snow. Maybe tomorrow will be a snow day, too." "Yeah, maybe," CJ agreed. "Well, well," a voice said from their left. "Look who's here. Superman's little buddies." CJ spun around. Biff and his ever-present cronies were standing not ten feet away, grinning at them. Biff cracked the knuckles of one gloved hand. "And I happen to know," he said, "that Superman's in South America. He ain't going to hear it if you yell." CJ backed away, pulling Wyatt with him. "Leave us alone, Biff," he said. "We don't want to fight you." Biff grinned, nastily. "I'll bet," he said, "but you're gonna. Your mom made a lotta trouble for my dad; did you know that?" "Yeah, I know," CJ said. He figured he couldn't be in any worse trouble at this point. "He's in jail for taking bribes!" "Nobody's proved anything yet," Biff said, stubbornly. "Your mom's gonna be sorry, too. My dad said so. And so are you." He looked at Grunt. "Grab him, guys!" "Run!" CJ yelled. He dodged Grunt and Red and took off after Wyatt with the four older boys in pursuit. Running in heavy snow wasn't easy, but it was just as difficult for the bigger boys as they floundered after the two smaller ones. CJ was faster than he had thought and had to consciously slow down a little so as not to outrun Wyatt. Maybe it would have been smarter to get away, but he wasn't about to abandon his best friend to get beaten up by these clowns. Maybe if they could make it out to the street they could spot a cop, he was thinking, when Wyatt slipped on a patch of ice and fell flat. CJ stopped, trying to pull him to his feet, and in that instant Biff and his three friends were on them. Biff bared his teeth in what CJ supposed must be a smile, gripping the smaller boy's wrists behind his back. "Now you're gonna get it, Shrimp. Let's go." "Where?" Red asked. Biff's smile widened. "Let's see how well they can swim." Red looked doubtful. "You're kidding, right?" he said. "It's freezing." "Yeah? So what?" Biff propelled CJ toward the pond, barely a hundred feet away. "Let's see if they can cheat their way outta that!" CJ jerked desperately, trying to break Biff's hold. He didn't know if the freezing water would hurt him or not, but he was sure Wyatt would feel it. Biff clamped down harder on his wrists and shoved him forward. In spite of the struggles both boys put up, within less than a minute they were dragged kicking and writhing to the shore of the frozen pond. "I dunno, Biff," Red protested weakly. "If one of them freezes we could get in trouble." Grunt, holding a terrified Wyatt, sneered at his companion. "You're scared," he said. He gripped Wyatt by the collar and the seat of the pants, preparatory to hurling him into the water. Wyatt squirmed around, grabbing for a hold of any sort, tangled his fingers in the bigger boy's thick, strawberry blond hair and hung on for dear life. Grunt yelled in pain and anger, letting go of the smaller boy to pry at his hands and CJ felt Biff's grip loosen ever so slightly. With a wrench that hurt his wrists and made his shoulders protest from the angle at which they were twisted, he tore himself free and stumbled forward into Jake. The older boy, not expecting an attack, no matter how unintentional, staggered sideways and fell onto the ice. There was an ominous crackling and then a splash as the frozen surface gave way. Jake vanished beneath the icy water. ********** For a second, nobody moved. Jake didn't reappear. "Jake!" Red shouted. The ripples in the water smoothed out. If not for the broken patch in the ice, nothing might have happened. "Jake!" Biff screamed. Wyatt let go of Grunt's hair and backed away. The larger boy didn't seem to notice. "Let's get out of here," he yelled. "Yeah." Biff turned and ran. Grunt followed him. "Hey!" Red looked after them in disbelief. "You can't leave Jake!" Neither of the two boys even paused. Red stared at their departing forms in shock. CJ was on his knees by the pond. Jake was in there, and he was going to freeze or drown--or both--and it would be CJ's fault. He had to do something. "Wyatt!" he shouted. "Go get help! Find a cop or somebody! Hurry!" Wyatt nodded and took off running. CJ stared into the murky water, willing himself to *see*! If he could just see where Jake was, maybe he or Red could get hold of him and pull him out. The water was really only a few feet deep. Why didn't Jake come back out? As if someone had opened a door in the ice, suddenly CJ saw the problem. Jake was under there, all right, struggling, but he was beneath the layer of ice and he had no leverage to break the stuff. He must not be able to see where the opening was located, CJ reasoned. For some reason, he was thinking clearly. He couldn't let Jake drown or freeze, and he could see the other boy's struggles were growing weaker. He pulled off his jacket. He was sort of invulnerable, he knew. The water probably wouldn't be so bad for him, and he had to do *something*! "Hey, what're you doing?" Red demanded. CJ didn't answer. Dropping his jacket to the snow, and not letting himself think about what he was doing, he took a deep breath and jumped. The water was definitely cold, he realized. He wasn't that invulnerable yet, but it wasn't as bad as he'd feared, and he hadn't lost Jake. The bigger boy's movements had almost ceased, but CJ could see him clearly. He jackknifed in the water, paddling with his hands and kicking with his feet. It took only seconds to reach the other boy, and to grasp him by his hair. Turning in the water, CJ struck out with one hand and both feet, kicking strongly. It wasn't for nothing that he'd swum in the lake near his grandparents' farm from the time he was six. It seemed longer, but it was really only bare seconds before his head burst above the icy water. He gulped air. "Red!" he gasped. "I've got him! Grab him!" The redheaded boy paused for only a second, and then reached past CJ to grab Jake by the collar of his jacket and haul him to shore. CJ scrambled after him, unaided. The air was a lot colder now, he thought, but he tried to remember what his Health teacher last year had told them about people who got too cold. You had to get them warmed up fast. He was just about to start pulling Jake's sopping clothes from his body when he saw Wyatt running toward them, a police officer beside him, and heard the man shouting into his radio for assistance. From somewhere, several other adults were converging on the scene of the accident and CJ thankfully turned the responsibility over to the newcomers. He figured he was in enough trouble. Mom was probably going to kill him. ********** (tbc) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 18:47:20 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Heritage 9/9 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Heritage 9/9 by Nan Smith "Ms. Lane! There's a call for you on line two! It's a Mrs. Dillon, calling about CJ!" Lois turned her head at the call from Kelly, the current office gofer. She grabbed for the phone on Clark's desk. "Lois Lane." "Oh, thank heavens!" Laura Dillon sounded agitated. "Lois, I thought you should know right away. CJ--" "Is something wrong?" Lois asked, trying to keep calm. Laura wasn't the kind of person to get upset at trifles. Having eight children ranging from eighteen to nine, including two sets of twins, tended to make her pretty unflappable except in the direst of circumstances. "Is CJ all right?" "Yes, pretty much. I wanted to let you know we're at Metro General." She heard Laura take a deep breath. "He's okay. Just a little cold, but he--he pulled another boy out of the pond at the park. He saved his life." There was the sound of muffled voices in the background. Laura said something that Lois couldn't quite hear, then she spoke to Lois again. "That was the doctor. He says CJ's fine. His temperature was normal when he got here. The nurse wants to know if someone can bring him some dry clothes." "Tell them I'll be there as soon as I can," Lois said. She hung up, becoming suddenly aware that she was the center of attention. Perry was standing only a few feet away, looking concerned. "Is everything all right, honey?" he asked. Lois nodded, feeling a little shell-shocked. CJ's powers had begun to manifest only a little over three weeks ago and he was already saving lives. Her baby boy was growing up before her eyes. She wasn't sure she was ready for this. "Yeah. That was CJ's babysitter. I have to leave, Chief. CJ's at Metro General and needs some dry clothes." Perry's eyebrows flew up and she felt it necessary to add, "He pulled another boy out of the pond in Centennial Park." Perry's face broke into a grin. "Oh, I see. You better go, then. And Lois--" Already turning away, she paused. "Yes?" "If there's a story in this, I don't want any other paper to get it first. Besides, that way you can control what's printed." "Right, Perry," she said. Heading away from Clark's desk, she heard him murmur softly, "Like father, like son," but she said nothing. For some years, she had been aware that Perry *knew*, and Perry knew she knew he knew, but it was never mentioned, by unspoken agreement between Perry, Clark and Lois. After a brief stop at home, she continued on to Metro General. When she walked into the ER waiting room, Laura stood up, looking apologetic and relieved at the same time. Wyatt smiled and waved. "Thanks for coming so quickly," Laura said when Lois hurried over to her. "CJ's still in there, wearing a hospital gown. He doesn't like it much." "I'll bet," Lois said. "I better get these to him. Are you sure he's all right?" Laura nodded. "I'm sure. They wrapped him up in blankets in the paramedic van and when they took his temperature, it was fine, but they said if CJ hadn't pulled the other boy out of the pond he might have died." "I guess I better get the whole story from him," Lois said. "Were you there, Wyatt?" Wyatt nodded. "Then you can tell me about it later, okay?" Again, Wyatt nodded. "Sure, Ms. Lane." The nurse behind the admitting desk raised her eyebrows when Lois identified herself. "CJ Kent? You're his mother? Aren't you that reporter at the Daily Planet?" Lois nodded. "Yes. My husband is Clark Kent--CJ's *father*," she added pointedly. "I have his clothes here." She held up the bag of CJ's things. The woman smiled primly. "He'll be glad to see those. You have a very brave son, Ms. Lane." Lois smiled wryly. "I know," she said. "I guess I wouldn't have expected anything else." ********** "Hey, CJ! You're on LNN!" Marta called, gleefully. CJ rolled his eyes. He hoped very much that tomorrow would be another snow day. If it was, maybe by the time he went back to school, the other kids would have forgotten about what had happened this afternoon. He opened the shade on his window to peer out at the sky. A few flakes still fell, but the clouds seemed to be clearing awfully fast. His father knocked on the doorframe. "May I come in, CJ?" "Sure." CJ turned from the window. "I'm glad you're back, Dad." "So am I," his father said, very soberly. Dad looked tired, CJ thought. It must have been pretty bad trying to help all those people who had been in the earthquake, but Superman had gone at once when he'd heard. That was what Superman did, after all. "I heard about what happened today," his father said. "You did a brave thing, CJ." CJ shook his head. "No I didn't. I was scared, but I'd knocked Jake into the water. I couldn't let him drown." "I know," his father said. "But they were trying to throw you and Wyatt into the water--and when Jake fell in, Biff and Grunt ran away. *You* not only stayed, you jumped into freezing water to pull him out. Superman already talked to Red, by the way, and I called Jake's parents. You'll be glad to know that the doctors say Jake will be fine in a day or two." "I'm glad of that." CJ flopped down on his bed. "But I don't *feel* brave, Dad. It's just that there wasn't anyone else who could help--so I had to." Clark smiled. "Do you remember the Cowardly Lion, CJ?" "Sure." "Did he really need the Wizard's magic courage?" CJ shook his head. "No." "Why not?" CJ wondered what his father was driving at. "Because he already had courage. He just didn't know it." "Exactly," Clark said. "He thought he was a coward because whenever he was faced with danger, he was afraid. But he never ran away; he handled it because someone had to, and most of the time he was the only one who could. If he hadn't been afraid, he couldn't have been brave, CJ, and neither could you. You saved Jake's life and there's nothing more important than a life. Your mom and I are proud of you." CJ squirmed slightly, but it was nice to know that his parents were pleased with him. "Biff and Grunt are going to be mad, though." "That's their problem. The way I hear it, Red isn't very happy with them for running off like that and neither is Jake. Jake's mother and dad said to tell you that they're very grateful to you for saving their son. I'm afraid you're going to have to put up with your fifteen minutes of fame just like everybody else." Clark grinned. "It won't last. In a few days mostly everyone will have forgotten." "I hope so," CJ mumbled. "They will. In the meantime, though, why don't you come downstairs? Your mom's serving ice cream." "Peppermint?" CJ asked, cautiously. "No; chocolate. She can't stand it, so she's getting rid of it until she's past this stage." CJ rolled to his feet. "Okay. Chocolate's my favorite." ********** "Hey, Squirt!" CJ tried to ignore Biff's voice as he and Wyatt entered the schoolyard. The bigger boy, accompanied by Grunt, moved around to block their path. "I was talkin' to you, Shrimp." "I know," CJ said, evenly. "I just don't want to talk to you, Biff." "Well, you're gonna. I bet you think you're a big hero. I don't like heroes." "Leave 'em alone, Biff." Red had strolled up behind them, and the two smaller boys looked worriedly at each other. CJ hoped he wasn't going to have to yell for Superman. "What's wrong with you?" Biff demanded. "Nothing. Just leave 'em alone. They didn't do anything to you." "What do you care?" Red stepped past the two fifth graders and shoved his nose within an inch of Biff's. "You slimy coward. You ran off and left Jake to drown. I shoulda listened to Superman last time, but now I'm gonna. You bother these kids again, you're gonna be eating your teeth." CJ hadn't noticed before, but Red was bigger than Biff, and he looked really mad right now. Biff took a step back, his mouth half open. Red didn't move. He looked contemptuously at Grunt and then deliberately spat on the ground. CJ and Wyatt watched the drama playing out before them with their eyes wide. Biff's blank expression changed to anger. "You wanta hang out with those losers, go ahead. I don't need you." Red grinned, showing his teeth. "Just stay outta my way. And don't forget what I said. Leave 'em alone." The first bell rang. Red glanced around at CJ. "Go on, kid. He isn't gonna give you any trouble." CJ closed his mouth with an effort. "Thanks," he managed. Biff and Grunt were walking away, trying to swagger. Red looked after them. "Losers," he said, in disgust. "Go on, guys. And if they give you any hassle after this, tell me. Okay?" Speechless, CJ and Wyatt nodded in unison. Red grinned and headed for the sixth grade entrance. "Wow," Wyatt said, after a minute. "Yeah," CJ said. He glanced at his watch. "Come on, we're going to be late." The two boys broke into a run. The End Comments welcome ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 21:37:07 -0500 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: Kinda OT: Superman joke MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Got this from my aunt in law just now - and it is kind of amusing, so I thought I'd share. CM (who is watching HoL and notices that Luthor doesn't quite fill out the "Lexman" or whatever costume in the opening sequence as well as CK/S does!:o)!) > Two men are drinking in a bar at the top of the Empire > > State Building. One turns to the other and says: > "You know last week I discovered that if you jump from > > the top of this building - by the time you fall to the > 10th floor, the winds around the building are so > intense that they carry you around the building and > back into the window." > > The bartender just shakes his head in disapproval > while wiping the bar. > > The 2nd man says: "What are you a nut? There is no way > > in hell that could happen." > > 1st man: "No it's true let me prove it to you." > > So he gets up from the bar, jumps over the balcony, > and careens to the street below. When he passes the > 10th floor, the high wind whips him around the > building and back into the 10th floor window and he > takes > the elevator back up to the bar. > > The 2nd man tells him: "You know I saw that with my > own eyes, but that must have been a one time fluke." > > 1st man: "No, I'll prove it again" and again he jumps > and hurtles toward the street where the 10th floor > wind gently carries him around the building and into > the window. Once upstairs he urges his fellow drinker > to try it. > > 2nd man: "Well what the hell, it works, I'll try it." > > So he jumps over the balcony, plunges downward, passes > > the 11th, 10th, 9th, 8th floors... and hits the > sidewalk with a 'splat.' > > Back upstairs the bartender turns to the other > drinker: > "You know, Superman, you're a real asshole when you're > > drunk." ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 21:52:04 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: What makes Lois Lois? On Tue, 21 Aug 2001 15:38:03 +0100, Wendy Richards wrote: > >I know I've tended to use Presnell/Garland as my models, not so much because >they're caricatures which are easier to write, but because we saw a *lot* >more of them, and so I feel that I know more about them. What can you say, >really, about the Ellen Lane of HoL whom we saw on-screen for little more >than about five seconds? Excellent point! Yes, of course writers would tend to choose the character they know more about! :-) Sure, she did seem to care about her daughter's >well-being - although I find that difficult to take, in a way, because if >Lois's mother was genuinely a caring individual, then surely we'd have seen >more of her, a la Martha Kent? So in a way I'm not sure that I can recognise >the 'kind' Ellen as Lois's mother. Yes, that's quite an interesting point. In HOL we get the impression that Lois relies on her mother for support, and her mother gives it, before and during the wedding ceremony. And then her mother disappears after the wedding, never to be seen again until reincarnated into Beverly Garland in Season 3. I wonder what the writers were thinking?? I do think, though, that Clark had an *extraordinary* relationship with his parents. It would be possible for Lois to feel close to her mother yet not have as close a relationship as Clark did with Martha - especially if there was some physical distance between them. (Lois can't fly like Clark can!) But now I'm *really* starting to wonder what the writers were thinking! I've heard that whenever they create a character, the producers write up a background sheet for the character which all writers are supposed to conform to. I wonder what was on that background sheet for Lois's family? What did they originally envision Lois's mother to be like? Was she a busy career woman who hardly ever had time to see her daughter? I don't think the S1 writers envisioned her as an alcoholic; IIRC, Ellen Lane's alcoholism wasn't mentioned until S3. > >While I do feel that I got to know the Sam Lane of RfaS a little better than >his ex-wife, again we saw so much more of Harve Presnell. Yet I think some >of my depiction of Sam Lane is somewhere between the two. The Sam Lane I've >written twice who has some odd views about aliens is probably closer to the >S1 Sam than the Sam Lane who saved Superman's life in HIWTHI. How true. :-) >Does anyone remember: did Lois comment on her mother's alcoholism during S1, >or did that come later? The brittle alcoholic image does suit Beverley >Garland's Ellen far more than the Ellen we saw so briefly in HoL. > AFAI can remember, the only times Lois mentioned her mother in S1 were in ILTY and in HOL, and she didn't mention alcoholism in either ep. Lois may have mentioned her in RfaSH, too, but I don't recall anything specific. I don't think that Ellen was an alcoholic until S3. Shadowfax ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 20:58:20 US/MOUNTAIN Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin Klinger Subject: OT: Computerless :P Hi all! :) Sorry for the OT, but I had five minutes tonight to borrow a friend's computer, and thought I'd pass on a quick message. I've been without a computer for over a week (almost 2, actually :P) since my laptop is in the shop being fixed, and when I begged brief use of my friend's computer tonight, I quickly went to my ISP's webmail site to see what email I might have waiting for me. When I did, I saw that I had almost 300 emails waiting for me! ACK! And quite a few of those were from many of you on this list, asking if I'd fallen off the face of the earth, if I was getting your emails, if I'd given up writing my fanfic 'AH' entirely, or if I'd "been buried out back by my summer- vacation-restless children" (I think that was my personal favorite ), so I just wanted to let you know that yes, I'm still alive, and no, I'm not ignoring you! :) I've just been without a computer. Talk about withdrawls. Anyway, thanks for your patience, and I promise that I'll email everyone when I get my computer back in the next few days (early next week at the latest). TTYS! Erin :) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 22:01:07 -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: What makes Lois Lois? On Tue, 21 Aug 2001 21:52:04 -0500, Shadow Fax wrote: And then her mother disappears after the >wedding, never to be seen again until reincarnated into Beverly Garland in >Season 3. I wonder what the writers were thinking?? If I remember correctly, Teri said in an interview at the time that having Lois's mother there was her idea. Teri saw the script and told the writers/ producers that Lois would have her mother there. I got the impression from how she told the story that it hadn't occured to them to cast Ellen at all, and they only decided to add Ellen after Teri pointed it out. And of course, there is the stunt casting of having Phyllis Coates, the original Lois in the George Reeves series, play Ellen in S1. But I do think you are right that they never gave any thought to Lois's mother at all in S1, which is pretty odd considering they featured Sam so prominently in "Requiem". Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 22:04:23 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: NEW: Secret Affairs (1/1) Very cute, Bethy! Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 22:08:17 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: NEW: It's Not Easy Being Me (1/1) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 ROTFLMAO!!!! This is absolutely hysterical! some favorite lines ... - - - - - - - - - >His hair was a mess, all > loose and hanging and... Eugh. He didn=92t even re-apply me! It was the= > lowest point of my career. I guess not everyone can be a Clark fan. ;) > and let=92s not forget the instance > where the crocodile bit his head. I haven=92t. This one just speaks for itself ... LOL!!!!!! Fantastic. Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 20:22:13 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Melisma Subject: Fic challenge (was Re: NEW: It's Not Easy Being Me (1/1)) In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I laughed myself silly over this story - well done! > and let’s not forget the instance > where the crocodile bit his head. I haven’t. I would like to challenge anyone with a spark of literary confidence to write this story for us - this goes for the senior writers among us, all the way over to people who have once upon a time said 'I think I'd like to write a story', to people who once wrote a paragraph story in third grade but not a word since, and even to those people who have only written term papers. Use your imagination, and tell your version of the story. Then post it here! Melisma (giggling at the anticipation of reading all the stories, here under her Rock) Visit my rock at http://www.intergate.ca/personal/melisma/index.html ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 22:31:36 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: genevieve mactavish Subject: Please tellme how to get off the list Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed I need to change the email address for the list, how do I unsubscribe, then r subscribe to a different address Jen @ / @@@@@@@====((]//////////////////////////////////>>>>> \ @ "I'll handle this, this job doesn't require actual slaying........" "I like you. You're funny and nicely shaped, and frankly its ludicrous to have these interlocking bodies and not interlock. Please remove your clothing now." ~Anya, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Series" Passion. It lies in all of us. Sleeping... waiting... And though unwanted... unbidden... it will stir... open its jaws, and howl. It speaks to us... guides us... Passion rules us all. And we obey. What other choice do we have? It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion, maybe we'd know some kind of peace. But we would be hollow. Empty rooms, shuttered and dank... Without passion, we'd be truly dead. Never ©Never say I love you If you really don't care ©Never talk about feelings If they aren't really there ©Never hold my hand If you are going to break my heart ©Never say you are going to If you don't plan to start ©Never look into my eyes If all you do is lie ©Never say hello If you really mean good bye ©If you really mean forever Then say you will try ©Never say forever Cause forever makes me cry (if I knew who wrote it, I'd give credit) _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 22:39:50 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: What makes Lois Lois? On Tue, 21 Aug 2001 22:01:07 -0500, Kathy Brown wrote: > >If I remember correctly, Teri said in an interview at the time that having >Lois's mother there was her idea. Teri saw the script and told the writers/ >producers that Lois would have her mother there. I got the impression from >how she told the story that it hadn't occured to them to cast Ellen at all, >and they only decided to add Ellen after Teri pointed it out. > It's nice to have a long-time FOLC around who remembers such things! Thanks, Kathy for clearing that up. :-) It looks like Wendy is right that Lois's first mother doesn't necessarily fit. Which is a shame, IMO, because I liked her so much better than Lois's second mother . >And of course, there is the stunt casting of having Phyllis Coates, the >original Lois in the George Reeves series, play Ellen in S1. > >But I do think you are right that they never gave any thought to Lois's >mother at all in S1, which is pretty odd considering they featured Sam so >prominently in "Requiem". > Before you mentioned that it was Teri's idea to have Lois's mother there, I would have said that the writers were concentrating on Lois's relationship with her father because they wanted to establish that Lois had a problem with men. Her relationship with her father while growing up would shape how she related to men later in life. I thought that Lois's childhood wasn't all that bad because she was able to get support from her mother and sister. Now my theory doesn't hold water. Dang! Don't they know how they confuse the heck out of us fans who are trying to make sense of the characters? Shadowfax