Originally posted by VirginiaR:
I like your cover-art from the TOC. I was wondering how Clara (Super Woman) was going to get away with having Cat, Louis, and Lex see her without her soda-bottle glasses. 
<Why should we have to be one or the other?> Cat had said in that long ago Met U lecture. <People ask me why I dress the way I do. Why I don’t dress like the smart professional I am. My reply is why shouldn’t I dress the way I do? Should what I’m wearing matter? I’m a beautiful woman. It’s not conceit, it’s just a fact. People look at me, and they assume I’m shallow and stupid. I wear a leopard print dress, and they assume I’m shallow, stupid, and easy. But that’s camouflage. If they want to underestimate me, let them. I am a modern woman in an urban jungle, and if my prey can’t see me coming, that’s their own fault.>
I was a bit disappointed by the switch of Claude to Claudia, as I was hoping the only gender switch would be Lois and Clark. I was thinking you might have Claude buddy up with him and then hire a some woman to seduce Louis and steal his story to give to Claude. “There was this reporter a while ago, Claudia. She was from France. Anyway, apparently she and Louie spent a night getting really cozy, if you know what I mean. The next day, Claudia was telling everyone about Lou’s mommy issues and claiming he was a one minute man. Come to think of it, that probably didn’t help his shining personality any.”
“See!” Cat said. “It’s perfect for you. It just needs to be hemmed a little, since I’m taller. But if we get you some really high heels…”
“I can hem it, if you don’t mind,” Clara said, not relishing the thought of trying to walk in such tall shoes.
Clara landed on the roof of Cat’s apartment building, and finger-combed her hair, glad that whatever made it impervious to everything but heat vision also made it tangle-free.
She’d need to cut it soon, she mused. It was ridiculously long again, reaching her waist. She was lazy about cutting it, since it involved setting up angled mirrors. And most people never noticed how long it was anyway, the way she wore it braided and pinned.
So, did Clara bring the sewing machine back with her from Smallville? No, she didn't, did she, since she landed on Cat's roof. I was going to wonder if Martha helps her out with the costumes or if she made it by herself.
Her parents had gotten them for her when she was fourteen and accidentally saw through the shower stalls during gym.
Louis cleared his throat, reminding himself that this was just business, and even if Clara Kent was a knock out, he was no good for her. So he’d best keep his distance.
“This is going to work, Clara. All you have to do is say your line, and get Luthor to come over to us. I’ll handle everything else and you can go gossip with Cat or whatever it is you two do.”
That earned him another hard look from Clara. “I’m staying. If I’m helping you get to Luthor, I should get some of the credit.”
The man came down the stairs. He was debonair in his tuxedo, possessing a cultured face and hair a shade between chestnut brown and honey blond. His blue eyes twinkled, and Clara couldn’t keep herself from smiling. Lex Luthor was exactly her type. She usually went for older blond men with strong features, and Lex was absolutely that…
Lex seems even more of a chauvinist than Louis, seeing Clara only as a woman and not as a reporter, especially with that closing line:
Once Clara had returned the sword to its display stand, Lex ushered them back toward the ballroom. “Come, Mr. Lane. I have a feeling my announcement is going to interest you.”
This story is still fun. I don't know how you'll wrap up the Pilot in only two more parts. I'm curious to see what other twists on canon you have in store for us. Thanks for the thoughtful comments!
Glad you like the cover! I'm pretty proud of how it turned out. I had a lot of fun designing Clara's costume. And yeah, I felt that it was more likely that Clara would have to wear a mask and ditch the glasses, because Clark can get away with always wearing them, but speaking from experience as a woman who prefers glasses to contacts, people will not SHUT UP about how you should wear contacts or just be blind during formal events because your glasses just hide your face/clash with your dress/etc. etc.
Lol yeah, I think Lou is implying he'd sleep with someone for a story. I made that choice, because in canon Louis goes out of her way to emphasize to Clark that she WOULDN'T do that, so I thought it would be an interesting comment to make here, on society's different expectations for men and women. After all, if Lois slept with someone for a story, she's a dirty ho, but if Louis does it, he's not a nice guy, but more people are goig to focus on his dedication to the job than anything else.
But yes, he is totally lying.
Thanks for catching the missing paragraph breaks! I've gone back and fixed them.
Lol yeah, with the 'mommy hand me down' comments, Louis is trying to get out of admitting that he does think Clara is pretty and distance himself from her, but he's also in a bit of a pickle, since he's still in the middle of trying to get her to come to the ball.
Cat - YES. YES GOOD EVERYTHING YOU SAID. I just have a whole lot of Cat Feelings that can't be contained. >_>
Re: Claude to Claudia - I thought about doing what you said, having Claude stay a male reporter with a female accomplice, but in the end I decided it was better to just switch Claude than to make up a female OC who wouldn't have instant name recognition with the readers. Claude/Claudia is the only other genderswitch in the series though, if that makes you feel any better. Everyone else is staying the same - including Linda King, who is now Lou's old college girlfriend.
I think there will be some direct discussion of Claudia in the hangar, but it'll come about differently, since it won't be so much a tearful confession as much as Clara using the opportunity to ask Lou questions, knowing he'll probably answer since they're tied up and, as far as he knows, about to die.
Lou unbends a little soon, too. I'll not spoil it for you, but hopefully it's believable...
And lol, I'm going to get the pilot done in two more parts because I'm skipping every scene that the gender change doesn't affect, and counting on everyone to know what's going on since it's a rewrite of an episode XD But they are -long- parts. I think the story will finish out at close to twenty thousand words.
Thanks again for the thoughtful comments!
