Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related Search for Author of "Crossroads"

Hi, I found a hard copy of a great unfinished story, but no author's name on it: "Crossroads". I would really like to see if it was ever finished and know who wrote it. It's a "Lois & Clark-falling-in-love-when old love Lana comes back into the picture to reclaim Clark. Well written with notes and questions as how to finish a few little sections. This story may have been sent to me way back when I edited stories for the L&C Metropolis Club email list, but it has been a long time.

Please help! Thanks so much. I'm excited to come to your boards.

Evelyn! Welcome!! I remember you, quite possibly because your story is one of the printed out fics that I keep in my favorites box from over the years. (So, I don't know if you'd remember me.

The story you're asking about sounds familiar... but I can't place it. :p

Sara (aka skfolc from back in the day )

Sara,
I am really honored that you have my story with your favorites. I do remember you a little, but it has been a very long time and I admit to a bad memory. It is great to be able to chat here. Thank you for the welcome!

I did want to give one more detail about the "Crossroads" story in that Lana Lang is a scientist doing environmental impact studies for the EPA on assignment in Metropolis, and she knows Clark's secret, while Lois does not (Lois had just realized she loves Clark and not Superman and was about to tell him, when Lana showed up). Very well written story!

The story you're looking for is called "Crossroads and Catalysts." It was written by someone using the initials AY. I don't think it's available in the archive--written I think when the archive was still a small FTP site run by Rhen Brink. I'm thinking it was one of the stories distributed by one of the fan groups, Krypton Club maybe? Or there was another group who did a "magazine" type with 3 or 4 fics in each one--can't remember if it was distributed by email or just available on a web site and I don't remember their name (but I think this is where this story originated).

"Crossroads and Catalysts" by AY

Thanks for the info, though I am sorry to hear it is not in the archive. I think the other group who did a fanfic email magazine was the one I helped with, the L&C Metropolis Club. We did have a fanfiction email which usually had several stories in it at a time, usually monthly as I recall. It's nice to be remembered. Thinking about it gets me all nostalgic Actually it was a lot of fun and I learned a lot about computers and writing and editing from that. L&C the show is what brought me to the Internet and gave me some wonderful friends I would never have met otherwise. Oops, I digress!

Anyway, thanks so much for the info on the story. I'll let you know if I ever find anything else on it. Thanks again.

Your comments have me interested in reading this story. Is there a way to get a copy? Does anyone have a complete copy on hard drive somewhere? And would it be unethical to post it to the archive without the original author's knowledge or permission, given that no one seems to know who AY is/was?

In my opinion, yes. I would have a hissy fit if someone posted one of my stories somewhere without my permission. I know this for a fact, because it's happened, and I did . I don't mind if people link to them, but re-posting is a big, big no-no with me. And if I take them down completely, it's because I want them down.

People come and go in fandom. That's just kind of the way it is. I think they should really have the right to take their stories with them when they go, if that's what they choose to do. It's a shame when it's a great story that has made an impact on the fandom, but there are various reasons why an author might not want his or her work to remain on the web, and I think that as a community of writers, we should respect that.

Just my .02

Caroline

All stories uploaded to the Archive must be submitted by the author. There are fandoms out there where stories are picked up by Archives themselves when they are posted. Which usually leads to frantic 'don't do it' notes from authors at the bottom of stories.

But we've always approached it from the other direction - that the onus is on the author to choose if they want their story archived, rather than the archive doing it by default, without their permission.


LabRat

I'm convinced. I withdraw my suggestion of posting the story to the archives, and I won't offer it again.

But I'm still interested in reading this story if that's at all possible. Is it a viable and ethical course of action for someone to email a copy of it to me, or would the sharing of such a story in this fashion also be against the grain?

I'm prepared to live with disappointment.

It's never been considered ethical, in the past, and, yes, it's always been frowned upon by the fandom in general. Not that that's ever stopped anyone.

And from recent posts, I get the distinct impression that the current trend is not to consider it a no no - things have changed.

I guess it's a matter for individual ethics and conscience and whether you respect an author's copyright or not. Certainly, there are no forum rules about it, that I know of, that you'd be breaking.

LabRat

Im not sure re ethics and emailing stories... read this and see if you can tease out what I am trying to say

it would get very complicated in this day and age, where the author was known by a psuedonym in the first place, and only contactable by email (which may or may not still be in operation???) in the 2nd...

it is my general impression though (through my own opinion only) that since the author published in an electronic medium based around fanfiction, the author would have never gained any royalties etc. from when s/he posted it way back when ... hence the FANFIC genre is a special case

I do agree, however, that without explicit permission from the author, it should not be published on the archinve, nor should it be published here on the MBs, as it would possibly lead to complications....

Like you said...If I get a free book, therre is nothing stopping me from lending it to some-one, only there are laws against me claiming it was my own work in the first place,... so if you have saved a hard copy that was previously published and distributed free of charge via email...

this is different from republishing it (even under the original authorship that you claim to now know was "AY") in a medium/forum that the author has not expressed permission


do you understand the difference....
and while there is still the potential for the author to find their work published on our sites (since we have no way of knowing whether or not they are dead) and hence the 75yr copywrite law would be applicable for publishing it on the web, but not for sharing via private correspondence something already published...


Better yet... look at all the blogs on the internet re: any opinion someone has on anything...
sending a link to a specific blog via email to a friend, or posting a link on yourown blog to one that you found interesting/informative....is different from printing on your blog that:


" I saw this one on a website, i don't know... written by Ann Onymouse Pseudonym, but I cant contact them to verify it or ask permission, so I am quoting..."

Hey... my last post doesnt mean that I am not interested in reading it though... now that you have sparked my interest....

so long as you all agree that there be no problem with distributing it privately... I would love for someone to email it to me
(or you could alternaively send me a private message via these boards)


Labie... what would you think?

Oh, I don't have any say in it. My opinion is pretty much as in my previous post, but I'm not making any rulings on it and I'm only speaking from a personal perspective.

Generally speaking, I think it's much the same as illegal downloads or file sharing...we all know it's illegal, probably unethical, but.... And I do understand the frustration of knowing there's a hot story out there and not being able to contact the author any more to obtain it direct. I understand, too, the natural desire of FoLCs to help. It's hard to sit on a story that's on your old files and not share it when someone's so anxious to read it. Especially if it's a favourite of yours and you want to share the pleasure.

I think that as far as stories in fandom go, general legal rules of copyright don't much apply. In the past, there's tended to be a sympathy for respecting the author's copyright, whether you needed to or not, simply because they're a part of our small community. We know them. They're the people we hang out with. Or used to, if they've left the fandom. That makes it easier for us to empathise with their rights and harder to ignore their preferences.

As I say though, attitudes to this one seem to have changed some over the years. Probably because respecting copyright has become less the norm and violating it more common online in a whole host of mediums. This kind of sharing of material is almost part and parcel of the net culture. A daily occurrence. So it's not seen as the big deal it perhaps once was and certainly it's my impression that it's not frowned upon as it once was either.

So, really, I'd only reiterate that it's pretty much a private deal these days and up to the individual whether they do it or not.

LabRat

I finally found "Crossroads & Catalysts" on an old floppy disk of L&C Metropolis Club Fanfiction Compendiums down in my dungeon. You were right in that it just says "by AY.

Thanks for all your help in giving me hints of it.