Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related New Section for Superman Returns fanfic?

I would. Before you changed the member titles I didn’t think anything actually could change. Still, think copyboy and gossip columnist should have been titles.

Dandello thank you for explaining. I find fanfic a fascinating phenomena and the fact that people can create such extraordinary work in their spare time amaze and humble me. And finding people that share your own appreciation for things aren’t easy.

Personally, I’m a rabid L&C fanatic.(I even prefer Cain’s Superman portrayal. ) I read some superman comics as a kid but he never really got my interest. He was just all powerful and good and no explanation to why was really forthcoming, not even him being a product of a superior civilization, since plenty of kryptonians are self serving as well .
L&C and it’s fanfic community changed this. (I guess Byrne had a part in this too, but I didn’t know it then).
This earnest guy that really struggles with his gifts and hungers to immerse himself into humanity to slake the emptiness of a life domineered by godlike power. And Lois, that pretty much become the incarnation of this desire, just clicked for me.

But I also like the L&C Superman because, while he has feelings and emotions he doesn’t go emo, which is extremely popular in current Superhero culture. And Superman gravitates towards this as you can see in both Smallville and SR(and in those fics that builds on them.)
The thing is though, that this brooding angst doesn’t fit so well with the lawful goodness and selflessness that is Superman’s hallmark IMO. Superman never gives up, is always in control, meets the world with a smile and takes responsibility for everything. He is always ready to listen and help others but never allows the world to see his concerns. He only shares his fears with his parents, and later, very much later, with Lois. (this is one reason I love “when friends become lovers” Here Lois realizes that Clark lives in a world of his own despite seeming so accessible. He doesn’t comes to her and cries, she has to coax it out of him.)

I very rarely read cross-overs and even less often enjoy them, so perhaps that qualifies as an aversion. But that’s my preference and I would never want to impose it on someone else, or stop people from writing what they want.
(I seldom care to read alt-world stories either.)
I think cross-pollination is good, because it expand boundaries, and many of those that break the mold tends to be better written then those that just do go through the undiluted L&C concept for the umpteenth time.
But that it’s wellwritten, doesn’t necessarily mean that I will enjoy it.


One thing I prefer with crossover writers is that they tend to take superman more seriously, they give depths to that character while for many, if not most, pure L&C writers he is little more then window-dressing, the latter turns me off.
If there is one crossover I’d like to see is that with the animated series. It managed to incorporate the Byrne mythos in a more classic mold, still leaving him feeling real to me. The thing is making Brainiac believable.

arwan, you just about perfectly captured my love of L&C, which is also due to Cain's portrayal of Supes in comparison to any of his predecessors and even those who came after him (SR and smallville)

I never actually saw SR because it was based on the Reeves version of SM, which I saw as too frigid...

and I guess this is the main reason I do not like SR-based fic on these boards. I find it harder to relate to Clark, as his character in Reeves' films is so different to Cain's

I must say I have an aversion to cross-over stories. I find in this series and other fanfic series I've read that the cross-over characters are to important to the story. If it is based on a show you don't watch then the story has very little meaning for you. At least for me.

Although I saw the Chris R movies when they came out and have all the tapes I am not really a fan after seeing LnC. I always thought the Margot Kidder was miscast. Even though I always believed that Lois was a strong female, take no prisoners character I also felt she should be attractive and feminine. She also should have a vulnerable side. None of which I saw in Margo Kidder as Lois. And don't get me started on

Chris R. as Clark. I know it was the writing and not his idea of how to play the character but a bigger clumsy dork I've never seen. I understand that Clark doesn't want to seem strong and capable as Superman but they took the dork to far in the movies. Even SR. To have someone who looked so buff and ATHLETIC being so clumsy and dorky as in the movies doesn't work. To me it called more attention to Clark than he should want. I would find myself watching to try and figure what the act was for. Not Good for Clark.

LnC and Dean's take was of a regular guy who could get distracted and bump into a desk because he wasn't paying attention, and maybe even a little cowardly because he thought one should be careful. Dean's Clark was more "Regular Joe" who was kind of laid back and maybe a little distracted at times. For me it was a more believable and desirable Clark. The Clark from the movies just wouldn't really attract Lois at all.

Of course this is all just my opinion basic on what works for me in the Clark/Superman mythos or world.

Oh I don't mind the Altnerate Universe stories based on LnC but I especially like them when they include both sets of Lois and Clark.

Most of all I praise all of you who are able to write these stories.

Putting my two cents in...

I'd give my right arm to have a Smallville forum as awesome as this one. I've looked high and low for good quality Smallville fanfic and have found next to nothing out there. I've always thought that it would be great to have a Smallville community like this one.

So, as much as I wish to find some good Smallville fic to read, I have to agree that adding Superman in other media probably wouldn't be the best thing to do.

Now, if only someone would start up a fandom like this one for Smallville...

That's what I'd call double fun! (And double the obsession.)

Putting my 2 cents worth in, too - I like things like they are. I do enjoy reading crossovers at times, but I don't want to see strictly Smallville or SR stories here.

There's only one cure for poor quality Smallville fic/forums.....


even though I myself am not a huge fan of S'Vle,
just because I have never had the time to watch it mainly, more than anything else...

but as I said, even though I am not a fan, does not mean you are not alone (and I would put money on there being plenty of other wannabe writers who would also love to have a quality SVLE fanfic site...)


the problem is, as I and the board moderators feel, that this is an L&C fandom, and not superman in general. even Alt-Universe is sort of relevant and L&C related, because it was actually from the show itself... by writing what-if stories using character basis' from L&C, despite enormous consequences in whatever universes, the characters do not change, while if you took any other Lois/Clark characterisation (or even Lana from SMVLLE as opposed to L&C's Lana) it is questionable as to whether or not it is L&C...
(though I speak more from reading the above posts than actually asking them myself),


as for cross-overs, I see no harm, so long as the authors do not take to much for granted in their use of these add-ins
I have found that some are better than others in this respect, there are especially some really good spider-man/bat-man one's out there, but some x-overs are a bit obscure... maybe I am being harsh, but as I have never seen a Buffy, Sliders, Star-gate...etc., I found a few of these hard to digest... and I think maybe if the writers took more care in presenting the back-ground histories, and some background to the characters/situations that we are presented with, well maybe it would be a little better

Please, do not take offence at any of the above diatribe into x-overs, I mean no disrespect, and have actually found a couple of Buffy ones out there that are fantastic in their character histories, however in general if I see a x-over I do not read them, as sometimes when the plot itself is too involved with stories from the other show it can get a little confusing, in particular Sliders, and Buffy ones

I think some of the best x-overs out there are X-file ones, they have been great with providing background especially if dealing with Moulder+ Scully's complex relationship issues (I was a fan many years ago, but not as much as I loved L&C)


HELENA
potential candidate for Guinness world records, as the author of the longest random diatribes in the history of diatribes, going into so many tangents that I forget what the post was meant to be about in between the start and finish of a post (see even my record's title is almost a paragraph long)

Well, I'm really enjoying the crossovers that have been posted recently both with Buffy, Highlander and SR. I guess I have trouble seeing how a L&C/Smallville crossover would work at all unless it involved time travel.
I should point out that I've been enjoying Dandello's stories with the SR Lois and Clark, but the supporting characters of L&C:TNAOS such as Henderson, the Church's and Annoying Ralph. By my own definition, I consider that a crossover. However, if I have to go elsewhere to read them, I will.
And, like others, I enjoy the mature writing and correct English in evidence here.
So I vote for the status quo.

Artemis

I went on about cross-overs and I find I must adjust what I said. I was a beta-reader for a Batman crossover. I find the cross-overs from Batman, Spiderman and The Flash fun to read. That is because I'm familiar with the "guest" characters. When you get into Buffy etc. I never watched those shows so I know nothing about them. As a result the stories do nothing for me or are just confusing. So I skip them.

So I guess on these boards I feel that LnC should be the main focus of the stories with "guest stars". It should not be the other characters with "Lois, Clark et al." being the "guest stars". After all this is an LnC site.

So since I can't write stories I do give my praise to all those that can and do whatever you write.

But that would leave out all the great potential of 'Stranger in a Strange Land' stories - Where Lois and Clark are elsewhere or elsewhen and have to figure things out using their native skills while bantering all the way home.

I can agree with your point but travel to an altVerse where things happen at a different time works well for me.

I don't see why People are troubled by the Smallville L&C not looking like Dean & Teri's L&C. Just assume that they DO look alike. Compare the Star Trek:TOS characters with the same characters at
New Voyages

I'd live to see a story where some of L&C kids end up in Smallville at the end of 4th season when Lois when to prom as Clark's date.

I can just picture some of the kids from Nan\'s stories looking at a copy of the torch with Lois & Clark on the cover.

Actually, the opposite is true. It somewhat depends on who's included in that et al. A story which featured only Cat, for example, would certainly be within the forum's remit. We've had vignettes where the sole character involved was Clark's coffee mug and we certainly consider that to be an LNC fanfic. A quirky one, but one all the same. Stories told from Perry's POV, from Luthor's, from Tempus's...stories about Martha and Jonathan, from one of LNC's children in the future...all of these are LNC fanfic as far as this forum is concerned. And Lois and Clark barely feature or don't feature at all in many of them.

We've had stories told from the pov of an author's original character - a new villain for example - and those are LNC fanfic, too, so long as they're set in the recognisable world of LNC:TNAOS.

We accept fanfic based on the TV series and characters of LNC: TNAOS. That's including all characters, not just LNC. We're not solely a site for fanfic about Lois and Clark of LNC:TNAOS only.

So it's not at all necessary for fanfic posted here to include Lois and Clark at all. They could be entirely absent and it would still be a LNC:TNAOS fanfic if it adhered to the rules above.


LabRat

Sorry if I missed it, but who said that was the problem? If we can deal with two different Jimmys in the same series, I think we can handle different actors playing the same roles on different series.

Personally, my main problem with Smallville is that I can't imagine the Clark Kent I saw on that show (the eps I did see, anyway, and reviews I've seen of other eps written by various people) ever growing up to be Superman, the paragon of virtue we know and love. He doesn't have the morality or the conviction. His father isn't going to help with that, either. And his mother seems to spend most her her time offscreen, probably tilling the kryptonite in the back yard or dealing with giant mutated kryptonite-powered carnivorous plants who insist on being called "Seymour."

Still, a crossover would be doable. I'd just want to see the author treat Smallville as some kind of strange alternate universe. Maybe one where Clark Kent is on the path to becoming Ultraman ...

Paul

[thread drift]

The thing about cross-overs, I think, is that they're very difficult to do well. Fanfic is full of insider references -- we can mention "the pheremone incident" or Nightfall, and everybody here knows what that means, but non-fans are likely to be confused. So one has to try to do a back-story that's comprehensive enough to help newbies figure out what's going on, while not being a boring re-hash for the established fans. And in a cross-over, you've got that problem doubled, especially the more detailed and complex the respective universes are.

Back before I became a Stargate fan, I happened to catch an episode that dealt with strong tensions between the Tok'ra and the Jaffa, with the Tauri thrown in the middle. See, the Jaffa are the ones with things on their foreheads, except for the guy who's part of the group from Earth, and the guys wearing boring brown are the *other* kind of alien, only one of the characters from Earth calls one of the aliens "Dad"... Huh????? Once I caught up with all the eps on DVD it made perfect sense, but at first glance it was mystifying.

So, um, it's hard to write for two difference audiences at once. It can be done, and of course there's often overlap, with people familiar with both sides, but it's just tricky.

[/thread drift]

PJ

Oooh! Oooh! Thanks for the reminder, Pam - I get to use my . (I never get tired of that. )

I agree that crossovers can be difficult to pull off successfully. As a genre, it's never been my personal favourite, simply because over the years I've read very few that seemed to me to be equally balanced between the universes they used. They were always heavy on Star Trek and light on Buffy or whatever.

That said, I've read some very good ones and I certainly wouldn't pass on reading a story just because it was a crossover. When they do work, they can be very well done.

And when you succeed in producing a beautiful story which makes sense even to the reader not conversant with one or more of the universes you're exploring, and which avoids those knowledge problems which Pam points out (LOL!) that's rarer still. I've only really found that once with Becky Bain's LNC/Beauty & The Beast crossover, Timeless which remains, for me, one of the best and ultimately most satisfying examples of the genre that I've yet read.

LabRat

Cute Graemlin, LabRat. Yes, I agree crossovers are hard to do, especially with non similar series (i.e. Buffy & LnC). I think that's why I'm enjoying Dandello's stories so much, because SR and LnC are really similar universes and the melding seems very smooth. I like LnC villians mixing it up with 2 pairs of Clark/Lois!

Artemis

I can't help but agree with that idea.

Well, I can understand that, but please explain one little thing to me: Why is there an 'Original Fiction' folder? There are still general fanfic sites around.

What I want to say here is simply this: You made an exception for 'Original Fiction'. So why is it so hard to make one for 'Other Superman Related Fiction'? That way, anybody not interested in a Superman from other media doesn't even 'accidentally' stumble upon fics that (s)he doesn't want to read. It seems like you're applying double standards here. But that's just my humble opinion.

And if you don't advertise the fact that there is something but LnC on this board, you don't have to worry about an instream of people from other fandoms, I'd say.

Because Original Fiction is just that: fiction not based on any fandom at all. All original characters, original worlds, original ideas (if there any left in the world). Sure, there are general fiction sites on the 'net, but most fiction sites are based on one (or more) fandoms.

Original Fiction was created as an outlet for writers to showcase original work. We've had a few published authors come out of the fandom, and it's a nice and encouraging place for other authors to hone their work.

I am one of those who use the Original Fiction folder. My characters, and the settings, and, of course, the stories themselves, are original to my sister and me. We didn't base them on any fandom or anything else.

I, for one, appreciate greatly the Original Fiction folder, and also appreciate the generosity of the owners of this website for giving me the chance to showcase the series that my sister, Linda, and I wrote. I don't think that should have any bearing on whether this site hosts an "Other Superman" folder or not. The Original Fiction folder has been here just about since the site was started.

Nan

Don't get me wrong, I didn't want to say that the Original Fiction folder should be deleted - far from it! But if there could be one exception...

I think where there's a difference of opinion here is that we don't see it as an exception, Olympe. We see it as a completely separate section from fanfic. In much the same way as FoLC Productions is a separate section to the fanfic.

As Karen has pointed out - there aren't that many websites out there which will host original fiction. Fanfic, you betcha. But not original stories. At least, that was the case when we set up the mbs and that was why we wanted to have a section for it. To encourage authors who wanted to showcase their original characters and ideas, not based on any fanfic, and to give them a place to do that, since there wasn't much out there to accommodate them.

Imo, that's not at all the same thing as a new section for another fanfic genre. We aren't set up to cater for other fanfic genres. Just one. LNC. We're happy with that, and we see no reason to start including others. Not least because there are plenty of other websites out there which will cater to those fanfic genres. It's not as though if you can't post them here, you can't post them anywhere. With Original Fiction though, you can just about say that. If it's not here...there aren't a lot of options elsewhere, that we're aware of.

So we have all the fanfic we need or want with LNC. And a separate section for original fiction to help out our talented authors, who otherwise might not get the chance to showcase their original imaginations.

LabRat