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I've tried posting this three times already and every time there's been something wrong with my server.

Anyway...

Imagine a world a little further into the future, slightly more advanced. Krytonians are here, attacked Earth, but the people of Earth overcame, eventually. What I need now is a way to keep the Kryptonians nice and normal. Keep in mind there wasn't very many of them and somebody figured out how to control them with K-nite, so basically they would agree to surrender to keep from being completely eliminated. What I'm envisioning is them living a somewhat normal life. Would it be believable for them to live in a place where they can set up their own society? Sort of like their own country? If so, where? A particular section of the US? An island somewhere? Is that enough info for some suggestions?

And speaking of Kryptonians... would it be believable that the colony sent away from Krypton was somehow sent hurtling through space in the direction of Earth? Maybe some kind of incident happened that sent them off course? (Ann, I'd sent you a private message but your inbox is full! ) Could you see a group/country on Earth helping them? (Sort of like helping them gain their independence?) And I need an end all, take all kind of showdown. (Yes, involving Clark.)

Was that too vague for anybody to help out a bit?

SQD (who hates getting ideas that seem to be just out of reach for a complete story)

How about a politician? He can start out small and work his way up. Of course, he couldn't be president. Not US born.

In some ways, the NK-ers you describe remind me of the pre-1948 Jews. I suspect that there would continue to be parallels in that, for example, wherever they do settle, the people who had been living there will resent them. (Unless, of course, they settle someplace like Antarctica.) (Please, let's not get into a pro- or anti- Israel discussion here!)

A profession I have sometimes seen Clark in in fanfic is a writer of either fiction or travelogues. Could you use that, or would you want something else?

Hmmm...he could always be an actor. He certainly has the looks to be a leading man! And he could expand his career by doing his own stunts.

Did this help?

Joy,
Lynn

I don't have much time to reply now, but your questions are so intriguing. I will definitely give them some thought.

If the Kryptonians needed to be contained within a geographic area, there are a couple of possibilities: some multi-national organization (like the UN) could designate an area. As Lynn mentioned, it could be an unpopulated area given up by consensus of the prior owner.

If we're talking just about the US, one thing that came to mind was turning an existing national park into a Kryptonian Reservation. Inside the boundaries, they would (in theory) be a sovereign nation, similar to native American Indians.

I don't think it would be too hard to imagine the Kryptonians getting restless. Being relocated multiple times, having their movements and/or lives restricted, getting long-term illnesses due to constant, low-dosage Kryptonite exposure (in the water supply, maybe?) might do it. I would think that the degree of dissatisfaction would have to do with how far they had fallen and/or how badly they are treated afterwards. Do they have some semblance of freedom or is it more like a work or concentration camp?

Question: why wouldn't Clark be forced to join his people once he was outed? I can't imagine any government keeping a Kryptonian invasion quiet, so the people of the world would know of - and probably be frightened of - what one free Kryptonian could do. Why is Clark trusted to roam free?

Sounds like an interesting story. I hope to read it soon.
BJ

BJ's comment about "one free Kryptonian" is a brain-poker. There would, I think, be three general groups within the public.

There would be those in the general populace and in many governments who would prefer to make an exception for Superman, because he has worked for the good of all people since he was revealed (numerically a significant minority).

But there would also be those (like Jason Trask) who would believe that the only good Kryptonian was a dead Kryptonian (numerically small but politically strong minority).

The third group would be made very nervous by Clark's freedom, but they would not agitate for his confinement or worse unless sharply provoked by the second group (numerically significant but too fractured to be politically strong). Any negative actions or even publicity about the reservation-bound N-Kers would tend to stimulate this group into acting like the second group for a short time (like a mob or a riot instigated by a minority of the members).

Any way you slice it, I'd say someone has a doozie of a plot bunny growing.

This idea is not too dissimilar to the recently concluded Kandorian storyline in all the Superman books.

A way was found to free the Kryptonians from the city of Kandor, who were shrunk and stolen by Brainiac before the planet blew up. Superman had freed them from Brainaic long ago and had kept the bottled city in his Fortress of Solitude, promising to restore them to their normal size someday.

Well, the crux of the story was that somehow (I can't remember the means)the Kandorians were restored to their normal size.

Suddenly you have 100,000 plus super powered Kryptonians on earth.

I'm not going to go into all the ins and outs of the plotline which lasted for about a year, but lets just say that the two races just didn't get along.

The Kandorians chose to make their own planet and placed it in the same orbit as earth but on the opposite side of the sun.

Still, with General Zod being the military leader (and still considered a hero)of the Kryptonians, and a very Trask like xenophobic General Sam Lane (Lois' father)as his opposite number, conflict was inevitable and eventually war was the result.

It was called the 100 minute war, and due to various machinations, manipulations, betrayals, and Luthor technology; most of the Kryptonians were wiped out.

I found the whole story arc quite distasteful, poorly executed, and not very plausible.

The fact that Superman chose to leave the planet he was raised on, by two incredible earth people, and the earth wife he supposedly was madly in love with just to 'keep an eye on Zod' I found exceedingly unconvincing.

I'm sure the story arc will soon be collected in trade paperback form soon.

Tank (who also found it interesting that the whole time Superman was off planet that no one wondered where Clark Kent was)

Just some rambling, not-well-thought-out ideas:

Orwellian doubletalk - the Kryptonians lead an imprisoned life of misery, but no one knows. Even people that don't like them would be appalled at the conditions they're kept in, if they knew. But it's not reported. Clark is allowed out but only on condition that he parrot the "party line" -if he speaks the truth, the captive Kryptonians would be killed.

Or, on the other hand, Clark has spent so much time building up the Superman brand that people still trust it and trust him, despite the fact that members of his race weren't so nice. Is this remotely plausible?

Hostage idea again - Clark's identity exposed, Martha and Jonathan held hostage to ensure his good behavior?

Or, getting back to the reservation idea, is it your plan that Clark lived on the rez too, and escaped, and just wants to go out and live a normal life? And yet he can't see people suffer without going to help them, so he's outed?

I warned you these are not well thought out. I have to agree with Terry, who said you have one doozie of a plot bunny. Will be interested to see where you take this.

To answer whether a human group would be on the same side as the Kryptonians, consider that there were American Nazis during WWII. For every cause, there will be people drawn to it. Whether or not these people are sane is up for debate.

I think that if the Kryptonians were given a US national park, per BJ's idea, there would still be humans upset over that use of the land; namely, a very vocal subset of environmentalists.

Also, there will probably be xenophobes who will fear the Kryptonians for any germs they may carry. They may recall instances in human history where one group of people were wiped out by illnesses borne by a different group. Not to mention that they might also think about H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. (Hmmm...That could be an interesting side aspect of the story -- surely Herbert wouldn't be happy about that turn of events!)

Joy,
Lynn

- Lynn

a couple of thoughts:

- The US is a country with a varied ethnic background, and while I'm not going to argue that all has gone smoothly with respect to integration, it strikes me that a majority of Americans do not accept, any longer, the concept of putting whole communities permanently in camps. So any decision to do so would be very controversial and would perhaps need to be explored in the fic? Or are you thinking of maybe having US society turning fascist as a consequence of it's being invaded? Then you play with the ironic scenario in which the invaders are the freedom fighters in what once was the 'land of liberty'.

- These handful of NKer's (and that is what numerically they would be , have been de-powered with K. So what about just having them integrate with the larger community affter a period of say 6 months 'retraining' - yeah I know that's a euphemism for 're-education' which is a euphemism for .... Anyway, they could be made to wear an ankle bracelet as many convicted criminals do these days, or , beloved plot device of so many fanfics writers (me included<g>), have body chips inserted which, in this case, would give ID and also always let the authorities know where the NKer was.

On a personal plea note: Clark as star entertainer seems way OoC to me. Since you don't want him to be canon Clark, why not rename him and write your story as an original fic?

c.

For the career idea, why not just make him a writer? He'd get fame both before and after, and after people would be more drawn to his books because of who he is. Now, for super-star egomaniac status, it's hard to tell, but I've been watching a lot of Castle *whistles* so it might be possible to pull it off.

Maybe I should explain my plot idea a bit more...

Like I said, I'm seeing a future world, not terribly advanced, but some, torn apart by the war, although it's slowly recovering. I've been thinking that maybe the Nkers live among the population for a while before they're outted??? Something happens(somebody sees somebody doing something super??), the world rebels out of fear, so the NKers fight back.

I need Clark well known, before and after the war. I'm envisioning him speaking out against his race when they attack, which is one reason he's still trusted by Earthlings.(I can see him being torn- raised on Earth by humans, but desperate to learn of his heritage.) Maybe writer would work best because he could be fairly popular without being anything sensational. Of course, after it becomes known he's Kryptonian, he's cast straight into the spotlight. Would it be believable that being found out would make him angry and bitter?

I want him to ultimately help bring peace, which works to impress a certain lady he meets along the way. For this to work the way I'm picturing, I need him to be somewhat detatched, almost like he doesn't care at all- at least to outside appearances. Then when he's the main one to bring peace, that lady sees the real man.

This is still just some crazy, random thoughts rattling around right now, but hopefully I can hash it out eventually.

Thanks,
SQD

What about making Clark some sort of politician or statesman? I can't see him being a sleazy politician - he'd be the kind of guy who would keep his promises and do the very best for his constituency.

He would gradually build up trust over the years, and then he'd be elected or appointed to some high post. Then he'd be outed as Kryptonian. Suddenly all his political capital is gone. Everyone will start re-examining his prior actions under the lens that "Oh, this guy was an alien all along."

On the other hand, he'll still have the titular power of his elected position, and people that have worked with him and know him will be a little uneasy but they might still trust him (unless they're totally irate and feeling betrayed.)

Or maybe he's in the military? Although this seems so un-Superman-ish, as the job of the military guys is to kill, and we know that Superman doesn't kill.

Again, not well thought out. Just some ramblings.

Why not think of him as a very fast, very strong doctor?

This is a misconception. The military's job (in the US, anyway) is to defend the nation. This means being ready and willing to kill the enemy should it become necessary, but with Superman in uniform flying around at the ready, few other countries would be willing to attack the US. And it's unlikely he'd be called on to actually kill enemy forces because (we sincerely hope) they'd be smart enough not to attack.

This, however, does pose other problems. What if Superman were ordered to overfly the northern border to keep those rampaging Canadian barbarian hordes (kidding, okay?) in line at the same time an erupting volcano is threatening lives and property in Mexico? If Superman's time is not his own, then he can't be the champion of truth and justice in the way most of us envision him.

Terry, of course you are right. I should have said that Superman would not be willing to kill.