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In response to the Lois Elfs Herself challenge, as presented by Lynn S. M. For the record, I'm not addicted to Warcraft. I can stop anytime I want, as soon as I finish it. For reference, here are two examples of what Clark and Lois are dressed as: Tauren: Blood Elf:
Battle On, Deadly Chakram
"Being with you is stronger than me alone." ~ Clark Kent
"One little spark of inspiration is at the heart of all creation." ~ Figment the Dragon
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I don't know much about World of Warcraft, or any games (except Pacman), but you obviously do, and this was a great story. What was his name again? Clark asked himself. He ransacked his brain for a few moments. Sanderson? Scarab? Scarface? Sardine? No, wait. It was Scardino. This part made me laugh.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad." "How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
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Wonderful. I must admit I've never played WoW. My hubby did for a few months, but something about it ... I don't know. I knew it was wrong for me. I've played DAoC, EQ and EQ2 and have been on LoTRO since beta, though, so I am a pro at online roleplay games. Just not WoW. Fantastic writing. Cannot believe they spent 15 years apart. And Lois ... THREE marriages. *tut tut*
KatherineKent/Victoria Lois: "You put up with me for the same reason I put up with you. It's because I'm completely in love with you." Clark: "And I love you ... Did we just make up?" Lois: "I think so."
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An emotional story from start to finish. I, too, don't game. LnC is my only addiction and is what keeps me up until I fall asleep on my keyboard, fills my heart with joy and heartache. I'm almost glad that you condensed this story down to one (albeit long) part; although, knowing you, it would have been one hell of a tearjerker until you got to the end. There was too much heartache between Lois's two marriages and Clark's exile for an epic. 15 years apart is a long time. Despite not knowing anything about WoW, I felt I was able to follow along with the references (although probably not get or notice any of the in-jokes). I can just imagine these two cosplayers drinking coffee at DD at 1am, so Metropolis. I did wonder what happened to Lois professionally. You mentioned that Jimmy and Clark (and Perry) were still with the Daily Planet, but you didn't mention if Lois went back or where she was working / doing now (after Luthor). I would have liked to know that. Beautifully written love story that dampened my eyes at times and made me worry that she might not forgive the lunkhead. Thankfully, she did.
VirginiaR. "On the long road, take small steps." -- Jor-el, "The Foundling" --- "clearly there is a lack of understanding between those two... he speaks Lunkheadanian and she Stubbornanian" -- chelo.
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Pulitzer
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Thank you, DC, for answering the challenge with such a powerful story. We're 2 for 2 in the phenomenal-responses-to-this-challenge department. Joy, Lynn
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Wow, DC ...This was fantastic! Awesome! Amazing! I don't game whatsoever...seriously, I think the last of any type of game I played was some 'Super Mario Bros. Something' that my sister and I rented from a video store (along with the gaming system) prior to L&C first airing . But anyway, despite being very out of the loop for the subject, it was a breeze following along. Thank you, though, for the pictures of Lois and Clark's characters. I was imagining something somewhat close, based on your story descriptions, but the visual was a nice confirmation. I really loved the feel of the piece--you had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. So much angst, so much unrequited love. Fifteen years! And to think, both felt that way towards each other the entire time . That do-or-die feeling, as we teeter on the edge of 'will she or won't she' (let Clark back into her life)--I really liked that. The momentum...of everything being at stake for Clark. And also throughout the story, such a feeling of raw pain--from Lois, who was left with so many questions. But, I guess, also from Clark and his loss during those years. As 'into' the story as I was, I'm very thankful for it being a one-parter . It would have been painful waiting a week/etc to know if Clark and Lois would end up together. Fully and completely impressed with the story, and your talent, DC. What a lovely highlight to my day . Laura
Last edited by LMA; 05/06/15 08:25 PM.
"Where's Clark?" "Right here."
...two simple sentences--with so much meaning.
~Lois and Clark in 'House of Luthor'~
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Pulitzer
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Plus, I feel like maybe our new family is adventure enough." No one could have written this better. Thanks DC!
Morgana
A writer's job is to think of new plots and create characters who stay with you long after the final page has been read. If that mission is accomplished than we have done what we set out to do, which is to entertain and hopefully educate.
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I don't know much about World of Warcraft, or any games (except Pacman), but you obviously do, and this was a great story. What was his name again? Clark asked himself. He ransacked his brain for a few moments. Sanderson? Scarab? Scarface? Sardine? No, wait. It was Scardino. This part made me laugh. Thank you, Annie. I've been a gamer basically since birth. I barely even remember getting my first Nintendo, I was so young, and before that, my family actually had a working Atari system. My husband got me into WoW a few months after we got engaged and we've been playing ever since (minus an 18 month hiatus starting just before the girls were born - and that was due to lack of time, more than anything else). Glad the Scardino part made you laugh!
Battle On, Deadly Chakram
"Being with you is stronger than me alone." ~ Clark Kent
"One little spark of inspiration is at the heart of all creation." ~ Figment the Dragon
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Wonderful. I must admit I've never played WoW. My hubby did for a few months, but something about it ... I don't know. I knew it was wrong for me. I've played DAoC, EQ and EQ2 and have been on LoTRO since beta, though, so I am a pro at online roleplay games. Just not WoW. Fantastic writing. Cannot believe they spent 15 years apart. And Lois ... THREE marriages. *tut tut* Thank you! I tried LOTRO when it first came out, but I didn't like it as much as WoW. I really wanted to love it - I'm a big LOTR fan. But WoW felt less restricted to me, even if I was impressed by the dynamic environment of LOTRO - things like grasses moving in the wind, which WoW doesn't have - it's just too massive to support things like that. Lois says she mostly blames Clark for her three marriages - he made it impossible for any other guy to meet her standards.
Battle On, Deadly Chakram
"Being with you is stronger than me alone." ~ Clark Kent
"One little spark of inspiration is at the heart of all creation." ~ Figment the Dragon
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An emotional story from start to finish. I, too, don't game. LnC is my only addiction and is what keeps me up until I fall asleep on my keyboard, fills my heart with joy and heartache. I'm almost glad that you condensed this story down to one (albeit long) part; although, knowing you, it would have been one hell of a tearjerker until you got to the end. There was too much heartache between Lois's two marriages and Clark's exile for an epic. 15 years apart is a long time. Despite not knowing anything about WoW, I felt I was able to follow along with the references (although probably not get or notice any of the in-jokes). I can just imagine these two cosplayers drinking coffee at DD at 1am, so Metropolis. I did wonder what happened to Lois professionally. You mentioned that Jimmy and Clark (and Perry) were still with the Daily Planet, but you didn't mention if Lois went back or where she was working / doing now (after Luthor). I would have liked to know that. Beautifully written love story that dampened my eyes at times and made me worry that she might not forgive the lunkhead. Thankfully, she did. Hi, Virginia. I've always been a gamer - I entirely blame my mother, who also likes to play video games (just not MMORPGs like WoW). Glad you were able to follow along, despite not being a gamer - I tried my best to boil it down to layman's terms as much as I could. The only reason why this one was a "short" 32 page story in Word was due to the fact that I have too many other WIPs on my computer, all clamoring for me to get back to them. Otherwise, I might have been tempted to REALLY put Lois and Clark through the wringer. (Clark gives thanks to God for DC's currently overactive muse.) I actually had this whole idea of going into Lois' career after Clark left. I was going to make her the head of LNN while Lex was alive, then have her sell/merge with the Planet after Lex was buried, so they would become a much more major news outlet (let's face it, TV and internet journalism are the "it" thing). I had planned to have Lois go back to her regular reporting job for the newspaper - I can't see Lois loving a supervisor role or loving staying in TV. However, I had to scrape that info because I just couldn't find a place where it felt natural for me to throw the information in. Everything I tried came out sounding forced. But, at the end, I do mention that Clark got his job and reporting partner back, so you can rest assured that Lois is back at the Planet. Again, thank you for the feedback and the high praise.
Battle On, Deadly Chakram
"Being with you is stronger than me alone." ~ Clark Kent
"One little spark of inspiration is at the heart of all creation." ~ Figment the Dragon
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Thank you, DC, for answering the challenge with such a powerful story. We're 2 for 2 in the phenomenal-responses-to-this-challenge department. Joy, Lynn Thank you, Lynn. So glad you enjoyed it. And so glad that the mention of Warcraft didn't send people running screaming in the opposite direction.
Battle On, Deadly Chakram
"Being with you is stronger than me alone." ~ Clark Kent
"One little spark of inspiration is at the heart of all creation." ~ Figment the Dragon
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Wow, DC ...This was fantastic! Awesome! Amazing! I don't game whatsoever...seriously, I think the last of any type of game I played was some 'Super Mario Bros. Something' that my sister and I rented from a video store (along with the gaming system) prior to L&C first airing . But anyway, despite being very out of the loop for the subject, it was a breeze following along. Thank you, though, for the pictures of Lois and Clark's characters. I was imagining something somewhat close, based on your story descriptions, but the visual was a nice confirmation. I really loved the feel of the piece--you had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. So much angst, so much unrequited love. Fifteen years! And to think, both felt that way towards each other the entire time . That do-or-die feeling, as we teeter on the edge of 'will she or won't she' (let Clark back into her life)--I really liked that. The momentum...of everything being at stake for Clark. And also throughout the story, such a feeling of raw pain--from Lois, who was left with so many questions. But, I guess, also from Clark and his loss during those years. As 'into' the story as I was, I'm very thankful for it being a one-parter . It would have been painful waiting a week/etc to know if Clark and Lois would end up together. Fully and completely impressed with the story, and your talent, DC. What a lovely highlight to my day . Laura Laura, Wow! Thank you for the awesome praise! I love that you loved the story. It was fun to examine what it could have been like, had it not been discovered (until far too late) that Superman wasn't the reason for the heat wave. Fifteen years is a long, long time - more than enough to destroy them both, more than enough to threaten any attempts at reconciliation. It also worked out perfectly with real world time - between the airing of MoSB and when the blood elves were available in WoW. I nearly made her a night elf, but that would have put her on the opposing side from Clark, making them unable to interact within the confines of the game. I actually very nearly went the Tolkien elf route with a Comic Con setting, but I got totally beaten to the punch!
Battle On, Deadly Chakram
"Being with you is stronger than me alone." ~ Clark Kent
"One little spark of inspiration is at the heart of all creation." ~ Figment the Dragon
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Plus, I feel like maybe our new family is adventure enough." No one could have written this better. Thanks DC! Thank YOU, for reading and reviewing!
Battle On, Deadly Chakram
"Being with you is stronger than me alone." ~ Clark Kent
"One little spark of inspiration is at the heart of all creation." ~ Figment the Dragon
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Kerth
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Like others, I don't play video games, but was easily able to follow along with the story anyway. 15 years?! How sad that they disconnected for so long. The emotion in this story was spot-on - it was both believable and heartfelt. Brava - well done!
You can find my stories as Groobie on the nfic archives and Susan Young on the gfic archives. In other words, you know me as Groobie.
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Like others, I don't play video games, but was easily able to follow along with the story anyway. 15 years?! How sad that they disconnected for so long. The emotion in this story was spot-on - it was both believable and heartfelt. Brava - well done! Thank you so much! You know, I'm surprised no one wants to yell at me for keeping Lois and Clark apart for so long. Glad you enjoyed the story and that it felt real for you.
Battle On, Deadly Chakram
"Being with you is stronger than me alone." ~ Clark Kent
"One little spark of inspiration is at the heart of all creation." ~ Figment the Dragon
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Hi Vicki! Whoops, I read this ages, well, months ago but then I got distracted and…/returns now to regular scheduled FDK/ 2) she may be dressed as any type of elf (examples given included Tolkien-esque elves and Santa's helpers), 3) the story must be gfic, 4) Lois is an adult in the story, Elf, can be a Christmas elf, adult Lois, *and* gfic? As a gamer, this was what I was able to come up with. Did you ever watch The Guid ( http://watchtheguild.com/)? Some, in a direct departure from the sword-and-magic fantasy world, stood around texting on their phones. Hey, who says they couldn’t get into the 21st century in the Warcraft universe, too? It’s not like they have irregular seasons or anything like that to prevent the industrial revolution. Excitement rippled through him and he fought hard to keep his private smile from crossing over his lips. He didn't want to look like a crazy person. You mean, like Ralph in a strip joint? Is the entire DP staff present? Through a stroke of random luck, as Clark had decided to move back to Metropolis and see if he could pick up the pieces of his shattered life, he'd found that his former residence on Clinton had just become available again. Yes, I can’t imagine where the icy draft had come from. Or the rats. Not to mention the eerie howling at all times during the night. Mentally, Clark kicked himself. After all these years, did he really think he could just waltz back in to the life he'd left behind? So long as he hasn’t knocked up Lois, he should be…well…not fine, but at least, not a deadbeat dad to be beat dead by Perry. until she'd gone and married the devil - Lex Luthor. One single shot from an antique pistol to the roof of his mouth, all within full view of his wife. Do they have proof that it *wasn’t* Lois pulling the trigger? Then, shortly after Lois had buried Lex Luthor, Clark had gotten wind of the fact that she'd hooked up with some FDA agent. Oh boy. She going through men like Cat in heat. What was his name again? Clark asked himself. He ransacked his brain for a few moments. Sanderson? Scarab? Scarface? Sardine? No, wait. It was Scardino. Some call him He'd only returned to Metropolis because he'd heard a rumor that Lois was once again single, though he hadn't heard what the circumstances were, and though he couldn't seem to verify the report. She found Sardine in bed with Mayson Drake? "Look where you're going, you overgrown cow!" the surly female voice said. Oooh! "What are you staring at?" she asked gruffly. Considering the screenshot in the FDK thread, I could offer a couple of suggestions. "It's me," he said after a moment, his voice cracking with emotion. "Clark." Blind to what he was doing, he put a hand to his chest as if it identify himself. Isn’t it obvious? The guy who’s about as smart as an ox is dressed as one "Us? Us?" Lois said, her anger rising. "After all this time, you think there's any 'us' left? Fifteen years, Clark. Fifteen years! And barely a word from you in all that time!" So, he mucked up the stables, big time? HERCULES: I’m *not* cleaning up *that* mess. He would reserve his words for those he was rescuing and those emergency responders that he would be working alongside. At least, till he snaps and sets up a dictatorship. "I looked for you, you know," Lois said after a long and thick silence blanketed the room. "I tried everything. Every contact I had. Every available resource on the internet. What about his parents? LOIS: Parents? What hold does he - or did he - have over you, Clark? Well, they were rather…intimate. It was like you two were lovers or something. See? "You lied to me," Lois finally said, her voice seething with anger. "You lousy, no-good, lying piece of s..." Someone’s ticked off! "Never," she said quietly. I think there’s the wrong pronoun there. Clark nodded in turn. "Can I take you home? I might not be in costume anymore, but it could be a modified escort quest." With a conflicted heart, Clark picked up his belongings and flew back to his apartment. Oooh! Treat! That one’s new! Nearly a month had passed since he'd bumped into Lois at the launch party at Gamestop. As of yet, she had maintained complete silence. Clark? it simply said.
Clark read it twice, blinking in surprise. The user name next to the message read WildRose. So, there’s cross-server communications? Lois? he typed back with trembling fingers. It couldn't be her. She didn't even belong to his server! See! Did she switch server? Does she have to level-up again? Is that the reason she was silent for a month? Because, came the words. I thought maybe...I don't know. Maybe it might be nice to be on the same server as you. Awww To be honest, he doubted that he was worthy enough to ask such a thing of even his furniture. SOFA: You *LEFT* me! Do you see that coffee stain the next tenant made? Do you see IT? Clark smiled a bit to himself. Fine then. How about thirty-six thousand, seven hundred and fifteen gold, eighty-one silver, and ten copper? I'd offer more, but that's all I've got at the moment. But he knew on a visceral level that the conversation ahead had the power to either cast a spell that would resurrect Clark Kent back to life, or to kill him for good, even if Lois herself did not realize the power she wielded.
***
Two years later... So… Perry had been overjoyed to see the younger reporter, and had needed no convincing to give Clark his old job - as well as his old partner - back. PERRY: It’s about damn time… "I thought about it," she admitted, "but I think, maybe for now, I'll pass. Michael is still so young and we're still so sleep-deprived as it is. Plus, I feel like maybe our new family is adventure enough."
"I couldn't agree more."
The End. Awww You spun a wondrous tale. And thanks for the epilogue! Michael
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Any and all feedback is much appreciated! No, but I've heard of it. You mean, like Ralph in a strip joint? <Barfs into one of her toddlers' potty chairs> Is the entire DP staff present? Perry's the one trying to pick the store door's lock. So long as he hasn’t knocked up Lois, he should be…well…not fine, but at least, not a deadbeat dad to be beat dead by Perry. Meh. My muse wanted him to live. Do they have proof that it *wasn’t* Lois pulling the trigger? Lois: I refuse to answer any questions without the presence of my attorney. Oh boy. She going through men like Cat in heat. Lois: It's all Clark's fault! Considering the screenshot in the FDK thread, I could offer a couple of suggestions. Clark: So, he mucked up the stables, big time? HERCULES: I’m *not* cleaning up *that* mess. Lois: <hands him the world's tiniest mop and bucket, and a fork instead of a pitchfork> What about his parents? LOIS: Parents? Clark: I swore them to secrecy under pain of death...or...well, at least no grandkids, ever. So, there’s cross-server communications? They actually implemented a server transfer system a while back because a bunch of them were getting too crowded. They move everything - items, gold, levels, character - from one to another. PERRY: It’s about damn time… Perry: Does that boy even KNOW what's happened to the subscription numbers? Awww clap You spun a wondrous tale. And thanks for the epilogue! Thank you and thanks for reading!
Battle On, Deadly Chakram
"Being with you is stronger than me alone." ~ Clark Kent
"One little spark of inspiration is at the heart of all creation." ~ Figment the Dragon
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Did you ever watch The Guid
No, but I've heard of it. Highly recommended. You mean, like Ralph in a strip joint?
<Barfs into one of her toddlers' potty chairs> I can see that you got the image Perry's the one trying to pick the store door's lock. Now I can see why they’re still outside. PERRY: Lois! Lois, get your pink chumpy to that door right now! Do they have proof that it *wasn’t* Lois pulling the trigger?
Lois: I refuse to answer any questions without the presence of my attorney. So, I’ll take that as ‘no proof’ then. Oh boy. She going through men like Cat in heat.
Lois: It's all Clark's fault! CLARK: Lois: <hands him the world's tiniest mop and bucket, and a fork instead of a pitchfork> Clark: I swore them to secrecy under pain of death...or...well, at least no grandkids, ever. MARTHA: So, let me get this straight. If I tell Lois how to get hold of her escaped partner, he won’t be making babies with her. Yet, if I *don’t* tell her, he will still not be supplying reporting grandkids any time soon. Sounds like a lose-lose situation. LOIS: Martha, think about it. If I *can* track him down, what do you think will happen in regards to his threat of abstinence? MARTHA: CLARK: <hasn’t really thought this one through> LOIS: Stop the presses. Perry: Does that boy even KNOW what's happened to the subscription numbers? They’re now using an inch-thick section filled with seedy classifieds to keep in business? Thank you and thanks for reading! Michael
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