Yeah, so I'm not ML and I couldn't figure out a way to do this without Tempus... And the stretch mark thing was kind of inspired by her - she did something similar in No Place Like Home, but it had already occurred to me - honest!

Anyway, FDK goes here.

Next scheduled post:
Saturday, 10-noon ET

Chapter 19 Preview
Thanks .

Carol

Ew... impossible choice....

and preview... *shudder*

Carol...shouldn't the chapter be part 18?

Anyway, I have been reading this wonderful masterpiece but I have not been commenting on every part. Just so you know...I hate Tempus! How can Lois and Clark make such a decision? Just when I was finally starting to be able to tolerate Lana, now she's married to Clark! Maybe this is just a preview of what life would have been like...Lana only really accepting part of Clark. I really don't see any cons to Lois being married to Joe. He seems like an all around nice guy. I think they could have been good together.

I'm so excited about Lois and Clark thinking of trying to have another baby! It sickens me to think about Clark and Lana trying to get pregnant.

Anyway, great job, as usual and I hanging in for the next post.

~Sheila

You're an evil, evil woman, you know that, right? It figures it would be Tempus. But boy, that's a hard decision to make.

Um - real quick. It is part 18... And so is this...

It was 13 when I first posted it but that's b/c I hadn't changed the file and that was only in the text...

I'm confused...

i think my last post said it all: AHHHHHHHHHHH!

Okay - I see that Pam edited the part number.

That's what I get for posting first thing in the morning when I haven't slept well... And I'm on DH's computer and mine is much better at anticipating what it is that I want it to type in a box...

That's it...

Tempus!!!

Carol, are you sure you aren't trying to kill us?

Ann

Clana and Jois again??? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Princess of Darkness, thou art.

But I can't wait to see how all this plays out.
JD

Funny thing: I was wondering if Lois was in her own body just before you mentioned her checking her stretch marks So, given how she has frequently mentioned that her body isn't the same as it was before her pregnancies, won't people notice?

So, if you're going with the BttF logic, LnC were taken way from their time, the timeline was changed and they were put back. Of course, does this mean Tempus put them into their new clothes? Otherwise, they would not have retained their memory...

Or did he switch them with their selves from AU2?

So, finally, Tempus sure is one sick little bugger, isn't he? The whole attempt reminds me of those creepy horror-thrillers where the psychopath makes sure his victim has to hurt himself or others... /shudder/

Michael, who in no way, shape, or form insinuates that you are evil. Ugh uh. This is wonderful waff-fic. Of course, I am sort of partial to evilness, so...

Well, the fact that Lois has stretch marks implies she's in her own body - which means she and Clark have been switched with their alternates who are waking up together and wondering who those kids are in the next room and where Ellen and Lucy are.

I suggest a cup of coffee at The Bakery.

First of all, I still think Lois and Clark are going to try to switch things so Ellen and Lucy ARE alive but they're married. (See FDK related thread from about six months ago.)

Tempus thinks he's got them in an impossible choice, but they're going to try to change other things instead of the car crash that killed Ellen and Lucy. Whether that works or not is debatable.

And I'm not sure how I feel about this.

According to this, Lana doesn't have a problem with Clark BEING an alien, just with him helping. That indicates she isn't a xenophobe, just a little scared. (In many ways, not that different from canon Jonathan.)

But we all know Clark is meant to help, so this is probably one reason why Lana wasn't really the right woman for Clark. (Which we all knew, anyway.)

BUT - it also shows Lana as being more of the evil woman we generally see her as. Obviously, she isn't evil, she's just a little scared, like I said before.
But it becomes EASIER to point the finger at her and say "she's bad." That's not how I want to see Lana, particularly in this storyline.
There could be other reasons why Lana wasn't the right person from her than just she wouldn't let Clark help.
(Although, this is probably another reason why Tempus likes this reality better. After all, one of his goals is always to get rid of Superman.)


Anyway, whatever.

I like Clark refusing to cheat on Lana even though he'd like to. For him, it comes down to ethics. It's wrong to cheat on your wife, period. No matter what the circumstances.

It's not about who he'd like to be married to, or their feelings. It's not even really about protecting his wife, in many cases. It's about the value of fidelity itself.

Of all the things you could have done, I certainly did not expect this! But now that I've picked my jaw up off the floor, I'm up for the ride. I dig a good Tempus/alternate reality fic. And I like the literary device you've set up from the beginning - the whole idea of unanswered prayers and what might happen if they had been answered.

I am also glad to hear you have another story in the works! I only wish I could write as prolifically!

Amber

Wow.

When you throw in a plot twist, you don't fool around, do you?

I think they're going to try to convince the others that their current reality is the altered one. I think they're going to tell everyone about the "real" reality where Christopher and Nathan are, that they have a device which can restore the original reality, and that Ellen and Lucy and Dave should make the call because they're the ones who'll be gone if they do go back to the "other" future.

Of course, Lois will have to tell them that Clark is Van-El's brother and that he's really Superman and there are a lot of people in the "other" reality who are alive because Clark saved them and hey, where's Ashley? Did Tempus do something to her, too? Or will this alternate reality build its Utopia on Bernie and Ashley's lives instead of on Clark and Lois' lives? Or some combination of all of them?

Either way, Clark has to become Superman, and Lana's not going to be on board with that one. Lois is going to have to show everyone her stretch marks and explain where they came from. That's where Tempus messed up. He left them some physical evidence of the truth of what they will say. And giving them a deadline (isn't that a loaded phrase in this situation) will force them to be direct and persuasive. And we all know how persuasive Lois Lane can be, irrespective of the reality she inhabits.

I'm eager to see how you get yourself out of this corner, Carol. If Lois pushes the button, she'll be wracked by guilt for the rest of her life. If Clark pushes the button, there'll be a wedge between them for the rest of their lives. It has to happen, but they can't be the ones to do it. Even their love for the boys won't banish that demon.

Ooh! Evil thought! The device Tempus gave them is a dummy! He has the real one, and he's trying to force them to make an impossible choice, one that will haunt them for life no matter what choice they make. This may be the worst thing any Tempus has done in fanfic.

Maybe there'll be a Kerth category for that next year. The nastiest, vilest, meanest, most contemptible, most despicable thing done by a villain! You'd win that one hands down.

Okay, where's chapter 19?

/waves/

Thanks guys!

Lieta - I agree - impossible choice... Which is why he's making them make it .

Sheila - That's what I get for posting first thing in the morning when I'm still exhausted... The impression I have of Lana here is that she's okay with the whole Kryptonian thing but she's scared about him going public - like someone mentioned below, like Jonathan. I think Jois could have been good together too .

Karen - I'm not evil. Really I'm not. That's just a figment of your imagination.

Sarah - hehe.

Ann - Trying to kill you did cross my mind but I decided that I really didn't want to go to prison!

Andreia - love the pics!

JD - Nope, not me. Couldn't be. Hope it lives up to expectations.

Michael - We [and by that I mean me and one or more betas and I've not got a clue who] discussed it being a mind switch only but that's a lot harder to fix IMO. Part of the benefit of not having an omniscient narrator is that 'we' only 'know' what they know. So while I've tried to include at least theories of what happened, it's based solely on their knowledge and not what Tempus may know but hasn't told them for instance. I've tried to make rules and stick to them - and hope the loopholes aren't big enough to fly a Kryptonian or two through.

Dandello - ooo bakery!

Sara - interesting theory. Exactly about Lana - that's how I feel about her. One thing I tried to do with the Lois/Clark scene here was mirror the Clark/Lana scenes in OTOH when he tells her he's married and at the library.

Amber - I hope your jaw is okay. At some point I'll even let you know what the other fic is but not yet .

Lovesuper - love the smilies!

Terry - originally this was supposed to start with Clark waking up with Lana on some morning [though I wasn't sure when], possibly in Lois' room at the cabin b/c Sam had let them use for an anniversary or something. But then I figured that would *really* get me lynched so waffiness ensued beforehand. And that would be a very cruel Tempus. I hope I'm good enough to come up with a plausible way to get out of the corner. Believe me, we spent tons of time trying to figure it out over the last six months...

More coming soon!

Carol