Well, there you have it. A lot of discussion, more takeout, some minor smoochies, and what might, in some quarters be deemed to be a bit of a cliff-hanger.

Thoughts, anyone?

Chris

Chris!!! How could you end it there??? Geeeeeez!!!!

Loved this, but I need more. How about posting part 11 now? Please??

Sorry this is so short, but we have major grant proposal deadlines this week and I'm taking a short sanity break.

Vicki

Smoochies are always good, even if they're short...and I thought the build-up to this one was particularly nice.

Actually, I figure that Lois has taken everything else so well in stride that this won't make her falter either. No, I expect that it will be some other wham entirely to cause any possible rifts in their relationship. Of course, I'm often wrong in my expectations...

I liked reading about the progress that they're making - or perhaps I should say not making - in this investigation. They seem to be running into an awful lot of dead ends, and isn't time running out on CJ's powers?

And another b-plot comment - I also loved the little things that had CJ so "aware" of Lois during their evening together: the bit with the peanuts, her looking adorable when she's blushing, and I loved the "unfamiliar husky note to his voice". Yes, I know, I'm a b-plot junkie...

KathyM

Hi,

Great part.

Dum dum dum! (cue ominous music)

Great place to stop, Chris! :p It's weird -- whenever I think of CJ's fantastic abilities, I just assume that it's clear to anyone that he must not be human. I mean, what else would they think? Robot? I think the kiss pretty much precludes that one. Mutant? Then why did it only work with the sun of a different universe? But now that you (and he, I suppose) mention it, I guess it wouldn't be clear. And I can totally see CJ obsessing about it, even if Lois has not problem with it! After all, he doesn't know yet...

That brings it back to Lois. Is she going to freak? I realize it's your story (and as amazingly as it's written, I'll probably love whatever she does), but I for one hope she doesn't. Just my humble opinion.

I think it's interesting how we know Luthor is an equally reprehensible parallel to his counterpart, and yet so many of his minions in 'our' world turn out to be dead ends in this universe. They've got to get a break sometime, though, don't they? Please? I mean, we've got to kick Luthor's butt so they can live happily ever after! (Can you tell I'm a fan of fairy tales? )

More!

Bethy

Great segment, Chris.

I love the way that CJ has moved along the path of corruption since meeting Lois Lane. <g>

Still nice to see them working as a team and getting closer, and more and more acting as each other's cheerleader and support group...

...and then we got to smoochies, which was even better. <g>

Loved this in particular:

<snuffle>

Oh and nice cliffhanger.

LabRat

You know you're enamoured when even the way someone eats peanuts is fascinating and endearing!

Great installment. I'm really looking forward to more.

Irene

AHHHHHHHHHH, don't leave me this way!?

MORE soon please!

PS. I agree with everyone else, they need a break in this case already!

~Liz

Yikes, I read this thread and didn't comment.
Just great, Chris, but they do need a break in the case. That was a funny bit about Nigel St. John. But one of the guys parallel to the other universe has to be a baddie!
MORE SOON

Artemis

great segment Chris
could you hurry the next segment along please
merry

Another great installment Chris!! )

Chris

An excellent part!
And some wonderful smoochies!
So WAFFy!

But what a place to stop!

I can't wait to see what Lois's response is.

Tricia

You do believe in the cliffhangers, don't you?

Nan

great post, chris. good discussions, nice interactions between the partners. oh, and nice smoochies, too.

interesting that neither fabian nor monique is showing up. wonder if monique was a pseudonym or if she changed her name or something. you know, a slightly alternate history could explain it. if, for example, she was born out of wedlock in one universe but not in the other, she could have a completely different last name.

wonder what will pan out.

have to say, though, that with all the discussions and a-plot stuff, i liked the asides just as much. the bit about the peanuts was a nice touch, for example. the details make it that much more real.

wasn't sure what to expect with the revelation. i mean, she already knows about the flying and the secret identity that doesn't exist. i was wondering if he was going to tell her that l&c were married in the other universe (but then, she knows that, doesn't she?).

you wouldn't think, at this point, "i'm not human" would be a major deal. obviously, if he can fly and bend steel in his bare hands and all, he isn't exactly human.

still, it makes sense that he'd worry.

be intereste to see her reaction, not to mention the rest of part 11 (oh, and the rest of the story, too... ).

Paul

Loved how Lois carefully talked around hacking into phone databases, and Clark letting her chalk up yet another grey mark! Shouldn't this end with a question mark? Grammar nitpick aside, I'm surpised. I had the impression that CJ hates Luthor even more that "our" Clark. Why wouldn't he also leap the conclusion that Luthor kills his mistakes? Unless, of course, he knows that Lex finds murder to be a crass way of cleaning up. Spatters the crisp linen handkerchief, dontcha know. :rolleyes:

I was amused that Lois was impressed by CJ's casual acceptance of her non-cooking skills. *Some* things are apparently consistent in all the universes! And I loved his definition of love seats.

Not much of a cliffhanger, Chris, not to me! I know from reading comments folders that you follow the comics a bit, so meta gene or not... eh. Alien makes more sense to me any day!

'Course, we'll have to see what *Lois* says about this...

This continues to intrigue. Looking forward to MORE!

Hazel

Grrrr! I spent quite a while yesterday writing a nice long response to all these delightful comments, and then, when I tried to post, I was told that I'd used too many graemlins and the mbs couldn't process the message... and then, to add insult to injury, the wretched mbs thing ate the entire thing! So, don't expect smilies etc this time round. Suffice to say, I'm delighted with the response this section got, and I'd grin at all you wonderful people if I could. As it is, my smiles, grins, frowns etc are being carefully rationed.

Vicki: you said: The answer is, quite easily! (I would wink, but as I said, rationing is in force.)

Kathy: You'll find out at least half of the answer to your speculations tomorrow. At the moment, I'd say you're about half right.

Several people seem to be fretting now about the lack of progress CJ and Lois are making in the investigation. I do have reasons for making life hard for them. One is to add depth to the A-plot. The other is because the differences between the worlds are actually of relevance to the story, too. You'll see what I mean later on.

Oh, and they are about to find a useful lead.

Kathy, you confess to being a B-plot junkie. This got me wondering: are there any A-plot junkies out there?

Maria: some of your guesses are right. I'm not telling you which ones, though.

Bethy: glad you approved of my stopping place! Both you and Hazel raise the issue of CJ being an alien. You seem to be wondering why this should be such a big deal. I quite agree; there don't appear to be any other realistic alternatives.

Nonetheless, I think CJ would be worried about this. After all, until he visited the other world, he had no reason to believe that he wasn't human. Remember, CJ hadn't developed any unusual powers, and I'm assuming he's never seen the space ship, either.

By contrast, our Clark knew that being an alien was a possibility much earlier on in his life, because he developed the powers during his teenage years.

So, CJ has only had a couple of weeks to get used to the idea that he might be an extraterrestrial, and I'm betting he hasn't really managed to get used to it yet.

It bothers me that I'm explaining CJ's thinking here in the comments folder, not because you've raised this, but because I'd like to think that it was clear in the story. If it's not, maybe I need to go and add in some CJ introspection. What do people think?

Like Kathy, Bethy, you seem to think that Lois won't freak. You'll find out in the next part.

LabRat: yes, CJ's slowly being corrupted, but he's not quite there yet...

Irene, you were the first person to mention the peanuts! Glad you guys liked that! It's fun to see which bits people pick up on, and which seem to work.

RetroRose: Yay! I got someone hooked! Delighted to hear it!

Paul: I've said this before, and I'll say it again. I like the way you think. All I'll say about Monique is that the thought of her being born out of wedlock had not occurred to me.

Hazel: yes, there should be a question mark there. I've corrected it in my 'master' copy. Thank you for pointing that out.

You raise a valid point: why wouldn't CJ think Luthor had murdered Johnson? All I can suggest is that maybe he is being the voice of reason, that he is playing Devil's Advocate here.

Uh, meta gene? I obviously don't read those comics. (I only read Daredevil these days. It's been a loooonnnnnggggg time since I read anything else, and even then it wouldn't have been anything with X in the title.)

Thanks also to Liz, Artemis, Merry, Tricia and Nan for comments. I'm so glad that I've got readers!

And now, because I have my wonderful quota of graemlins to use up...



Chris (who is clearly emoticon-ly illiterate)

i see you posted a related poll. in specific response to this question, i think it'd be hard to find an a-plot junkie, but i wouldn't expect you to have much trouble finding people who love a good a-plot when they see one.

see my comments above. i raised the issue and then dismissed it. the way i see it, from lois's perspective there's no reason to be surprised or bothered, but from clark's perspective there is reason to worry. as you said, it is new to him, and he's probably still coming to terms with it himself. he's got no proof that lois isn't a xenophobe.

that was all clear to me, when i took a sec to think about it. that's just me, though. the possibility that it wasn't so clear to two other people or the fact that i had to stop and think about it might be an indication that you need to be clearer. that's for you to decide.

count me in this collumn, as well. i think you knew that, though.

in the DC universe, any humanoid who isn't exactly human (has super powers, for example), is said to be a "meta human." some meta humans get their powers from genetic mutation, like the x-men over in the marvel universe (where the specific genetic mutation is known as "the x factor"). in that case, the metahuman in question is said to have a "meta gene."

basically, what hazel was saying was that for all lois knows, CJ could be a mutated human rather than an alien. that would only make a difference to a xenophobe, but there are shades of xenophobia. liking an alien isn't the same thing as interspecies mating...

going through the emoticons you posted (without copying them, since that would take me over quota), we have:

smiling, grinning broadly, drooling happily, smiling and (mischevously) sticking your tongue out, jumping excitedly, and doing a wierd happy flip-flop dance.

each means pretty much what you want it to mean (since a smile can mean many things), but hopefully between context and the details of the picture, it'll be fairly clear.

as for losing your post due to excess greamlins, that's not a problem i've actually had. when the boards tell me that i've used more than 8, i just hit the back button, and the text is still there. does that not work for you?

anyway, i'll add that it did look like a natural stopping place to me. it does remind me, though, of an earlier thread. that's here.

guess that's all for now.

oh wait. one more thing...

you've responded to comments. does that mean we get part 11? soon? please?

Paul