FDK: Just The Way You Are - Lois & Clark Fanfic Message Boards

Howdy, thanks for reading! [Linked Image]

Thank you for giving us this story. I loved little Clark.

Thanks LadyT! I had fun writing him!

Clark is such a cutie! Love this E! Thanks for sharing

Thanks Val! I was nervous since I don't have a ton of experience with kids, so I'm glad it read well

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Her poor son could do a lot of things, but he couldn’t carry a tune if it had handles.

Hilarious!

Thanks Morgana!

That was something my grandmother used to say lol

Lovely story E! I enjoyed how Clark's honesty is already ingrained at this young age, and how he found strength and support from an unexpected source. Well done!

Thanks Cuidadora!

I thought it would be interesting to show him giving Martha and Jonathan a hard time, but I didn't want to write him just being generically 'bratty.'

Also, since Clark is only a few years older than me, it occurred to me that he would have grown up with a lot of the same pop culture influences.

Aww, E! What a cute story about tiny little Clark! I love how he's got a strong sense of right and wrong, and his conflicted emotions over having to lie. I can totally see him watching and connecting to Mr. Rogers. Well done!

Hi Endelda!

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“Making some lunch for us, Mama!” He gave her a gappy grin and turned back to his ‘sandwich-making’.

To be fair, that kitchen looks better than some of the buildings after he’s ‘rescued’ the inhabitants.
CLARK: But…but…*gas explsions* /whines/

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His small frame stiffened with obstinate stubbornness. “Don’t want a bath, baths are for bedtime and I’m not sleepy!”

/shrugs/ Fine. Garden hose it is…

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Clark had woken up in one of his rare bad moods that morning, after having been told the night before that he’d be staying home ‘sick’ for a few days.

Power adjustment?

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but when they’d noticed last year that Clark literally never got sick they’d realized

Oh, right. Having to do like the indigenous population does so the sleepers can properly blend in.

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Clark hadn’t liked it when they’d started putting bandaids on him from time to time and telling him that he needed to tell people about ‘owies’ that he didn’t have,

Boy, is he going to be cranky when he has to wear a cast for 6 weeks.

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They had tried to frame it as a treat, a few days of sanctioned hooky, but Clark absolutely loved going to school and wasn’t making things easy for them.

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“Too bad,” she said flatly, “you’re not going back to school until Monday and that’s that.” He drew in a breath to protest. “I said, that’s that. Do you understand me, young man?”

They could take him to a museum in Wichita. Maybe see the largest corncob in Kansas and the history of corn in Kansas and that kind of thing.

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I suggest you find something to do that interests you.”

How about digging in one of Wayne Irigs’s fields?

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Having to remember what to lie about, and when, and who to lie to was complicated and awful…

Maybe they should start teaching him how to lie convincingly. With the right education he could become rich, like in the second-richest person alive rich by the time he’s twenty-seven. He could buy a plot in Metropolis and build a skyscraper, maybe call it Kent-Tower.

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Did he have other relatives that he might meet someday?

Like…let’s say…a wife?

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Jonathan nodded. “It was just big enough for a baby, and you’d better believe your mother and I were sure surprised when we found one inside it!”

Wouldn’t it be funny if that wasn’t actually a Kryptonian in there but a Marsian and they’ve all put up this front that everything is normal and no one’s mentioned that Clark looks…well…green.

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Clark scooted close against his father’s side and looked at the book. “Gray’s an… anat… ana-tomy.”

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“But… but it barely stung!” Clark objected. “How could that kill anybody?”

“You’ll just have to take my word for it that it can, son.”

Some years later…
SUPERMAN: Lex, my Dad once told me that falling from a barn could kill somebody. I didn’t believe him then and I kind of still don’t but I’m older now and it’s time to find out. Come with me to the balcony, I’ve got to try something…

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Clark blanched in sudden terror. “No. No, Dad, no body would—”

nobody

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Alone in his room again, Clark turned over and faced the window. He wanted to forget the things his dad had told him, but he just couldn’t. He watched the stars over the fields of their farm and wondered, but it was a long time before sleep came.

And they wonder why Clark’s got such a huge chip on his shoulder when it comes to other people.

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and what Dad didn’t know, Mom did! He cut off that train of thought in a hurry and reached for a black pencil.

And now we know where his believe in authority figures comes from. No wonder he follows Lois around like a puppy.

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“Ow.” Clark said a few moments later, when he remembered that hitting things with your head was supposed to hurt.

Well, that was a cute five-year-old!

Michael

Awww so sweet! Beautifully written!

Oh, I loves this one! I can understand how Clark feels and it is interesting to see how Jonathans "Frog-Speach" was created, and what were the reasons for it. I alsays feeled that a man so strong and calm like Jonathan is very irational in this point, but I loved how you explained the background of that.
And yes, music like this in the right moments can be a really good medicine at all.
I remember a similar situation for myself A few years ago. When I was younge, I often feeled, due to my blindness, as an outsider and was angry about the things I couldn't do and about the fact that other people thought I should can do them.
Just while thinking about this, the same evening, my little 3-year-old brother saw a goodnight-TV-show with two animals or so (verry kiddy stuff), and just then, they began to sing a song abouht the fact that's not important what you CAN'T do, no it's far more important what you CAN. And, believe it or not, this helped me in this situation to feel just a bit better. Thank you for bringing this day back to my mind with your story. And I love the talk Little Clark has with his dad, too. Well-written!

Thanks BP! Isn't it amazing how much inspiration an adult can find in children's entertainment?

Also, thank you for your comments about this take on the origins of 'dissect you like a frog', I wanted Jonathan to come across as more solemn and worried than panicky and fear-mongering and I'm happy to hear that it read that way