Not sure what this part is... Maybe it's mostly b-plot to advance the a-plot. Alternatively it is simply filler to join parts 15 and 17 together!

Chris

Chris, this is amazing! Not sure what it is, indeed! It's wonderful!

I loved the discussion over morals and the right/wrong side of the line. And whoa! You had CJ admit that he'd thought about killing Luthor, and that he wanted to. You gave him some doubt about his moral standards, instead of the straight-line 'Superman (or in his case, CJ Kent with superpowers) doesn't kill'. Of course he wouldn't kill Luthor, but it makes a change to see him consider it.

And then the scenes at the Planet had me in stitches! And since you wrote Jack so brilliantly, here's a bonus for you:



And then the lawyer jokes... ROFLMAO!!! I can think of a few more, but I'm sure you came across all of them in your research. Hilarious!!

MORE!!


Wendy (who is wondering whether ML will read this section... )

Very nice, Chris! I really liked the way the teasing at the beginning turned into a serious discussion, err, fight and the way Lois realized that she didn't want to use her usual style on CJ. Good discussion, too.

Reminds me of an Asimov quote: "Never let your sense of morality keep you from doing what is right." Mind you, I never exactly knew that meant, or whether I agreed with it or not... <g> Maybe I should go with another one, instead: Sometimes, the ends do justify the means.

The scenes at the Planet were hilarious. It was fun to see CJ's view of things, and Jack was written *very* well. It was very sweet to see Lois working so very hard to cheer up CJ and then lol! at the line about original insults!

PJ

Wow, Chris! Loved that conversation re morality. It was so... *honest*. I think that's one of the reasons I like this fic so much. CJ and Lois have so much to hash out, but they TALK TO OTHER. Wow. Amazing.

I really enjoyed the "outsider's" view of the DP, and especially this: Love that imagery! And Jack was great. I think I've mentioned how much I enjoy your fleshing out of minor characters. Although I did wonder what Jack's "pieced" ear looked like.

Looking forward to MORE!

Hazel, who would *love* to know details about Ralph and the duct tape

Hi,

Wow! Great part. Love this description of how people view Lois.



More soon, please.

MAF

Good instalment.

Some nice moments here. The morality discussion worked very well. We could see CJ's conflict and Lois' ambiquity over 'winning' the argument.

The scenes at the Planet were well played. I like the image of Lois as the star, and also as someone who all the men are terrified of. It just makes her infatuation with CJ all that much more amazing.

As someone who finds Jack barely more tolerable than Jimmy, I was able to deal with him here. He served his purpose - to expose Lois and CJ as more than just casual aquaintances.

Things continue to flow along much too crisply. I think it's time for those whams you promised to start showing up (You did promise us some whams... didn't you?)

Tank (who enjoyed the lawyer jokes and felt it appropriate that the best one was Lois')

I loved this, Chris, especially the line about Lois coming up with an original insult re: lawyers.

Loved the use of Jack, loved the discussion about morality, and just plain loved the whole installment.

Looking forward to more,
Irene

great post, chris!

good job with cj's moral soul searching, and i love lois's reaction, especially this:

i also love what you did with jack. he doesn't show up too often, but you write him really well.

nice job with the flirting and such in the conference room.

lol about the bet.

looking forward to seeing more of this, especially the big break-in. i'm really wondering how you're going to handle things with cj's powers. that should be interesting to watch.

Paul

p.s. for myself, let me say this: don't worry about the "roll call." respond to what you want to, and don't worry about listing names or whatever. you've got better things to write.

LOL the scenes at the planet were

Chris

This is brilliant.
I love it!

The scenes at the Planet are great.
Tonsil hockey, LOL!

I'm thoroughly enjoying this and look forward to reading the next part.

Tricia

I've been quietly enjoying every instalment so far Chris, but this one has to be the best so far. The discussion between Lois and CJ about morality and crossing the line is a very difficult one that you handled very well. Lois also seems more open to understanding and learning about CJ the other Lois's are.

Jack is extremely well written, believable and humorous. He serves several purposes beyond doing the research.

Poor lawyers they always get the raw end of the deal. I'm going to have to tell ML Thompson to read this section.

I'm really enjoying this story. Thanks Chris.

gerry
(who's just coming into retirement and thinks she's going to like it)

Chris
wonderful part - I love it
ditto others
more soon please
merry

Another great part Chris!!

Well, it may be filler, but it was *good* filler.

Jack was definitely in character. If he'd continued beyond the first season, I can visualize him being just like this. Nice scenes in the conference room, too, and the argument scene was perfect. What greater measure of how she really feels about CJ than her feeling bad at winning!

Nan (who is having trouble typing because I injured a finger by sleeping on it. How am I going to write my *own* story if I'm having trouble typing a simple comment?)

Gosh. I didn't expect people to like this part this much! Wow. I guess this is a classic case of the writer not quite knowing what pleases the reader. Even better was the fact that a few 'new' people have appeared, which suggests that perhaps more people are reading this that I originally thought. (That's good for my ego!)

Hazel: I haven't corrected the version posted here, but I have corrected my 'master' copy, so it should be right in the eventual archive version.

Also, you are not the only one who wants to know about Ralph and the duct tape! (Maria, for one, also wants to know. ) All I need is for my muse to come up with a story...

Tank: Yes, I did promise some whams. Just a little more patience, my friend, and then... I hope it will be worth the wait.

Paul: Thanks for that. I wish I could say that last week's activity was because of writing. Sadly, it was not. It was all work-related, and consequently very irritating and not very enjoyable!

Daneel: Oh, dear. Is this my reputation for humour impairment showing through? I would like to think that there is some humour in this story -- that it isn't unremittingly serious.

Nan: hope the finger is better!

RetroRose, Merry, Gerry, Tricia, hopeless chocoholic, Irene, Pam and Wendy, thanks for your comments, too! Hope I haven't missed anyone.

Oh, and for anyone who might be interested, here are some sources of lawyer jokes:

http://members.aol.com/twh427/lawyer.htm
http://www.nolo.com/humor/jokes.cfm
http://www.lectlaw.com/rub.html
http://www.jamesfuqua.com/lawjokes.html

Chris