I was re-reading a story tonight, and thinking, this is a really cool story that not many people seem to have paid attention to... and that got me wondering how many other gems are hiding out there. So... your assignment, if you choose to accept it is to name one or two stories that you adored (and maybe a few details about why you loved it), but which seem to have been lost in the shuffle. I'll tell you mine later

PJ

Okay, I guess someone has to start...

Two stories that I absolutely love and yet have never seen suggested are "The Joke" and "The Ultimate Drug".

"The Joke" is really short, but funny and a little bit evil and "The Ultimate Drug" is just so true...



Also, there were a few "episode extentions" that were really well done.

Oh, what a fun thread!

I have one ... a guilty little pleasure written during the Mayson days of S2. It's called "Band" by Bhavani Rao. The premise probably isn't the most realistic -- Clark's old college band gets back together and he's the lead singer -- but I can't help but smile every time I think of it. Lois, Molly and Mayson all fighting over Clark and he uses his final number to let his "lady love" know who he really cares about.

And I can't hear The Four Season's sing, "Oh what a night ... late December, back in '63 ..." on the radio without grinning like a fool 'cause I always think of this story.

Kathy

I don't think I've seen anyone recommend The Circle Game, and it's amazing! I cried harder the second time I read it than the first. Plus, it was good therapy for me.

I'm fairly new to fanfic, but one story I loved that I don't hear people talk about is Meredith's A Closet Encounter. I thought it was absolutely adorable.

~Anna (who just got wind of Paul's competitive side... the race is on )

Ooooooooooooh. Let's think. This one is probably harder than the other favourites thread - which I haven't contributed to because I'm hopeless at thinking of favourites. There are so many!

I'd have to start here with most anything by Jennifer Baker. Because I worked my way through the Archive in alphabetically order by author when I first found FoLCdom, she was one of the first authors I read. For a desperate fan going through some severe LNCWS after the end of season four and the news just in of the show's cancellation, I was blown away by her waffy tales. Especially the one set in Smallville at Christmas and a short little vignette where Clark returns home from a rescue and learns that Lois is pregnant when he hears two heartbeats. <waffy sigh> I just melted in a puddle reading her stories.

Some others that come to mind:

IN THE BEGINNING - B B Medos
An alternative view of Lois and Clark's first meeting at the Planet, which has some interesting ramifications on their relationship.

THE DARKNESS WITHIN - Lyds
Clark is thrown through a time portal experiment engineered by Dr. Hamilton and finds himself in an alternate world where Kal-El and Luthor are partners and Lois Lane heads an underground rebel group as the sworn enemy of both.

COUNTER-CLARKWISE - Zoomway
Clark is thrown three years into the future when a device used by Luthor to kill him backfires where he finds, to his delight, that he has everything he has ever wanted...

SWAPMEET BURBANK/SWAPMEET METROPOLIS - Debby Stark and Margaret Brignall
A crossover tale in two parts in which Lois and Clark are swapped with Teri and Dean. This was just such a fun romp.

MENAGE A TROIS - 'Vixen'
Clark comes to the rescue, in more ways than one, when Lois is reluctantly maneuvered into a less than welcome date with slimy old flame, Claude when he reappears in Metropolis.

NOT A PART OF THE STARS - Donna Hafner
Beautiful story of Clark's life shortly before he decides to move to Metropolis. And why he does.

WHEREFORE ART THOU……. - 'LLKat'
As sixteen year old journalism students, Lois Lane and Clark Kent meet at a summer journalism camp - a fact Lois remembers thirteen years later as she and her husband clear out some old boxes of childhood mementos.

CARRY TIGER TO MOUNTAIN - Debby Star
Whilst in terrible danger after Superman and Lois stumble into Lex Luthor's secret hideout during an investigation, Clark withdraws into a healing, meditative state and recalls his travels into a remote area of China in his youth.

HAVE A JOLLY HOLLY CHRISTMAS……OR NOT! - Gina Blank
Sweet and waffy little piece. In separate cities, a teenage Lois and Clark approach Christmas with very differing viewpoints.

THE RULES/THE LONG ROAD/THE ONE - Margaret Brignall
Margaret's wonderful trilogy about Clark Kent's early life.

CLARK…….WHO? - Margaret Brignell
The entire pilot revisited - all from Lois's point of view.

AN ORDINARY MAN - Wendy Richards
Lois and Superman are trapped by Nigel St. John and, over the hours of their imprisonment, consider their feelings and relationship with each other.

MARTHA KNOWS BEST - Rich Synave
Martha does a little bit of match-making to push Clark and Lois along when their relationship seems stuck in a rut.

MISSING YOU - Kaytee Schultz
Lois is less than pleased at having to stay in Metropolis and entertain her cousin, Joanna, while Clark spends time in Smallville. Eventually her patience snaps and she drags a protesting Joanna with her to a reunion with her fiancee.

WHISKY GALORE - Dominique Melaragni
Following the trail of poisoned whisky, gives Lois and Clark the excuse for a touring vacation cum investigation in Scotland - and plenty of opportunity for some steamy and waffy nights. (Have to confess I adore this one partly because it's located in my favourite place in the world - St. Andrews. But it's a great story besides that. <g>)

A KANSAS FOURTH - Jeff Brogden
Clark persuades Lois to join him on a 4th of July weekend vacation trip to Smallville where they enjoy some waffy quality time and advance their relationship. Funny and sweet. This is another one that brings on heavy nostalgia moments for me - one of the first I read.

And...I think I should stop now before I end up with ten pages. <g> Think most of these are available on the Archive.

Thanks for the opportunity for the nostalgia trip, Pam! This was fun. Think I'm going to have to go revisit some of these now though - it's been way too long since I did.

Oooops - coming back because I forgot one which definitely shouldn't have been missed:

Quick Change - Carla Humbert
This one never fails to make me laugh out loud and always produces a chuckle when I remember it.

LabRat

Wow, Rat! What a list!! And great topic, Pam!

Sounds to me like Leigh Raglan's Reminiscing. That was one of the first stories I ever read, and one of the few I printed out -- we were going out of town for a wedding, and I needed fanfic! Plus, since it was about them reminiscing, I got a lot of glimpses at early episodes I hadn't yet seen I'll have to read it again, now that I'll know what she's talking about

PJ

Yeah, well, once I got started...

Thanks for yours too - I know I must have read most of them initially, but the details on most are hazy, so looking forward to checking them out.

LabRat (starting to plan a weekend nostalgia wallow...)

I had the same thought as Pam, Wendy, that the stake-out story was "Reminising" by Leigh Raglan. If I remember correctly, it also involved making out in the car, so you know I'd like it. <bg> She had another one called "Clarkie" which is a Thanksgiving story back when there weren't many holiday stories.

And if I'm allowed to second, this is one I was going to list in a follow up post. Likely the first "Claude" story, Clark is just too cool for words in this story. There is also a sequel called "Pas de Deux" (hope I spelled that right; I didn't check it in the Archive) where L&C have their first real date together. The author introduced a mini-cliffhanger at the end -- not involving L&C's relationship -- that I always assumed was meant to develop the two-parter into a full blown series, but she left the fandom without continuing it. I always wondered what she had in mind for the next part! But it's not the kind of cliffhanger that would affect anyone's enjoyment of the story, so please don't let that stop you from seeking it out.

Kathy

I've been lurking around reading L&C for about two years now, so probably many or all of my suggestions (all of which are older stories) got their share of hype at the time, but I haven't seen them mentioned often:

A Friend in Need by JL Masse. Perry puts two and two together when Superman leaves for NK

I Will Always Love You by ML Thompson. This is a great story (as all of ML's are), and I was just reminded of it by a question on Zoom's boards. A nice twist on the revelation and, as always, some wonderful moments and conversations between L&C.

That the World May Know by Rachel Smith. Clark is found wounded - yet he's been identified as Superman (in civilian clothing)...

Heliophobia by Yvonne Connell. Clark is sick and getting sicker (yes, I love the "torture-Clark" stories) and nobody knows why. I thought the reason for the illness very ingenious, and there was some wonderful Ellen dialogue.

I've read (and enjoyed!) most of the stories already listed, but there were a few that I've missed, so thery're now on my list.

Great thread idea! Thanks,
Kathy

Thanks, Wendy ... I don't deserve your compliment, though. My stories are definately not as good as most of the other stories out there.

I think my answer to the stories that I love but were lost in the shuffle are:

As KathyB said, "Band" by Bhavani Rao, for the same reasons . It was so improbable, but I thought it was so funny.

I love anything by Christy Kubit, especially "The Martha Chronicles."

I like "The Wedding" by Blaise Pascal because it has a really cute surprise ending.

I have tons of other favorite stories, but they are Kerth nominees/winners so I don't think they qualify for this category

- Alicia

Let's see...what haven't I heard mentioned in a while...?

*an hour later after I've gone through every story in the Archive ROTFL*

Cyber Link by Zoomway
Clark Stays Over by Melissa Dore
The Art of Being Clark by Missy Gallant
Moonlight on the Potomac --Round Robin fic
Lois & Clark-The Premier by Niklas Jonsson
Flight Risk by Nancy Merckle
Between Floors 7 and 8 by Jessi Mounts
Truth or Dare by Nathalie Santana
City Woman...Country Boy by Meredith Scibetta
All Bets Are Off by Terran

and finally...this has absolutely nothing to do with lost in the shuffle since it just came out this year, but I absolutely had to recommend The Wild Rose by Lote. Medieval stories rock my socks.

"Lost in the shuffle" doesn't have to mean old... I confess, without the several enthusiastic recommendations I've seen, I wouldn't have paid any attention to "Lois Unbuttoned" which was just uploaded last week But I read it and thought it was amazing.

The story I was reading when I first thought up this thread was "Illusions of Candour" by Meredith Knight. (It's the sequel to her "All Sewn Up," a very short episode extension.) Not only is it incredible that someone re-wrote Illusions of Grandeur in a way that I actually liked, but it's got a really nice emotional plot. Plus the first paragraph is just hysterical

Another one I really really liked was "Lois and the Psychic" by Annie Riley -- the title sounded flakey, so I took awhile to read it, but it was fabulous.

And I'm still in awe of what Nan pulled off in "Four Days to Nightfall." Clark hits the asteroid, barely makes it back to Earth, ends up naked in a crater... and is found by Lois Lane. Who's never met Clark Kent nor heard of Superman. (Okay, so it's not been overlooked, exactly, but I just think it's amazing)

One more obscure goodie... "Top Secret" by Julie Jekel. It's an L&C/Quantum Leap/X-Files crossover. As I recall, the b-plot is more about Mulder & Scully, but it was a heck of a fun read, anyway

PJ

I absolutely adored The Tough Road Home by Anita Dicker.

It's a New Krypton story and she did tell me in reply to a feedback email that she wanted to write a sequel. Too bad there hasn't been one so far.

Another story I really wish we could see the end of is On the Run by Plan9LIVES. It was long, it was good and it's the reason why I tend not to read unfinished stories anymore.

Elena

First, I was sorry that Lote withdrew Late Night Chats from the Kerths this year since I was going to nominate it. <g>

Others that I love include:
Big Girls Do, by klair el
Rocky Road to Clark, by Katie Sizer
anything by Terran, especially, Mayson's Diary. Also, The Web.
(This part struck a chord with me: ". . . he knew she was thinking about the internet again. He was fairly computer literate himself, though no Jimmy Olsen, but he did think his wife should distance herself from it. She seemed far too captivated by what was to be found there, so any spare time she had she was accessing something incredibly time consuming."

All I Want for Christmas Is You, by anonymous5658
Lois Has a Great Idea, by Lanie
Single Personality Syndrome, by Cybercerpent
A Super Santa, by Eppie
Lois and Clark and the IRS, The Cape, Superman's Shower, Lois and Clark and the Early Anniversary, Lois and Clark and Valentine's Day I, by Carol M
What's Another Year? by Tank and Wendy with a mystery guest author.
When Everything Changed and Like Putting on a Pair of Glasses, by LCRich
Mysteries of a Diamond Mine, by Lois Lane Wanna Be
Never Too Late?, by Tank Wilson
Of Bombs, Falls & Angel Wings, by Mary Lovee Klipp
Reflections of a Silver Ball Point Pen, By Emily M. Hanson
The Perfect Match, by Wendy Richards
The Interview, by Marnie Rowe

Sorry I can't make a short list, but I don't think it's in my nature.

Shadowfax

I mentioned in my earlier post a story I'd read and enjoyed but couldn't remember, and from my very vague summary Pam managed to suggest this:
and Kathy agreed.

Well, first of all I have to congratulate you guys on your guess from so little information!

Aw, shucks, t'weren't nuthin... I remembered it (and a lot of early fics) because I read it over and over and over... after a while, it started to seem familiar

Stories from three years ago, on the other hand, would probably stump me

PJ

Oh, goody! A new reading list! I've read some of these, missed some, but just going over titles, I'm thinking, "Ooh, that sounds good!" and "I remember that one! I want to read it again now..."

I don't have any to add right now, but thanks for the great suggestions, everyone!

Bethy