I've had the overall relationship arc for NEBS outlined for a long time but I've also been working under the impression that it would be better to use one "villain" for the entire thing. The recent discussion/poll on major villains on L&C got me to thinking/rethinking something, however, and caused a major epiphany that has considerably unstuck my muse on that story. I suddenly realized that I need a distinct villain for each major stage of their relationship because several villains play off where they are at certain points so well. At the moment, I'm currently brainstorming a-plots to employ with each of the five villains I've chosen and have run up against an interesting dilemma.

I can't figure out how to plot for Lex Luthor of all people.

My problem partly has to do with wanting a reason for a head-to-head Lex Luthor-L&C confrontation that doesn't center, at least not completely, on him being in "love" with Lois but it also goes deeper than that. What did Lex actually DO on L&C as a villain? Okay, let me ask it another way and maybe you'll see more what I'm getting at. In what specific episodes is Lex truly the villain - meaning that he is ultimately known to be the bad guy by either Lois or Clark/Superman - as opposed to being a nebulous mastermind manipulating things behinds the scenes completely under everyone's radar while someone else takes the immediate blame? What "crimes" does he actually attempt or succeed in?

Well, this is not all inclusive by any means, but I can think of one particular episode where he is directly the villain - or actually two episodes - Barbarians at the Planet and House of Luthor.

Lex plants the bomb in the replica of Jack's lunchbox and it is this bomb that blows up the Daily Planet. He also pays off the board of directors to go along with the sale of the DP to him. And indirectly through his assistant, he pays off the insurance agent who lies to Lois about how much insurance was taken out on the Planet - claiming that it wasn't sufficient for a rebuild.

So in a nutshell, I see him as directly responsible for destroying the Daily Planet which had the effects of putting both Lois and Clark out of work.

That's a start - I know there has to be more, but that is the one that comes most immediately to mind.

Hope it helps a bit.
Lynn

Hi Bev: Lex's evil in S1 includes
The Pilot: he wanted to blow up the space station in order to launch a private one and make big bucks.

NB: he tested Superman and told him if he didn't leave town, he would continue to kill people with the tests.

RFASH: Lex funded Lois's father's research and wanted to make super cyborgs in order to defeat Superman among other reasons.

IGACOY: Lex wanted to take over the river area and was in league with Toni Taylor and the Toasters.(Gee, that sounds like a singing group. Shooby doo, shooby doo.

Jude

That arc was the only one I could think of, too. Of course, that discounts his later appearances in PHEONIX & the clone arc, but I can live with that. I'd much prefer to deal with a "powerful" Lex than one that's insane and/or living in the sewers.

But this brings up another question, and something my daughter brought up, even in other incarnations, how often does Lex Luthor confront Superman directly that he's not either in prison, insane or literally or figuratively in the sewers? Do they ever go openly one-on-one when Lex is "in power" so to speak?

Interesting. I'd forgotten that there was a face-to-face confrontation in that one, along with Lex's trademark mind games. I may be able to use something like that.

Now this is one wpisode that I keep thinking of and discarding. I think it could go either way. While there isn't knowledge that Lex is truly behind the problems, it is a "mess" he makes that Superman ultimately has to clean up, which also seems to be a recurring theme with the newer corporate Lex Luthor. And maybe even with the older versions of Lex. When he isn't actively trying to destroy Superman specifically, he seems to be meddling in things best left alone and many times on a global scale.

I have a tendency to not read when I'm actively writing but I'll keep it in mind.

Yeah Beverly!

Your back to writing NEBS! I LOVE that series! I've got to whole thing in hard copy here at the house. I like your idea of having different villains in each phase of the story. Jude certainly came up with a lot different episodes. It's been so long since I've watched the show that I seem to remember plots of the fanfics better than the actual series!

I hope your muse continues to tickle your brain. I can't wait for the results!

PS Jude - I still have to send you my feedback on "The Portrait". It was a great read - I just have to find the time to write back to you.

Anne

Yeah, while I'm embarrassed to say that it's currently in incarnation 1000 and counting, I am still trying to conquer that monster. So much so that I recently and finally made myself send a copy of SANCTUARY to Anne for the nfic archive. (Which reminds me, I still need to get access to that myself.)

Oh, and in another major attempt to motivate myself, I'm now tentatively calling the monster by a new name, HAVEN - as in HAVEN: THE NEVERENDING BATTLE FOR SANCTUARY. So, if I slip up here and use HAVEN you'll know what I'm talking about. Haven was one of the part names I played with originally years ago when I first decided to expand SANCTUARY into a full relationship story so it's been hovering in the back of my head for a long time.

You probably wouldn't even recognize it now, Anne. Well, maybe YOU would, because the outline I'm using based on the major changes in their relationship is more or less the same as it's always been. Even before this last eye-opener, I'd already stripped it down to that bare relationship outline in an attempt to work in one major villain arc, which just wouldn't work. So now I'm looking for where the shifts from one villain to the next need to occur and how each can be used in an a-plot. What I find truly fascinating is how those five major villains truly mirror the shifts in her perceptions of his personas and therefore the changes in their relationship. That's something I'd never seen in the series before until the discussion here recently but it IS there. With one big exception the villains I'm using appear in the series "when" I want to use them in the story so I'll still be working mostly within series continuity. That definitely wasn't happening using just one villain arc.

Like I said, fascinating.

Beverly,

I'm glad that you are submitting your "Sanctuary" classic to the Nfic Achieves. So many new generation L&C fanfic lovers will enjoy it. It's still one of my all time favorites.

Where are you hiding your NEBS Series? I've searched your site a several times to see if you had any new episodes written but, I can't even find any references to your fanfic writing at all. Do you have it hiding somewhere else now? Inquiring minds want to know!

Write on!
Anne

Okay, the word "classic" gives me pause, but I understand the sentiment and thanks.

It's hiding on my hard drive at the moment.

No really. About two years ago, real life got to be such a pain that I wasn't even sure if I was going to continue keeping the site online so I cut it back to the bare essentials, which meant book comments mostly. Besides, I realized that all my completed fan fictions were on the archive so having them also on the site seem redundant.

As to NEBS specifically, along about that same time was when I decided that it wasn't a series but a single story that I wanted, no, needed to finish before posting period so that's why its current form is in hiding.

Hi.
Where do I find "Sanctuary" and nFic folder?
Thx

Roo, Not that I have access to it ( )but the nFic archive is on Annette's website, I believe. You can find it here .