Wow, Betsy. I started this reading this and realized it was familiar. Then, the further I read, the more I remembered. This was a marvelous story then, and it's even better now.
This Clark is so much less prone to foot-in-mouth disease, isn't he?
Loved how he handled the Lois/Lex situation, and the beeper was brilliant.
Moving on the Wells/Tempus thing... well, yes, Wendy is right that one Herb is at least better than multiple Herbs.
But if I remember correctly, a lot of readers were troubled at the time because we'd invested so much care in this Lois and Clark, and then they were gone. Merged, I think? I don't remember the details clearly, but I'm very, very glad you changed that ("good" Tempus notwithstanding). This Lois and Clark deserve their chance at life, Utopia or no.
And lastly... Wow, what a powerful observation from Lois. Indeed, how utopian can "Utopia" be, if it produces malcontents like Tempus? I've always thought that Herb had things utterly wrong, anyway. One day I'll even write that fic that's been hovering in the back of my mind for two years now... but don't hold your breath.
Betsy, I'm glad you dusted this one off and polished it so brilliantly. I'll end by chiming in with the others and urging you not to stop writing! By all means, take a break if you'd like. Take a year to write another one, if that's what it takes. But you have a wonderful talent, and I'd love to read more of your work.
Hazel, who just had a marathon reading spree and STILL hasn't caught up to the boards yet
