Wendy,
I was very content with your "wow," but am glad to get your other thoughts, as well. Thanks for taking the time.
Half-way through writing TTW I found a story in the archive that had a somewhat similar premise- Lois being sent to altClark before she knows her own Clark is Superman. I came very close to deleting what I had, but Lab told me "Don't you dare!" I would say the same to you, as well. Even if our ideas might be the same, the stories would definitely be different. (You know, mine would feature buckets of introspection, while your characters would just yakkety, yak, yak...Ha!)
After I had posted more than half of this story, I started to chicken out on killing Tempus. It had been my idea to do him in all along, and therefore to draw the character of Lane as someone who was capable of doing what the other three weren't. I felt I skated a fine line (sometimes might have fallen off) between making her hard enough for this and making her likable. Someone to root for, and then to forgive the violence.
I should say that when I lost heart and started trying to come up with something else I could do to Tempus, I sent the rest of the story to Sherry, who told me to just go for it.
Looking back, I'm glad I did.
I really enjoyed the varied responses to ABA. They were all over the place, and taught me a lot about storytelling, a skill at which I am still green.
You mentioned come confusion over the two Clarks. You should have seen me writing it! A nightmare of pronouns. I looked back on it again today, just to see how I might clear it up before it goes to live in the archive. My muse stubbornly refuses to work that equation any further, and I can't say I blame her.
Thanks for your final thoughts,
CC
