Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related What are the all-time LnC classics?

One thing that so significant about his fandom is the sheer quality of most of the stories. In most other fandoms, you have to sift through a lot of gilt and worse, before you strike gold.
I was wondering though, among all the wonderful stories archived here over the years…which stories in this fandom would you describe as being “epics”, “classics”, “staples” and “must-reads”, with a clear conscience? The very best of the very best, in other words? (both nfic and gfics)
It doesn’t matter whether it won a Kerth, or even whether or not it was nominated for one. In your opinion, what are the very precious few you could hail as a true “classic”?
I was thinking maybe we could start a thread cataloguing them. I’ve seen it done on some other fansites, and it really saves the newbies a lot of time.

I'd put in When Larry Met Charlie by Wendy Richards, Shades of Grey by C. Leuch, and definitely Masques by Doc Klein's LabRat.

Seasons 5 and season 6 are good too, as far as series go.

Whenever I feel like reading a fanfic I've already read, I usually go to Kaethel's "Rapture in Metropolis," or some of her other fics.

Why not just go to the Kerths site, and start with those? They go back for several years - to 1998, i think and are a guide to what many people have enjoyed. As well, because of the diversity of the categories, you'll get a of range of story types. For example, if it's angsty relationship fics you like, you'll find a category for that.

That way we don't get into these lists that exclude so many writers and can be discouraging for those writers who are overlooked.

c. (here's the link to the site)

The Kerth Awards

There are so many. I have been to many many fandoms and read a LOT of fanfiction. This fandom by FAR has the best writers in it. That is why it makes it so hard to pick classics because my definitive list would end up with me saying... "You know this list is taking way to long to type... just read them all!"

Haha, but this is one of my favorites:

"When the World Finds Out" - CC Aiken (nfic and gfic versions are out there of this one)

There are so many that are good, but there is a couple of series that always come to mind for me and that I'm very fond of:

It Happened One (Super) Night and It's a Super Life by Wendy Richards

and

the Home series by Nan Smith.

I absolutley love the Home series. It's set in the future.

I absoluitely agree with almost everything by Wendy Richards, but very especially "It happened one super night" and "It's a super life".

Then there is of course Momentum by Kathy Brown
Anybody\'s Baby and the Playing... series by Annie M.

They are really waffy all of them - though I have some wham/a-plot stories I love very much ( In a dark time (Becky Bain), Rage (Lynn M), When my world devides and shatters (Peace), Without consent (Wendy Richards)) , skipping all action scenes even in LnC I might not be the right person to ask

Well, looking at my must-read-authors list, I find (apaprt from the ones I mentioned)
CC Aiken, Yvonne Connell, Demi, Sheila Harper, Pam Jernigan, Meredith Knight, LabRat...)

And: Don't forget Camping with Clark

Best,

Jana
(who started so many stories by LabRat but had to put aside most of them because of my lack of this incredibly huge variety of English vocab)

I personally love "Pen Friends" by Wendy. ^_~ But I can't really pick any of her stories since they are all my favorites.

Man picking favorites of the stories in the archive are like trying to pick your favorite child. Pretty impossible since you love them all in different ways. ^_~

Well, this is a fascinating comment. I wasn't aware that I used words that were much different from any other author out there or anything more than common, everyday English.

LabRat

Off the top of my head:

Lab's Masques, Epiphany, and Shape of My Heart
Debby Stark's Dawning series
Irene Dutch's Firestorm series
Kathy Brown's Momentum and When Friends Become Lovers series
Kaylle's In Dreams
CC Aiken's Lois Unbuttoned and In A Better Place
Zoomway's 12:01 and Counter Clark-wise
Wendy Richards's Carbon Copy and Penfriend
Raconteur's Lifeflight
Chris Carr's Extraordinary Man series
Pam Jernigan's President Kent series
Plan9Lives's On The Run (forever incomplete...)

I also suggest checking out the works of Yvonne Connell, Tracey, Kaethel, Nan Smith, LynnM, Erin Klingler, and Crystal Wimmer.

There's more, but I haven't done the reading I should. Never finished Tank's Future series. Never read Shadowfax's Once and Future King. Got a huge backlog reading list...

Oh, and speaking of FoLC classics... I came across the name of Rhen Brink while trying to refresh my memory. Now there is a classic. Maintainer of the original ficlist. I wouldn't be here if not for her. She is missed.

Paul

Trying to think of the older ones...

Meet Me in Kansas City by Chris Mulder.

A Shot in the Dark by Sheila Harper.

Heartbeat by Jennifer Baker.

Not to self-promote or anything, but I do have a list of fanfic recommendations on my website -- it's been sadly neglected but if you want older stories it should do just fine

PJ

The Unfinished Fifth Season.

Would never have found the rest of fanfic without it!

Jen

There're so many awesome stories... Besides the ones above, my best-of-the-very-best list is:

- A Gift for Life by StopQuitDont and Jenni Debbage
- Are You Lonesome Tonight...? by Doc. Klein's LabRat (with nfic version)
- Burden of Conscience by Raconteur27
- Burnout by Doc. Klein's LabRat (with nfic version)
- Cause and Effect by Thompson, ML
- City by the Sea by StopQuitDont *
- Faux Pas by Wendy Richards
- Mxysplit or All Mixed Up by Sheila Harper (there's gfic version, but I do love the nfic version)
- Purity by Yvonne Connell (with nfic version)
- Rest and Reproduction by Meredith Knight (with nfic version)
- Revisionist History by Sue S. (just nfic version)
- Sugar & Spice by Doc. Klein's LabRat (with nfic version)
- Super Stud by ML Thompson (with nfic version)
- The Long Road Home by Erin Klingler
- The Next Step by Sue S. (just nfic version)
- What are Friends For? by StopQuitDont (just nfic version)
- When You Needed Me Most by Erin Klingler
- And overall Faustain Bargain by Sue S. (the nfic version is absolutelly the best of the very best)

My top two are Ad Astra Per Aspera by Becky Bain and The Butterfly Legacy by Lynn M. But there are dozens of others that I think have and will continue to stand the test of time, which is what defines a classic.

I love CC Malo's Recognition Series. It's great for rereading - lots of subtle details and great moments.

Irene

At the risk of sounding like a broken record because of posting the same list:

Going, Going, Gone by The Gorn

I Was Just Thinking by TJ Gruffs

Both are nfics.

I would also like to second others mentioned: The Butterfly Legacy (which is absolutely breathtaking), Ad Astra Per Aspera (which is equally daring and wonderfully written) and The Next Step (which is funny and witty--hands down the best Lois-first-person-POV I've read).

Yes, LabRat, I must agree that your command of English vocabulary is impressive. It's never stopped me from reading any of them, but I can see how it could be a bit of a problem with non-native English speakers. Another person that I think has an unusual command of the language is Tank Wilson.

Is she missed because she no longer participates, or is she missed because she is no longer with us in a more permanent way?

Oh, there are so many good fics listed here. I wish I was like Darcy and could get through the whole archive in four months. I guess I need to take a speed reading class... Haha

She passed on a couple of years ago. Talk about your fanfic classics. She left fanfic just a couple of years before I jumped into it, but from the talk I heard, it makes me wonder how much of all of this would be here and available without her efforts...

But enough musing for now. Back I go to post-modern design.
JD

Ah...I forgot to metion that I'm also talking about WIPs. Some really great stories are floating around unarchived here, Lynn M's Haunting Eden being a case in point. Who knows, being listed might encourage the authors to finish them.
Besides, I've seen some really great stories not receive so much as a nomination, and they tend to get overlooked. That's why I'm asking for personal recommendations, instead of just sticking to the Kerth lists.

I'm afraid I disagree. This is only an informal list, after all, and I'm sure some writers won't be offended at not being mentioned if they've already received some recognition at the Kerths. Anyway, this thread is about the personal opinions of those who happen upon it, and not an official consensus.

I don't think this is really true . We writers can be very thin-skinned. When I see a list like this, I'm secretly hoping someone will have mentioned something of mine, regardless of whether or not I've won an award or whatever (and thanks, Paul, for mentioning ID ).

This is not to say that we can't have lists like this. I just wanted to point out that you can't underestimate the fragility of writers' egos

In the meantime, some of my all-time favorites that haven't been mentioned yet (not at all an exhaustive list, just those that come to mind at the moment):

- Just about anything by CC Aiken, but especially In a Better Place and The Late Great Lois Lane.
- When Friends Become Lovers by Kathy Brown and Demi, and the sequel When Lovers Become More by Kathy Brown
- Meet Me In Kansas City by Chris Mulder.
- Echoes of the Past or the Without a Superman series by ML Thomson
- Tryst by Pam Jernigan
- Smallville 39 by Kaethel

Kaylle