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Merriwether
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Merriwether
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,883 |
Why do I have the bad feeling he is going to forget to change? She made a face that perfectly expressed her feelings on the subject, and he was so elated that it took every ounce of willpower he possessed not to sweep her up in his arms and dance with her around the room. I am as happy as he is! Not that he ever wanted her to do it again, mind, but the once was good. snort “Well that’s just great! You tell him to eat leaves, and he just does it, no questions asked. I tell him the Messenger was sabotaged, and he acts like I’m asking him to believe in the Tooth Fairy.” Early morning laughter is a great thing. Well, he didn't forget to change, that's good. And you leave us with a dilemma. Did she recognize him? If she did, does she think he is nuts? If she didn't, did she have her classic Superman reaction or did she keep her head and remember CK? And we won't know the answer until January. Never knew you were the mean type, Caroline.  Great chapter. Thank you! And Merry Christmas!
lisa in the sky with diamonds
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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Caroline, you've done it again. You've managed to leave us hanging. A lump of coal is in store for you!  Another absolutely great chapter. I am constantly amazed at how you can take a scene from the series and manipulate it and I almost have no clue what will happen next, even though I've seen all of the episoded...multiple times. You keep my attention like a predatorial cat watching it's mouse prey. The one thing I can say is that I'm sure that it will be worth the wait for the next part. Merry Christmas...Happy Hanukkah...
I'm a firm believer in the fact that God doesn't put any more on us than we can bear. He does however make us come to Jesus every so often.
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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Loved it, Caroline!  I'm looking forward to the next chapter!! Happy Holidays!
Superman: Why is it that good villains never die?
Batman: Clark, what the hell are good villains?
=> Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
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Columnist
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Columnist
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Really enjoyed this, Caroline. And I can't wait to find out if she recognized him. At least he remembered to change this time... :p
I think you're doing a tremendous job of rewriting the Pilot while still making it very original.
Fanfic | MVs Clark: "Lois? She's bossy. She's stuck up, she's rude... I can't stand her."Lana: "The best ones always start that way.""And you already know. Yeah, you already know how this will end." - DeVotchKa
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Nobel Peace Prize Winner
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Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,797 |
So he wore the suit...along with a dark shirt that would be sure to hide the electric blue spandex and bright red ‘S’. I approve of Clark's new dress code, Caroline. I always wondered how he managed to hide that primary colored spandex suit under his thin white shirt.  Remember to change, he told himself, as he left his hotel room.
Remember to change, he reminded himself again, as he entered the elevator at the Daily Planet.
Remember to change, he thought, as he helped himself to a cup of coffee.
And then he forgot all about the suit and the ‘S’ on his chest, when Pete once again stopped him to talk about football. What a lovely, adorable way to say that Superman is really just an ordinary guy who is interested in football. And of course... there are things that interest him even more than football.... It felt a little bit like déjà vu when, while he was still talking to Pete, Lois came barreling off the elevator, her briefcase over one shoulder and her purse clutched tightly in one hand. She met his eyes this time and gave him a little smile, and he must have returned it, must have let himself get completely distracted, because suddenly Pete laughed and punched him on the arm. “Guess the Big 12 can’t quite compete, eh?” He felt his chest tighten at this news, but he forced himself to sound normal when he said, “It must have been a good interview, then.”
“What...? Oh, no.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Lex Luthor was a complete waste of time. You were right. All he wanted was a date.” She made a face that perfectly expressed her feelings on the subject, and he was so elated that it took every ounce of willpower he possessed not to sweep her up in his arms and dance with her around the room. All his worries had been for nothing! Her only interest in Luthor was in telling his story. And she’d told Clark that, of course, but he hadn’t quite been able to believe it. He hadn’t quite been able to believe that given the choice between a farmer’s kid from Kansas with hardly a dime to his name and a suave, confident, self-made billionaire, that she would choose the farmer’s kid. That she would choose him, Clark Kent. And somehow the realization that she had chosen him – that there had been a choice to make – made all his worries about her date with Luthor worth it. He was almost glad she’d gone now – glad that they’d both been put to that test and emerged from it unscathed. Not that he ever wanted her to do it again, mind, but the once was good. I love this description of Clark's insecurity and jealousy, as well as his utter elation at finding that Lois doesn't care about Lex Luthor at all. “Yep! I just need to print it out and take it to Perry. This is going to be big, Clark. Huge.” She sat down and switched on her computer before popping the disk into the slot.
“I don’t doubt it.” Her excitement was contagious...intoxicating. He could watch her like this for the rest of his life and he’d never get tired of it, never get bored. I love this. She took off in the direction of Perry’s office and then halted suddenly and turned around. “Since we, uh, couldn’t have dinner last night,” she said, “would you maybe like to go after tonight’s meeting?” She seemed to be holding her breath, waiting for his answer, which was about the silliest thing he could imagine. She couldn’t possibly think he’d say no, could she?
“I’d love to,” he told her warmly.
She let out the breath she’d been holding, let her smile spread across her face. “Good,” she said. “That’s good.” And this is utterly adorable. Lois is as uncertain of Clark's love as Clark is of Lois's. When she emerged from Perry’s office twenty minutes later, the smile was gone, replaced by barely controlled fury. She stormed over to Clark’s desk and threw her story down in front of him.
“Hard facts!” she snapped. “He said it needed hard facts. He said he wouldn’t publish it, that Platt’s ‘suicide’ called everything he told me into question. And then he started stuffing leaves in his mouth. Seriously, Clark, I think Perry is cracking up.” Aaahh, poor Lois! I can totally sympathize, but it's just so funny, too! “Paava leaves,” Clark said, wincing slightly. “I told him at my first interview that the Yolngu tribe in New Guinea eat paava leaves to relieve stress.”
Lois looked, if possible, even more furious. “Well that’s just great! You tell him to eat leaves, and he just does it, no questions asked. I tell him the Messenger was sabotaged, and he acts like I’m asking him to believe in the Tooth Fairy.” Vintage adorably furious Lois. “Where are you going?”
“To get some hard facts,” she called back, already halfway across the room. “Jimmy!”
Her voice rang out across the newsroom like a shot, and Clark watched, just a little amused, as Jimmy nearly fell out of his chair, a look of blind panic crossing his face. As much as he loved being with Lois, he had the thought that he wouldn’t trade places with Jimmy Olsen just then for all the money in the world. Only Lois can be so irresistible in her fury. (Poor Jimmy, though. ) It was a large complex, and he didn’t find her in the first building, or the second, or the third. But then his sensitive ears picked up the sound of soft weeping.
Lois!
He knew it was her. The sound wrapped itself around his heart and squeezed, and he couldn’t have done anything but follow it. As if Clark had been a child helplessly following the tune played by the rat-catcher-Lois from Hameln (or does that Dutch place have another name in English?). The truth was that when he saw Lois tied up and Jimmy unconscious and realized the danger they were in, something in his brain woke up and shouted, "Now!" Perfect. He landed a safe distance from the building, his heart pounding in his chest at the nearness of it all, at how close he’d come to losing her when he’d only just found her. I love his horror at this realization. And he felt angry, too – coldly, blindly furious– at whoever had done this to her, certainly, but also at Lois, for putting herself in danger again, for apparently valuing her life less than he did. Clark gets angry at Lois again, because she put herself in danger when chasing a story. His possessiveness could become a problem. Of course, Lois's habit of dangling over the jaws of death could be a problem, too. “Are you all right?” he demanded, hearing that anger bleed into his voice with a sort of detached wonder. He hadn’t meant to sound that way at all. He should be comforting her, shouldn’t he? He should be reassuring her, not making demands. He is not happy at his own way of speaking to Lois. He wants to comfort her. If he’d been there as Clark Kent, it would have been natural for him to return to be by her side, to comfort and support her, but he hadn’t been there as Clark. He’d been there as... whoever he was when he wore the blue suit and the ‘S’ on his chest. Clark doesn't yet know what to call his superhero persona. Will Lois still be the one who will name him 'Superman'? The thought of how near a thing it had been, how close he’d come to losing her, still bathed him in panic, even knowing that she was safe, that she was at that moment down below him, ordering the paramedics around and terrorizing the police. I can see this scene so perfectly. He wanted to swoop back down and carry her off in his arms. He wanted to kiss and touch every precious inch of her, to reassure himself that she was whole and alive and safe and his. I totally, completely love this. He wanted to make love to her again – wanted it so desperately, so fiercely, that his whole body ached with it. And I adore this. Dean Cain's Clark in the TV show was a "very patient man", and many people absolutely love that. Many people adore that undemanding aspect of him - he is a man who wants to date Lois and to kiss her, and maybe, just maybe, unbutton a button or two on her blouse, but that is where it stops. Many people love this Clark who doesn't seem to care too much about becoming intimate with Lois, as long as he gets to have dinner with her regularly and watch movies with her snuggled up on her couch. As for myself, though, this Clark ultimately fails to move me. If he doesn't yearn and ache for intimacy with Lois, I will reach a point where I no longer care. The blue suit distanced him in a way he hadn’t expected. It would be too hard to go back there now – to explain a man in a blue suit and a cape descending from the sky and landing in the midst of all those flashing lights. What had come naturally in a moment of desperation felt awkward again now that the crisis was over. And even if he did work up his nerve to do it, he wouldn’t be able to approach Lois in the way he wanted. He wouldn’t be able to touch her, to comfort her – and just then, he wasn’t sure he was capable of playing the polite stranger. He knew that if he got close to Lois, it would be with Clark Kent’s heart pinned to his sleeve.
So, with one final look, he flew away. How poignant. A/N: So did she recognize him? I vote yes, she did recognize him. Why on Earth wouldn't she? Clark immediately recognized Wanda Detroit the first time he saw Lois as reporter Lois Lane, didn't he? We might argue that that was different, but I don't think so. Yes, in the LNC universe there is a general rule, a law of nature even, that says that Lois mustn't recognize Clark Kent when she sees Superman. But I don't think you have to follow that rule, Caroline. Bottom line is, why wouldn't she recognize him? I'm going to miss your story very much when it isn't being updated during the holidays, but finding a new chapter in January is going to feel like getting a late Christmas present. And I wish you and your family a very happy holiday, Caroline. Ann
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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Whew what a ride! Keep it going. I hope she doesn't fall for Superman now amd leave Clark to sulk. Laura
Clark: “If we can be born in an instant, and die in an instant, why can’t we fall in love in an instant?”
Caroline's "Stardust"
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Columnist
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Columnist
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Dean Cain's Clark in the TV show was a "very patient man", and many people absolutely love that. Many people adore that undemanding aspect of him - he is a man who wants to date Lois and to kiss her, and maybe, just maybe, unbutton a button or two on her blouse, but that is where it stops. I don't agree with this. Yes, they waited (it was a mutual decision), but that was because she was being skittish and he didn't want to put pressure on her. Of course, he was also a little insecure about being so inexperienced. It wasn't because he didn't want her or because she didn't want him. We did see him/them go further than "unbuttoning a button or two" in Virtually Destroyed and in Super Mann. If they hadn't been interrupted by Jimmy in Super Mann, I think Clark's "patience" would have ended right then and there.
Fanfic | MVs Clark: "Lois? She's bossy. She's stuck up, she's rude... I can't stand her."Lana: "The best ones always start that way.""And you already know. Yeah, you already know how this will end." - DeVotchKa
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Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
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I actually like the more reserved approach to sex the series took, and Clark's conservative values are one of the things I like best about him as a character. I thought the extent of their waiting was maybe a tad far-fetched, given that neither of them seemed motivated by strong religious beliefs, but it didn't start to feel that way until after the Clone disaster. I agree with C_A that they probably would have gone for it in "Super Mann" if not for Jimmy Interruptus, and I really think they would have before Clark left for New Krypton - or I would think that if I hadn't blocked that whole arc completely out of my mind. However, in this story, they've already been intimate. The stars aligned, they both lost their heads, threw caution to the wind...whatever - they did it. And I think once a couple has Gone There, it can be awfully hard to resist going there again, even if, as with this couple, there wound up being some regrets on both sides. But they've already done the hard part and seen each others' scary bits (or they would have if this couple had scary bits, which of course they don't, this being fan fiction sex and therefore perfect... ) and experienced that intimacy. And I don't think that sex is always inherently intimate, but I do think that for Clark it would be. So I think that after that experience, it would be much harder for Clark to do 'patient' as he did in the series. They're just not in at all the same place as a couple. And I'm in such a rush that I don't even have time to read over what I've just written! I hope it makes sense, though - it's an interesting discussion, I think - and I thank those who have taken the time to respond. I always enjoy your comments Best, Caroline
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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So I come to this thread a bit humbled. I have seen this story being updated for some time now and for some reason just hadn't taken the time to sit down to read it. Maybe because it already had multiple parts... I don't know why but today I sat down to read it. Wow, I wish I had been following it from the beginning so I could have given you encouragement along the way. This story is marvelous. I'm going to be quite frank and honest with you and tell you that you are one of our more talented writers on this board. I think that as time goes on and more people notice your work you are going to be so overwhelmed by FDK that you won't know what to do with it. All I can tell you is that I spent from 8:30am this morning until right now (3:30pm) sneaking this story at work and risking the possibility of being fired to finish it. Haha! I love the chemistry between the two charatcers. I think that the scenerio you have created is totally plausable and the chemistry between these two was always boiling hot in my eyes. Anyway, I could gush all day about this but as my boss might fire me if I did that and didn't start working... I should probably go back to work now. Anyway, know that you just picked up another fan of your story. ^_^
Angry Clark: CLARK SMASH!
Lois: Ork!
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Kerth
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Kerth
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So did she recognize him?  absolutely Now is she putting together comments Clark has made in the past? “Nope, but I do like to fly.” His eyes twinkled as if at some private joke, and she felt warmed through. “I wouldn’t count on it, Wanda. I’m pretty good at keeping secrets.” He smiled. “If there’s one thing I can absolutely promise you, Lois Lane, it’s that I am different from other men.”
She eyed him with a glimmer of curiosity that chased some of the desolation from her face. “You told me that before, too. What do you mean, exactly?”
He shook his head. “Not telling. You’ll have to get to know me to find out.” or is she in a disbelieving, am I losing my mind loop? Either way, She knows it is Clark.
Framework4
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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If we think back, Ann, Clark did not recognize Lois as Wanda (or Wanda as Lois) when he first saw her. It was only after they spoke and after Lois tried to get Clark thrown out on his ear that he made the connection. So it doesn't necessarily follow that Lois recognizes Clark. And it isn't just the glasses and the hair, but his attitude and body language and whole manner which all differ from Clark. Besides, the context is totally different. She sees this big blue flying guy who saves her from a fiery death, who almost barks at her to ask her if she's okay, and who then flies away under his own power! She may not even believe she saw what she thinks she saw after she gets back to the newsroom.
Nothing in her experience with Clark is similar to this behavior, so why should she automatically make the connection? I'm not saying she didn't, mind you, only that it's perfectly reasonable that she didn't.
And have a very merry Christmas, Caroline! Be safe and warm and may your muse speak kindly with you.
Life isn't a support system for writing. It's the other way around.
- Stephen King, from On Writing
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Nobel Peace Prize Winner
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Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,797 |
I just meant that I have read several fanfic stories that focus so heavily on the mental barriers between Lois and Clark that they forget the sexual tension between them. These stories concentrate on disabusing Lois of the notion that Clark and Superman are two different persons, and that she either prefers Superman or is agonizingly in love with both. These stories usually end on a very sweet note, where Lois and Clark are both so happy that Lois knows Clark's secret and that she loves him for being Clark. (And Clark, of course, loves her back.)
For me, the problem with these stories is that the author often leaves Clark and Lois at a stage where they are happily kissing each other, but neither of them seem to yearn for more. They seem to be content in their knowledge that they will get married and become intimate some time in the unspecified, rather distant future. There is, in short, no physical, sexual tension between them, at least none that is obvious to me. These stories are often very sweet, and many people love them, but ultimately they leave me frustrated.
As for Clark's sexual yearnings in your story, Caroline, he feels them so strongly precisely because he has already been intimate with Lois. His feelings make such perfect sense, story-wise and character-wise. Even so, when I read about about how much he longed for more lovemaking with Lois, it struck me how I loved that reaction from him, and how much I would have loved to see him formulate those thoughts to himself in many other stories, too. (And I totally agree with you that lovemaking between Clark and Lois can't be a soulless act of exchanging bodily fluids and reaching a brief moment of physical ecstasy. The way I think of Lois and Clark, lovemaking between them must be an act of the most perfect joining of bodies, hearts, minds and souls.)
And Terry - I agree that Clark's sheer superhuman abilites which he demonstrates so forcefully and impressively in his Superman persona might lead Lois to think that this flying wonder couldn't possibly be her sweet Clark Kent. So I'll forgive her for not recognizing him immediately. I hope, however, that she will figure him out on her own, and that she won't need Clark to tell her.
Ann
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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Hi, Great part!
Maria D. Ferdez.
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Don't like Luthor, unfinished, untitled and crossover story, and people that promises and don't deliver. I'm getting choosy with age.
MAF
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