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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 273
Hack from Nowheresville
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OP
Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 273 |
WOW WOW WOW!!!  I'm a little sad it is coming to a close... I like reading about how Lois and Clark are evolving in this unusual situation. Please keep writing for us Shayne... pweeeeeaaaase 
"He's my best friend, best of all best friends
Do you have a best friend too
It tickles in my tummy
He's so Yummy Yummy
Hey you should get a best friend too" - Toy Box
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 2,445
Kerth
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Kerth
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 2,445 |
So the 1993 world gets a new hero and some very strange stories - presumably they've also had some dinosaurs etc. so they ought to be ready to believe at least some of it.
I somehow doubt Clark will be able to keep his identity a secret - some of the people on the plane must know.
Marcus L. Rowland
Forgotten Futures, The Scientific Romance Role Playing Game
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 263
Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 263 |
That was awesome. I love Ledderman's celebrity desires- his lifted hands at the end made me laugh. I don't think anyone from the plane will be able to put Clark/Superman together except Lucy. It was a brilliant move to keep them in quarantine because now they have limited knowledge of what was going on and don't have the 'comic' history that the other world did.
In fact, it seems to me that 'our' Clark got the best deal. First, the world he and Lois are now in isn't as jaded and no one knows his secret. His Superman will actually have a chance at a clean start. The other Superman is a little colder and his identity is known, but considering the state of the world he's in, that might be perfectly fitting.
Great part!
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 144
Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 144 |
Wow! “If I had a secret identity, I wouldn’t exactly be blabbing it to everybody in the first bar I came in to.” Clark paused. “Did you have a…”
“Ten years running,” the other man said. He smiled slightly. “It was the new facial recognition programs that got me…once they compared my face to my driver’s license picture in the system, that was it. I tried blurring my face for a while, but I got sloppy.” This is something that I thought of before. Superman´s secret identity wouldn´t stand a chance in a world with facial recognition programs. So the other Superman lost his secret identity and does being Superman as a full time job. Does he still have a private live? Of course, there is his Lois, but is he still able to walk around in normal clothes without people flocking around him? But this is something I have read in "When the World finds out" by CC Aiken... “So everyone you brought with you on the plane…”
“All of them are easily tracked by satellite. They have GPS locators implanted under their skins.”
The government was going to love that. The idea bothered Clark on a basic level, but the longer he talked to the other Clark, the more he realized that the other man was comfortable with things in the name of security that would have been abhorrent to the people of 1993. Also to the people of 1984... Big Brother is watching you! If anything, it sounded like this Clark and Lois were going to find this world a breath of fresh air. So they will fit in and adapt much better than our Clark. This seems to be the movie or comics Superman instead of LnC Clark. And his experience will help a lot, especially when dealing with politicians. “There’s something I’ve been trying to figure out,” he said. “Where do you put the cape and the boots when you’re wearing a business suit?”  “Why? Why is our son any different than anyone else’s?”
“My client is good at finding buried treasure,” Susan said, smiling slightly. You are tying up a whole lot of loose ends here, don´t you? This has to be a reference to the treasure ships Clark mentioned for financing things... And there already is a Superman Foundation, quick work, Susan! The other Superman just has to take it over! The gathering crowd of passengers was murmuring to themselves as they stared at the wingless plane.
“How are we supposed to get home in that?” one man asked irritably. “Flap our wings?”
Lois felt a sudden surge of optimism. Perhaps the paranoia of the United States government had done Clark a good turn for once. These people had obviously been sequestered for the majority of the time they’d been in custody. So Clark can keep his secret... but when he gets back to Metropolis, the people he knows are used to see him without glasses. Will the classic disguise really work? She heard another woman mumbling something about the whole other dimension explanation being a government hoax, some sort of twisted psychological experiment. And this is the beginning of the same thing in the other universe... but their paranoia is on a much lower level than ours. She didn’t complete her thought because that was the moment that Clark made his entrance, hovering over the entryway to the air hangar.
The gasps of the crowd around her and the pointing fingers were reassuring. Nice introduction for Superman to the people of his own universe! Lois cleared her throat and looked up at him. “Smallville,” she said, “I’m starting to think you need serious help.”
“What?”
If she was going to live as Lois Lane, she might as well start getting into character now. Lois smirked slightly.
“You need someone to watch your back. Now that I’ve put you in the suit, I can’t just let you go off by yourself.” Great! Simply great! I think there is one more chapter to come, or isn´t it? I want to see Lana!  And in my last review I will tell you what you get from me for this story! Just wait and see! 
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,797
Nobel Peace Prize Winner
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Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,797 |
Another awesome part of an absolutely awesome fic, Shayne! And you are bringing this tale to a conclusion with fireworks and fanfares, or at least with cheers and applause. The closing part of this chapter was positively cathartic! “If I had a secret identity, I wouldn't exactly be blabbing it to everybody in the first bar I came in to.” Clark paused. “Did you have a…”
“Ten years running,” the other man said. He smiled slightly. “It was the new facial recognition programs that got me…once they compared my face to my driver's license picture in the system, that was it. I tried blurring my face for a while, but I got sloppy.” There is no way ever that Clark could try to hide his identity behind a skin-tight suit, a pair of glasses and a modified hairstyle and hope to get away with it. When the serious computer experts and facial features analysts started taking a good look at Superman's face, public figure Clark Kent wouldn't have a snowball's chance in Sahara to escape detection. [img] http://cdn.news.aol.com/aolnews_photos/06/00/20071007210009990001[/img] After all, if experts could see through this man's disguise, what chances would Clark Kent/Superman have? “They tagged people…”
“Just government workers and prisoners. Eventually they'd have gotten around to everyone else.” There's something chillingly scary about that. The society that George Orwell described in '1984' seems primitive by comparison. The idea bothered Clark on a basic level, but the longer he talked to the other Clark, the more he realized that the other man was comfortable with things in the name of security that would have been abhorrent to the people of 1993.
If anything, it sounded like this Clark and Lois were going to find this world a breath of fresh air. Go figure. “There's something I've been trying to figure out,” he said. “Where do you put the cape and the boots when you're wearing a business suit?” AAAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!! Do you know how long I have been asking myself the same thing? How the **** does he wear boots over his shoes when he is Superman, or shoes over his boots when he is Clark???? Closing her eyes, Lois felt the world move. She'd known how she felt about him for days already, and she'd been lying to herself all along. Deep down, she'd made her decision the moment she'd heard they were all going home. Aaawwwwwww!!!! Lois cleared her throat and looked up at him. “Smallville,” she said, “I'm starting to think you need serious help.”
“What?”
If she was going to live as Lois Lane, she might as well start getting into character now. Lois smirked slightly.
“You need someone to watch your back. Now that I've put you in the suit, I can't just let you go off by yourself.”
He stared at her for a moment, and then he started to smile. Adorable!!!  And they landed in Clark's and Lucy's world, in the middle of a baseball stadium, as the crowd roared!!! Come back soon with more! I must see how Lois and Clark will be doing in this world together! Ann
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,380 Likes: 1
Kerth
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Kerth
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,380 Likes: 1 |
Magnificent, Shayne. I love it.
Nan
Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 2,018
Kerth
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Kerth
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 2,018 |
Delightful! Really wonderful. And of course with the good Doctor aboard everyone will assume Superman came from the other universe. Hopefully Lucy & Clark can help Lois fade into the background and she can slide into place as that world's Lois Lane. Perry and her parents can be told the truth. Clark will, officially, not have been on the flight and likely Perry can overlook his brief disappearance. So Superman will be seen as someone from the other 'Verse and Clark as native to this 'Verse.
Framework4
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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Posts: 391
Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 391 |
Once again, sorry to be so late to the party... another great part! “I did. I swear!” Jacob said. I am so glad you remembered Clark's promise to Jacob. I had forgotten. This was a favorite part. My name is Susan Nyugen, and I represent the Superman Foundation. Go Susan! Too bad Lois and Susan didn't get a chance to say goodbye to each other. Come to think of it, Lois didn't get a chance to visit her family's graves one last time either...  Still, Lois didn't really have a choice but to jump when she had the chance. I'm sure she'll still remember her original family even with her alt-family, and I'm sure they'll still remember their Lois. I wonder if Susan has an analogue in Clark's world, and if she knew the Lois of that world? Maybe they were roommates at Met. U instead of Columbia. She would be good at running the Superman Foundation there, too.  If she was going to live as Lois Lane, she might as well start getting into character now. Lois smirked slightly. Lois still thinks she's playing a role! Maybe some day it will sink it that she always was Lois Lane, even before she met Clark and went back to his world with him... Glancing back she could see the location of the rift by the differences in the windows. Those on the forward side were brightly lit from below, while those on the other side were shrouded in darkness. This part was spooky! A moment later people in the crowd were pointing upward, where a plane seemed to be hovering in midair a thousand feet or more above them in defiance of all known laws of physics. I love the "Superman Returns" reference here. Trust Dr. Ledderman to fall in love with his own reflection. Scientists! I hope folks don't think that all or even most scientists are this narcissistic. Self-aggrandizement is actually frowned-upon in the scientific community: Carl Sagan was severely criticized at first for his efforts at outreach and education because it was viewed as that kind of behavior (now he's honored for what he did). Scientists like Dr. Ledderman actually tend not to do very well, because science is a group effort. That's not to say that there aren't titanic egos involved sometimes... If you want a stereotype, Dr. Klein is closer to what most scientists I know are like. But why not read some real scientists's blogs at ScienceBlogs and find out for yourself? (The blog roll is down the left hand side). Shayne, like everyone else I hope you will take a few chapters more to wrap things up in a leisurely manner. We want details!  Hang in there just a bit longer!
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Posts: 1,999
Merriwether
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Merriwether
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,999 |
Clever. Since the beginning of this story it was a given that Lois and Clark would end up together, it's the nature of the boards. But whether it was Clark staying in Lois' world, or Lois going back with Clark to his world was the question to be answered. Having this Lois have no real family connections left did leave the door open for her leaving, but that would still be hard to leave everything you know and are familiar with. Also, no universe should be without a Lois Lane. The appearance of the Lois and Superman from a different doomed universe alleviated that problem and gave Lois an extra reason to leave. While no universe should be without a Lois Lane, it's doubtful that any universe could survive with two . Of course the clincher was her admitting to herself that she couldn't fight her destiny. Lois Lane and Clark/Superman are meant to be together and their love would be worth the inconveinence she'd have to endure while waiting for her new home's technology to catch up with what she was used to. Besides it would be easier for her and Clark to be together in that world than it would be in hers. We all realize that the story is in the mop-up phase, but we all hope to get a good look at how Lois (with Clark) is going to acclimate to her new world. Or perhaps that is another whold 'fish out of water' story to come? Fantastic job on an interesting and original story. Tank (who wonders if Lois and the good Doctor will use some of their future knowledge to make themselves a bit more comfortable... financially)
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Posts: 2,837
Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,837 |
An awesome story from beginning to end, Shayne. The details make the story. I love a happy ending. I got a kick out of the fact he brought the plane down in the middle of a game. Superman Returns, anyone?  Artemis
History is easy once you've lived it. - Duncan MacLeod
Writing history is easy once you've lived it. - Artemis
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,145 Likes: 3
Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,145 Likes: 3 |
Great chapter, Shayne. All the good bits have been taken up by others already, but I still wanted you to know how much I like this story. I'm only sorry that it's coming to a close. Guess you'll just have to write something else that's equally good.
No pressure. Really.
The facial recognition software problem is interesting, because that stuff doesn't work all that well in the real world. Angles of light and shadow, beards and mustaches, weight gain or loss, hats, different hairstyles, glasses, and even expressions like smiles or laughter can cause false matches or failure to match. It's just one more area where the different worlds progressed differently. I don't think the going-home-Clark will have that problem for quite a while.
I do hope that we get to see Lana meet Lois. I also hope that we get to see Clark explain the blue and red suit to her. She's going to go ballistic, I just know it.
One thing we don't yet know is how long Clark and the rest have been gone. If the two planets were in time synchronization, then they've spent as much time away in their home world as they've spent in the other. But if not, then it might look as if the plane suddenly appeared miles away after most of it disappeared from view (except for the shorn wings) and was rescued by this weird flying guy. I'm looking forward to their explanation for that, too, although I think sticking to the truth would be best. There have to have been more mysterious appearances and disappearances since the LHC in the other world went on-line.
By the by, the real LHC in the "real" world is supposed to begin operations soon in Europe. It's an impressive piece of engineering, and just think, the US would have had one at least that big a decade ago if Bill Clinton hadn't canceled the project that the first President Bush started. There's no telling what kind of scientific progress might have been made - if only.
Anyway, the story is great! I'm looking forward to the next chapter(s), Shayne, and I'm also looking forward to a Kerth nomination come January.
Life isn't a support system for writing. It's the other way around.
- Stephen King, from On Writing
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 273
Hack from Nowheresville
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OP
Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 273 |
I want to join with Terry and say: If this fic isn't nominated for a Kerth, there is something seriously wrong with this folcdom. It is one of the best fics to come out this year. Nice going Shayne.. now where's the next part!!
"He's my best friend, best of all best friends
Do you have a best friend too
It tickles in my tummy
He's so Yummy Yummy
Hey you should get a best friend too" - Toy Box
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