Hello all,

I've always wondered how someone who possessed neither people skills nor reporter's instincts could manage to become a journalist for the Daily Planet. This vignette was my attempt to answer that question.

As always, all feedback welcomed.

Joy,
Lynn

Hmmm interesting idea. I wonder about the time line though. I thought Ralph was there already before they started to date.

Hi Laura,

Weird. One of my BR's made a similar comment about the timeline. But before I wrote the story, I did a search of the name "Ralph" in all of the show's scripts, and Ralph only appears, at least as a named character, in the fourth season. The timing of Ralph's appearance in canon actually works perfectly for this story. Did he appear in an unnamed, non-speaking role earlier in the show?

To research this story, I actually watched all the relevant parts of the three episodes in which he appears (Lord of the Flys, Stop the Presses, and Night before Myxymas). (He is also mentioned by name in two other fourth season episodes.)

It was in LotF that he asks Lois out. Could that be what you are remembering?

edit: I just looked up James DuMont's filmography, and he only appeared in the fourth season of L&C, so he apparently didn't even have a non-speaking role on the show earlier. FWIW, I had been surprised to discover that he was only in three episodes. It is a credit to the actor and the writers that they made the character so memorable that so many people think he had more of a presence on the show than he actually did.

Joy,
Lynn

That was great and

Loved this!!

I think I 'know' Ralph through fanfic - which is probably why it seems like he's been around a whole lot longer than season 4!

Very good way to 'explain' how the bumbling Ralph got the job!

Oh, this was a hilarious ficlet. Ralph has no understanding of wright and wrong. And I believe that the truly poignant part is the last line, where Ralph expects to become a staff reporter within two years all thanks to nepotism. It's almost as if those little characters like Ralph are those who closest mirror what's going on in our world. Of course, he might also have figured out that it was Lois Lane who brought down the Pagoda and set out to destroy her by seducing her and stealing her story

Michael

Cute fic, Lynn! So THAT's how Ralph got a job at the DP!

And for some reason, I really got a chuckle out of this:
I heard a 'why I oughtta' in that somewhere

Great little vignette. It makes so much sense, now, how Ralph ended up at the DP...

From now on, this is canon to me. That's how Ralph got to the Daily Planet.

Very brave! I never would have dared to look through the eyes of Ralph, so I'm impressed. You did one with Cat too, if I recall correctly, which makes you a lot braver using secondary character than I would ever be. And you capture their voices perfectly through narration alone.

Wonderful bit of story-writing, thank you.

Bwa ha ha! Cute and funny!

Yes, Ralph doesn't show up on the show until early S4, but he's such a useful fanfic character that people have inserted him into earlier timelines; that's probably where the confusion comes in.

This was a cute way to point out the similar names and it works really well for what we know of Ralph's character! Nicely done, Lynn.

Kathy

Thanks for all the FDK!

DW, I had thought he was at least mentioned more, as well.

Bellarase, your fanfic explanation does make sense. Ralph would not be a pleasant person to be around, but he does make for some interesting fanfic.

Michael, interesting speculation about Lois going to the Board of Health. That may well have happened, but I purposely did not mention anything about it in the story. I wanted this story to be a first for me -- a story set in the L&C-verse in which not only are neither of the show's title characters present, but none of the regular cast is even alluded to.

MozartMaid, thank you for pointing out my favourite line of the ficlet. And you nailed the intended tone of voice for that sentence right on the head!

Iolanthe, wow! Having a piece of fanfic promoted to canon status in the mind of a fan is one of the greatest compliments possible! Thank you!

AntiKryptonite, I did feel like I needed to shower after writing this to wash off all the slime I felt from stepping into Ralph's POV.

But never say 'never' for your own writing! I would never have ventured a piece like this myself a year ago. (Oops...Did I just break my own advice? )

And thank you for recalling my Cat piece. The funny thing is, Cat and Ralph are my two least favourite characters. But I'm not proud -- I will take whatever crumbs my muse throws my way. And she threw me some Cat and Ralph crumbs.

Kathy, thanks for taking the time to read the story, even though you probably knew the punchline. (I first got the idea that Ralph the restauranteur might also be Ralph the reporter during the Kerth ceremony, and I speculated as such in the chat room before I realized that there might be a story idea lurking in this new expansion of our tried-and-true 1+1=1 equation.)

Joy,
Lynn