AHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do it Clark, do it!!! Hurry post next chapter!!!

doublel

Just a note, towards the last series of crunch's crack etc. You missed the opening bracket for the italics.

Man, Woody, you and I must have been writing at the same time. If my daughter hadn't taken so long to spell a scream

Cute

Gah, talk about evil endings!

But YESSS!!! Your previous few chapters were beautiful, and much needed time for Clark I'm sure, but it's great to have some action. And I don't have to tell you it's about time Lois finds out (and she does, right? He'd better fly. Or I'll find one of DJ's chainsaws).

Can't wait for more!

Jessi

OMG! I'm cursing you right now! You evil author, leaving us hanging like that!

You should take that as a compliment, BTW. Only the truly *wickedly* talented can leave us hanging like that.

He is going to fly, right? He just can't worm his way out of this one.

Here's a little encouragment for you to get that nexp chapter here soon.


Maybe DJ will break out the chainsaws!

AAAHHHH!! You better not leave us hanging (literally) here for long, Raven!

You have shocked me out of lurkdom once again Raven....I have waiting and waiting for a post and then you go and pull that kind of cliffhanger? (A very good cliffhanger by the way) and you want all of us to remain sane????? It's COLD here in Happy Valley and it just got COLDER! DON'T leave us hanging for long. I am constantly checking for updates...

Borgship.

Yes...finally! He tells her! Sort of...

I was so excited that you posted! Another exciting chapter. I'm glad we're back to the meat of the story.

I cannot wait to see how Lois reacts. She will be pissed. But...oh well. If he thought that they tortured him in captivity, it is nothing compared to the wrath of Lois. Clark has some "splainin" to do.

Hurry back!

One of these chainsaws Jessi?



Heh heh heh...

Sorry I've been gone so long Smirky. I have been so busy that I'm not sure if I'm coming or going.

But I'm still hanging with you. Just got caught up on the last 2 chapters and still loving it. And holy heck, what a cliffhanger. If you don't stop this, I'm going to have to share my cliffhanger button with you. Framework gave it to me.

I can't wait for the next chapter.

Don't take too long or I'll send more chainsaws...

-- DJ

AHHH!! No you can't leave us there!!!! Ahhhh!!! Poor Clark and what a shock it's going to be for Lois though! Ahh, I can't wait.

~Jojo, who is thinking about borrowing DJ's chainsaw if another part doesn't come out soon. LOL

Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! What a cliffhanger! My goodness. You startled me into de-lurking again. Wow.

This is really great. He'd better fly, or else...! And Lois, dear... hello, DUH! Clark Kent is Superman.

Eagerly awaiting the next part...


-- Jude

Wonderful part, Smirky!!

Come back soon!!!!!

Very soon!!

Sooner!!!

Did I say *Hurry up!* ?

Rachel, this story is brilliantly written through and through, and this chapter is certainly no exception. I, too, will be biting my nails until you post part 32 of this and let us see if Clark will indeed save Lois by flying her to safety.

However, I've got to admit that this part also got me thinking quite a lot about Superman in general and Clark Kent in particular. It got me thinking about the traditional, comic book and movie version of Clark Kent versus Dean Cain's portrait of LnC's Clark Kent.

And let's face it, Dean Cain's LnC Clark is a terrifically handsome and attractive guy. He's the one who makes Cat Grant ask, "Who's the new tight end?". He is the one who could have the beautiful DA, Mayson Drake, any time he'd want her, and he is the one who could so easily charm Toni Taylor into having an affair with him. Dean Cain's Clark Kent makes a good impression on other men, too. Perry very much respects him, and Bill Henderson holds him in high regard. Dean's Clark is popular among all his colleagues at the Daily Planet, whether they are male or female. Dean's Clark is, for the most part, self-assured, popular, funny and witty.

Your Clark Kent is very different. He is so much more like the traditional comic book and movie version of Clark Kent, who is nervous, scared and geeky. Few women would fall for that Clark.

The traditional Clark has been deliberately geeky, as if he purposefully turned himself into a hapless clown as soon as he donned his Clark Kent glasses. This was glaringly obvious in the Christopher Reeve movies. The latest movie, Superman Returns, gave us a much more low-key Clark Kent, who seemed to be truly lost and uncertain of his role in the world.

The Clark in this story is quite a lot like Brandon Routh's Clark Kent. It can be no coincidence that one scene from your story was taken seemingly straight out of Superman Returns:

Yes, there are definitely echoes of Superman Returns in your story, such as in the previous chapter, where Martha seemed to sense that Clark might leave her and the Earth to try to find the planet that he came from. But there is a huge difference between Superman Returns and your story. Superman Returns might have tried to show us a Superman who had been to hell and back and who had been stripped down to the very core of his being, but your story succeeds at showing us Superman, and Clark, that way.

Ah, but... now we come to the question of Lois and Clark, and to this Superman Returns kind of Clark Kent who wants Lois to love him for being Clark Kent, not for being Superman. As I said, the traditional Clark Kent was a geek that Superman seemed to play for his own amusement. The fact that Superman apparently expected Lois to love this shallow and soulless clown was extremely cruel, and that is one of the most important reasons why I grew so angry at Superman during my many years as a "Lois and Superman" fan.

Your Clark Kent, however, is not a stupid act. Your Clark Kent is an almost broken man, a survivor of horrible torture, an alien who desperately wants to be a normal man, but who doesn't know how to be one. At least not most of the time. I totally disapproved of him when he put on those geeky glasses so that he would look sillier than usual in front of Lois, and so that Lois wouldn't see that he is Superman.

Your Clark is struggling. He is doing his best. His fear is so real and so powerful that you can almost taste it. He longs to be accepted as Clark Kent, plain old Clark Kent, because Clark Kent is the human aspect of this complicated man (or rather, Clark Kent is the aspect of him who pretends to be the human).

I can see that Clark has reasons to lie to Lois. For all of that, I hate his lies to her.

I think Lois has a good reason to prefer the hero over the man. The hero was true and honest in his suffering; he was brave and noble even when he was broken. The hero wasn't making himself a smaller, lesser man than he really is. Clark Kent, however, is doing just that. When he put on his geeky glasses so that Lois wouldn't see that he is Superman, he was diminishing himself. That's the old, old, infuriating Clark Kent syndrome: he is making himself a lesser man than he really is, and then he asks Lois to love him for that lesser version of himself.

Personally, I'm almost always going to say that Lois is right to reject a man who is lying to her about who he really is. And I always want to see Clark come clean with her.

So, Rachel, sorry about all these musings... but you get my point, I suppose. Please, please, please let Clark tell Lois that he is Superman! Like the others here, I fervently hope that Clark will actually fly Lois to safety in the beginning of next chapter. And please, please, please don't let him pull some sort of stunt to confuse Lois about what was really happening!

Ann

I too have be seeing many echos of Superman Returns in this version of Clark and his actions. I'm indebted to Ann for putting so eloquently what I too have felt and seen in this well written fic.

I'd thought that Lois' earlier dismissal of Clark and the news of his father's death had been too cold, but I needed to remind myself that in this scenario Lois and Clark aren't even really friends yet, and she is still consumed by the trauma of what she had to live through with Superman. It was nice to see here that she realized what she had done and apologised for it.

As Ann brought up, this Clark is not the likeable, confident, and personable guy that we were introduced to in the series. He is much more a 'classic' Clark Kent; ie: 'the disguise'.
It's no wonder that Lois falls for Superman and doesn't really give Clark much consideration at all.

It will be interesting to see what happens when the cat is let out of the bag. Will Clark be raised up in Lois' view, or will Superman be lowered. I guess we'll all have to wait and see.

Tank (who reminds the gentle readers that cliff hangers are good)

WOW! What a list of reviews! I should write evil cliff-hangers more often!

I'm glad to have caught all of your attention again. I do understand that there's been a lull in action and all the last couple chapters, but I'm glad you've understood. Yes, welcome back to the action. I haven't had much experience writing this stuff at all (there's always new stuff to learn, especially on your first fic!) so hopefully it will be good...

I take it as the highest form of compliment! Thank you so much for the review!

Glad to hear from you again, Borgship! I'm glad I still have the power to shock people out of lurkdom . I hear you on the cold front--I'm only a few miles away from you, after all. But at least today it warmed up quite a bit. This last week has been bone-chilling.

Good! <makes note to shock people more often> Thanks for the review!

Ann, thank you so much for your review. I read it like five times and then dragged my little sister in so she could hear it too.

You hit everything on the head, as usual. I've been playing a lot with all of the Supermen, and I am very glad that it has made you think. I'm trying to put a new perspective on some things, and make us all think about Clark in a way, perhaps, that he hasn't been thought of before. I like to imagine that while some poor unfortunate reader of DD is watching any of the filmed portrayals of Superman they might pause and think "Oh my gosh, this makes me think of Poor Clark in Darkest Dreams" or something like that.

The whole cocky attitude of Superman in the SII drives me crazy too. I mean, how self-righteous and everything does he think he is, that he can take advantage of Lois and then erase her memories like that!? I don't think Clark would be Clark if he did that, let alone being able to be Superman as well. In my mind, what he did is as bad as rape, and he doesn't even seem to care .

Wow. You got me ranting. Sorry about that. I apologize.

Anyway, what usually drives me to write fanfictions is to try and fix things that drive me mad but still perhaps make the story work. That doesn't mean I solve everything, but we'll keep our fingers crossed and see what happens. I'm still writing by the seat of my pants, at this point.

Thank you so much! That just makes feel so nice! I'm so glad I've been able to get that all to work!

Hey, Tank! It's great to hear from you again! Thank you so much for your review. To tell you the truth, what you wrote kind of got me thinking, though I'm not going to be specific and say about what. But I think I just got a little idea that might grow into a big idea, and I have you to thank for it. And if that isn't ambiguous enough, I don't know what is. But there we are.

Hm...

Lol. Thank you so much for standing up for me, Tank! Here--I'll come hide behind you and you can take care of all the crazy wild men with pointy sticks and chain-saws.

I'm still working on the next chapter, people, but expect it, again, some time this week...probably around Thursday, but I'd be Friday at latest. Sorry again about the longer wait, but school is still crazy, and these chapters are generally taking more time to write than before (and not only because of length).

Thank you for all the reviews, support, er..."encouragement", and all of that...

<sneaks off>

SmirkyRaven

Is it Thursday yet?

<DJ checks calendar - darn! Only Tuesday!>

- There, no chainsaws, feel better?

Um so it's Thursday... LOL

(Take your time seriously)

Um, yeah, it's Thursday! <hint, hint, HINT>

No, I'm with Jojo, take your time Smirky. Although if you need any inspiration, just let us know, I'm sure we can make you one of those nifty motivational posters <g> if that would help...

Seriously, though, these cliffhangers and all this angst, where do you get it all from? Do you sit down and find the most depressingly forlorn music that you an possibly find and then start writing away while you listen to it?

<g>

Anyway, I look forward to the next part.

Did you notice - no chainsaws - I'm being good.

-- DJ

I will not spontaneously combust. I will not spontaneously combust. I will not spontaneously combust.

That is all.

Notice how I'm not spontaneously combusting?





(dying groan) Smirkyeee....

Hi, Smirky! Yet another person you've managed to startle out of lukdom. I've been following this story avidly for the past ten chapters or so and have developed a bit of an obsession with it. Is this really only your first fanfic? I can't imagine what we can look forward to when you become more experienced.
But no pressure. Wouldn't want to scare that precious muse of yours away, now would we? Hope this doesn't end for at least another ten chapters yet. It's just the kind of story you can't bear to have end. Probably we will have to form a support group and guilt you into writing a sequel.
Anywho, keep it up!

IT'S FRIDAY NOW AND I HAVE TO DO TO WORK AND NO POST?????

We love you Smirky and we love your story, but I am about to go to the next town north and start knocking doors to find you just to get a glimpse! I am sure that there are a lot of readers out there that would toatally support me! ...hehehehehehehe.

Anxiously awaiting....

BORGSHIP

Hello, everyone! I am so sorry for the long wait for Chapter 32. School jumped out out of its mild-manner facade and attacked me this week, and everything has been insane. lol. I think you guys know the general disclaimer about why each chapter takes so long to get out there.

But the real reason chapter 32 has taken so long isn’t even necessarily because of school. I actually had this whole chapter written and pretty much done on Tuesday—-well ahead of schedule—-but once I fit all the content in I sat down and realized that I was quite discontent with it—-not necessarily the content, but it just didn't *feel* right. So on Wednesday I scrapped the whole thing (upwards of 6000 words) and just this morning I finished up with a completely rewritten draft, which was about 6.5k. Then, as I was going back over it about an hour ago, I realized that I actually liked some things that I had cut out from the first draft, and so proceeded forward to do my best to combine the two versions to come up with yet another one. So considering the time it takes to just sit down and write, let alone edit, this chapter has taken quite a bit longer than any other so far (and I hope it’s okay, because my sleep has certainly suffered because of the hours squeezed in to get this done even close to the time I said it would be done!). Hopefully it won’t feel like the cut-and-paste job that it is once I'm finished!

However, due to the fact that I haven’t really edited it, and that I have class for the next few hours straight and then a date after that…(Oh, I hate how college and boys can foil our carefully laid plans and plottings! I was completely dismayed when the guy asked me out for Friday, when I knew very well that I had been planning to post right then!) it doesn’t look like this chapter’s going to be up until quite late tonight—for me, that is. That is, whenever I get home from this date and maybe an hour after that, to do the final edit run-through and get the formatting right for all the places I post and all that. That means...look for it probably within the next ten hours <crosses fingers>

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. It's nice to know that someone is interested enough to notice when I fall behind schedule. It actually feels good to know you're missed.

Welcome to the insanity, Lady Mirth! I'm flattered by your opinion of my story and writing. I can assure you most definitely, though, that this is indeed my first fanfic ever, so any feedback is definitely appreciated! Thanks for coming out of Lurkdom!

lol. Actually, I think the angst, depression and cliffhangers come because I'm trying to counteract the other part of my personality. If you were to meet me in person I think you'd be shocked. Smirky is my real nickname, because I seem to have a difficulty wiping a huge grin off my face, and spend my spare time eating chocolate and bouncing off walls or climbing trees for a general good time. Still, I have done a lot of extensive reading over the course of my life, despite my young age, and I think reading allows you to gain experience and depth of emotion just as well as life itself can. A paraphrase of one of my favorite quotes is that the amazing thing about good literature is that it can carry you into the depths of Hell and carry you forth again unscathed, though not unchanged. I know *I've* felt that before.

As for music...I do have a list that I listen to pretty much whenever I'm writing. I put it together just because I thought the lyrics really fit, and I like the songs. But they aren't really that depressing, I don't think. I guess I'm just strange that way.

Okay, I'm ranting again. Sorry, guys. I really am far too verbous and generally chatty, so I'm going to take off and finish up this chapter. Good to hear from you guys. Thanks again for the encouragement and reviews!

SmirkyRaven