From: "L-Soft list server at Indiana University (1.8d)" To: "ARTF@MemoryAlpha.nil" File: "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L LOG9902D" ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 21 Feb 1999 23:08:43 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Cliff Englert Subject: Interesting thing In-Reply-To: <6f9a6144.36d0a6ac@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >I found this while looking through the Transformation Graphics Archive. Its some pictures of a really old Superman comic (I'm not exactly sure from when, it doesn't say), but it's about Lois becoming a baby. It's really strange, but I thought I would mention it for anyone who's interested, and wants a break from this whole slander problem. It's at http://tga.transform.to/cgi-bin/sequence2.cgi?columns=1&mode=freeform&cat=/s equence/ll&text=Lois+Lane:+Crybaby+of+Metropolis&pics=9 Warning: it takes quite a while to load, it's quite big. Sambrea ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 00:10:10 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: This Whole Situation Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 99-02-20 18:52:48 EST, you write: << *Everyone* who has an AOL account is guaranteed to get porno e-mail, >> Um, I dont' get any. Lucky me!! --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 21 Feb 1999 23:22:06 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: Non-Saint Lois (was Re: Saint Clark) In-Reply-To: <3.0.5.32.19990221211846.007ef300@capitalnet.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 9:18 PM -0500 2/21/99, Margaret Brignell wrote: > Then, Clark wryly reiterated the quote >>from the poster ads displayed around town, "Lane and Kent, the hottest team >in town" to which Lois responded "*News* team". This is the phrase that >left me gasping. Lois' response indicated, to me anyway, that she was >rejecting Clark totally. >Her response was unnecessary and uncalled for. It was a mean thing to say >and I thought that this spiteful response was one of the worst things that >Lois did to Clark. I do see what you are saying here, but I didn't take the scene the same way. Lois was emotionally raw herself; not angry here, but crying. Clark had done something that made her doubt everything (breaking up with her) and she didn't know what to think. I didn't see her as angry at all when she said this, just sad and depressed and communicating that. I admit that when I first heard this line, my eyebrows went up and I thought "oh, no, don't say that!" which is surely what Clark was feeling/worrying. But I didn't take it as said in extreme anger or just to hurt him, but rather telling him that she couldn't give him a timetalbe for when she was going to move past this terrible sadness she was feeling about what he had done, and that he shouldn't just expect everything to be OK when they got to work. But I love your answer ... I hadn't thought of that scene when I was pondering this in my mind. I guess from the 'equal but opposite' perspective then, we'd have to include Clark's breaking up with her as a mean thing he did, since to her, it must have seemed incredibly cruel. ("He proposes, then he dumps me?? What kind of mind games is this??") Kathy (who still thinks the scene up to this was incredible .. from Clark's speech about "fever" to Lois's tearful "so you don't love me anymore?" to that kiss ... and the "no, I can't." Ooo, good gut-wrenching scene. But in a good way! ) ______________________ Kathy Brown kathyb@springnet1.com KathyB on IRC ______________________ ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 21 Feb 1999 23:23:39 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: disturbing news OR Free Speech on the Internet In-Reply-To: <36D0953A.F8245A8B@apk.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 7:22 PM -0400 2/21/99, Ruth Link-Gelles wrote: >certain kinds of threats of bodily harm are allowed. Here's an example >taken from >real life: There is a site up off lists of abortion doctors. some dead Actually, weren't these website owners were just found guilty in the courts and ordered to remove the sites? Kathy ______________________ Kathy Brown kathyb@springnet1.com KathyB on IRC ______________________ ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 21 Feb 1999 21:22:08 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Avia Tikotsky Subject: Looking for graphics... Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain Hi everyone! I'm delurking for a moment to ask for your help. I'm looking for a graphic file of the Daily Planet logo as ir appears on the DP workstations (for example in the episode Virtually Destroyed). Please e-mail me privately with any information (no need to bother the whole list). Thank you very much Avia arli@internet-zahav.net.il aviatiko@excite.com aviatiko@hotmail.com ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 14:33:51 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: NKWolke Subject: Re: Saint Clark MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8BIT oh oh no! Please, I don't want to "justify" anything Clark did. I just explain it. He makes a harsh response to Lois and I say: "Hey look' at our Saint-Clark he's not so saint after all!" . I also say that he's not beyond sexual jealousy but that this non-saint-weakness doesn't necessarily mean he's an abusive character (and neither is Lois, btw!)! I think we're driving in circles now. Don't we all agree? Clark is no Saint (but not abusive and very close to perfect), Lois is no Saint (and not abusive and also very close to perfect) and if they were they were totally boring ;-P. Nicole > << We shouldn't be too hard on poor Clark. He's definitely not the > abusive-type only because he makes some harsh remarks . >> > > I was afraid someone would get that out of my earlier post. What I was > meaning to say was that Clark is NOT abusive, but if you use sexual > jealousy as a reason to justify his actions, well, sexual jealousy can > be used to justify a lot of nasty things and I'd tread carefully in > those waters. AKA CKgroupie on IRC NKWolke@t-online.de ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 12:33:09 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Fanzine (was Re: A plethera of responses) In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Sun, 21 Feb 1999 13:00:33 -0600 Kathy Brown wrote: > > In a nutshell, the fanzine will consist of new stories by many well-known > fanfic authors (Sheila Harper, Zoomway, myself, many others). These > stories will not be available anywhere else. The fanzine will be available > for a donation (it's not free) but the profits will all go to help a FoLC > who has medical problems. We aren't out to make money on this; we are just > trying to help a FoLC. > > Hope that explains things -- and piques your curiousity! I've read just a > couple of the many stories that will be included and believe me, this will > be worth its donation price!! Hey Kathy, Great idea, even greater sense of anticipation for these stories... but how can UK FOLCS contribute without costing ourselves almost twice the value of the donation? I was able to give to the Archive appeal because I had some dollars left over from last year's holiday. But UK currency is of no use to you, I should imagine :) Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 07:11:41 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rachel TenHaaf Subject: Re: Good nfics Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain > >You can find those stories at Anne's site, which is now back up and running, >thank God! > >http://www.simplyorganized.simplenet.com/annesplace.htm :) > >>From there, click on: The best in fanfic. > >You'll need to sign up for the password before you'll be able to read >anything. > >Hope this helps, >Mandy :) > >Where do you sign up for this password? I get to the site, but no deal like on Demi's pops up. Thanks, Rachel ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 11:24:35 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Terry S. Horowit" Subject: lost story Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi, I'm another neophyte who discovered FoLC fanfics just a few months ago and has been since spending countless hours reading everything she can get her hands on (much to my husbands confusion and dismay - sigh). Anyway, I was recently reading a long story with multiple parts when my spouse needed to kick me off the web to get some work done. I copied the story from where I had left off reading to (I thought) its end onto a file. When I went back yesterday to finish it, I discovered that not only did I not copy the whole story (as in - no title or author!) but I also had only part of one chapter of a clearly very long story. I cannot remember on whose webpage or which archive I found this story originally and am afraid that without help, I'll NEVER find it again :< In this story, Lois is pregnant and almost losted the baby (who they have named Sam) due to a traffic accident while driving to lunch with Jimmy after having a fight with Clark. There is also an old acquaintance of Lois' named Josh who has received several Pulitzers, and who finds out Clark is Superman after he (Clark) is trapped in a cave-in. If this description rings anybody's bells, I'd appreciate a reminder of the source of the story! Thanks, Terry ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 12:27:34 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Peggy Mueller Subject: Re: Non-Saint Lois (was Re: Saint Clark) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >At 12:39 PM 2/21/1999 -0600, Kathy wrote: >>What is the worst thing Lois has said/done to Clark? I'm not talking about >>rejecting him in BatP (she was very nice about that) or not taking him back >>in WIEAK (she was right not to! Go Lois!) but really mean stuff. > Margaret wrote: >Actually, I found one of Lois' lines at the end of WIEAK so nasty and >spiteful that it left me gasping for air. > --snip discussion of L&C's relationship and events preceding this final scene in WIEAK-- >I didn't think Clark deserved that. I know he wasn't doing a very good job >of apologizing, but to throw that line at him, right after he'd ask her >*not* to push him out of her life, I thought was mean and despicable. It >was as if she'd stuck the knife in him and then twisted it so it would hurt >the most. By emphasizing "news", Lois was basically saying they didn't >even have the relationship that they'd had since his third week on the job! > >Her response was unnecessary and uncalled for. It was a mean thing to say >and I thought that this spiteful response was one of the worst things that >Lois did to Clark. Ditto here! "Twisting" the knife...how descriptive, and how exactly what I felt when I saw this episode! Clark admits his mistake, apologizes for it, and then Lois refuses to forgive him, using the weak excuse that she believes he'll do it to her again (does she really think Clark is so dumb that he can't learn from his mistakes?) It looked to me like Lois just wanted to punish Clark for hurting her, and this impression was reinforced in JSN when Clark says, "you can't stay mad forever," and Lois replies, "Yes I can; it's a gift." Peggy gremlino@pathway.net ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 12:31:36 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Peggy Mueller Subject: Re: Touching (was Non-Saint Lois) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Kathy said: >So, what else has Lois done that was *really* bad? > >Kathy (whose theory is that Lois was really only mean to Clark in the first >few episodes ... Define "few." >can anyone come up with later episodes that disprove this?) Throughout the first season, even when Lois isn't saying anything specifically mean, her attitude toward Clark is arrogant and patronizing, and she always seems to be putting him down by comparing him unfavorably to Superman, or belittling him because of his rural background. In a fanfic I read recently, (sorry, I don't recall the name of author or story), the author said that it took a while for Lois to realize that Clark Kent wasn't "dirt," and that sums up my impression of Lois's early treatment of Clark. Along the same lines (or not--I'm not sure!), does anyone have any insights into why Lois touched Clark so much during the first & second seasons? (*Before* they started dating.) She was always touching his arms, his shoulders, his chest, (rubbing his chest!), patting his back...Why? At first I thought it was because she had an overwhelming sexual attraction to Clark (in spite of her denials), but she seemed uncomfortable touching him in The Phoenix after Clark asked her out, and I noticed also that she put her hand on Dan's knee just before she dumped him in WWW. I finally decided that it could be one more sign of Lois's belief that she was dominant over him (in working relationships, the dominant person touches; the subordinate one does not. So Perry might drape his arms over Jimmy's shoulders, but you probably won't see Jimmy doing the same thing to Perry), but I wasn't happy with that explanation either. I was uncomfortable watching her put her hands all over him because I've never seen anything like it in the office (unless something *was* going on between the two people), and I thought that if it had been a man violating a woman's personal space in that manner, she would have been screaming "sexual harassment." Can anyone offer any insights into her behavior? Peggy gremlino@pathway.net ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 13:36:46 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Joy N Sowell Subject: Re: Touching (was Non-Saint Lois) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Peggy wrote: I kind of always thought that it was a sign of friendly affection. Some people are touchers when it comes to their friends, even if they don't form those friendships easily. Clark never seemed to mind. Actually, Jimmy DID hug Perry in one episode, only to be told to NEVER do it again. I guess it depends upon the office and the people involved. The Planet's newsroom seems to be casual, compared to some corporate offices, and the co-workers seem to be friends. When you work with your friends, the rules are SOMETIMES a bit more relaxed. For example, a friend WANTS to hear the juicy details about a hot date, especially if he or she fixed you up in the first place. A co-worker might rather think of you in a purely "professional" sense only. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 16:32:48 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Margaret Brignell Subject: Re: Non-Saint Lois (was Re: Saint Clark) In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 11:22 PM 2/21/1999 -0600, Kathy Brown wrote: >At 9:18 PM -0500 2/21/99, Margaret Brignell wrote: >>Her response was unnecessary and uncalled for. It was a mean thing to say >>and I thought that this spiteful response was one of the worst things that >>Lois did to Clark. > >I do see what you are saying here, but I didn't take the scene the same >way. Lois was emotionally raw herself; not angry here, but crying. Clark >had done something that made her doubt everything (breaking up with her) >and she didn't know what to think. I didn't see her as angry at all when >she said this, just sad and depressed and communicating that. > >I admit that when I first heard this line, my eyebrows went up and I >thought "oh, no, don't say that!" which is surely what Clark was >feeling/worrying. But I didn't take it as said in extreme anger or just to >hurt him, but rather telling him that she couldn't give him a timetalbe for >when she was going to move past this terrible sadness she was feeling about >what he had done, and that he shouldn't just expect everything to be OK >when they got to work. I think I understand what you're saying, but I *do* think Lois was angry and lashed out at Clark. The problem with fighting with the people you know well is that you know *exactly* how to hurt them the most. Lois used that knowledge against Clark. >But I love your answer ... I hadn't thought of that scene when I was >pondering this in my mind. I guess from the 'equal but opposite' >perspective then, we'd have to include Clark's breaking up with her as a >mean thing he did, since to her, it must have seemed incredibly cruel. ("He >proposes, then he dumps me?? What kind of mind games is this??") I think the difference is that Clark wasn't intentionally trying to hurt Lois where it would do the most damage. Yes, he did hurt her, but he was inexperienced enough in relationships to not understand how much staying away from her to "protect her" from his enemies *would* hurt her. I think Clark had really no concept that Lois loved him that much. (And, to look on the bright side, by forcing Clark into no-mans-land the way she did, Lois made sure that Clark *did* understand how much she loved him;) Lois hurt Clark again at the end of Forget Me Knot by declaring her love for Dieter . However, I don't consider this one of the worst things that Lois did to Clark because Lois had no idea that her declaration would hurt Clark. (This doesn't mean that I *liked* that ending, it just means I don't blame Lois) I guess what it boils down to is that if you *know* that something will hurt the other person, and you still do or say it, that's much worse than hurting someone because you don't understand the implications of what you've said or done. The person still hurts, and you feel bad when you realize what a clumsy idiot you've been, but I don't think that's as bad as deliberately lashing out at someone. >Kathy (who still thinks the scene up to this was incredible .. from Clark's >speech about "fever" to Lois's tearful "so you don't love me anymore?" to >that kiss ... and the "no, I can't." Ooo, good gut-wrenching scene. But >in a good way! ) Oh, I agree:) It was just that "news" jab that got my ire up;\ Although, the jab probably did much to eventually improve their relationship it still was a rotten thing to say at the time. Margaret ****************************** Margaret Brignell brignell@capitalnet.com Ottawa, Canada %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% My fanfic now available at: http://www.capitalnet.com/~brignell/ ****************************** ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 16:37:58 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin J Vance Subject: Re: Non-Saint Lois (was Re: Saint Clark) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi everyone! It's been a while since I posted, but this thread caught my eye and my interest, so I thought I would jump in with my thoughts:) Peggy said, in a previous post: "Clark admits his mistake, apologizes for it, and then Lois refuses to forgive him, using the weak excuse that she believes he'll do it to her again (does she really think Clark is so dumb that he can't learn from his mistakes?)" Well, actually Peggy (and others), I have to disagree on this point and go with Lois on this one (as Martha said:). Throughout the series, Clark struggled mightily to learn from his mistakes, but seemed to find it almost TOO difficult, again and again, to allow Lois to be an equal partner to him in their relationship struggles. What I mean is that Clark obviously felt so protective of Lois (naturally), and feared losing her above all else, that he quite often seemed to "forget" that Lois should be a part of the decision-making process too, at least in regards to their relationship. So, Lois would have been at least partly correct if she thought that Clark was not going to learn from his mistakes--because he seemed to make that one a lot! For instance, even after the whole non-wedding/amnesia mess was sorted out, Clark shut Lois out from helping him when he was shrunk in IASWAA. Lois tries to get him to open up to her, to let her help, and he is too ashamed or embarrassed or whatever to allow her to even see him. He seemed to distrust her emotional stability and strength to see him in such a diminutive state (his sarcasm about Mighty Mouse and hiding behind her picture makes that clear). And at the end of that ep, she calls him on his stubborn tendency to push her away just when he needs her the most, and reminds him that they need to work through their problems *together* in the future. Even in WIEAK, Clark has extreme difficulty letting Lois fend for herself, or decide things for herself, even though keeping her safe from Superman's enemies had been his original intention for breaking up with her in Contact. So, clearly his misplaced sense of chivalry backfired on him there. Also, in a less blatant instance, in SuperMann, Clark is reluctant to let Lois go after the Nazis, instead instructing her to "stay here (at STAR LABS)", to be interpreted as "where it is safe", until he could get back from the sun. Now, I don't mean for this to sound like I think Clark is the one solely to blame, because usually he does have reason to fear for Lois's life and she is often too impulsive and intent on her story to notice for herself. But, while his protectiveness is honorable and well-founded in many ways, it can also be construed as demeaning in certain circumstances, Contact and WIEAK being the most noteworthy. I think Lois's feeling that he is not respecting her equal footing in their relationship is at least partially well-founded at that point. Lois and Clark proved, both as news partners and as romantic partners, that they were *both* strongest, smartest and safest when they were EQUAL partners on all counts--working together to make the decisions and fight their battles. While Lois was clearly more emotionally distant in the beginning, I think Clark definitely took longer (with many more failed attempts) to learn that particular lesson. --Erin V. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 16:00:56 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Back to Non-Saint Lois ;) (was Re: Touching) In-Reply-To: <003401be5e89$5202d380$6c31e7d0@gremlino> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 12:31 PM -0500 2/22/99, Peggy Mueller wrote: >>can anyone come up with later episodes that disprove this?) > >Throughout the first season, even when Lois isn't saying anything >specifically mean, her attitude toward Clark is arrogant and patronizing, >and she always seems to be putting him down by comparing him unfavorably to >Superman, or belittling him because of his rural background. It's very easy to give generalities without backing them up. Can you give specific scenes/episodes/discussions to support your statement? In the first few episodes (few defined as 3-5), Lois does compare Clark unfavorably to Superman ("not insipid mud brown like Clark's [eyes]!") and makes fun of his rural background ("hack from Nowheresville"). By episode 8, however, GGGoH, Lois not only is acting friendly and tender towards Clark, but she comes to enjoy his rural hometown. By episode 9, MoSB, Lois admits that she doesn't know who she'll miss more, Clark or Superman, when they both leave town. By episode 12, ASU, Lois "loves him ... like a brother" and by episode 13, Witness, she invites him to walk her home, even though she's no longer in danger.) There are 22 hours of show in the first season, but by hour 9 or so, Lois is acting tender towards Clark and considers him a good friend. This is just over 1/3 of the way through the first season. So, how do substantiate your statement that "throughout the first season" Lois is mean to Clark? As I said, I can't remember her being unjustifiably insulting to him past the first 3-5 episodes. (One could argue that her outburst at him during IGACOY (#6) was justified.) Can you give me scenes to support your disagreement? Kathy ______________________ Kathy Brown kathyb@springnet1.com KathyB on IRC ______________________ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 17:41:53 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Norman Mayes Subject: Re: lost story Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hi This Story is the "Baby Scenario" by leslie Cohen(Lisland2) It can be found on Aol's L&C Short story Bulletin Board at aol://4344:113.lcrrss.454048.519087304 budmayes@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 16:55:02 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: Touching In-Reply-To: <85256720.00671607.00@MetMtaG2.metlife.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >Peggy wrote: >into why Lois touched Clark so much during the first & second seasons? >she was >dominant over him (in working relationships, the dominant person touches; the >subordinate one does not. I don't buy this as the reason. As I said in my other post, by episode 8 (GGGoH), Lois and Clark are on the way to being best friends. Clark is not just her co-worker, but her friend pretty early on, and her best friend by mid-season. Thus, the only touching that might raise eyebrows would be the touching in the very early episodes (up until episode 7 or so). >At first I >thought it was because she had an overwhelming sexual attraction to >Clark (in spite of her denials), but she seemed uncomfortable touching him in >The Phoenix after Clark asked her out, Bingo! She was interested in Clark, even when she denied it. Rememeber PML (#10)? Lois would have bitten anyone's head off who said she was attracted to Clark, but the pheromone spray didn't lie. ;) She did not throw herself at Lex or Perry or the copy guy -- but at Clark, immediately. There was definitely a sexual attraction. In fact, I think this sexual attraction was immediate -- as I said before, the look on Lois's face in the Pilot when she accepted Clark's offer to go to dinner "to celebrate" told it all. She practically blushed. She was interested in Clark from day one, even if the threat she sensed from him ("I didn't work my buns off to babysit a hack ...") made her reject that attraction. As to why Lois got uncomfortable with Clark after he asked her out, I think this is not unusual. It was fun to flirt, but now things were getting serious, and Lois had to make some decisions. Suddenly, any flirting she did was going to send a definite message (since now she had expressed proof that he did have romantic feelings towards her), and she had to be more careful until she figured out what she wanted. This reminds me of what happened to a boy I knew in high school. He was in a long term relationship but lots of girls would flirt with him. He decided that since so many girls were flirting with him, they must want to go out with him and he should break up with his girlfriend to play the field. The gf tried to explain to him that the only reason they were flirting was because he was "safe" and once he was "single" they wouldn't be interested anymore, but he didn't believe her. Sure enough, once he was available, he couldn't get a date. The gf, meanwhile, had several, which was wonderful when he came crawling back, tail between his legs. ;) (Ok, I admit it, I took him back before Prom ... but we broke up again right after graduation. ) But I digress ... ;) >and I noticed also that she put >her hand on Dan's knee just before she dumped him in WWW.> By late season 2, Lois had definitely softened. She didn't lash out as much and was more emotionally available. She also was feeling tender towards Dan in this scene -- she knew he was basically a good guy, but she was still going to break up with him because she didn't return his feelings. (Also, you gotta admit, Dan's line before this was pretty fantastic -- "I don't want to impress you with things; I just want to be with you." ;)) >I was uncomfortable watching her put her hands all over him because I've never >seen anything like it in the office > and I thought that if it had been a man violating a >woman's personal space in that manner, she would have been screaming "sexual >harassment." This is how I always felt about Cat's behavior. It outraged me and I was glad when they wrote her out of the show. Lois's touching, OTOH, was never like this, and remember, it's only sexual harrassment if the other person does not welcome the contact. You say it yourself, "violating [his] personal space". Lois wasn't violating anything -- Clark welcomed the touching, and touched right back. (In MoSB, when he said goodbye, he cupped her chin and kissed her on the mouth tenderly. This was pretty brave and I don't think he would have risked that kiss if he thought he'd be coming back!) Joy responded: > I guess it depends upon the office and the people involved. The Planet's >newsroom seems to be casual, compared to some corporate offices, and the >co-workers seem to be friends. When you work with your friends, the rules are >SOMETIMES a bit more relaxed. I agree. Every office has their own culture. The newsroom is obviously more laid back (forget the innocent touching -- what about all those GTO kisses after they got together?? ). Whether you think that would happen "in real life" or not, that was the culture established on the show. In my former office, we were more laid back as well. We didn't have any tonsil hockey going on ;) (though we did have several couples develop among the staff) but we did have a lot of off-hours friendships, gossiping, casual friendly touching and discussion of private lives. By way of example, there were several pregnancies on staff my last couple years there. When one woman announced that she, too, was pregnant, one of our male co-workers (a young, friendly, mild-mannered 22 year old) told her that he had suspected for a few weeks, "because your breasts were getting bigger". We all thought this was hysterical -- mostly because Dawn (the newly pregnant one) was always on the lookout for suspected pregnancies on staff and this was *her* method of telling! She apparently had taught him well. I was telling this story to another friend of mine, one whose office was very different in culture, and she was shocked and outraged. She found it completely offfensive that this young man could get away with saying this, let alone *looking* there. ;) I was at a loss -- this was a fun story and I couldn't impress on her that no one took offense. We were friends that happened to work together ... it wasn't just a co-worker making this observation but a friend. But the more I tried to explain, the deeper I just dug my hole. Later I went back to the original crowd and told them about my friend's reaction, and they just shook their heads and said "she just doesn't get it." The woman who was "looked at" was the most amused at all. This was not sexual harrassment (especially since she was this guy's boss ), but my friend whose office was more hostile couldn't see it any other way. Kathy (posting a lot lately ... but having fun. ) ______________________ Kathy Brown kathyb@springnet1.com KathyB on IRC ______________________ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 19:14:09 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Eileen F. Ray" Subject: Re: Fanzine (was Re: A plethera of responses) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/22/99 7:13:19 AM Pacific Standard Time, ida18@HRM.KEELE.AC.UK writes: << Great idea, even greater sense of anticipation for these stories... but how can UK FOLCS contribute without costing ourselves almost twice the value of the donation? I was able to give to the Archive appeal because I had some dollars left over from last year's holiday. But UK currency is of no use to you, I should imagine :) >> I'm not Kathy but since I am the fanzine coordinator I'll try and field this one ;). The FOLC in question lives in Europe and a donation account has already been set up for her there by some of the German FOLCs (Hi Nicky :)). That should make things easier for you and other Euro-FOLCS, particularly since you are moving towards a unified currency and banking system. Once we are ready to roll, which should be soon if work stops burying me, I'll post announcements here and the other Loiscla list concerning the way to donate and how we are going to handle the logistics of distribution ;). Stay tuned ;). Cheers, Eileen AKA Eraygun@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 19:22:02 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "C.C. Malo" Subject: New Fanfic: Strange Visitor, part 3 of 3 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit part 3 * * * Lois was the first to spot Althea coming out of the elevator. "Clark," she whispered across to his desk. He looked up and spotted the woman stepping down into the newsroom. Lois had told him what she had found at the Women's Residence, that Althea Fitzgerald no longer lived there and that she had left three years ago to return to her home town in Maine. Clark's features were determined as he got up and walked over to meet the old lady. "Mrs. Fitzgerald," he paused, glancing quickly over the newsroom, "it's pretty noisy here. Why don't we go into the conference room?" Once inside the conference room, he decided not to say anything. Let her go first and see what she had to say. Lois, who had followed the two into the conference room, started to speak but Clark put his hand on her forearm and shook his head. Amazingly, Lois picked up on his cue and remained silent, too. As he waited for Althea to speak, Clark looked at her hands resting flat on the dark wooden table as though she was figuring out what she was going to say. Her hands were delicate with the mottled and wrinkled skin of age; he thought they were beautiful. Then he noticed that her wedding band was missing. He was sure she had been wearing one earlier. Finally Althea broke the silence. She had toyed briefly with the idea of telling them that Morgana and Wulf were at Clark's apartment and then realized that bit of news would send the two reporters to Clinton Street immediately. So she looked directly at Clark, her dark eyes innocent, and lied. "I've located them. They're at Lois's apartment. I suspect they plan to hold Lois hostage as a way to entrap you, Clark." That last part, at least, was plausible, she thought. Then she added, speaking with authority. "Stay away >from there. I'll contact my people and they'll handle it." Lois rolled her eyes. "Mrs. Fitzgerald. Althea. Your people?" Even Clark had raised his eyebrows at that one. Althea snapped, "Lois, I may be old but I still have influence and I still have things to do." They were interrupted by Perry White who stood in the conference room doorway, a genial beam suffusing his face. "Ah, Mrs. Fitzgerald." His tone was expansive. "Jimmy told me you were here. Let me apologize for not recognizing you this morning." He walked over to where she was sitting. "I read your work when I was a kid. Inspirational. It's an honor to have you back at the Daily Planet." He extended his hand to shake hers and then put his hand on her shoulder. "Let me give you a tour of the Planet, show you the changes that have been made." Althea's eyes widened in panic. Oh no! She didn't have the time for this. And what if he started to ask her about her work? What if he began to remember some of it? To ask her about it? "Thank you, Mr. White, but I'm sure that you're much too busy to have time to do that." "Nonsense." Perry's voice was brusque. He stood behind her chair and began to pull it back so she could rise more easily. "It's my honor and privilege to escort a Pulitzer Prize winner." Althea found herself rising from her chair. Maybe she could escape from him en route. She paused at the door for a moment to look back at Lois and Clark. "Remember," she said. "Mrs. Fitzgerald, what happened to your wedding ring?" Clark asked and noticed that she lifted her left hand automatically. Sadness flooded her features, sapping her vitality, and all of a sudden she looked her full ninety years. "I lost it." She drew herself up and took a deep breath. "Let's go, Perry. Show me how you run a newspaper." After they had gone, Lois and Clark looked at each other for a moment, both touched by the distress they had felt in the old woman. Lois placed her hand on Clark's arm, somehow seeking comfort from him. "What do you suppose did happen to it, Clark?" "She still doesn't have a purse and she's wearing different clothes." "So she pawned the ring?" "That'd be my guess." "Oh, Clark!" Her voice was a soft wail. "I don't get what's going on here at all." She met his eyes and then she spoke with more determination. "So, we'd better get going and check on the red haired woman in my apartment and see if we can help Althea Fitzgerald." As Lois and Clark were on their way to Lois's apartment, Althea was eluding Perry's guided tour of the Daily PLanet. After a brief circuit of the newsroom, she told him, regretfully, that she had to be going. It was time to get home so that she could make sure that she took her medication. And of course there was her nap. She thanked him and made good her escape. The regret in her voice as she spoke was genuine; it had been wonderful to see Perry again, a brief gift from whomever was masterminding the universe these days. She had loved Perry, whom she'd come to think of as her spiritual father, and his death had been a time of aching sadness for both her and Clark. Her final thank you to him had been for so much more than that brief tour of the newsroom. But she had to get back to the park. She did not want to miss the guardians if they came and she figured that Lois and Clark were safely on their way to Lois's; her warning to stay away would prove irresistible to both of them. By that time she hoped that it would be close enough to dinner that the two would decide to have it together. She hoped. * * * Lois and Clark stood on the pavement outside Lois's apartment building and Lois raised her eyes to the windows of her apartment. "You know, Clark, I almost hope we find them here." Standing behind her, Clark lowered his glasses and did a quick x-ray scan of her rooms. Nothing. He felt a sense of disappointment seep through him but he said, "Me too, Lois." A couple of minutes later they were standing at the end of the hall on the fifth floor while Lois rummaged in her purse for her keys. "Okay, Clark, I'll go alone. Althea says it's really you they're after, so you wait here. If they're there, you go for help." Clark looked at her, astonished. "Oh, that's a great plan." "You got a better one?" "Maybe we won't need one. We'll both go." Before she could stop him he snatched the keys from her hand and began walking down the hall. "Clark, are you crazy?" she hissed at him as he inserted a key into the first of the series of locks on her door. At least, he tried to insert it. Giving him look of disgust she grabbed the keys from him and then, very quietly, she inserted the correct key and turned it. Pausing, she squinted her eyes and listened but there was no sound inside. She unlocked the next lock. Still no sound on the other side of the door. Clark had taken a position leaning against the wall beside her, his arms crossed. "Of course, that the lock hasn't been jimmied is probably a sign that maybe they're not here." He was childishly pleased to see a quick flush redden her cheeks. "I know that." Then a second later, "Maybe they used the fire escape." Her tone was frosty as she quickly punched in the numbers to release the final lock. Stepping into the room, she looked around and gave a disappointed sigh. "Yeah, I know," he said sympathetically squeezing her shoulder. "It would have been so much better to have been met by guys with guns." "Clark, we have to find her. She's obviously not all there. She's living in some kind of fantasy world, waiting somewhere for her imaginary contacts. We have to make sure she gets home safely." "Yeah." Clark was beginning to agree with Lois's point of view. "Let's head back to the Planet. She's probably still with Perry. You know how hard he is to escape once he decides to give someone the grand tour." * * * "Uh, Lois. You go ahead inside. I'll catch up with you later. There's something I want to do." Lois and Clark had just got out of a taxi in front of the Planet. "What?" Lois's tone held a slight hint of impatience. Clark had developed this habit of suddenly taking off on her, sometimes with the most ridiculous excuse. He smiled. "I want to make a quick tour of the pawn shops on 33rd. See if I can find a gold ring." Lois softened. She touched his hand briefly. "Good luck. I'll wait here with Althea for you." * * * Clark got back to the Planet a little over an hour later, feeling very pleased with himself and also a little puzzled. In his pocket was one gold wedding band. The name on the pawn ticket had been Althea Fitzgerald and the address had been Lois's apartment. The owner of the pawn shop had said that the old woman who pawned the ring had left instructions for him to contact Lois Lane at the end of the thirty day holding period. As Clark stepped out of the elevator, he looked over to Lois's desk and was only mildly surprised to find that she wasn't there. He was beginning to get used to the idea that she was least likely to be where he thought she would be. Glancing at the items on her desk, he spotted the note with his name on. She was in the park, with Althea, waiting for "the contacts." Clark got to the park quickly and spotted the two woman sitting together on a bench not too far from the street. It struck him that the two were very similar. The same straight posture, and the same spark in their eyes. Both stubborn, too, he thought with a smile. He flashed them a grin as he got closer. "Ladies, can I take you to dinner?" Lois smiled back at him. "Yes, you can Mr. Kent." However, Althea had no intention of leaving the park. "It's such a lovely night. What about take out. We could eat it right here. I love Chinese." She looked at Clark, and her eyes twinkled. "I bet you know some great places." "As a matter of fact, he does," Lois said. Clark gave her a slight nod of his head and smiled. "Be right back." And he was, bearing bamboo containers of wonderfully fragrant mixtures of exotic foods. As they ate, both Lois and Clark tried to prod Althea for information but the old woman's responses were elusive and so generic they could apply to just about any woman of her age. By the time they'd finished eating, the two reporters knew no more about her than when they had started. Lois began piling the containers together. "Here, gimme. I'll take these over to the trash can." As she walked away, Clark watched her, the feelings which he strove so carefully to hide from her now obvious in the look of longing in his brown eyes. Althea noticed it and touched his arm. "She does care for you, you know." Her voice was tender. Clark smiled ruefully. "Is it that obvious? How I feel, I mean." The old woman looked at him, the bittersweet memory of how foolish she had been and the pain which she had caused him all those years ago stinging her eyes. She sighed. He'd done some pretty dumb things, too. She met his eyes. "But you do know that you belong together." Clark felt himself caught by the compassion in her brown eyes and once again that feeling that he knew this woman returned. For a moment he allowed himself to hope that maybe what she said was true. "Yeah." His voice was soft. Then that slight smile again. "But I still haven't figured out how to get her to see that." Her errand completed, Lois walked back toward the bench to rejoin her two companions. Sitting down, she asked Clark, "See what?" "This." Changing the subject, Clark reached into his pocket for the ring he had retrieved earlier. He held it between his fingers. "I think this is yours, Mrs. Fitzgerald," he said softly as he handed it to her. Tears welled in Althea's eyes as the young man who would be her husband for so many years placed the ring in the palm of her hand and then gently closed her fingers around it. "Don't take it off again," he said, his eyes teasing but his voice serious. There were many things she could have asked him, could have said to him, but she didn't. "Thank you," she whispered as she shakily slipped the gold band on her finger. As Lois and Clark watched her slide the ring on her finger, three men, dressed alike in dark grey, walked along the path toward the bench. They stopped and one of them respectfully addressed the old woman. "We came as soon as we could. Do you know where they are?" Astonished, Lois and Clark listened and watched as Althea replied. "Yes, they're at the apartment on Clinton Street. They're waiting for Clark to return there." She took a deep breath, afraid to ask. "And my family?" The tallest of the three men smiled at her reassuringly. "Everyone's fine. They're waiting for you. We'll take care of Miranda and Wulf and then come back here." Then they strode quickly back into the depths of the park. "Hey," Lois jumped up, prepared to follow them. Clark was already on his feet. "Clinton Street?" Althea spoke to them both, sharply and firmly. "They know what they're doing. Stay here with me." "Lois will stay with you. I'll be back." Clark's voice was decisive as he turned to run along the path that the three men had taken only to find, a moment later, that they had disappeared. "What the??" Surprised, he stopped for a fraction of a second, then quickly headed for the cover of the dense bushes edging the pathway to make a fast change. A nanosecond later Superman shot upward toward Clinton street and landed on the balcony outside his apartment. Focusing his eyes in a narrow squint, he gave the inside a rapid scan. What he saw surprised him. The "contacts" were already there, handcuffing and disarming two people - a red haired woman and a tall, steroid enhanced man. "Miranda and Wulf," he thought. Clark also noticed another man in the room, dark haired, broad shouldered, and dressed in black, his back to Clark. The contacts seemed to have everything under control. Slipping around to the front entrance, Clark did a quick change and then entered by the front door. This didn't look like a job for Superman. "What's going on here?" he demanded as he stepped down into his living room. "Ah, Mister Kent," one of the contacts spoke. "Sorry to have let this little situation get out of control but everything's fine now. No need for you to be involved. We're just on our way." They walked toward the front door, the dark haired man keeping to the farthest side of the group, away from Clark as though avoiding him. "Wait," Clark called out but there was no response as the group walked past him and out the front door. Clark followed but they kept walking until they reached the corner. Then they disappeared, leaving an astonished and open mouthed Clark Kent standing on the deserted sidewalk, trying to figure out what had happened. * * * Lois muttered to herself as Clark disappeared into the park. It wasn't fair. She hated not being at the scene of the action but, she acknowledged, someone did have to stay here with Althea. Besides, she could pump the woman for information; it was beginning to look like there was a story here after all. Just as she was asking Althea who "the contacts" worked for she was startled by a quick pulsing glow of light that looked to be coming from a spot around the bend in the path. Roughly where the "contacts" had come from. Lois was aware that Althea was watching the path intently and then she felt her relax as a man, limping slightly, his hair white with advanced age, walked toward them. Althea turned to Lois. "Good-bye, Lois. It has been so extraordinary to meet you." Then she walked toward the old man. For some reason, Lois stayed where she was, sensing that she would be interfering in their intimacy, that this was a moment for just the two of them. She watched as they walked toward each other and then take each other's hands. The old man bent his head to touch Althea's forehead and then gently caressed the side of her face with his hand. Lois was too far away to hear what they said. The old woman searched her husband's face to make sure he was all right, relieved to see that the limp he had acquired when a kryptonite bullet had pierced his thigh two days ago seemed less pronounced. Smiling, she lifted her hand and tenderly traced her fingers along his age-creased cheek. "Clark," she said. He took her hand and brought it to his lips. "Someday, Lois, when I ask you to stay put, you will," he teased. "Probably not. Too old to change now." "Where's Jimmy? I expected him to be with you." His voice was disapproving. "He was," Lois defended her favorite grandson, "but he's with the guardians. I expect they're all back in our time by now." "Then let's join them, Lois. Let's go home." Sitting on her bench, the young Lois Lane watched as the old woman slipped her arm through the old man's and walked with him around the curve in the path into the twilight. She was still sitting there, lost in thought, when Clark joined her a few minutes later. "Where's Mrs. Fitzgerald?" "Clark, it was the strangest thing. But I think she's all right. Her husband came for her." She looked at him and he was surprised by the mixture of bewilderment and emotion he saw in her eyes. "Clark, I'm so glad you were able to return her ring to her." "Me too, Lois, me too." He reached out his hand to her. "Shall we go?" "Uh huh." Lois stood up, and in an unconscious imitation of the old woman, she slipped her arm through Clark's. "You know, Clark, " she teased, "I think a little part of you fell in love with that woman." He looked down at her and smiled. "You know, Lois, you might be right." "So what happened at your apartment?" she asked as they walked together along the asphalt path that twisted through the trees toward the street. "You know, Lois, I have no idea." ***** the end ***** ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 19:21:31 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "C.C. Malo" Subject: new fanfic: Strange Visitors, part 1 of 3 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hi, What follows is sort of a practice story . I wanted to see if I could write a *short* story. Feedback is very welcome; it's always helpful. The story is set in S1, just before The Green, Green Glow of Home and has nothing to do with the episode "Strange Visitor". ------------ STRANGE VISITOR by C. Malo [note: words between * * denote emphasis ] The old woman stepped out of the shadows of Metropolis Park and walked as briskly as her ninety year old body would permit toward the intersection on the corner. The slowness of her age had led her to a new appreciation of the order and safety provided by the stoplights that in her youth she had mostly ignored. Jaywalking was for those more adept at dodging oncoming traffic than she now was. And there was such a lot of traffic, even at this early time of day, just before sunrise. More traffic than she remembered, she thought, as she glowered at a passing taxi that ran the light just as she stepped into the crosswalk. Muttering to herself, she stepped back to avoid being hit. She had forgotten that crossing the road was a survival skill in Metropolis. Minutes later, she had reached her destination, pausing to look up at the large globe that surmounted the front entrance of the tall concrete building. As she did, she felt her heart rate increase, an erratic flutter betraying her nervousness. Taking a deep breath, she pushed through the revolving door and stood for a moment in the front lobby before walking over to the elevator which would take her to the newsroom of the Daily Planet. At the top of the steps which lead to the newsroom floor, she stopped to survey her surroundings, to get her bearings in this place where she was a stranger and yet where she felt so at home. For a few seconds she was overwhelmed by nostalgia and a longing for the intensity of her youth when her passions had been so easily aroused and her energy so quickly galvanized. She shook her head and smiled inwardly, amused by the tricks of time. At that early hour in the morning there were only a few people in the newsroom. This did not surprise her. The night staff had always been a skeleton staff; at least it had been since the Planet had stopped publishing two editions a day. In the centre of the maze of desks, a neatly dressed man, not much more than twenty, appeared to be discussing the merits of some photographs with a balding man badly in need of a shave and a more sensible diet. The old woman smiled as she observed them, imagining how the younger man was defending his favorite among those that were spread out on the desk. As if aware that she was watching them, he looked up and caught sight of her, smiling politely as he walked over to the stairs where she was standing. "Hi. What can we do for you?" His voice was gentle, as though he were speaking to a child. Narrowing her eyes, the old woman flashed him a sharp look of disapproval before speaking in a tone that let him know she expected to be taken seriously. "I'm looking for Lois Lane and Clark Kent." She knew, of course, that the two reporters were not part of the night staff, but she had wanted to see the Planet first, before they came. To remember. The young man smiled at her again and spoke patiently. "They're probably still asleep. They'll be in about 8:00 o'clock, so you've got about three hours to wait. Why don't you go home and come back later? Here, why don't you leave a message for them?" Taking her arm, he escorted her toward their desks and with a quick glance at the randomly layered paper on Lois's desk, he turned to Clark's. "Uh, maybe, you'd have a better chance leaving the note on Clark's desk." He picked up a pencil and paper and handed it to her. She reached out to take them but then stopped. "Thank you, but I'll come back later." She turned to leave. "What's your name?" he called after her. "I'll tell them you were here." The woman was quiet for a moment before answering. Then she smiled at him and said in a pleased voice, "Althea Fitzgerald." "Okay, Mrs. Fitzgerald, I'll tell them you were looking for them." Out on the street, Althea Fitzgerald wondered how she was going to kill the three hours before Lois and Clark got to the newsroom. She knew that she had better take it easy; her energy was now a precious resource, to be expended carefully. She was in pretty good shape, but now the qualifier, "for a woman her age" was usually attached whenever anyone applied that description to her. With a start she realized she had no money. Why hadn't she thought about that? She'd flung herself on this mission quickly without thinking much about the details. These days she was becoming so forgetful. Looking around the streets for inspiration, she began to lose her nerve. How am I going to do this, she thought. You have to do this. If you fail, then everything is lost. Turning back, she reentered the Planet and decided to throw herself on the mercy of the neatly dressed young man, whose name turned out to be Jimmy. Five minutes later, she had managed to convince him to let her rest on the sofa in Perry White's office. One minute later, she was fast asleep. * * * Jimmy Olson spotted Clark Kent as he stepped out of the elevator. He was a little early and, for that, Jimmy, who had agreed to work the night shift for a couple of weeks (a learning experience, son, was what Perry had said), was grateful. That meant he wouldn't have to wait around for the two reporters. For some reason, he felt a sense of obligation to the old woman who was now fast asleep on Mr. White's sofa. "C.K., there's someone here to see you, that is, to see you and Lois." He nodded in the direction of the editor-in-chief's office. "She's been here since about 5 this morning." Clark looked over at Perry's office. The blinds on the large window which overlooked the newsroom were open and as far as Clark could tell, without resorting to x-ray vision, the office was empty. "Doesn't look like anyone's there now, Jimmy." "She's out like a light on the chief's couch." Jimmy grinned. "She's pretty old. But don't let her appearance fool you. You wouldn't believe how stubborn she is. I don't know what she wants, but you're probably gonna do it for her." He tapped on the door and then turned the knob. Jimmy's knocking awakened Althea and she sat up with a start, momentarily confused by her surroundings. Where was she? Why was her grandson here? Then she remembered. She swung her legs around so that her feet were touching the floor and then stood up. "Good morning, " she said. "Comfortable couch." She stared at the two young men. "Good morning, again, Mrs. Fitzgerald. This is Clark Kent." My, he's good looking, Althea thought as she looked at the tall, broad shouldered man in front of her. She shook the reporter's hand and met his dark eyes. As soon as her hand touched his, she felt confident again about what she had to do. Clark held her small, slender hand in his large one, puzzled for a moment. He felt somehow that he knew this woman although he was sure that they had never met. He would have remembered her; there was a vitality in her eyes and a dignity in her bearing that transcended age. "Hello, Mrs. Fitzgerald. Jimmy said you wanted to see me." Althea's voice was crisp. "Yes, I must talk to you, Mr. Kent, and I need to Lois Lane as well." "She should be here any minute," Clark said as the door opened but it was Perry White who walked in. "You all comfortable in here?" Perry drawled as he tossed the competition's newspapers on his desk. Clark and Jimmy both flushed slightly at the sarcasm in Perry's tone. Then came the order. "Jimmy. Coffee. Now. And a double sprinkled, honey glazed doughnut." "Yes, sir." Just short of saluting, the kid backed out of the office. Althea felt sorry for Jimmy whom she liked so she fixed her eyes on Perry White with a look of mischief, and decided to play the old age card, the one that said you can get away with being a little bit rude. "That doughnut's not a wise choice, Mr.White." Her voice innocent, she continued, "Not good for people with weight and blood pressure problems." Amused, Clark watched as Perry White blustered for a second, glowering his disapproval at the thin white haired woman in front of him. Clark could see Perry struggling to retrieve the politeness of his southern breeding and then, finally, win. The man stood silent, giving Clark his chance. "Uh, this is Mrs. Fitzgerald, Chief. She's been here for a couple of hours, waiting to see Lois and me. We'll just go over to the conference room until Lois gets here." He took Althea's arm and led her out of Perry's office before the editor had a chance to speak. Halfway to their destination Althea halted in front of Clark as she saw Lois Lane stride to her desk and dump her purse on the corner, beside a straggly plant much in need of water, fertilizer, light, anything that was life giving. Althea sighed as she looked at the young woman, mourning the vitality of her own lost youth. Then Clark Kent was introducing the two women and shepherding them to the Daily Planet cafeteria for some breakfast for which Althea Fitzgerald was grateful. It had been a long time since she'd last eaten. "Why did you want to see us, Mrs. Fitzgerald?" Lois asked after they had placed their trays on a table located in a far corner of the room. She sat down and took a sip of her coffee with the sensual sigh of a person who appreciates good caffeine. Althea took a deep breath and then spoke, knowing that what she was about to say lacked credibility. "I've come to warn you both. There are people who want you dead." "What?" Lois looked at Althea with surprise and then skepticism. "Who? How do you know?" Who was this woman, she wondered. "Two people. One of them is a good looking woman with red hair, about your age. The other is her brother, tall, solidly built. You must be careful of any strangers you encounter today. Beware of anything suspicious." "Mrs. Fitzgerald, we're constantly meeting strangers." Clark's voice was kind. "It's part of the job." "I know that. But you must be careful." She looked directly at Clark. "You're too trusting. You can't trust every one." This was going badly. She kept her gaze on Clark, an appeal in her dark eyes. Then she turned to Lois, touching her arm for a second, and spoke firmly. "Don't let him out of your sight. Don't let him try anything new, and don't leave him alone with any strangers. He's their first target, but if they can't kill him, they'll try to kill you." Her voice was urgent. Lois was touched by the woman's distress but she didn't, for even a moment, believe her. What Mrs. Fitzgerald was saying sounded like today's horoscope, the one Lois never believed but always read. She wondered how old the woman was. Maybe she was suffering from some form of delusion or dementia and had wandered away from her home. She carried no purse and her clothes appeared very casual, a loose blue tunic, belted with a red sash, over dark pants, almost like pyjamas. They should try to get her home. "Who are these people?" Lois was surprised at Clark's question. He was taking this woman seriously! Well that figured. Still the small town boy, still naive about people in the big city. She wondered how long it would take her to train him properly, to give him a harder edge. They didn't have time for this human interest stuff. She tried to give him a warning glare but he was ignoring her, concentrating on Althea Fitzgerald who seemed to fascinate him. "They're evil, Clark." Althea spoke impetuously. "They're master criminals and they want to control the world." "Terrorists, you mean?" "That, and more. And they have weapons you've never seen." "But why would they want to kill Clark and me? Clark's only been in Metropolis a few months." "They know the two of you will try to stop them. So they figure they should get you first." "Uh huh." Lois still did not believe any of this. "Any names? Organizations? Places?" Althea looked at Lois with impatience. God, she was stubborn. "Tell Superman. If they kill you, then they'll kill Superman." Lois looked startled but it was Clark who said, "I don't think so. Superman's invulnerable." "No one's invulnerable, Mr. Kent, even Superman," but as she said this she made up her mind. This wasn't working. Lois didn't take her seriously and Althea had to admit that her story was awfully vague. She stood up. "Thanks for breakfast. I'll be going now." Clark was surprised by her abruptness. She seemed to have given up and he could read the disappointment in the dullness of her eyes. He stood up quickly. "Where can we get in touch with you, Mrs. Fitzgerald?" He, too, had noticed the absence of a purse and, although he had picked up on Lois's skepticism, for some unknown reason he believed Althea. Althea met his eyes steadily, satisfied that, he at least, thought she was telling the truth. "I'm not sure, but I'll be around." She turned and walked away, her posture straight and her step firm. "Clark, you don't buy what she's saying, do you? *Beware the red haired woman.* I mean, really." She rolled her eyes in exasperation at her so- called partner. "Lois, there's something about that woman." He gestured with his right hand, emphasizing the importance he attached to what he was saying. Lois interrupted. "Well, you're right about that. Her keepers are probably looking for her right now." "Lois, that's not fair. She's old, not senile." "I didn't say she was. Anyway, it's blondes, not redheads, that you have to watch out for." Lois was still annoyed at what she felt was his gullibility about Toni Taylor's goals. Why did men always believe that "heart of gold" automatically followed "beautiful blonde"? Not that the mobster's daughter had been that beautiful, Lois thought. Clark grinned at her. "Don't worry, Ms. Lane, I don't get misled easily." Lois slid out from her chair. "Yeah, right." Without looking at him, she strode toward the exit. He followed, aware that they were both being watched by Althea Fitzgerald who had not yet left the cafeteria. "I'll catch up with you later, Lois," he said as his partner entered the elevator. Lois raised her eyes heavenward as she noticed where he was headed and pressed the button to close the elevator door while Clark walked over to where Althea was standing. "Where do you live, Mrs.Fitzgerald? Can I take you home?" "No, no. I, uh, live uptown." She mentioned a street name and then realized her slip. "It's all right." Althea spoke quickly; there was, after all, no place to take her. Concerned, Clark looked at her and spoke softly. "You've forgotten your purse. Can I lend you money for a cab?" As he was speaking, he pulled a twenty out of his wallet and handed it to her. Althea smiled at him as she took the money. "Thanks, Clark. I'll pay you back." But as she left him, she knew that she wouldn't. When she got outside the building, Althea looked at the twenty with curiosity; she'd got so used to not using money that the crisp bill felt odd in her hand. She realized, however, that she was going to need more money than this while she was here. Stuffing it in her pocket, she stood on the curb and raised her hand to hail a cab. "Where to, lady?" the cabbie asked as Althea slid onto the back seat. "Nearest pawn shop. On 33rd." Althea couldn't remember its name but she had been there before. She raised her left hand to look at her wedding band, her eyes misting as she thought of her husband, remembering the wonder of their life together and the love and tenderness in his eyes as he had placed the ring on her finger on that day so long ago. Taking a deep breath to clear her thoughts, she began to make her plan. She had to assume that Morgana and Wulf were already here. They would recognize her if they saw her so she had decided back in the Daily Planet Cafeteria that she had better try to change her appearance, although for someone her age that might be difficult. The white hair had to go. Maybe glasses, the tinted kind. That struck her as funny and she choked back a giggle. Different clothes, grey-beige urban camouflage so she could blend into the background and keep an eye on Lois Lane and Clark Kent unrecognized by anyone. The cab pulled up in front of a seedy looking storefront with a shabby sign: Rick's - Cash for Goods. Althea got out and a few minutes later she was slipping her cherished wedding band from her finger, and with a shaky hand, sliding it across the counter to the pawn broker. He examined it carefully, then weighed it, and made her an offer which she accepted. She had no choice. * * * end, part 1 ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 19:21:49 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "C.C. Malo" Subject: New Fanfic: Strange Visitor, part 2 of 3 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit part 2 * * * "Clark, here's that research you wanted on the transit project." Clark looked up at the pretty, young research assistant who had started work at the Planet a couple of days ago. Her flame red hair caught his attention and, as he stared at it, she smiled at him invitingly. "Anything else I can do for you, Clark?" Her voice was somewhat less efficient than it had been a moment ago. "Not right, now. Thanks, Janine." As she walked away, his eyes followed her, speculatively. Lois glanced across at him. "I know what you're thinking, Clark, and you're wrong. Janine is not an undercover agent for, what was it, oh yeah, a terrorist organization bent on world domination." She exaggerated the last words as she spoke. "She was an intern here last year for a few months and, as it turns out, she's a good friend of Rania's daughter." "Rania?" Clark was still new enough at the Planet that he did not yet know all the people who worked for the paper. "In Accounting. She's the nice woman who is misguided enough to sign your paycheck." Lois paused for a moment to give Clark a knowing look. "*I* know, it's probably Cat. Now I could buy that. Auburn hair, strange behavior. Not much covered up, though." Clark grinned at her. "Nice try, Lois." He got up and walked over to sit on the edge of her desk. "Why would these people be after you and me, Lois? She said I was their prime target but I've never covered a story dealing with terrorists. It doesn't make much sense." "Well, that's because you're right. It *doesn't* make any sense. I don't know why you believe this woman, Clark." She reached for the phone book. "Look, I'll prove it to you." Flipping through the phone book, her finger pointed to a list of about twenty A. Fitzgerald's. "O.K. I'll take the first half and you take the second." She started punching numbers into her phone. Some time later, they'd come up empty. Answering machines had given them first names, none of which was "Althea" and the others had turned out to be dead ends, too. "Doesn't mean anything, Lois. The phone could be listed under her husband's name. She told me she lived on Hyperion." He quickly scanned the rest of the Fitzgeralds but there were none listed on Hyperion. "Maybe the number's unlisted. Lois, I'm going up there to see if I can find her. Coming?" She grinned at him. "Don't think so. Somebody's gotta work on a real story." She waved her hand at him dismissively, but couldn't resist adding. "But I'll beware the *redheaded* woman." * * * From the end of the street, Clark looked along the row of old, limestone townhouses that lined each side of Hyperion, a short cross street which connected two longer thoroughfares. Most of the townhouses were in need of some serious renovation, but their facades were graceful and he found the street appealing. He wondered what it would be like to live here. Maybe he and Lois some day. He dismissed the thought. The house was out of his price range and the lady was out of his reach. An hour of working the street got him no further, however, or maybe it did. He'd found enough people at home to be almost certain that Althea Fitzgerald had lied about her residence. He headed back to the Planet. * * * By the time Clark got back to the Planet, Althea Fitzgerald had taken up unobtrusive residence in the lobby of the Daily Planet, sitting in one of the large vinyl couches that formed a square in the centre of that space. She had bought a couple of magazines, something she greatly missed, and was keeping a careful eye on the elevators and on the main entrance. She spotted Clark Kent when he returned and was pleased when he did not notice her. She was also watching for Morgana and her brother, wondering if they would show up at the Planet and confront Lois and Clark openly or if they would wait until later, when there were few people around. This wouldn't take them long, just a matter of finding Clark and then shooting him. And Lois, too, for good measure. Hit and run. Then they would vanish back to where they'd come from. Clark didn't know about kryptonite yet and so it would be easier to take him by surprise. * * * Althea had been right. Morgana and Wulf had arrived in Metropolis ahead of her, but not by much. Their immediate goal was to find Clark Kent so they had programmed their arrival for Clinton Street. Under the cover of early morning darkness, they had forced entry into his apartment, only to find that he was not there. This did not surprise them all that much; he was probably out on some early morning mission. They could wait. In fact they liked the idea of meeting him here, welcoming him home with the surprise of what would be his short life. It would be easier to wait for him here than chasing him all over a town they did not know. The transporter device they had used to get to Metropolis had a limited energy supply and they could not afford to deplete it tracking Clark Kent, let alone Superman. Too bad the government kept such tight control of these devices. Well, that would change once the family got control. Still, they were disappointed when Superman had not shown up a couple of hours later and realized that he must have gone straight to work from whatever meaningless task he'd been doing. Morgana shrugged her shoulders as her brother tried to convince her to storm the Planet. No one knew they had come here and they could wait. It was important that they succeed. If their father and his associates failed at their end it wouldn't matter as long as she and Wulf could do the job here. And if they could do this quietly, so much the better. It would be more difficult for anyone trying to unravel what had happened. Morgana reclined back on Clark's sofa and reached for the TV control. This place was pretty much of a hovel, she thought. Why did he live like this when he could have anything he wanted? What a waste. * * * Later that afternoon at the Planet, Perry White dropped by Clark Kent's desk. "You know, Clark, I've been thinking about that woman who turned up here this morning. Her name rang a bell but I couldn't connect it with anything. But, just now, it came to me." He beamed at the younger man as though he'd just seen Elvis enter the building. "Althea Fitzgerald was a columnist for the Daily Planet for years. I used to read her when I started taking an interest in journalism, back before I was Jimmy's age." "Did you ever meet her back then, Chief?" "No." Perry's voice held a note of regret. "She'd retired by the time I came to the Planet so I never had that privilege. Would've liked to, though. She was one hell of a writer." His eyes shifted as he scanned the newsroom floor. "Jimmy!" His bellow rose and hovered in the air, triumphing over the buzz of voices and machines. Jimmy was there immediately. "Chief?" "Down to the morgue. Pull up a bio on Althea Fitzgerald and a couple of her columns." "Hey, that's the lady who was here this morning!" Jimmy's eyes widened and his voice rose in surprise as he spoke. "So what're you waiting for, son? Hop to it." "I'll do it, Perry." Clark looked at Lois in surprise. Lois caught his look and stared back at him. "What? I'd liked to know more about her." Clark stood up and smiled at Lois as he spoke. "We'll both do it, Perry." He shifted his eyes to Perry. "Uh, it'll take less time that way." A knowing smile crossed Perry's face. Maybe there was some hope for Kent after all. A little quiet time, alone, might help his cause. Just so long as it wasn't too long; this was the Planet's time. * * * As Clark held the door to the archives open for Lois, he asked, "So, tell me why you volunteered to do this, Lois." "What Perry said made me remember my first journalism course at college. An article written by Althea Fitzgerald, one she won a Pulitzer for, was part of one of our assignments. It was pretty amazing." Lois strode toward the desk, flashed a greeting at Mary Devereaux, keeper of the Planet archives, and then proceeded into the dark recess where back editions of the Planet were stored. Carefully, Clark pulled out a paper dated 1939. On the front page was a story by Althea Fitzgerald, filed from China, describing the horrors that the Chinese were suffering under foreign occupation. Silently, both reporters read the article, Clark standing close to Lois as he read over her shoulder. "Wow," Lois sighed as she finished reading. "Yeah, she's some writer," Clark agreed. "So why is she here now, Clark?" Lois looked at him, her face worried. "Do you think, she's reliving her past? Is that why she came? Maybe she really did live on Hyperion once, but now she's in a home and she's wandered away. Clark, she could be in danger." Clark looked at his partner, touched by the concern he saw there. Every once in a while something happened that got to a part of Lois that was generous and caring, revealing a compassion that contradicted her tough exterior. He had come to know that both realities were part of the complex woman with whom he had fallen in love. Maybe that was why he had fallen in love with her. He put his hand on her shoulder. "Or she might be telling the truth," he said softly. Lois met his eyes, "Clark, why do you believe her?" "I can't explain it, Lois. There's just something about her. I feel as though I know her." Shrugging his shoulders, he looked at Lois helplessly, as puzzled as she was by this feeling he had. "Come on, let's see if Mary has printed that profile on Althea for us. Maybe it'll tell us where she lives now." It did. Althea Fitzgerald had moved to a small residence for retired professional women in 1990. Lois and Clark decided to make a trip across town to talk to her. As they walked out of the archives, Clark teased Lois about getting side tracked on a human interest story. Lois denied it. * * * Althea spotted them as they entered the lobby and followed them outside, onto the street where they were in the process of hailing a cab. Just as a cab pulled up to the curb, she noticed that Clark paused, appearing to listen to something off in the distance. He said something to Lois which Althea could not hear and then, tugging at his tie, he walked quickly away. Oh no, Althea thought, they've split up. By this time she was close enough to the cab to hear Lois call the address of her destination through the open window of the vehicle's front door. Then she hopped into the back seat and they were gone. Althea sighed. She didn't have much money left after her expenses this morning and she figured Lois was safe enough for the time being. Looking across at the welcoming shade of Metropolis Park, Althea crossed the street and wandered to a bench beneath an old oak tree. The spot would give her a good view of the front entrance to the Daily Planet. Things weren't going well. She was tired and she felt all of her ninety years. She was feeling just a little bit sorry for herself. Her mood changed when she felt a light breeze drift across her body and she caught sight of the dark haired young man dressed in red and blue. He stood in front of her, his arms crossed in an attempt to look imposing. "This is a pretty risky thing you've done," he said but his eyes glinted in admiration. "I had no choice. I had just come back to the house when I saw Morgana and Wulf. Somehow they'd got hold of a transporter. So I followed them." She looked at him defiantly. "It was lucky I was there." "*Lucky* I got your message with the coordinates." He leaned forward to touch her wrinkled cheek with the palm of his hand. "You could have waited for me, you know." "*You* know I couldn't. I had no way of knowing if you were alive." Her voice was firm but then faltered as she asked the next question. "Is everything all right?" "I think it just might be. The guardians have got most of the League but Antonio and Shazar are still out there." "And everyone is safe?" Her voice was anxious as she asked the question. "Yeah. Some scrapes and bruises," he smiled reassuringly at her, "but nothing that won't heal." Her smile was radiant as she heard his news but then she sobered. "So now we have to stop Morgana and Wulf. If they succeed here, it doesn't matter that you've stopped them in our time." "We'll stop them. The Kents were always an unbeatable team." He grinned at her. "So where are *Lois* and *Clark* right now?" "Clark's taken off; Superman, I think. And Lois has headed over to 67th and Hamilton." She gave him the complete address. "I haven't seen any sign of Morgana and Wulf at the Planet, but I haven't checked Clinton Street or my old apartment yet." "I'll do that. You stay here." Then he flashed an impudent grin at her. "Think I'll just make sure Lois Lane is safe first." She rolled her eyes at him in disapproval. "I think she's just fine. Don't you try anything funny." "How can I resist?" he laughed. "By the way, nice wig," he said as he shot upward through the leafy canopy of Metropolis Park into the blue, sunlit sky. * * * Superman spotted Lois just as she was coming out of the Senior Professional Women's Residence, a puzzled look on her face. He swooped down and landed in front of her, his arms crossed, looking at her very carefully as though he were inspecting her, and then he grinned. Preoccupied with what she had just learned inside, Lois was startled to see the Man of Steel and not a little unnerved by the mischievous look on his face. If she didn't know better she would call it a smirk, like a boy getting away with something. "Superman, what are you doing?" Her tone caught him off guard. "Uh, nothing. I just wanted to see you." "Oh... Oh." She was pleased. He had never before sought her out for no good reason other than just wanting to see her. There had always been some reason why he had come - to warn her, or thank her, or get her out of trouble. Never just to *see* her. She was pleased; god, she was thrilled! Maybe he did care for her; after all, he had said she would always be special to him. She looked up at him and smiled dreamily. "That's nice." That's lame, she thought to herself. "Uh, I was just on my way back to the Planet." He grinned, as though at some private joke. "Want a lift?" Without waiting for her answer, he swept her up in his arms, and shot upwards, flying toward the newspaper. As they flew, Lois had a chance to look at him a little more closely than she had in awhile. Somehow he seemed different; flying with him seemed different. Maybe it was the blinding glare of the bright summer sun but even the shade of his eyes and the angle of his cheekbones seemed different. She felt uneasy and was glad when the brief flight was over and they landed on the pavement beneath the globe marking the front entrance to the Planet. Bending over, Superman kissed her cheek, and with a soft spoken "Thank you," he left her standing there, watching him become a distant speck as he soared away. What was that all about, Lois wondered. "Strange day," she muttered. She was still standing on the curb, when Clark came up behind her. She saw that he had a dark smudge across his right cheek, and as she automatically stepped closer to wipe it away she noticed he smelled of smoke. "Clark, where've you been? You smell like a barbecue." "Umm." He stood for a moment without replying, a small blissful smile on his face as he submitted to her ministrations, something that he too seldom received. For a moment their eyes met and neither spoke as her fingers lingered longer than necessary against his face. "So," Lois dropped her hand to his chest, then snatched it away and stepped back from him. Why, she wondered, did she find herself lost in him like this, every once in awhile. He was not what she wanted. Was he? "Fire, over on the east side, at 45th and Jefferson. Those old warehouses." In fact, it had been raging out of control until just a couple of minutes ago. Then, seeing that the Metropolis Fire Department no longer needed his help, he'd immediately returned to the Planet to find Lois standing on the curb, staring up into the western sky. * * * Althea watched from her bench across the road as the two reporters entered the building. She gave a quick chuckle as she realized what had just happened. I guess he couldn't resist seeing the young Lois. I hope he was satisfied, she thought wistfully. And I hope he didn't give anything away. We have to get out of here with no one knowing what's happening. These transporters don't come equipped with a memory erase button. Ten minutes later, Superman returned to her side. "Well?" she said dryly. He grinned at her impudently. "You were amazing. Still are," he added as he noticed her frown. Then he continued, his voice serious now. "I checked out both apartments. You were right. They're at Clinton street, waiting for Clark to return from work. We still have a couple of hours so I thought I'd come back here. We have to get them out of here with as little fuss as possible." "I think you'd better get out of that costume." He nodded, disappeared behind a clump of dense yews, and reappeared in black trousers and tee shirt. "Good thing men's fashions don't change much," she said. "I left your note with our transporter coordinates in the same place you left it. If everything's going well back home, then we should have a couple of guardians here this evening. If not..." he stopped speaking and looked at her, his eyes stricken. "If not, then I will have to kill Morgana and Wulf, and you and I can go home." He took her hand in his. She was quiet for a moment, appalled at what he had said. Her husband had always done everything possible to avoid killing and she had joined him in that struggle. It was one of the most important values that they had fought for all their lives. She bowed her head and said nothing. Then she stood up and removed the wig to reveal her white hair. She shook it loose. "That feels so much better. I'll try to keep Clark from going home tonight. You go back to Clinton street and keep an eye on things but be careful!" And with that she headed to the crosswalk that would take her to the Planet. * * * end, part 2 ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 16:25:57 -0700 Reply-To: erink@ida.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin Klingler Subject: Kerth Nominations --coming finalists Comments: cc: lnc list MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi all! Nominations closed as of yesterday, and I thought you'd all be interested to know we had upwards of 80 nominations. A great turnout, IMO. :) I will be posting the final list of nominees to the lists and the websites by the end of the week, if not sooner. I'm sure many of you will be excited to hear that. So watch for those. Thanks to everyone for your enthusiasm and nominations! Erin :) _________________ erink@ida.net ELK on IRC It's Kerth Awards time!! Visit my 1999 Official Kerth Awards Website! http://www.ida.net/users/davek ***** "No one knows how long they've got. Anyway, it's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now, as they happen." _________________ ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 20 Feb 1999 06:17:08 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Joshua Phelps Subject: Re: Good nfics MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >> >>You can find those stories at Anne's site, which is now back up and >running, >>thank God! >> >>http://www.simplyorganized.simplenet.com/annesplace.htm :) >> >>>From there, click on: The best in fanfic. >> >>You'll need to sign up for the password before you'll be able to read >>anything. >> >>Hope this helps, >>Mandy :) >> >>Where do you sign up for this password? I get to the site, but no deal >like on Demi's pops up. > >Thanks, >Rachel ok when you get to the site (it took me a while to figure this one out) you just join the listbot server and within the next day or so you will automatically be emailed the username and password. :c) No prob, Josh ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 20:14:03 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Always keep your bowler on in times of stress and watch out for diabolical masterminds." Subject: Re: Non-Saint Lois (was Re: Saint Clark) << Clark admits his mistake, apologizes for it, and then Lois refuses to forgive him, using the weak excuse that she believes he'll do it to her again [snip] It looked to me like Lois just wanted to punish Clark for hurting her, >> Looking at the scene at the end of WIEAK, perhaps more from Lois's perspective, I was always angry at Clark. At the end of Contact, he decided out of the blue that it was too dangerous for he and Lois to see each other anymore. Not only did he pretty much revoke his proposal of marriage, but it seems he now thinks they shouldn't even date. Then, in WIEAK, he's introduced to the little green-eyed monster (literally & figuratively) and he suddenly changes his mind, expecting Lois to be waiting there patiently for him to change his mind and have her back. I don't know how much time passed between Contact and WIEAK, but if I were Lois, I wouldn't just say "oh, thank you for changing your mind, Clark," and jump back into his arms. I'd pause to think about how Clark had been manipulating their relationship. First he doesn't plan on telling her he was Superman until after he asked her to make a lifelong commitment to him, then he breaks up with her "for her own good." Then, in WIEAK, he bids on her in the charity auction. ("Hm, what was that you said earlier, Clark, we shouldn't see each other? So how come you're bidding on me?") Then he gets jealous and follows Lois and Patrick to the bar where he acts like a big baby while playing darts with Patrick. Finally he decides, "nah, forget what I said about breaking up, I've decided that I don't want that. Now let's get back together like nothing ever happened." << I think I understand what you're saying, but I *do* think Lois was angry and lashed out at Clark. The problem with fighting with the people you know well is that you know *exactly* how to hurt them the most. Lois used that knowledge against Clark. >> I think Lois *did* know how to hurt Clark more than anyone, but I also don't think she was trying to hurt him at the end of WIEAK. I think her emotions were very raw (considering all she'd been through since the beginning of the season, probably a few weeks or a little longer) and she was tired of being jerked around by Clark. << For instance, even after the whole non-wedding/amnesia mess was sorted out, Clark shut Lois out from helping him when he was shrunk in IASWAA. Lois tries to get him to open up to her, to let her help, and he is too ashamed or embarrassed or whatever to allow her to even see him. He seemed to distrust her emotional stability and strength to see him in such a diminutive state (his sarcasm about Mighty Mouse and hiding behind her picture makes that clear). >> This scene is the only positive that might have come out of Lois and Clark not being married in INPY; instead of newlywed-groom Clark telling Lois that he doesn't trust her emotional stability, at least it was inexperienced-dater Clark. I wouldn't want to have been just-married then have my husband decide that he doesn't think I can take it when the chips are down. <> If Clark were to begin to control Lois, he wouldn't be much better than Lex in that respect. I shuddered when Lex said, in HoL, that Lois was just a bit too independent; he'd change that. I doubt Lex fears for Lois's safety (rather, he wants to control her), but Clark should have known that Lois *is* independent. Taking away her independence (either by telling her not to follow potentially dangerous stories or by locking her in a cage) is the same as destroying her. -Christy (tireless defender of Lois Lane- Clark has enough people on his side ;) kubitc@kenyon.edu ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 20:20:08 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Joy N Sowell Subject: Re: Good nfics Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Josh wrote: Josh, It's DEFINITELY worth it!! JOY:) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 20:20:24 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Eugene Ellison Subject: A Tempus Unforgotten MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0008_01BE5EA0.C761B440" This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0008_01BE5EA0.C761B440 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hey everyone! I have a fanfic writing problem. I'm doing a what-if story about "Tempus = Fugitive" where Lois sees the 'CLARK IS SUPERMAN' card instead of Clark = tearing it up and then the plot begins. The problem is, should H.G. come = back and fix it or not? Or should L&C stay the same way again? = = =20 Thanks, Supergirl ------=_NextPart_000_0008_01BE5EA0.C761B440 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Hey everyone!
 
I have a fanfic writing problem. I'm = doing a=20 what-if story about "Tempus Fugitive" where Lois sees the = 'CLARK IS=20 SUPERMAN' card instead of Clark tearing it up and then the plot begins. = The=20 problem is, should H.G. come back and fix it or not? Or should L&C = stay the=20 same way again?
 
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Thanks,=20 Supergirl
------=_NextPart_000_0008_01BE5EA0.C761B440-- ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 20:33:26 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Joy N Sowell Subject: Re: A Tempus Unforgotten Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Supergirl writes: Okay, I know you don't want to hear this, but how about both ways. You know, kind of a "choose your own ending" sort of story. I'm a sucker for Revelation stories myself. It might even be interesting, however unlikely, to see Lois find out and NOT tell Clark This happened in the Dawning series, which I loved BTW. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 20 Feb 1999 07:04:29 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Joshua Phelps Subject: Re: Good nfics MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >Josh wrote: > >Josh, >It's DEFINITELY worth it!! JOY:) > It certainly is!! I have spent the better part of the last 3 days reading these nfics. They are really great! :c) Josh ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 20:47:21 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Joy N Sowell Subject: Re: Good nfics Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii And I felt bad about spending my weekend time reading more than doing. I'm glad I'm not the only one. Nine hours partying, fourty-one hours reading and sleeping, oh well. I guess that's to be expected since I'm not in college anymore. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 21:09:34 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: Re: Touching (was Non-Saint Lois) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/22/99 9:30:49 AM Pacific Standard Time, gremlino@PATHWAY.NET writes: > > Along the same lines (or not--I'm not sure!), does anyone have any insights > into why Lois touched Clark so much during the first & second seasons? > (*Before* they started dating.) She was always touching his arms, his > shoulders, his chest, (rubbing his chest!), patting his back...Why? At > first I thought it was because she had an overwhelming sexual attraction to > Clark (in spite of her denials), but she seemed uncomfortable touching him > in The Phoenix after Clark asked her out, and I noticed also that she put > her hand on Dan's knee just before she dumped him in WWW. > I honestly feel that Lois was just a tactile character... her touching didn't need to be romantic... in fact, once romance was added, it made the touching uncomfortable. She also touches Perry a lot (hugs, touches his arm, ect)... she just touches... that's just her. Clark also touches alot... probably comes from his loving family background. He certainly never objected to Lois touching him, and it never appeared to be derogatory to me. One last comment... pure speculation... I think that Teri and Dean were probably tactile people... it is not uncommon to see them with their arms around fans, and they frequently touch others to convey emotion in interviews. I think it was this tactile nature that gave us the chemistry we enjoyed on L&C... it just naturally spilled over into their characters. There's nothing wrong with touching... especially with close friends... whether they are male or female. It bothers me that it carries such unfavorable connotations. A physician I once worked for... a happily married man... was known for giving his co-workers back rubs when they looked like they were having a hard day... a hug when we were upset... I found it sweet of him. He was eventually brought up on sexual harrassment charges for hugging the wrong person. It was sad, really. Just my thoughts... touching is only harrassment when it is unwelcome... and that was never stated or implied in Lois and Clark. -Crys- ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 21:41:37 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Terry S. Horowit" Subject: Re: lost story In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >Hi > >This Story is the "Baby Scenario" by leslie Cohen(Lisland2) >It can be found on Aol's L&C Short story Bulletin Board at >aol://4344:113.lcrrss.454048.519087304 > >budmayes@aol.com Thank you so much for your quick response!! Terry ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 21:48:40 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sheila Harper Subject: Re: lost story Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >>This Story is the "Baby Scenario" by leslie Cohen(Lisland2) >>It can be found on Aol's L&C Short story Bulletin Board at >>aol://4344:113.lcrrss.454048.519087304 Anyone know what the non-AOL member's address is for this site? Sheila ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 22:43:08 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Lansbury 1 Subject: Re: [Writer's Showcase] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/21/99 11:04:03 PM Eastern Standard Time, dlgray@USA.NET writes: << Hi all, Just went to the Writer's Showcase addy Annie listed in her post and all I got was a message from Simplenet that the site is not there. Hope you aren't having troubles with the server! Debra G. >> Hi Debra, I hope you are no longer having any problems with the URL. If you are please email me privately and I will try to help you get there. Annie :) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 22:08:11 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Peggy Mueller Subject: Re: Touching (was Non-Saint Lois) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Peggy wrote: >does anyone have any insights >into why Lois touched Clark so much during the first & second >seasons? Joy said: > I kind of always thought that it was a sign of friendly affection. Some >people are touchers when it comes to their friends, even if they don't form >those friendships easily. Clark never seemed to mind. LOL! No, he probably didn't mind! ;-) Peggy gremlino@pathway.net ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 22:32:40 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Peggy Mueller Subject: Re: Non-Saint Lois (was Re: Saint Clark) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >Peggy said, in a previous post: >(does she really think Clark is so dumb >that he can't learn from his mistakes?)" > EJVANCE@PRODIGY.NET said: >Well, actually Peggy (and others), I have to disagree on this point and go >with Lois on this one (as Martha said:). Throughout the series, Clark >struggled mightily to learn from his mistakes, but seemed to find it almost >TOO difficult, again and again, to allow Lois to be an equal partner to him >in their relationship struggles --snip-- So, >Lois would have been at least partly correct if she thought that Clark was >not going to learn from his mistakes--because he seemed to make that one a >lot! For instance, even after the whole non-wedding/amnesia mess was sorted >out, Clark shut Lois out from helping him when he was shrunk in IASWAA. --snip-- You make a great case for showing that Clark didn't learn from that particular mistake that he'd made, but these events happened *after* WIEAK--Lois couldn't have known in advance how Clark would react in later situations. Even in WIEAK, Clark has extreme difficulty letting Lois fend for >herself, or decide things for herself, even though keeping her safe from >Superman's enemies had been his original intention for breaking up with her >in Contact. So, clearly his misplaced sense of chivalry backfired on him >there. Also, in a less blatant instance, in SuperMann, Clark is reluctant >to let Lois go after the Nazis, instead instructing her to "stay here (at >STAR LABS)", to be interpreted as "where it is safe", until he could get >back from the sun. Again, this is *after* WIEAK. >I think Lois's feeling that he is not >respecting her equal footing in their relationship is at least partially >well-founded at that point Good point, but IMHO, rather than rejecting Clark and their whole relationship, Lois should have discussed his attitude, and tried to work things out with him. Okay, I know she was hurt, but that just reinforces my belief that she wanted to hurt Clark in return. I just wished she wouldn't be so hard on him, if not for their sakes, then at least to stop me from screaming and throwing things at the television set. ;-) Peggy gremlino@pathway.net ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 23:26:01 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: FoLC Lore Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" As I was working on my S6 episode, I came up with another piece of FoLC Lore ... A number of fanfics note that the Smallville newspaper published Clark's travelogs while he was overseas, and thus was one of his first breaks into the business. Kathy (guilty as charged ) ______________________ Kathy Brown kathyb@springnet1.com KathyB on IRC ______________________ ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 01:43:14 -0500 Reply-To: nsa105@psu.edu Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nethra Ankam Subject: Re: FoLC Lore MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I thought of another one. The Nigerian princess Clark learned dancing >from is usually a small girl of 8 or 9. Nethra ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 11:40:03 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Celia Carvalho Subject: Touching Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Isn't it funny how some things start? I don't remember who started this anymore, but it's been very interesting reading all about it...! I don't think that touching *has* got to be immediately linked to sexual harrassment. Not even at your workplace, if your co-workers are your friends and you are close to them. Sometimes I regret *not* being more of a touching person myself. From what I know, I think Dean and Teri are people who like to touch other people and L&C are like that, too. Their working environment is also informal and that makes it easier for people to be themselves. I work in a place like that and that's one of the reasons why I like to work here so much. When I'm stressing and tired, I have some male (and female, too) co-workers who come and rub my shoulders. I don't think that I'm being sexually harrassed when they do it. And we have the habit to greet in the morning with two kisses on the cheek. But that's how Portuguese people are...! We are always kissing at every opportunity we get...! I know that this isn't a habit or usual in other countries and especially not at work. Of course that things change when we find out that someone is romantically interested. And I think that's what happened to Lois when Clark first asked her out. Up until then she had touched him like she could have touched any other of her close friends. I always think about that time when she tried to cheer him up after his apartment was robbed and his globe was missing. She *tried* to rub his shoulders and she said something like, "God, you're so tense, like iron!" and he answered, "Steel". I don't think Lois would do this if she thought about Clark as something more than a friend. Also when Clark said good-morning to her and she was so worried about the way she looked, what she said and even about her coffee-breath. Before Clark asked her out, she even had crashed at his apartment on occasion and she never minded about these things. All of this to say that I think both characters acted normally in the show, before and after getting married. As for Cat Grant... well, she was different. But I liked her because I think she added some funny situations to the show. I especially loved the way she introduced herself to Clark in the Pilot episode and he repeated her name twice, with that dazzling gorgeous smile of his...! Gotta go now. Thanks for the incredible posts, everybody. Celia CARVALHO@LEXMARK.COM ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 12:18:17 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: Fanzine - Donating In-Reply-To: <9c9cd8f.36d1f2d1@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Mon, 22 Feb 1999 19:14:09 EST "Eileen F. Ray" wrote: > The FOLC in question lives in Europe and a donation account has already been > set up for her there by some of the German FOLCs (Hi Nicky :)). That should > make things easier for you and other Euro-FOLCS, particularly since you are > moving towards a unified currency and banking system. Yeah... but the UK is not, as yet, joining. However, perhaps the way to do it would be for any UK FOLCs interested to collect donations together in Sterling, and then transfer it, by whatever means is cheapest, to the German account, via Nicky. We'd have to work out a donation which would incorporate an element for an exchange rate. Jenni, and any other UK FOLCs interested, could we discuss via private email how we'd want to do this? Does anyone want to volunteer to act as the temporary 'banker'? Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 05:08:27 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Subject: Re: FoLC Lore In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 11:26 PM 2/22/1999 -0600, you wrote: >As I was working on my S6 episode, I came up with another piece of FoLC >Lore ... > >A number of fanfics note that the Smallville newspaper published Clark's >travelogs while he was overseas, and thus was one of his first breaks into >the business. > >Kathy (guilty as charged ) Ditto :) Debby Debby@swcp.com who has even written a resume for CK for her story in progress :) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 06:19:00 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Anne Simmonds Subject: Re: A Tempus Unforgotten Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain Supergirl wrote: >I have a fanfic writing problem. I'm doing a what-if story about "Tempus Fugitive" where Lois sees the 'CLARK IS SUPERMAN' card instead of Clark tearing it up and then the plot begins. The problem is, should H.G. come back and fix it or not? Or should L&C stay the same way again? I think it should be alittle of both. Let Clark sweat it out awhile and then give him the idea of contacting H.G. Wells to fix it. But that is just IMHO. Thanks for listening!! Annobelle ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 10:56:43 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Peggy Mueller Subject: Re: Non-Saint Lois (was Re: Saint Clark) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ann said: >...remembered that she was very petty and childish in Wall of Sound when Clark >got nominated for the Kerth Award and she didn't. > Yes; I've always felt that this is the episode where Lois really starts to respect Clark and treat him as an equal. Peggy :-) gremlino@pathway.net ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 11:10:30 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Peggy Mueller Subject: Re: Back to Non-Saint Lois ;) (was Re: Touching) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >At 12:31 PM -0500 2/22/99, Peggy Mueller wrote: > >>Throughout the first season, even when Lois isn't saying anything >>specifically mean, her attitude toward Clark is arrogant and patronizing, >>and she always seems to be putting him down by comparing him unfavorably to >>Superman, or belittling him because of his rural background. > Kathy wrote: >It's very easy to give generalities without backing them up. Can you give >specific scenes/episodes/discussions to support your statement? > --snip-- >There are 22 hours of show in the first season, but by hour 9 or so, Lois >is acting tender towards Clark and considers him a good friend. This is >just over 1/3 of the way through the first season. So, how do substantiate >your statement that "throughout the first season" Lois is mean to Clark? > >As I said, I can't remember her being unjustifiably insulting to him past >the first 3-5 episodes. (One could argue that her outburst at him during >IGACOY (#6) was justified.) Can you give me scenes to support your >disagreement? > To reiterate, I said that Lois's attitude was arrogant and patronizing, even when she wasn't being out right mean. First, I'm going somewhat on body language--the way Lois sometimes strides ahead of Clark as if she doesn't know or care whether he's following her (I'm not too sure how long this lasts, though, it may have been only in the first few episodes.) I'm also going by her sarcastic tone of voice that seemed to be patronizing toward Clark or disparaging or challenging the things he says. Her attitude towards Clark Kent (posture, body language, and tone of voice), was quite different from her attitude toward Superman, and since Clark was both men, I'm sure he felt the difference keenly. Now for an episode by episode rundown...tada! 5. RFASH: When Perry tells Lois he's partnering her with Clark, she says that Clark is "...not that exciting." When Clark tells her it can't be that bad, she says "It'll be that bad...it'll be worse." 6. IGACOY: At the end of the episode, Lois tells Clark that *Superman* wouldn't have taken over the story. (I don't know which of Lois's outbursts you're referring to here, but I sided with Clark in getting Lois out of the club--her cover was blown--bigtime!) 7. SK: I didn't like the offhanded way Lois gestured to Clark to pick up the tab after their ride in the taxi. She acted like he was a lackey or something. Maybe this was just bad manners on her part, but usually polite people discuss this kind of thing first. 9. MOSB: Lois rushes to Clark's apartment when Superman is staying with him. She says she wants to see that "you guys get a decent meal." Huh??? Lois preparing a meal? How many times has she prepared a meal for Clark? It looks to me like she came to Clark's apartment because she wanted to see the big celebrity with godlike super powers who happened to be staying with Clark, and I'm guessing that Clark saw it the same way. (And yes, you're right, she did soften toward Clark after he left the Daily Planet and she began to realize how much she missed him.) 10. PML: After the pheromone compound wears off, Lois leaves Clark's apartment and tells him (with unnecessary sharpness I thought, especially considering his gentlema