Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: Fictitious Persons (34/53): Paper Tigers

If you need to catch up on earlier chapters, or re-read them, there's a complete TOC being maintained by Mike M and LabRat. Chapter 35 will be posted Friday.

So, what do you think of this chapter?

I congratulate Debbie on getting the tone of the world today pretty much pitch perfect. The only a couple of things that seem to ring untrue and those are only because she has chosen not to make the story one completely about conflict. One is the administration and their desire to help Kara and her family without anything in return. I guess the President having daughters of similar age and hence understanding a bit of what Kara and her family could be going through helps. The only dissenting view has been from the President's Chief of Staff early on. The second is the total lack of fear of Munroe and his cronies. Today's world seems to be afraid of everything but they seem to have no fear of a super powered 11 year old girl. It blows my mind that they think they could make Kara do whatever they want. Have they not been watching what she is capable of doing? I mean do they really want a pissed off 11 year old super powered girl mad at them? Munroe and his cronies seem to believe that Kara will do whatever they tell her to do. A rational approach (did I actually say that?) would be to keep her very happy and content and maybe she will not include you on her enemies list...

Following along with the story I guess the next step would be to find another country that would host Emily, Caitlin, and Kara and not subject them to this nonsense. The folks in the State Department could probably conjure up something like that pretty easily. However sometime soon Lois and Clark should be getting back into the story in order to wrap it by Chapter 53 and that would change the entire situation for Munroe and his supporters. Hey I am still holding out for Lois barbecuing Munroe

Mike

That's just lower than low. Attacking a woman who is trying to help out her younger sister AND a visiting child from another dimension is the lowest form of scum. Munroe's an idiot if he thinks he'll ever be able to control Kara by blackmail. Good thing they've got friends on their side to help them sidestep these landmines.

The president has taken the right move. DO NOT ANGER SUPERGIRL'S PARENTS. He's being diplomatic and polite and in a way is very hand's off. I'm sure there has been debate within his camp about what to do, but they've wisely not made it known to Kara or her foster family. Better safe than sorry. Munroe is going to end up being sorry.

I wouldn't be surprised if Monroe starts bringing forward couples who will claim that Kara is their daughter next. Since they already think she's delusional, do they think they'll be able to brainwash her into thinking she's got some weird form of amnesia? I'm surprised that the support of SMPA is growing, but people are power-hungry fools.

Is Monroe trying to get Kara to stop helping people all together? (sarcasm) Because dealing with that man is definitely going to make her lose her compassion. If he keeps up attacking her and her family, she'll soon lose her temper. As I said, THEN Monroe will be sorry.

Delightful part.


I really hope that the Aunt gets custody of Caitlin.

At that point I would love to see Kara over react confront Monroe, and when he starts yelling at her and tries to hit her, pick him up, fly to a empty island and leave him there.

Wow, thanks for the comments, everyone! So, all charter members of the Congressman Gerald Munroe fan club? As in, wanting to throw him into a rotating fan?

My view is that Congressman Munroe and his colleagues aren't fearless, just addicted to motivated reasoning. They ignore any facts that don't fit the way they want the world to be. There are plenty of politicians like that, sadly.

Also, I don't think Munroe is the ringleader of this particular movement, just its spokesman. It's even possible the instigator is someone in the President's own party, using an opposition Congressman as the public face to avoid conflict with the party leadership.

I think part of their approach also has to do with the comment IolantheAlias made for Chapter 30:
Maybe these people are used to ordering their own daughters around and can't imagine Kara won't do whatever they tell her to.

What they're doing to Emily and Caitlin is pretty horrible, but these are powerful people who are used to getting what they want, and dressing that up as "the public interest." As they see it, Kara's relationship with Emily is getting in their way.

President Hunter isn't being nice to Kara (purely) out of the goodness of his heart. He talked about it back in Chapter 20, and there'll be more next time. He's just taking the "catch more flies with honey than with vinegar" approach.

I'm really happy to see comments like this… I wanted the political aspects to be believable, to make it seem more like "our world." I will think over what everyone has said. Thank you!

Not to pick nits here because I really love the story but...

Maybe a slight continuity break in this chapter. Have the folks in this dimension seen Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman? The reason I ask is that everyone is dismissing Lois as a non-participating entity when they talk of her parents looking for her and their wanting to do what her parents would want. Kevin also mentions just about every other source of Superman material BUT L&C. Every time someone mentions Kara's parents and their potential response to what is happening to Kara they mention not wanting the wrath of Superman, Kara keeps telling them that HE isn't the one they need to fear but no one seems to pick up on that aspect of her statement .

The reason I bring this up is when the State Department comes up with the diplomatic dodge of the daughter of a former head of a foreign state they refer to Lord Kal-El of New Krypton which while New Krypton was shown in a number of comics as far as I know Kal-El was only Lord over New Krypton in the New Krypton arc of the Lois and Clark and in a bunch of fan fiction of course...

No big deal as it is a great plot device to stymie Munroe and his cronies but I had been wondering if I had missed a New Krypton arc where Clark is put in charge of New Krypton in comics somewhere but did a bit of searching and could not find one. I may have just missed it as there are a bunch of source material out there for Superman and there may have been a graphic novel on the subject that I could not find.

Did I miss something? If I did someone will correct me I am sure...

Mike

There was a NK arc in the 2005-2007 timeframe where Kal-El "renounced" his connections to Earth and became part of the military force. With that said, the Kryptons were more democratic than the LnC Kryptonians.

See I told you someone would correct me .

I had quit reading the comics by then. Did he take the title Lord Kal-El like in the NK arc in L&C, that part was not clear in your comment as you stated he became part of the military force. When I googled New Krypton and Lord Kal-El the only reference I came up with was the Lois and Clark references in the NK arc.

Again no real problems as I like the way Debbie used that to stymie Munroe and his crowd.

Thanks

Mike

I got the impression that this world has all the Superman stuff that we do except for L&C. L&C certainly doesn't have the monopoly on strong-willed Loises, though. That's been an integral part of her character since Action Comics #1. I figure they're dismissing Lois because she's not the one with the super powers. Most people would probably find an angry Superman more formidable than an angry Lois. Kara isn't flying around with a big "Lane" symbol on her chest, either. She's much more readily identifiable with Superman than with her mother.

The State Department is basing their claim, though, on what Kara has told them. It happened off-camera, but they mention that Kara has told the government people about Superman's history in her world, including Superman's status on New Krypton.

I have to keep reminding myself that this isn't NECESSARILY our universe, just one closer to us than Kara's is.

I keep wondering (and fearing) why Tempus said something negative about the universe he stranded Kara in. Is it because her home universe is more idealistic and he hopes the cynicism will rub off and prevent utopia being created?

Munroe shouldn't worry about Clark changing into the suit and Superman using his powers, he should worry about Clark not changing into the suit and instead using his powers as a reporter on the much feared team of Lane and Kent, who will find out all your misdeeds, publish them and win a Pulitzer while doing it. (I wonder where you keep a Pulitzer you won in another dimension? In a hidden trophy case?)

I'm rather relieved something bad has started to happen. I knew something bad was going to happen, I imagined a whole bunch of them, but the worst case scenario was ALL of them happening. Once a particular one starts I can relax a little.

So far the jostling over Kara has been confined to legal matters, paperwork, etc. I'm glad that it hasn't gotten into shooting yet.... but will that come eventually? You've got me wondering.

There's been a regular theme in popular culture that Lois is just a damsel in distress (because she is without superpowers in a world where superpowers are required in some cases) and strictly his love interest. It's something DC claims it's trying to step away from but have in the process sidelined a lot of her more positive characterization in the new52. I suspect everyone is going on the assumption that Lois isn't her own force of nature (or at least only one person in a sea of many with the same powers and thus less likely to change opinions.) The thing they're forgetting? The "woman that launched a thousand ships" idea is not just limited to beauty and desire.