First of all, my apologies for being so late with my reply! I can't believe it took me nearly a week to get here.
So.
Ok.
I’m going to try to do your comments justice. I really am. Though I’m still a bit tongue-tied and overwhelmed, in the nicest possible way.
The response to this story was so far above what I expected. I am deeply grateful and... some other things I just can’t think how to say.
With that jumbled opening in mind, here we go. With no rhyme or reason whatsoever, just so you know:
One question about Hank, by the way: how come he knew that Clark should have been wearing the Superman suit?
I don’t think Hank was there at EPRAD when Superman and Lois were met by Tempus and all the trouble started. But the fact that they were taken at Superman’s debut would be something Hank, maybe back at the office while this went on, would know. Therefore he would know Clark would need to go back in the same guise, since they were headed back to the same time, more or less.
But you’ve a sharp eye, Wendy. I like that.
Yet... given your little reminder of that scene from WTWFO, I can't help thinking that the memory-wipe wasn't complete. That the memories, or at least faint traces of them, are there somehow. They may never return entirely, but subconsciously they'll both be aware of certain things.
And this has been picked up and remarked on elsewhere. I think it was Chris who said ‘the subconscious mind never forgets.’ Which is exactly what I was going for. The idea that even if they never remember in a conscious way, what they shared is all still *there* somehow. Harkening back to Lois telling Superman in... um... some episode... “Something about you always made sense to me.” I’d like to think that the events of IABP are that ‘something.’ Faint traces remain, then. Enough that Clark, in WtWFO, really does, although rather half-heartedly, try to talk Lois out of going to Perry White’s party. (I wrote IABP and WtWFO as bookends to the entire series, if that makes sense.)
I was amused, for a different reason entirely, by this:
quote:
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“You’ll be ok?” Lois asked. “All of you? And Tempus...?”
“We’ll be great. Better than ever,” Madge assured her robustly.
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I'm assuming that Madge didn't intend to make it sound like her relationship with Tempus...
LOL!! And oh my goodness. They was *clearly* a Freudian slip on Madge’s part. Not that sweet Fredrick isn’t the owner of her heart and loyalties, just... you know, she’s not dead.
And you know what? I don't even care that I'm literally quoting line by line for the most part. I. Don't. Care.
Special and most heartfelt thank yous to Sara for quoting me line for line! You know how you write certain lines and certain paras that are your treasures, and you hope to have them noticed? If you missed any, Sara, I can’t think what they were! So... thank you, because I know that was a real labor of love, which is such a great compliment.
Speaking of great compliments:
It's at this point that I'd like to declare CC the queen of the fandom. It doesn't have to be forever, since that wouldn't be entirely fair, but at least for a good month or so.
Yes! Thank you! I’ll take it. And it goes without saying I won’t wear the crown any longer than you want me to. How about a week? So, if we count that from when I posted the final part, that just means until tomorrow. I can be really happy with that, though.
Could they both be soulmates? Maybe ... maybe ... it split up a bit, as the generations continued? And they each got part? Please?
Oh, KathyB. Funny, so funny, you should mention that. Big, juicy can of worms and I haven’t decided if I’ll spill....
I think yes. I’ll spill. Let’s face it, I’m always reluctant, but once I start, I enjoy spilling!<g>
For those who can stomach discourses on soulmates and their possible incarnations (this lets out Wendy and Chris), I’ll tackle this in a separate post. Also, for those of you who are Silas/Petal shippers... and thank you, I love them too, I really do... um... maybe you should stay at the bar with Wendy and Chris?? I’m just saying...
Wow. I just spent all day reading all 18 parts. You know I'm going to have to dock you my pay, CC?
Holy cow, Karen! I do owe you money! Also, for this:
Which is definitely the sequel title we’ve been looking for!
Or. Ok. I’m not promising, since I’m unplugging my brain for the summer. Still, you know how it is once you get a good title...<sigh>
Yesterday, in preparation for today's "The End" instalment, I reread the first 17 parts. What amazed me is how tightly written this story is. Right from instalment one when Tempus mentioned something about (sorry, I'm too lazy to find the quote) Lois's diary saying they flew to the Planet early in the morning and not at night, did it dawn on me that you had every detailed planned out. Wow!
Thank you, Gerry. There is no nicer compliment. And Irene said something about there not being a spare word, and I loved that, too. Your remarks in the thread about Superman’s first appearance were wonderful in giving me a doorway into that first scene, and I so appreciate it!
And while I’m reveling in my awesomeness. (And remember, I’m only Queen until tomorrow, so don’t worry about the ballooning ego, I'll turn back into a pumpkin at midnight.)
This is definitely on top of my list of all time favourite L&C fics.
Thank you, Tricia. That means so much to me!
but there was a little niggle hanging around in the back of my head that said that somehow, Lois would have to try to find a way to change Utopia. Turns out she didn't need to do anything, the people of Utopia did it all by themselves. Change from the inside. It's beautiful.
And thank you for that, Helga! Just exactly what I hoped to bring across.
Sticky things:
I do, however, wonder about the whole not-being-able-to-track-Lois-and-Clark-in-the-present-because-their-souls-are-already-there thing. How can they be tracked in the past, when there are previous incarnations of their souls? Or can they not be tracked whenever there are living incarnations?
I know, I know. I'm worrying about this way too much.
Actually, Chris, I see exactly what you’re saying. And I worded that paragraph with Madge’s musings on this very carefully. It’s a tippy-toeing-through-the-potential-mine-field sort of wording for just this reason.
Does a soul have a fingerprint? (For lack of a better term.) Would all those different incarnations look exactly the same on the monitor? I couldn’t decide, but I’m guessing yes. Therefore, I figured the Peacekeepers would have to have ‘tagged’ all the incarnations of Lois and Clark, so as not to go chasing after one of those- who really would be in their right time and place- by mistake. Which I can imagine them doing too well.
So, given that the soultracer would have those souls and their locations programmed into it, that leaves Utopia’s current soulmates, which, I think Pam might have mentioned, for privacy sake, are known only to Madge.
I hope that makes a kind of sense. I did try to apply a sort of logic to the entirely illogical.
Uh, aren't they Lois and Clark's descendants?
Duh! And yes!!
This is the point at which I plead a severe case of ‘rambling gloop’ (a technical writer’s term taught to me by Auntie Y.), in which I had looked at the final part so many times, it was pure gibberish. Thank you for the catch!
Is it my imagination? Or am I taking forever here? Sorry! Picking up the pace...
I was SO thrilled when Lois commented that while the idea behind Utopia might have been made in good faith and for the right reasons (at the time), that the reality of the lies and secrets only opened the entire society and the Lane-Kent family to danger, heartbreak, and kept them from living full, informed lives with all the wonderful and terrible choices that brings.
This is from Vicki. (Thank you, Vicki, for every one of your comments. Such a gift to me.) Love this because it sums that whole idea up so perfectly.
And speaking of readers summing up ideas perfectly:
I think their making love - as it's so commonly illustrated time and time again in fic - is the true melding of their souls, so to speak. An experience that leaves them fully connected, one heart as opposed to two seperate. So because of that, even after their memories are wiped, they're still connected. This ties in wonderfully with the idea that Lois and Clark each remember something that's just out of thier grasp. I'd like to think that feeling stays with them throughout the series. All those little moments when Lois catches herself looking at Clark or feeling something she's not really expecting of herself. And perhaps even those little moments where Lois *almost* thinks Clark might be someone more than who he pretends to be.
Heavy sigh, Sara. Thank you for that!
And really interesting, too. Whereas I saw this as the eternal tying of two souls forevermore, Tank summed it up thusly:
a little bedsheet samba. Heh.
He’s off the hook for that, though, because this:
What a piece of crappola this story was.
just killed! LOL!!
Also, since I seriously doubt I could get Tank to accept the love scene for what I intended it to be, I'm willing to work him a trade. A toss-away line or two from Lois, something that has her appreciating the shorter-haired version of herself.
However, as much as I loved IABP, there were a few other places you might want to look at. The scene with Lois, Clark, and Silas in his office dragged a little (the only place I noticed that the pacing was less than excellent). IIRC, it was during one of the multiple distractions or interruptions that kept Silas from finding out that L&C were the original L&C.
You’ve put your finger right on what I worried was the weakest part of this story, Sheila. And what I was doing my best to wrestle with.
When Silas, Lois, and Clark enter his office, they are going to cover *a lot* of ground in one night, in what is essentially one loooong conversation. Since this entire adventure occurs in four days and this is the end of the third day, there is so much that has to be said before they head out at sunrise and off to the bakery.
To avoid leaving just that impression- three characters sitting around talking for page after page- I cut to different characters who were *doing.*
So in one small room in Utopia, all of this information is being imparted, and outside that room Utopia’s Peacekeepers are running themselves in circles trying to fix things.
Pacing was a real challenge. And this is part of the reason is takes me months to move a story from the boards and to the archive. It takes me awhile to live with it as a whole, see what needs revisiting.
A few of Madge's explanations struck me as off. For example, when she said that L&C couldn't be tracked in the present because Utopia wasn't wired for it, I came to a screeching mental halt, trying to imagine how the Utopians had managed to wire every location in the world in all of history.
Paul really answered this just right. It wasn’t meant literally. But Utopia is the lighthouse, and the Peacekeeper are keeping watch from within it. They don’t turn and look at what’s inside the lighthouse, but rather their focus is always turned outwards- over the reaches of time and space. Something Tempus exploited to his advantage.
Ok. Nearly there! I promise!
The last thing: Sheila’s question as to why she was wrong when she guessed early on that Silas might be an incarnation of Clark. My reply to her at the time was that she was close to mark, but not dead on.
I was working under the assumption that different incarnations of Clark would work like alt-Clark: that Silas couldn't help but be attracted to a Lois, even if she wasn't his incarnation of Lois--at least until he had met his own soulmate.
This, along with KathyB's comment, falls neatly under SoulMates: Stammering Explanations and Sherry Warned Me I Should Have Been More Specific, part II of the Never Ending Comments.
(Which I'll try to get to soon if anyone is still interested. Or... actually, I'll do it even if you aren't
)
But to boil it down to its essence: Sheila busted me. But good. And I couldn't help but smile at the irony, even as I cringed. Before I posted the final part, and after I'd smugly said that I knew who the soulmates were, but like Madge I wasn't going to tell, I scrolled through all my previous comments to be sure I hadn't tipped my hand.
I saw the very one Sheila referenced. Saw it and had a moment in which I was sorely tempted to hop back into the timestream and correct my mistake-- edit it away or tweak it to make it less obvious. However, she caught me fair and square!
My apologies for how long reply this was!
And thank you to all readers for sticking with me- not just through this rambling, free flow response, but through the previous eighteen parts- and for being such a pleasure to write for.
This has been so much fun.
Thank you 
CC
