Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: The Nun's Tale (Canterbury Tales of Metropolis)

Comments? My first fanfic.

I loved the story. As I read it I wondered when in the L&C timeline it occurred. Obviously not real early as Lois would never get in Superman's face because she was so smitten by him and put him up on the high pedestal. Maybe early in season 3 after she knew he was just Clark and was still a bit annoyed with him for deceiving her for so long (Contact/When Irish Eyes are Killing/Just Say Noah timeframe).

Anyway a great way to start!

Thanks

Mike

Thank you Mike for your comment. I'm delighted you loved it!

It takes place in Just Say Noah. The background is Lois was angry because Clark broke up with her "for her own good" and didn't discuss it with her first. And the nun in the show was played by Dean Cain's mother.

What a phenomenal debut. I am impressed. I hope that this proves to be but the first of many fanfics we'll see from you.

My favourite line was: So true!

I loved how Mother Mary Frances was just like Clark with her own secret identity so that she can escape from the idolization and just be herself.

Joy,
Lynn

Love it! And the principal of my elementary school was named Sister Mary Frances.

Yea! Another tale! I immediately recognized the setting and the character, and the ridiculous spat that Lois and Superman were having in front of so many people, as if no one would overhear them. Making this nun a witness to the bus incident from the pilot was a great twist and perfect for the challenge. It makes sense that people who have lived in Metropolis for years would run into Superman on multiple occasions and be able to connect pieces of information that reveal his secret. Her connection to Lois was also amusing. Great job for a new author!

You've been holding back on us, cuidadora, if THIS is your first story! (Be sure to submit it to LabRat at the Archives to automatically qualify for Best New Author at next year's Kerth Awards.)

This story is excellent on many levels. First off, I love the parallels between Mother Mary Frances and Superman.
How, although she loves being Mother Superior, how exhausting other people's expectations were. How she likes to step off the high pedestal of being a Mother Superior just to be a regular Sister. How she likes to unwind with a cup of tea. How she likes to blend into the crowd, just like another person we know. What a wonderful analogy.

I also like that she knew Lois from before and saw the connection between her and Superman. Sadly, here, she saw Lois as continuing to be stubborn and wrong, instead of Superman having been in the wrong. Then again, as Lois says in that scene, nobody ever sees him in that light. He's a "National Treasure". How could Lois compete with that?

I just feel for Lois. Knowing that she was begging for the 100, only so she could please her father, not herself, and Mary Frances never saw that. It shows us another light on that horrible day in Lois's past and also, how she's once more suffering now due to another man's pig-headness. She thought that Clark wouldn't hurt her as all the other men in her life had, and at the first opportunity he breaks up with her due to due to no fault of her own (except going where she shouldn't and getting hurt). Thankfully, Lois doesn't recognize Sister Mary or the pain Clark's inflicted upon her might double.

Well, I'm glad she's willing to help Clark. And she does make his life feel more special by calling him a "National Treasure" even if Lois isn't feeling that way about him at the moment.

Sadly, I believe Lois missed that message. Perhaps her words started Lois on the path that finally leads her to forgiving Clark.

Again, you end with the parallels to Clark's life. Love it!

I, too, had forgotten which episode featured the nun. I could recall the scene and the accident, but not what the nun said. I had to go back to the JSN script and double check. It definitely was silly.

Fun story, cuidadora. I hope you'll share more with us.

Lynn S.M.:
Thank you.

Yes, and sad for Lois.

I wanted to show how sometimes ordinary people also need to escape the fishbowl they live in.

*****

Annie B.:


What a delightful coincidence! I love it! I'm delighted you loved the story. Thanks!

*****
groobie:


I agree it was a ridiculous place to have an argument. Bystanders, first responders, reporters all potentially were there ready to collect tidbits from their spat.


It made sense to me, too. I also thought Mary Frances seeing Clark stopping the bus and Superman having an argument/spat/discussion with Lois showed both Clark doing something super and Superman doing something not super.

Glad you enjoyed my story. It's thanks to you and VirginiaR creating this challenge that this story exists.

VirginiaR:

Yes, it really is my first fanfiction. I've written brief stories as part of blog posts, but never fanfiction. And I will submit it to the Archives.

And thank you for creating this challenge with groobie.



Once I started, I kept finding more parallels.


I totally agree with you. I decided to stay as consistent as possible to the dialogue in the episode, and the nun fulfilling what Lois predicted.


Yes, I agree. I thought it would be consistent with Lois's character that she would not confess her father's words to Mary Frances. And Sister Mary Frances may have been inexperienced as a teacher at this point, and not aware of or sympathetic to Lois's pain.

In the episode Martha and Jonathan side with Lois over this argument. I don't recall anyone ever telling her that though, and wish Martha or Clark had - to help ease Lois's pain.

Yes, Lois was in enough pain without recognizing Sister Mary Frances.


I thought Lois missed the message too, and hope it at least subconsciously helped her to forgive Clark.

And I also couldn't recall which episode this was. Thank goodness for the online scripts. I was able to look through the list of characters in each episode to find the right one.

Thanks for your comments.

For your first effort this was light an enjoyable to read, but also thought provoking.

lois might have missed what Mary Frances was saying, but at least Superman benefited from her actions.

Oh, I love the complexity. I was definitely not expecting the nun to know Lois, and I definitely wasn't thinking that it would tie in to the pilot! I wonder though, when she started seeing the Lane and Kent posters, if Sister recognized Clark as the man who'd stopped the bus. Really loved this story!

Wonderful job, cuidadora . And first attempt? Wow .

I very much enjoyed the parallels you created between Mary Frances and Superman. It was such a creative idea to draw from those similarities in your story, weave them in as you did. And I totally echo being impressed by connecting the nun in JSN with a nun from the Pilot. I love how much 'smaller' of a world it seems when a character can overlap like that.

I knew the scene immediately that you were referring to when I started the story. It's always struck me as such a strange time and place for Lois and (while Clark dressed as) Superman to try to have a discussion .

Amazing job
Laura

Morgana:

Thank you. Sometimes when offering help it's not in the form someone needs or can accept. I like to think it helped Lois eventually.

Deadly Chakram:

The complexity grew with the story. I'm glad it came across.

Whether or not she knows Clark is a great question, and one that is left up to the Reader to decide.

Thanks!

Laura:

Thank you. The parallels were so much fun once I saw Mary Frances as similar to Clark. Both started out just wanting to help and took on roles that people looked up to in ways they didn't expect. Both needed privacy to continue those roles, and it made sense that drinking tea would be one thing they'd share.

I agree that scene was silly and dangerous to have any kind of a discussion like that in public between Lois and Superman. We can be glad it wasn't real life as they would likely have been overheard by the wrong person(s), and maybe even videotaped.

Wow, excellent story! Very thought-provoking! I love the insight about Lois perceiving imperfection as failure -- such a powerful line! And really, it is so true about Lois, for herself primarily, but also for everyone around her that she cares about. She did see Clark's imperfections as failures, and sometimes found it hard to forgive him even when he forgave hers so easily. I love that the nun wanted to help them both and found a way to do so in a way that didn't compromise either of them or make Superman uncomfortable with her knowledge. It's also nice to know that someone was on Clark's side -- I usually end up feeling badly for him in the episodes where he and Lois are at odds because everyone up to and including his parents generally take Lois's side and aren't afraid to let him know it, so it was nice to have someone looking out for him here. I've always loved this scene where we see how people see him, and Lois gets a reminder -- even though she's not looking for it and resents it -- that Clark might not be the perfect hero she once dreamed about, but he is a hero and a good man.

The nun's character was very well-drawn. I loved that she tied back to the Pilot -- when I saw this was about a nun, I wondered if it would be the Pilot nun or the Just Say Noah nun, and it was a treat to have her be both. So sad that she recognized Clark's haunted look for what it was after he saved so many people's lives.

Such a great episode-centered story. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks AntiKryptonite for your review.

I agree that in many episodes where Clark and Lois don't see eye to eye it seems as though those closest to Clark take her side. And, as a result sadly he's even more alone than usual. It was fun to write someone eager to help both of them.

Hi cuidadora!

She could place a fart cushion on one of her visitor’s chairs?

Huh. Oh?



Talking to a 15 y/o?

Aww…Lois really *is* Lex’s soul mate!

Looks like she was already very mature back then. No need to learn anything else in the intervening years.

I guess it depends of the amount of high quality chocolate being presented as a sacrifice at the Ice Queen’s altar.

Very inspired web you wove

Michael

Hi Michael!



That reaction I never expected!

Well, maybe she's learned to occasionally admit to herself that maybe she didn't have all the facts, although admitting to being wrong to anyone else might be stretching it.

Thanks for reading and your comments!

Thanks. I try to surprise in my FDK



Michael

Very inspired story, I love trying to take a deeper look at some of the little things that happen in the show. To me this seems like one of the best opportunities in fan fiction - fleshing out parts of the story that weren't originally given much attention. Great insight into the characters and great job giving a deep character and personality to the nun.

Hi TaliaJoy!

I'm glad you liked it. That's one of my favorite things about fan fiction, too. Whether it's a major or minor character, it's fun to see more depth than can be portrayed in tv or the movies.

It's nice to see another comment on this older story! Thanks for commenting!