Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: Going Home

RJS added a comment to the alternate epilogue complaining that Kansas is not a Southern state and that Rachel shouldn't have a Southern accent. No, it isn't Southern, it's Western if it's anything other than Central U.S. geographically. If one reads the entire tale, it's evident that Rachel Harris is the only character with that accent. She had that accent in the episode "Green, Green Glow of Home," and that's why she has it here. I replicated the accent to make her stand out from the rest of the cast and differentiate her from Lois. It's one of the markers to identify and individualize her in each scene.

As far as Rachel calling Lois a "Yankee," that term also refers to people who live and work in the Northeast part of the country. That use is a bit archaic, but it's still legit. I've been called a Yankee by people in Oklahoma (which wasn't a state in 1865) because I've mentioned that I once lived in Ohio.

I'm sorry that Rachel's accent was RJS' takeaway from the story. I lived there for several years when I was a "yonker" (very young) and I remember the place fairly well even now.

Kansas was the literal battleground state for slavery in the U.S. before the Civil War. The population of the territory was supposed to vote whether the state would be admitted to the Union with legal slavery or without. Both pro- and anti-slavery groups flooded the territory with people with the intention of tilting the election their way. This state was the location for some of the bloodiest civilian massacres during that war, "Bloody" Lawrence being one of the most prominent. For a more in-depth discussion, see this site.

The alternate take now has a link to these comments. I assume that's why RJS added that response there.

Sorry to fool you, Bakasi, but I never planned to end with Clark and Rachel as a couple. I like the common theme of L&C together forever - just not as reincarnated soulmates. And I would've had to backtrack quite a bit to have a Clark/Rachel pairing appear reasonable after the previous two chapters. Lois would've had to go utterly insane and be committed to an institution.

They weren't quite wearing the same outfits. Clark:


Lois:


Granted, it's not a huge difference, but Lois flew with Clark to Texas and then to Smallville. Hard to maintain modesty in a dress. And the Riverwalk in San Antonio is always casual unless you're headed to a formal restaurant. Mexican food places in Texas are almost never formal. Most Americans like to be casual when traveling. I used to have a 200-mile one-way weekend trip from a job to home and back again, and I'd often kick off my shoes and drive in socks.

Despite the warning at the beginning of the story, I've really enjoyed this fic! Rachel became so much more than a one episode, one dimensional person, and I thoroughly appreciated your version of her.

I read both epilogues, and couldn't say I preferred one over the other.

Have you ever seen the movie 'Up In The Air'? (Spoiler for the major plot spoiler for that movie... If you haven't seen the movie and want to, this will give most of it away....)

Great endings to a great story.

I'm glad to see Lois and Clark together, and their journey was riveting. While I wasn't sure that Lois and Clark did belong together after her nuclear explosion, I can see how they both changed, and their love grew much deeper.

Although I enjoyed Lois' explanations in the second epilogue, I actually prefer the first. I thought it was Clark's job to tell Rachel. He disappointed me by allowing Lois to insert herself in (and take over) something that I thought should have been a private talk between Clark and Rachel. Although, "what ifs" make fanfiction fun. Thanks for giving us a choice of endings.

Kerth!

Terry,


Amazing story! I am usually a lurker and post after the completion of a story. You had so many emotions that I cycled through during the journey from a different perspective. Even though I enjoyed Rachel as a character, I was hoping that Lois and Clark would find their way back to each other again.

I do like the choice of endings but prefer Clark having the conversation. One aspect that I would like to have seen, was when Clark found he was in love with Lois again and that declaration. Either way, thank you so much for the amazing ride!

Thank you, Toomi8. I'm glad you found Rachel to be a real person in my tale. I find that I can't write throwaway or stereotyped characters, even secondary ones, and even though it adds length to the chapters. Hence all the information on Mrs. Howard, Tommy, Lana, Madge the rental clerk, Deidre the waitress, Bob Clay the cattle rancher, even Whit Bascombe the railroad station manager and Gary Plunkett the erstwhile cattle buyer. I hope you enjoyed them too. And it's okay if you don't have a preference on the epilogues.

Cuidadora, thank you for your kind words. I can understand why you'd prefer that Clark tell Rachel that he plans to marry Lois, but this gave me the opportunity to show a bit more of Lois' growth over the time the story covers. It also very quietly highlights one key thing: Lois has flown with Clark and Rachel has never flown with him. I wanted to - very sneakily - show that while Rachel never minded that Clark was also Superman and certainly wasn't put off by the fact, Lois embraced Clark's dual identity (by the end of the story, anyway) more completely than Rachel did. And you're right, the "what if?" question makes fanfiction so much fun.

MDS21, thank you for coming out of lurkerhood. I'm glad you weren't tossed off the roller coaster by the ups and downs of this epic. And I'm glad you liked the choice of endings. I chose to "tell" about the conversation between Clark and Lois mainly to save space (this thing clocked in at over 124,000 words!) and to retain a little surprise for the epilogue.

I have a third epilogue which I can send anyone who wishes to see it. Polly was the one who pushed the first version, Trope liked the second, and Harley gave me the third. I doubt that I'll post that one here unless there is a hue and cry to see it. I'm pretty sure the only epilogue in the archive version will be the first one.

Thanks to everyone who commented, everyone who read my offering, and everyone who enjoyed it even a little. See you on the boards!

I read the story in the Archive yesterday. I have a spot for those stories where the characters have difficulties and must fight to get back together. I do feel sorry for any third characters so I prefer those where the two characters are in trouble alone.

Although Lois was so awful in the beginning that even I hated her and would have understood Clark leaving her behind. At points it felt like Lucy was the only sane and logical character in this mess as she told Lois how wrong her doings were (even when Lois might have kicked her out in anger). I was somewhat puzzled why Perry didn't lay the law with Lois but allowed her to blackmail a coworker. Is he seeing his daughter-figure through pink-tinted lenses? Too scared to lose her? In fear that his action could endanger Clark's family? He did tell her later but not at first. Clark is usually so nice and head over heels in love that I can see him not dumping her on an unhabitated tropical island to cool down and think about it with a chest of canned food and a water purifier which was my first reaction to the blackmail. Her behavior went way over the line.

Rachel's character was so awesome I almost wanted to read the stories about the adventures of a Smallville sheriff. And half expected an epilogue's epilogue where she runs into that nurse again once she has healed after Clark and we are left wondering if they got along.