Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: Further On Down The Road 18/41

Terry, I can't remember if I've ever posted feedback on your story yet. If not, shame on me! I've been reading since the beginning and loveing every minute of it.

I like the progression of Lois and Clark's relationship in this chapter. I can it's going to be a long while before any romantic stuff comes along, but the easy use of telepathy is enough to make me happy. Especially the whole bomb threat interaction.
That made me giggle a bit. Clark pulled the classic "I'm Superman and therefore I have nothing to be worried about" move. Doesn't he realize that a mysterious bomb with a lead sphere in it only spells trouble? But he's probably pretty emotionally clouded right now, what with the bomb being planted in his dead wife's place of work. So maybe he can be a little excused for dismissing Lois.

Does the location of the bomb mean that one of the baddies knows that CK=S? I have a hard time seeing it as just coincidence.

Looking forward to more!

(PS, I also loved Lois's gibberish speak!)

Terry, I have to apologise for being somewhat lax in my feedback on this story. I have been reading since the beginning and have enjoyed it so far. Which is no surprise since I think you are a terrific writer and your stories are generally quite well done.

BUT! (you knew that there was a but coming didn't you?)

You seem to be having Lois heading into a possible romantic entanglement with Luthor. This is something I've never understood, and have always hated. Even given the fact that Lois has no reason to suspect Lex of being anything but what he appears to be, I could never see Lois Lane attracted to the type of person Luthor pretends to be either. She could respect his accomplishments, and admire his apparent benevolent activities. She could even consider him good-looking. But I just don't see Lois being attracted to the lifestyle that Luthor represents.

Lois Lane is an independant woman who, through hard work and dedication, seeks fulfillment and recognition for herself and her accomplishments. She is intelligent enough to know that she would always be seen as subserviant to Luthor. Little more than a possession. Even if she felt that Lex wouldn't treat her that way, there would be no way that the rest of the world would ever see her as herself ever again.

I never bought into it on the show either, and they tried to use Luthor's destruction of Lois' entire support structure to justify her actions.

Others may disagree but that is my take on the Lois/Lex romance thing. It's not that I couldn't see Lois falling for someone besides Clark, it's just that I could never buy into Lois and Lex.

That means that I'll be reading this story with a raised 'wince' factor until we can get past the unnatural relationship and allow Lois to get a true glimpse of who Luthor really is. Then itcould get fun again.

Hoping that it doesn't take too long.

Tank (who figures that Clark's dalliance won't last too long either since the young woman is destined to die a horrible and meaningless death by Luthor's machinations)

There once was a brown-eyed Miss Riding Hood...



...and there was also Lex Lupus, the Wolf.



Lupus was interested in Miss Ridinghood...



...and she was interested in him. :rolleyes:

And there was a serious man, who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, who therefore needed a woman to comfort him.



And there was a sweet red-haired young woman, whose name was Rebecca.



(Don't know how that ring ended up on her finger... unless it is really picture of the serious man's wife, who died and left him a widower?)

Rebecca was like a little lamb. So cute, and so curious.



Now what will happen? Will Lupus the Wolf devour the brown-eyed Riding Hood? No, it is more likely that he will eat Rebecca the Lamb instead. Will the serious man crumble under his sorrows?




Ann

One of the distinct advantages of writing fan fiction is that one has an existing universe to play in, one in which one need not build a set of characters for the readers to respond to because they already exist.

One of the strongest limitations of writing fan fiction is that one has an existing universe to play in, one in which one need not build a set of characters for the readers to respond to because they already exist.

See, I kinda knew this would happen. Y'all see the name "Lex Luthor" and you automatically assume "BAD GUY!" And it's a reasonable assumption, given the weight of decades of Superman comic book stories and the movies and the Lois and Clark TV series.

But it's not necessarily the only way to interpret this character.

One of my favorite alt-Clark stories is Elle Roberts' "When The West Wind Moves," partly because Cat Grant becomes the editor of the Planet when Perry moves on to political success (and she's actually something of a prude), and partly because Lex Luthor is a missionary - and it's not a cover, he really is a family man and a missionary. In her story, Lex is a minor character whose life path has been totally different, but there's still that Luthor edge to him. He even says at one point that he isn't sure how he might have turned out if not for his loving parents.

In this story, I didn't initially write Lex as quite the nice guy he seems to be. But while doing a good bit of revising and adding parts to it, I ran up against the same wall Tank hit with the Lex-Lois pairing, that Lois was too smart to fall for the charming evil man. So his character insisted that I give him a better personality and a more sympathetic back story, and that's the Lex Luthor being presented in this very alt-world tale.

I ask that you give both Lex and this story a chance to stand on their own respective two feet. Lex may not be the ultimate evil in this universe, but he's not without faults, either. I hope you stay with me to what I hope is an explosive and surprising climax.

Oh, Ann, thanks so much for the picture of Rebecca! That's actually pretty close to my own mental image of her. It's amazing where you find all these great images.

Terry, I like the idea of your writing Lex as a good guy. You've changed the personalities of the other key characters like Lana and Clark and to some extent Lois in this alt-universe, and so there's a consistency in making Lex a good guy. It would complete the symmetry, so to speak.

Also, I think it might be a fanfic first to have Lois fall in love with a good guy who is not Clark Kent.

Now, to make Tank happy, you could turn Jimmy into a villain.

carol

Hi,

Love it!

MAF

Carol, I don't necessarily think of Lex as a "good guy" but as a "not-bad guy," which is a completely different thing. There are some holes in his back story. For example, even though he made a lot of money on those tech stocks when he first started out, how did he know when to cash out? Lois missed that one. And how much of his dealings with the waterfront unions were on the up-and-up? Most of them, yes. All of them? Lois doesn't know, at least not yet.

Actually, although I don't recall the title or the author, that's been done (and done well) in another alt-Clark story where James Olsen turned out to be the head of the criminal empire.

Thanks for the enthusiasm, Maria! I'm glad all of y'all are still with me. I'd caution you to watch out for the bumpy road ahead, but I'm sure you're already fastening your seat belts.

Next chapter up soon!

On your recommendation I checked out When the West Wind Blows. Nice story, but you didn't tell me it was to be continued. <Whines>

Elisabeth

I'm sorry, Elisabeth! Elle started but never finished the next story; apparently real life ambushed both her and her muse. The first five or so chapters did get posted, though, so if you search the Fanfic TOCS you could read them. They held a great deal of promise and I'm sorry that she never got to finish the story.

No apologies. It's a great story. Besides, I've already sent my politest nag-o-gram to see if it will ever be finished.

Elisabeth