Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic Comments: Veritas 17

Well, what do you think?

In answer to a previous question, yes, Cyrus is the analogue of the hobo we saw in the pilot, who though Clark was an angel.

Trust me, L&C will be back together soon enough.

Well, Cyrus has his angel [who may or may not fly him to NO]. I enjoyed his take on this 'darker' America - that the government is paranoid so the rest of us don't have to be. That's not to say there aren't problems but... it was a good way to put it.

Lois needs an 'angel' or rather a "Superman" to help her most likely. She probably wouldn't say so but a little super-help will probably come in handy.

More soon .
Carol

I loved the parts with Cyrus, btw, but Clark needs to go back to Lois now. Right now. Like, seconds ago.

Wow! A new part, and only three days wait. Hooray!!

I loved the scenes with Cyrus; it was a good way of airing the issues, and he's an interesting character. One question, though: when Clark rescued Cyrus, how did he know his name? I could understand if he knew it after talking to him in the diner, but Cyrus doesn't mention his name when Clark meets him the first time. Does Cyrus have an ID Clark x-rayed? Maybe Cyrus was talking to himself earlier?

And if we had any doubts that the person named "Lois Lane" was actually Lois Lane, they've been dispelled. Maybe she'll be in luck and Clark will already have memorized her heartbeat. Or perhaps she'll be desperate enough to try yelling "Clark, help!"

As much as I enjoy Clark's perspective on the "new" world, I have to say that Cyrus's view gave a needed balance. Here's someone who has obviously lived through some rough times, and yet he still can find something positive from the situation.

And now Lois - Lois, Lois, Lois... there's safety in numbers and she left her cameraman behind. *sigh* I'm wondering if this will be the event that brings Clark back around. I'm glad there was some mention of Lucy. I'm on pins to see just how the doppelganger issue is going to be resolved in this story.

All in all, great part. Intrigued to see where all the pieces start to fit together.

This ought to be interesting.

Another great part, Shayne.

Things are bad... but....

Yes! There may still be racism in America, but compared with what things used to be like, they have improved enormously.

What a great observation! (Not always true, but still great.)

No, Clark, you weren't around in the forties.

Yes.

(And in Sweden, "undesirable" people like gypsies were being sterilized.)

Yes.

And the lynchings, can you believe them? I think there were still lynchings in the 1940s.



Just look at this picture. It's from 1930, I think. Note, however, how all those white people keep milling around the hanged bodies of the black men, as if they are not at all afraid of any sort of punishment. They are so confident that nobody will question them, and they are so pleased with themselves after having committed murder together.

Billie Holliday: Strange Fruit

When you look at images like these, and listen to Billie Holliday's song, then you realize how much America really has changed for the better.

And Lois got herself in trouble... please help her, Clark!

Ann

Loved this post.

One thing confused me. After Cyrus ordered, Clark/angel shook his head. I always thought that was universal for 'NO'.

It would make more sense to me if Clark nodded, which, to my understanding, means 'YES'.

James

*LOIS!!!!*


Normally I wouldn't worry, okay I still would, but this is the real world. Anything could happen.

Great to see Clark lectured by a homeless guy.

Michael

Again an early update! You are pampering me/us!

What´s that about a farm in rural Virginia? Did I miss anything in the chapters before or is this something we will get to know later?

Lois gets kidnapped. Hmmm, did I read something like this anywhere in another story? Of course it happens to her all the time, and usually Superman is there to save her... is he? Perhaps she just tries her pepper spray on that thug?
I hope Clark gets to save her - and show his abilities in the process!

By the way, I have to complain! Your chapters are much too short! So you simply have to post the next chapter earlier. What do you think of that solution?

I liked Cyrus' chat with Clark... the angel analogy was too cool

Although at first I felt like both Cyrus and Clark were talking about different things (prejudice vs. government responsibility), I soon realized the similarity... it was subtle but in the end both were talking about individual rights. And Cyrus' positive outlook about things continually changing... that's so awesome. Definitely puts perspective on stuff.

Hmm, I get the feeling that Lois could face such barriers that eventually it'd be impossible for her to work as a successful TV reporter.. so her only option would be to move to a land far far away, perhaps to another world / universe

Anyways, looking forward to Lois' attack, er rescue. Maybe she'll get to use that pepper spray on the shadowy figure and then Clark could surprise her by coming to her rescue, get hit with the same perpper spray which rendered her attacker useless and not be affected. Revelation? :p

By the way who is the thug? Government wanting to unite her with Lucy? A nasty source? Just some drunk?

Looking forward to next part

I can't resist posting this, apropos the conflicting images of America that you showed us in this part, Shayne.



This is Sven Hedin, a Swedish explorer. Around the turn of the previous century he travelled extensively in Asia and made a small fortune by writing books of his wild and wondrous exploits. So, for example, did he claim to have walked on foot for seven days through a desert without a drop of water, while his camel and his native carrier-boy (or whatever designation he would have used for him) lay unconscious on the ground, victims of their thirst. Hedin says that he found a wellspring, drank from it himself, filled one of his boots with water, and trekked all the way back to his camel and his carrier-boy, saving them both with his boot-encased water.

I think that when you look at the picture, you get an idea of what a self-satisfied person Sven Hedin was. He certainly believed in the complete superiority of white European people over all other peoples and races of the earth. It is no surprise that he eventually became a fervent supporter of Nazism:



Sven Hedin shaking hands with Adolf Hitler.

But there was a country that Sven Hedin hated. Can you guess what country that was? Yes, that's right. America. Hedin thought that America was vulgar, loud and devoid of any glorious history. Worse, according to Hedin, America didn't understand that black people were not equal to whites. There was nothing that Hedin hated so much as black jazz music:



So I just wanted to say, that even though there were horrible things going on in America in the 1920s and 30s, the United States was still so hated by Nazis in Europe because it was precisely not Nazi. And it was such an inspiration to those who wanted to fight oppression.

Ann

Nice chapter, Shayne. I'm wondering if Lois will get herself out of this mess (that's my vote) or if Clark will show up. Interesting thoughts from Cyrus.

Can anyone say cliffhanger? Again?

Nice poetry.

I like Cyrus a lot. I was just thinking to myself that he seems awfully stable for a person who has already said that he is mentally unstable when Clark said this. I laughed at this. Apparently Cyrus prepared himself for either outcome.


Elisabeth

On the one hand, I'm disappointed that Cyrus needed to be rescued again... that one helping hand from Clark wasn't magically enough to save him. On the other hand, after thinking about it for a while, this story is all about the real world, and homelessness is a very complex issue. So now I think it might have been cheating to not visit him again in the story.

And what a conversation it resulted in!

As for Lois, well, a closing line like that is begging for Clark to swoop in and save the day. But I wouldn't be shocked if the story turns otherwise. Maybe it's Agent White in the car; the car's occupant is "shadowy" with a "deep and raspy" (disguised?) voice. :-)

I just read part 1 until part 17. It's a really gripping story, so inventive to set it in our time. More, please!