Jen loves Clark!

Title: Winter Wonderland
Author: jlvsclrk
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing/Characters: Clark/Chloe
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: all characters belong to CW/DC Comics
Word Count: 1700
Spoilers/Warnings: none
Summary: Chloe and Clark enjoy a special vacation
Notes: For the smallearth advent calendar. Set post Pariah. Clark didn't immediately forget about Alicia the way Reunion would have us believe, and things are still tense at the Kent farm.

Thanks to babydee1 for her help.



( Winter wonderland )

 Sorry for being so incommunicado lately - just so much to do around the new place! But the roof is done (big job, although my part was largely restricted to writing the checks), I'm almost done with the computer room renos and the garden is ready for winter. We then have to redo the living room ceiling (because of water damage from the formerly leaky roof) and then tackle the bathroom. Getting there, slowly but surely.

I haven't written any Smallville reviews lately, in part from lack of energy but mostly because of how hard I find it to express my feelings. I'm enjoying the season a lot even though I feel they've wasted opportunities in practically every episode so far. And once I wait too long, I fear my review might be overly influenced by the many other great reviews I've seen out there, both good and bad, But I do plan on getting back on track after Friday's episode - it looks like a lot of fun.

Speaking of Friday, that's going to be Day 1 of the Breeders Cup, the so-called Ladies Day, even thought the two queens of the sport won't be racing until Saturday against the boys. Don't miss it ! The races look to be absolutely spectacular. My beloved Zenyatta looks to extend her unprecedented undefeated streak to 20 and sew up Horse of the Year honours in the Classic, while Goldikova seeks an equally unprecedented three-peat in the Mile. But both mares are facing very stiff competition and I fear to get my hopes up too high. Zenyatta in particular has a lot of question marks against her, since she's never raced on the east coast, has only run twice on dirt (since California switched to synthetic surfaces just as her career began), has only faced the boys once and has lower speed figures than are usually required to win the Classic. She'd also scared away the competition in California, so a lot of people are very dismissive towards her (If you think the Lois versus Chloe wars are bitter, you should see the Zenyatta versus Rachel wars!) On top of it all, she'll be facing a full field in the Classic and given her come from behind style, will need some racing luck to get a clear run. Is she good enough? Yes, but anything can happen in a horse race. Fingers crossed!

Sorry I've been so out of touch. The back end of the move is proving much more time consuming than I anticipated - it's hard finding places for all my stuff! It often means first getting rid of my sister's furniture / computer / utensils / whatever which have gotten a little worn down over the year. And I just can't throw out her stuff if I don't like it the way I did with all kinds of my crap. So many things have sentimental meaning for her! Argh. Well, at least I've finally got the cappuccino maker set up. And we did a great job together repainting and reflooring my bedroom so I shouldn't complain. Next up is the roof, then the bathroom. Will renovations never cease?

Anyways, I wanted to post my thoughts on Lazarus even though I don't have all that much original to say. I'm finding it hard to grade the episode because although a few scenes ranked with my all-time favourites, there was also a whole boatload of WTF going on. So despite all the lovely Clark screentime, I'd have to give it a somewhat average B+.

( details under the cut )

The weather lately has made me ill - literally. Hot, cold, hot, cold... My body doesn't know how to handle it anymore. So I've got a chest cold with laryngitis - just when I need to be in the home stretch of my move preparation. Thank goodness I'd done so much work earlier in the summer to get the place in selling shape!

Day 19 - Funniest moment
There are several great Clark moments to choose from here - Tom has such great comedic timing. I immediately think of Hex with Clark's denials of his abilities, Escape with the shower scene, any number of scared-of-girls moments like Exposed in the club. Season 4 in particular is chock full of amusing moments, which probably explains why it has long been underrated. I'm going to declare another Chlo-Lo tie, between the bathroom scene in Gone and the loft scene in Devoted. I probably should have included these caps in my recent wardrobe picspam.


Plus an honourable mention to Dawn as Martha in Spirit, singing along to La La.

Day 20 - OMG! WTF moment
Between Doomsday and Power/Requiem, Season 8 pretty much has this category wrapped up. I'll go with the not!Jimmy situation in Doomsday. I hated Jimmy as a love interest but he did make a great sidekick. To 'line up with the mythos' by changing his name was an insult to all. The whole situation is yet another reason why I'm so utterly resistant to the Chloe and Oliver relationship.

( other days under the cut )

Day 17- Worst Villain
Lots of choices here - the Freaks of the Week were very much a mixed lot. I'll nominate Tyler from S1's Reaper since he always comes to my mind when a 'worst of' topic is raised. It was a very uninspired performance and a plot line that really shouldn't be tackled in this sort of flippant manner. Dishonourable mentions to S2's Krissie from Redux, S3's Seth of Magnetic, and the very mumbly Plastique from S8. Though perhaps fake Lex from S8 should win for the sheer travesty of it all.

And since that was quick, a few more alternates:

• favorite Superman quote used in the show:  "Statistically speaking, it is the safest way to travel" - from Committed
• favorite use of the S shield: so many to choose from! I'll go with Clark curled up in an S at the end of S3's Covenant, echoed by the lightning shield that marks his reappearance in S4's Crusade.

( the other days under the cut )

Day 16- Best Villain
I'll say Lex as the historical choice in the wider Superman fandom, even though Michael's Lex was a very nuanced creation who, except in a few specific episodes, seldom felt like a villain to me. That's thanks to the empathy created in earlier seasons, and the fact that many things that are supposed to 'prove' his villainy were done by other characters too and soon forgiven. The thing about Lex is you know he honestly thinks he's doing the right thing by the world, but he's all too willing to sacrifice others for the greater good. I think of poor Wes Keenan, turned into an assassin when all he wanted to do was serve his country. I think the show did a decent if inconsistent job showing Lex's descent into darkness, particularly starting in S3 when the Luthor power plays start to get really nasty. I don't like how Clark warned Lex in Memoria - how I wish he would have been more compassionate with his "why does your father hate you so much?" But the warning about the power struggle hurting other people was a valid one, and things only escalated when Lex got control of LuthorCorp. The company set up by Lionel was in moral free-fall for years before Lex took control, cutting corners on safety, hiring people of dubious character and funding projects whose goals could never be printed in the annual report. Rather than cleaning house, it seems Lex just made the whole thing run more efficiently. It is notable that when he disappeared from the scene in S8, LuthorCorp continued to be associated with dubious projects, even AFTER the merger with Queen Industries. Maybe LuthorCorp is the real villain of the story!




And a quick one from the alternates: favorite "someone looking at two people from the outside" scene. It's Chlark from Obscura, with Lana on the outside looking in. 



( other days under the cut )

Eek, I've fallen really behind here, haven't I? Darned move + worse weather = exhausted Jen. So here are some quick answers to catch up.

Day 10 - Favourite Clark excuse for appearing / disappearing
From Odyssey, when he unexpectedly meets up with Lois at the Montana facility:

Lois: What are you doing here?
Clark: I heard they had good espresso.

Come on, even Lois laughed!

Day 11 - Favourite Story Arc
Tough one. I can't say the Zod/Book of Rao stuff in Season 9 because I was too nervous while I was watching, expecting everything to go south. I think I'll go back to Season 5 and the whole Brainiac arc intertwined with the consequences of Jor-El stripping Clark of his powers only to restore them later at a cost. Sure I hate the idea of 'the universe' finding a balance by taking the life of a loved one, and I hated the 'who will it be' death watch, but there were some really excellent episodes along the way. And S5 Brainiac was everything a big bad should be, especially as he tried to pull Clark away from humanity. 

Day 12 - Favourite Climax
Not sure if this is meant in the context of a single episode or the season as a whole. If the first, I might go with Hidden and the jump onto the missile (especially given the short scene showing Chloe's despair turning to joy when she realizes that Smallville has not been destroyed, which means Clark is still alive). The tank scene in Memoria is also a standout in a very different way.

If we're talking season ending cliffie(s), there have been a lot to choose from, though Doomsday is of course out of the running. Because I'm a Clark centric kind of girl, I'll go with  Season 5's Vessel - I was wondering all summer just how he was going to get out of the Zone and what would happen with Lexod. I wish they'd split the start of S6 into two episodes and allowed that situation more time to play out. 

Day 13 - Worst Character Death
I'm going with Alicia here because, ugh, her death was as mean and ugly as it gets. I grieved with Clark, and fell in love with Chloe as she offered her words of comfort at the graveside. And then, bam, next episode. the only thought on Clark's mind is football. 

The other contender is "Lex" in Requiem, except it wasn't the death that was the travesty here, it was bringing him back onto the screen at all without using Michael, or playing any respect to the very nuanced character created by him. But I refuse to believe that was really Lex at all - it was just a plot to get some revenge on Lana first and foremost, plus giving him some breathing time to set up his networks with Checkmate.

Day 14 - Most Emotional Moment
Another very tough one. I'll go with three Clark-in-tears moments, because they get me every time. (1) Unsafe - where Clark tries to get Martha to understand his attraction to Alicia only to get an extremely cold shoulder (as OOC as the scene is for Martha IMO), (2) Vengeance - where Clark finally lets down his barriers and starts to grieve for Jonathan's death (from personal experience, it's often something unexpected that triggers those emotions - even years later), and (3) Arctic - when Clark listens to Lana's dear John video and gets comforted by Lois. 


( days under the cut )

Day 7 - Favourite Fanon Ship
It shouldn't come as much as a surprise when I say Clex, though Chlark at its best can come mighty close. A large part of the reason I like Clex is that there are so many issues between the two that authors can explore. Telling lies or sharing secrets, the rich/poor dynamic, gay and/or alien sexuality issues, destiny, obsession, healing the rift, parental issues... There's so much to chose from. In her wonderful essay on what makes a story Clex, danceswithgary summed it up this way:
Or the story can just be smoking hot PWP - the two exchanged enough smoldering looks on the show to inspire any number of stories and vids along these lines!


( the other days under the cut )

Day 5 - Favourite Season 

Season 9 wins the honours for this category fairly easily, though to be sure it hasn't had to stand up to the test of multiple DVD rewatches (season 1 and Pilot in particular usually win in that regard). Season 8 scarred me deeply, and its true that my opinion of S9 is still influenced by the euphoria that they didn't screw it up in Salvation - that they fully validated Clark's POV and let him be the hero. Season 9 has deep flaws, including the characterization of Chloe, the troublesome twists in Oliver's story and an absence of Clark POV, particularly in the first half. Zod seemed to be pretty hit and miss in the wider fandom - I enjoyed Callum's performance but can see why he failed to engage many others. And maybe, just maybe, the show went overboard with Lois - arguably making up for lost time in previous seasons. Whatever, I still love it! We had some great guest stars like Metallo and the Justice Society, the introduction of a new 'big bad' in Checkmate, the ever puzzling machinations of Tess Mercer, all garnished with the romance and humour brought by the Clois relationship.  I can only hope for more of the same in S10.



( The other days under the cut )

 Day 3 - Favorite Episode

Oh dear, this one! I have a list of about 10 episodes that I could call my favorite on any given day. Pilot always deserves consideration for giving the characters such a great introduction, not to mention the amazing meteor shower and fantastic stunts. Memoria used to be a strong contender, especially for the Clark stuff, but season 3 has palled on me just a bit - I still say its the second best season but I prefer more optimism in my show so don't rewatch it all that much. Labyrinth, Apocalypse and Identity all deserve consideration too - good, solid Clark-centric episodes. But right now, I think it comes down to Salvation versus Transference, two practically perfect episodes that I can never get enough of. Salvation gets bonus marks for the Clois kiss and the gripping fight with Zod, but Transference balances that with a stupendous performance by Tom Welling as Lionel in Clark's body. That "don't you wish" line to Chloe kills me EVERY time. So I'll give the nod to Transference.


( the )