Jen loves Clark!

Meme from xparrot  - NPR's list of the top 100 sci-fi/fantasy books, as voted on by 60,000 people. Bold the ones you've read, underline the ones you've partly read, italicize the ones you intend to read, and strike the ones you will never read.

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If you could recommend one book from the list that I haven't already read, which would it be?

Day 21 - My Guilty Pleasure Ship
Clex of course, though I'm not at all guilty about it! See day 7 for more details.

Day 22 - Best Quote
I'm drawing a bit of a blank here so I'll go to my old standby from season 1's X-Ray.
Lex: I promise I'm not a criminal mastermind.
Clark: I know. A criminal mastermind would have worn a mask.

That quote matches well with Lex's "I am the villain of the story" from Onyx.

And a couple of alternates:

• worst parent on the show ever: Lionel of course for his continued abuse of Lex, even after his so-called reform. I must say though that I think Lillian did Lex more severe damage, since he loved her and she betrayed that love by letting him take the blame for Julian's death.
• favorite El/kryptonian other than Clark: the 'real' Jor-El might have won this category since he seems a nice enough person in Relic and Kandor (though I'm none too crazy of the casual adultery in the former episode). But since he did such a horrific job programming the AI that uses his name, I have to back away. Kara seems like another logical choice but I don't think the show used her very well - there could have been a lot of story potential in her adapting to life on earth and struggling with the loss of Kandor but everything came so very easily to her. Lara just seemed bland - the focus of a love triangle with no real story of her own. So I'm going to go with Zor-El, played with such screen chewing abandon by Christopher Heyerdahl. 

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Day 18 - Best Friendship
I consider it a major flaw of the show that this question is so difficult to answer. Although we know that Clark is (or at least was) great friends with Pete, Chloe and Lex, we seldom got to SEE moments that show it. What we do see are interactions that serve the plot, which all too often leads to us seeing Pete as a jealous punk, Chloe as a search engine, and Lex as someone to help him out with his problems. Do you wince like I do when you hear Clark say "in the spirit of friendship..." when asking Lex to get Lois back into university? One of the reasons I love fanfic so much is that the stories give us the opportunity to explore the offscreen interactions of the characters, when they have time to simply hang out and have fun together.

Still, the question needs to be answered. It comes down to Chloe and Lois, and as the icon says, "Why choose?" If this had been season 5 or 6, the answer would have been emphatically Chloe - she was the person he could talk to about anything, and the one who helped him the most with what needed to be done. Unfortunately, by the time we reach S9, it certainly looked like Chloe had no use for Clark beyond a strictly professional one - and even then she disapproved of how he went about just about everything. Understandable enough given everything that had happened to her over the last few years, but still a massive disappointment as a person invested in their relationship. Here's hoping S10 gives Chloe a story line that above all else reestablishes her friendship with Clark.

As for Lois, she has been a good friend over the years, sharing words of comfort and encouragement at the end of many an episode.  Their friendship really accelerated though once they started working together at the Daily Planet, with their banter together being one of the most enjoyable aspects of the last two seasons for me. The romance element has tended to overshadow the friendship element lately, but the reason I think Clois works better than Clana is that these two did have such a long time to get to know each other. 



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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. 



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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. 


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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!


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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.



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 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 )

Sorry for not being in touch much lately. The condo sold and I thought I'd have a few days to relax but of course I was wrong - I've never been busier! I'm currently at my new place trying to get it ready to move into (prognosis: not so good!) 

Anyways, to get back in training for S10, I've snagged the Smallville 30 day meme from svgurl and numerous others

Day 01- Favorite Character

Hmmm, I have to think about this one for a while - not! Clark Kent is my favourite character by a country mile. I love Clark because he's the ultimate action star with all these amazing super powers, but he thinks nothing is finer than being a normal human being. He likes us better than we like ourselves, and is more optimistic for our future. It's that optimism that I respond to. And it certainly doesn't hurt that he comes in such a beautiful package, with a smile to light up the room. He's not perfect but when he makes mistakes, he genuinely tries to learn from them. I respect that in people. 



I've always liked the Superman / Clark Kent dynamic even from my earliest days of reading the comic, and I adored the first two movies when they came out. But that older characterization hasn't aged all that well for me - Superman was just a bit to all knowing and smug in his perfection. And I guess I'm not that much of a romantic because Clark forsaking his power for Lois in Superman 2 never sat at all well with me, not to mention turning back time in the original movie to save her. Smallville may make Clark's journey a little too rocky at times for my tastes, but at least it never let him get away with that type of behaviour.

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This is further to a suggestion by quiet__tiger to post about nine reasons I keep watching Smallville.  http://quiet--tiger.livejournal.com/498419.html I could actually be very shallow and just list my favorite Tom Welling body parts starting with his lips and that light-up-the-world smile, but I'll try to be more substantive.

( Nine reasons to watch, below the cut )