*coughNIKITAcough*

Bwahahahahaha! I'm almost tempted to pull together a list of all the improbable happily ever after stories over the years, but, um, that would require much pain and suffering on my part.

Though occasionally that cliche is done well. The first that springs to mind is With Six You Get Eggroll, in due South.

There are exceptions to the rule, except, like we've been explaining, Speranza's story isn't quite the happily ever after cliché -- because it's done realistically. My buddy grit kitty write a Jim-and-Blair-with-kid story called Another Mode of Belonging that addressed the difficulties of parenthood.

It can be done, and done well. It's just not usually done well. t g

WAFF as in Warm And Fuzzy Feelings? That

Yup. Then, there's it's prickly cousin, "TAFF" (Twisted and Fuzzy Feelings).

Shmoop in Hard Core Logo is just wrong.

Amen. Conversely, I often feel that unremitting angst in Due South somehow messes big time with the whole reason I liked the show in the first place. There can be angst, but there should also be some (hope of) recovery, IMVHO.

I am glad that Iolokus wrapped up in a fairly conventional happy place. So much unrelenting badness for so long was doing a real number on my psyche. If it hadn't been so good I wouldn't have inflicted that much pain on myself.

Which I think is what all masochists tell themselves.

And therein we have pretty much the WHOLE motivation behind writing Absolution.

Turn the cliché on its head! Yes! I love stories that do that, and I'm glad you did it.

I mean, personally, I'm tempted to write a story where Lex and Clark somehow develop psychic bond-y powers, but without the OTT, OOC schmoopfest...

I mean, personally, I'm tempted to write a story where Lex and Clark somehow develop psychic bond-y powers, but without the OTT, OOC schmoopfest...

Ooooh! Yes, do it! Doitdoitdoit!

t /irritating kid

I'm tempted to write a story where Lex and Clark somehow develop psychic bond-y powers, but without the OTT, OOC schmoopfest...

Oooh! I'm so going to nag you about that this weekend. And the couch sex.

"Couch sex?" she says innocently. "Should I be looking over in the Smallville fic thread more often?"

"Should I be looking over in the Smallville fic thread more often?"

Um. Couch sex has something to do with a sprawling, fragmented, and fluffy bit of futurefic in desperate need of a plot overhaul that I've been not-very-diligently working on, and which has only been posted in snips and bits in my blog.

I've got handfuls of fun story ideas in various stages of progress, and yet absolutely no ambition.

It's distressing, really.

And of course, by nag, I mean "gently prod in a supportive an enthusiastic-about-charming-Clark/Lex-futurefic way."

My buddy grit kitty write a Jim-and-Blair-with-kid story called Another Mode of Belonging that addressed the difficulties of parenthood.

That was excellent, but it was one of those stories where you get into it so easily and so fast and you're just like, "More! There should be more!" like a toddler who ran out of Cheerios.