Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: Ghost Of A Chance 6/?

Pretty instrumental chapter here for you -- I'd love to know what you think of it!

This chapter illustrates why I love your writing. It immediately drew me in, it's vividly emotional with such descriptive language, and every sentence - every word - seems to have weight and importance. I just sink into your style and savor it.

New theory: the source is Clark himself. He happily lived his life with Lois, but then something tragic happened that he feels guilty for not having stopped, so now he's cutting his nose off to spite his face.


Shades of Newsworthy. I don't read the comics and don't enjoy the movies - I am a LNC:TNAOS fan. In other universes, Superman is important, and so saving Superman, seeing the superhero's success as the ultimate goal, makes sense. But in our corner of the world, Clark is important, too - really, more so in my mind. So Lois' concern here, though quietly stated and immediately dismissed, is the key to the story - the idea she'll have to come back to after she enacts her hurtful plan and things go badly.

Completely loving it and want more, more, more!

A very interesting part. So, finally we get a glimpse in what the mysterious agenda is. As far as canon goes, Clark is an important part of Utopia, at least I would expect he is.

So, what does the old man want? Is he an evil version of H.G. Wells? Or a much older Tempus?

The plot thickens. The mysterious man is revealed, yet not to us. We know he's older with silvery hair and glasses. Is it Tempus, or an older version of Clark? I can't imagine any version of Clark who would hurt or use Lois in this manner. Although, the reasons he brings up do sound like Clark's guilty thoughts... ways he abandoned Lois. Another thought was that adviser guy from NK, one of the elders. Or is it Jor-El? (Scary thought.)

Lois has fallen for Clark. Now what? She's tried defying her source, but he only made her feel guilty. I don't understand how he hypnotized her into standing at her front door for hours without realizing it. He must have a way of controlling her mind. Is he feeding her these images still or did he open a window that he can't fully close?

I kept getting a feeling as if her source insists the only way to destroy Clark Kent is for Lois to break his heart. Now, I wonder, why doesn't her source just kill her and disappear back into the future? Wouldn't that break Clark's heart, too? What's stopping him from taking that course, or will he if she defies him?

Will there be a way for Lois to save Clark without Clark (and thus Lois) first having to have his heart broken?

Read this over lunch and nearly cried into my chicken and broccoli. As you said in your last feedback to my feedback - Poor Clark!

And poor Lois too! So trapped. So unhappy with what she (so stupidly) got involved with.

I'm wondering about the next couple of weeks that she bought herself. Will she try to warn Clark? Will she do something to make him back off on his affections?

And the mystery villain! You are KILLING me! Others have mentioned a future Clark, but I'm not buying that. All the Miss Lane stuff makes me think perhaps it is Wells. I also had thoughts of Jor-El. Tempus is still on my radar too. Maybe some future member of the Justice League? Like the Flash appearing in Batman's dream in BvS?

Great work. You have me teetering on the edge of my seat here. Update soon please!

This source can't be Clark. Whoever this is has a subtle cruelty to him, making Lois feel worthless and responsible for things out of her control. Clark wouldn't stand there and watch her cry.

I absolutely love your comparison of this source to how Lois felt with her father.
Whoever this is knows exactly where to push Lois's buttons. I do get the impression that he has some hidden resentment or agenda for her, since he puts her down more than a generous amount of times. His hesitation is incredibly intriguing-clearly he isn't all bad.
In that case, what's he going to do with her when all is said and done?
Why is Lois so afraid of him, if he's only trying to push her for the good of the world? Why doesn't she just go to Clark for help, both to let him decide his actions and to find a third option?

I still get the sense that Luthor isn't a part of this plan. I think Lois has been trying to keep him from harming Clark/herself by letting him in on a small bit of her deception.

Why is Lois's source so sure that whatever she does will cause Clark to give up Clark? It's true that he has an idealistic naïveté, and that this kind of deception might change some of his positive outlook on life. But to convince him Clark isn't worth it by breaking his heart? I don't know if I believe that; Clark's strong, and he has so many other things that make Clark worth being. In time, he would find contentment and some sort of happiness, even if the damage did scar.

Of course, if Lois's plan involves something more drastic, like outing him, then that's a different story entirely.

In NB Lois told Clark that whatever Superman could do was enough. I think, in that statement, she made it fairly clear that Superman wasn't responsible for the world's problems, and that they were grateful for whatever good he could do. In that case, I hope you'll understand if I don't take her insistence that Superman *has* to give up everything for the world too well. Shouldn't giving up Clark for the sake of the world's problems be his decision? What stopped Lois from giving Clark the info and letting him make it? Why doesn't she go to him and ask him to help her find a third option? He would want everything she does, which is their relationship and the world's safety. I would think that in those circumstances he is her best chance at finding one.

At the same time, you make it very clear that Lois wouldn't be doing any of this if she didn't feel that it was both the only way and the right thing to do. The situation feels incredibly heartbreaking.

You've created an incredibly complex and manipulative source for Lois. I'm excited to see how it all goes down. Lois's actions do bother me, but since we still don't know what it was Lois saw, I'm just going to hold on for the ride and hope for the best.

It's interesting...I feel like I know more, but I'm somehow even more confused .

Well, initially while reading, I figured Lois' source HAD to be Wells. The circle glasses...the 'Ms. Lane's'. Some of the mannerisms, the way he spoke. And also, Wells fits in so easily with all the visions Lois is seeing. Everything is in the future--a ripple in time that Lois hasn't experienced yet. How else could she be given these glimpses into her future life?

But then...I dunno. Something that I needed never cemented Wells as the culprit by the end of this section. I'm not sure what was lacking, but something was. Either it was just the right bit of expert writing ( ) to keep me guessing, or the fact that maybe it's NOT Wells? Hmmm?

Could it be Clark? Maybe? I mean...the guilt about saving the world, never being able to fully protect Lois. Etc. It all sounds a lot like where we've heard Clark go before. But something about the source and how he acted towards Lois has me not wanting it to be him.

Where there is Wells there is usually Tempus. If we are dealing with time-hoping, then I can see this being some sort of a Tempus trying to take Clark apart, destroy him.

I just don't know! And boy is it fun trying to guess .

This chapter really felt like a turning point for Lois. Those moments with Clark--she has fallen head over heals for him (well, maybe it's better to say, she's finally acknowledged that she is head over heals for him--she's been there awhile ). She seems fed up with hurting him. She can't explain away her guilt over what she is doing to Clark. And she's asking for another way to avert the situation. Hopefully a wake up call is on the horizon.

TELL CLARK! Like what has been pointed out above, Clark wants what Lois is wanting. To be together. To be himself. To have that happy ending. Between the two of them they can solve anything. She just desperately needs her partner to help her figure this out!

And hopefully Lois can realize that you can't, in any way, take 'Clark' away from 'Superman'. He IS Clark--in whatever outfit he is wearing.

Laura (who is hoping these next couple of weeks get put to good use by Lois and Clark working together ).

Hark! Where are thou? We all want another part!

Whew, sorry it's been so long -- things are finally moving along on selling our house and moving, and then there's birthdays and trips and such. You'd think I'd eventually stop underestimating how busy summers can get! Thanks for your patience, though, and for not giving up on me!

I fell in love with Clark/Superman/Lois in L&C, groobie, so I know what you mean. However, now I've become officially a fan of every medium (to varying degrees, naturally), and though shades of that inevitably come through, this is still ultimately an L&C story, so Clark Kent is very important (always!)! Thanks for the encouraging words about my style -- I can write new stories and new ideas, but there's not much I can do to change my style!

Thanks, bakasi! Utopia wouldn't exist without Superman, that's for sure!

It sounds strange to say, but I'm very glad you have so many questions, Virginia! Lois wasn't hypnotized at the door; she was stunned by what her source had said and all the pieces falling into a sudden new perspective. I'll go back through that and try to make that clearer -- there's enough confusion about who the source is without adding extra! I hope there's a way for Lois and Clark to find their happy ending; with Superman, there always is that bit of hope.

Chicken and broccoli is better with a little salt, right, DC? Lois does have a habit of getting involved in the worst things, but this one isn't so much her fault, at least. And I didn't update 'soon,' but at least there's one now...

Thanks, AnnieL -- the comparison to her father was one of my favorite bits to write! I loved reading all your impressions of the source, even though I can't reveal exactly why. I also liked how you mentioned that Clark has many reasons besides Lois to be Clark; that's often the facet we focus on here, since we're such fans of their relationship and chemistry, but I've always been a strong believer that Clark would find a way to keep going even without Lois, though it would be unimaginably hard (alt-Clark does it, after all, even though we all weep buckets for him that he has to). I do try to show that in my stories, or at least not forget it, but whoever Lois's source is he obviously has different thoughts on the subject!

Ooh, let's hope it's expert writing, LMA. Lois has definitely been growing more and more unsure about the entire situation, but this chapter did show her developing concern about Clark rather than the situation as a whole -- which is one of my favorite things about writing this story, getting to see Lois see Clark in a more revealing light.

Sorry, Morgana, and thanks for the reminder!

I was very worried about how this chapter would go over, with all that was revealed (and yet NOT revealed), so thank you for all the feedback! I'll try not to keep you waiting so long for the next update!

Lex clone?