Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: Time Doesn't Heal

Ah, Dandello. First off, welcome to the boards!! It's always great to have new writers! ), are a bad idea. The quantity you'd need to consume is ridiculously huge, and you'd probably just end up vomiting. And when you're taking pains to kill yourself this way, the last thing you want is to expell everything. (I'll admit I don't have a vast knowledge of all anti-depressants and their intake limits, but this is what I know in general.)

Now, I wonder what Clark's plan was exactly (because, yes, I'm morbid ). Kryptonite and drinking bitty shards of Kryptonite - good plan. Works the inside and outside. That makes me wonder why he even bothered with the pills, though. How could he know if they'd even have any effect or the right effect? Perhaps for appearance's sake, so as to keep up what may be left of the Clark Kent persona? (Or would he even care?)

I am a bit concerned that Clark obviously planned for his parents to find him like this. Actually, I think that is a bit out of character, even given his depressed state and suicide plans. Not sure what to suggest there.

Finally, to answer the initial question: I think you've set up a fairly plausible suicide here for Superman. The reason is key. It's not just that he was too slow to save her or at a natural disaster when someone shot her - it's that he killed her. I really don't think he'd ever forgive himself for that. I would have liked to see a little more of this reason earlier on, but it did give me a gasp and a WHAM as it is.

I hope you don't mind the detailed feedback like this, but I do think a story like this deserves attention. I'll look forward to reading more of your work in the future - deathfic or not.

And don't forget to submit your stories to the Fanfic Archive !

Sara (who's hoping people don't think her too... odd for the detailed analysis of such a dark issue )

Hi,

Great story.

According to my source, tricyclic anti-depressants are a favored way of committing suicide. They cause cardiac suppression leading to cardiac failure.

As to Martha & Jonathan walking in - I have to re-think that part. Expect revisions.

Oh, wow. Who knew? I stand corrected.

Don't feel you need to if you like it as is; it's your story. I would be welcome to revisions, though, if you write them. Actually, I see you've ammended it. And can I just say that this line kills me:

This both fixes my concern and breaks my heart! Just a little line, but it adds so much, I think.

I forgot to mention earlier in all my babbling that there were quite a few touching lines in this story. Maria pointed one out - the ending. I quite liked how Henderson and Perry saw fit to still conceal Clark's identity. I also really liked that Clark was found with Lois's bear. So sad.

Thanks for writing!

Sara

Good story. I wonder though if you wrote this as a follow-up to Terry Leatherwood's recent story She\'s . It was also about Lois dying after being frozen, and the end of the story revealed a very depressed Clark.

And yes, this story was sad, but very realistic. And I speak as a nurse with psychiatric experience. Most people would probably say Clark could never kill himself, but if he sank into the depths of depression, I think it could be possible though I don't think he would do it in such a planned manner. I noted in my recent story that he considered that after Lois died, but he didn't kill her in the story. What would have happened if had been responsible for her death? I think Clark would have been devastated beyond any thing you could imagine. Even if he didn't commit suicide, he would no longer really be living. I think that's what Terry was trying to say in his story.

I, too, wonder about the drugs and the alcohol. Even with Kryptonite exposure, would he even be able to be affected by alcohol or the drugs - at least orally? If they were injected that might be a different matter. Also, Clark is still a man, and this suicide doesn't fit typical male pattern suicide. Men are more likely to do something where they know there is no chance of survival. I don't want to be morbid, but I'd think if Clark were that suicidal, that he would choose a more violent suicide.

I also don't think he'd want his parents to find him. He'd want it to be someone else.

Yes, I admit it was inspired by 'She's'.
After feedback, I've made some changes, including adding that Martha and Jonathan arrived a day early.
As to the drugs - a couple of different writers here have made the assumption that when Clark's invulnerability is down, he would be susceptible to injested poison, including alcohol. This is the assumption I've made.
I recognize that men are more likely to commit violent suicide. (I hail from Seattle, originally. There's a very popular bridge for suicide - women jump off the middle into the water (greater chance of survival), men jump off over the warehouses at the end of the bridge.) However, given that he's normally invulnerable, any form of suicide would have to be planned out.

First off, this is such a heart-wrenching story! And its so well written. For being new to the boards, I admire you jumping in with such a controversial subject.

For the discussion about Clark's form of suicide, I think it fits for him. I'm with those that believe when his invulnerability is down, he is susceptible to most anything just like the rest of us. It would be a pretty clean suicide. Being exposed to kryptonite for so long, added with the ingested kryptonite, would have been enough. The drugs and alcohol was just an added bonus. (Morbid, I know. Sorry.)

I don't think Clark would have gone for a more violent suicide. It was pretty much a sure thing the way he did it. And he was able to die in his own apartment as Clark. Since it was more private, there'd be a better chance that whoever found him would be a friend. That would go a long way to keeping his identity secret. So I bet he did put thought into preserving the Clark/Superman secret. After all, his parents are still alive. Bad guys aren't necessarily a problem, but I can't imagine they'd be left alone in their grief if it became public who they were actually grieving. So maybe the drugs and alcohol were for appearance sake.

Anyway, I think Clark wanted to go as Clark. And he wanted everyone esle to see it that way too. The tape revealing the secret was only addressed to Perry and his parents anyway.

So...I think you did a great job. This story made me cry, I'll admit it. Especially the part where Lois had already written his obituary and he wanted that to be used. Welcome to the boards and I hope you keep writing!

~Kristen

Wow.

Wham.

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, this is indeed a powerful story. Thank you for the warning at the beginning, so I knew what I was getting into.

The question of whether or not Clark would commit suicide is open to much debate, and I'm not going to start it! (Not here, at least.) As I see your story, it's a logical extension of "She's" for all the reasons enumerated above by others. It's interesting that you also use a video tape to communicate Clark's last message to his loved ones.

And I agree with you that Clark, recognizing the necessity of keeping his dual identity a secret and his perceived need to die as Clark and Superman, the manner of his suicide is both logical and reasonable. Many other authors have postulated that Clark would be susceptible to human-type stimulants or drugs or illnesses if Kryptonite had removed his powers, so that part of the story works very well.

The part about the teddy bear got to me. When my oldest son had his first surgery at age 12 for a large cancerous tumor in his chest, the hospital gave him a small stuffed bear as a "cough buddy" that he could hold close when he had to cough. It seemed to ease his pain. When he died, over a year later (in 1992), that bear became very important to us. That Clark would choose to end his life cuddled up to Lois's Corn Festival bear is so touching and so very painful, but very true to his character.

Because of my personal and religious beliefs, I could never have written this story. But please don't take that as a flame or a slap. I mean it as a compliment of the highest order. You did an excellent job on it, and my tear-dappled hat is off to you.

Well, in spite of my general distaste of deathfic, I am, as many know, particularly tired of seeing Lois getting killed, so this story was definitely an interesting change of pace. Actually, I have found it particularly annoying that many Lois deathfics seem to be written specifically to make Clark unhappy ever after - he never seems to contemplate suicide in these stories, though, interestingly enough.

Well, I really think it makes very good sense that if Clark has actually killed Lois, he ought to be punished for it one way or another. If I had been a prosecutor and I considered Superman guilty of killing Lois by deliberately freezing her and then being unable to bring her back to life, I would consider it my duty to try to have him found guilty of second- or third-degree murder (or whatever the legal term in the U.S. would be) and then have him put away for a few years. I certainly wouldn't ask for the death penalty, partly because I'm against capital punishment, but mostly because it was obvious that Superman hadn't deliberately killed Lois Lane. He had, however, actively, knowingly and deliberately subjected her to terrible danger. And what kind of legal system would we have if that was allowed, just like that? What kind of precedent would it set? Can you imagine what kind of defense or excuses future killers of wives or girlfriends would offer up?

Sure she's dead, officer, and it's true she died after I hit her, but she asked me to do it, honestly.

Here, look, I have a signed statement - she said it was okay if I killed her....

The fact that Lois asked Superman to freeze her is no excuse. She did not ask him to kill her. She trusted him to revive her afterwards. It was up to him to ask himself if he would be able to bring her back to life afterwards. If he wasn't sure he could, his only reasonable course of action would be to refuse.

Okay, but if he refused to do something that Lois asked him - begged him - to do, wouldn't he have shown her contempt? Wouldn't he have belittled her love for him?

Balderdash. Like I said, Lois was not asking him to kill her. She was asking him to let her help him save his parents, but she trusted him to revive her afterwards. If she had known he couldn't, if she had known that she would die, and if she had known he would be devastated afterwards, would she still have asked him to do it? I most certainly don't think so, but in the end it doesn't matter. This was Clark's decision, no one else's.

Come on, officer, there was this thug threatening my parents - she demanded that I *almost* kill her but not for real - sure it's not my fault that she died, is it?

Yes, it is, Clark. You are responsible for your own actions. No one else is.

A man like Superman is always going to have to see people die because he was unable to save them. That's why he mustn't actively, knowingly and deliberately put them in the kind of danger that he can't save them from.

Interesting take on Clark's guilt, Dandello. Well done.

Ann

This is a well written, powerful vignette, Danello. Thank you for writing it.

I took the view that the kryptonite killed him and that he just used the anti-depressants to knock himself out so he wouldn't feel the full effects.

Hi Dandello,

I was reading your story - and then it stopped in mid-sentence, like this:

What has happened there? From the FDK of other readers I can see there´s something missing which I can´t see. Could you please help me?

By the way, I like your story - as far as I could read it.

Somehow, the post got corrupted. I've uploaded the rest so it's complete now.

Many thanks for the repair!

It´s heartbreakingly sad! Great WHAM! Many thanks!

Time Doesn't Heal has finally been uploaded into the main L&C site. Many many thanks to those who let me know how they felt about this story and many thanks to the people who have just now found it and are sending their reviews privately.