OK, since I'm the most current perpetrator of this heinous crime, I'm going to use this nice little poll as a place to confess my sins
.
First of all, I do believe in the perfect match that is Lois and Clark. I loved the show - loved the chemistry between these two (or maybe that was between Dean and Teri <g>), and really saw that they were meant to be together.
However, if I like the other woman/man character (and by "like" I mean the character is someone that I can imagine Lois or Clark liking) and if the story is crafted so that the reasons for the get-together make sense to me, I have no problem with either person loving another at any given moment.
In fact, two things about the show itself have always led me to imagine Clark with another woman or in other relationships. First is the very harshness with which Lois treats him during Season 1. Personally, I never quite understood what he saw in her during that first season. My second reason is that I always thought Clark was portrayed as far too saintly. Now, I know that Clark is Superman, and Superman, by canon,
is saintly. But I've always admitted to liking my Clark a bit more three-dimensional and dark with more faults and the ability to hurt and to need comfort. Since the show did much to cast Clark as the real persona and Superman as the disguise, I think it is very "human" for him to have feelings for other women especially after Lois all-out rejects him.
I would not like stories that involved adultery or had Lois/Clark getting together with someone after they had confessed mutual love for each other. Nor would I like any one-night fling/drunken tumble/"he/she didn't mean anything" stories. In fact, the only time I would be accepting of another pairing would be if Lois/Clark believed that she/he was in love or had deep feelings for this non-Clark/non-Lois person.
I think in general I don't see love as a limited commodity. If Lois/Clark had a relationship with someone else, that doesn't diminish the uniqueness of their relationship when it does come to pass.
And to echo CC, to be honest, I like stories that shake things up a bit. As well and good as a nice, WAFFY get-together story can be, I need variety. I mean, after the hurdles of Lois learning Clark's secret and Lois overcoming her fear of intimacy and the Lex factor and the Tempus/altworld stuff, we need some new stuff to throw at these two. There is no harder obstacle to overcome IMHO than competition from another person who is just as deserving of Clark's/Lois's love.
Lynn
