Wow... I don't know what to say!! A discussion! Well, sort of
Again, thank you for ALL your feedback. EVERY bit helps me!!
And reading through this thread, I know why I've always been petrified to touch TOGOM. It's a very fine line Clark walks. He's upset and you have to treat his feelings with sensitivity, BUT... yeah, there's Lois. The most important person to him, who's beyond consoling when she loses him. It's understandable that when writing your own interpretation of this, you will alienate some people - or rather force them to find holes in the story - and you will have other readers in agreement with the actions you've written and how they've progressed/been justified.
FIRST, though:
Why not "we have another chance"? Lois' line touched me as rather self-centered.
Susan, until you pointed that out, I hadn't looked at it that way... but I could immediately see how it could be interpreted that way. BUT Kristen's interpretation was how I meant the line as well. In the ACTUAL episode, she says to Perry "he died without ever knowing," and this idea, this knowledge, is a huge part of my motivation in this story for Lois. Why she is beyond upset and can't get over it. Why her regrets start to take over her mind. She says to Superman early on in my story "he loved me." She knows it. She realizes it. And he tells her that is true. And she breaks down because no one knew, ESPECIALLY Clark, that she HAD felt the same way. She didn't admit it to herself until he was gone. She never got the chance to tell him. But now he's back... and she has a second chance to make that right.
Sorry that was a long answer
Okay... now for the comments from Tank and the replies to them from others-
First of all, thank you for saying Lois's reaction was believable. A few people said this, too. And I was so happy to read it. I felt that Lois - who was so far gone without Clark in this story - would just be bowled over with a relief so strong that she was actually unable to BE what she does have a right to be. Angry. And I think she has that right because he saw her that night. He saw that she was inconsolable. Screaming. Talking about wishing she had died instead. It was intense. And he saw that.
I was so incredibly interested in everything you said about Clark's POV. I tried to be sensitive to what Clark was going through, too, showing him putting distance even between his parents, who KNOW he's not dead, because he wants to get his new life going. But he can't. He is devastated at what he's lost. He has lost his old life and misses it painfully. He is trying to come to terms with it throughout. Trying to do something to get a new life going. Even though he knows a lot of people are suffering.
Onaleia wrote:
Just because he wasn't physically trapped by these circumstances (like a human would have been ...) does not invalidate the fact that he was trapped and needed time to start to work his way free again.
A month... well, that is time for him to rightfully, as argued here and by some others, deal with his own issues, feeling himself justified to NOT tell Lois he hadn't been killed that night. Okay...
But I also tried to be true to Clark's nature. He caused a lot of people (argumentably *unneccessary*) pain and suffering. People he loves. And Clark can't just focus on himself when that is the situation. I do believe that in the face of his own devastation he would in the end put his focus on the fact that before his very eyes, he saw LOIS... who he loves more than anything... break. Just break.
And bottom line: he is not dead.
On this, Wendy wrote:
...what right has he to decide for Lois that it's better for her to believe Clark is dead - and that she's responsible! - than for her to know that he's alive but she can only see him occasionally as Superman?
if Clark does have a point that he didn't seem to have any other option open to him, that does not negate Lois's right to be angry and upset. He's supposedly her best friend, and he let her think that he was dead.
I tried to bring this point home (not sure on its effect) with Lois's line about if the tables had been turned. Clark's feelings for Lois are so strong, he could see that if he thought she were dead, but she WASN'T... he would want to know. He'd go nuts in the same situation. He'd feel the way she did. And it's a horrible way to feel.
I think his devastation at losing his life is valid!! I am so glad you brought it up, Tank, too, because I WOULD be interested in seeing a story that emphasized his loss over hers, or put them on an equal ground anyway. If a story like that worked, it would be incredibly interesting to read. I know I've focused on Lois's grief mostly (as do many writers taking on this episode). So basically, I do feel his devastation is valid. I also get that he *is* for all intents and purposes dead. BUT... again, if he thought Lois dead, but for some secret reason she weren't ACTUALLY dead, he would want to know. He knows that.
Besides, again, he SAW her that night. He ran away because he saw her that night and couldn't face what his secret had done to her.
But it's true...
He'd realised that she was still desperately grieving, instead of moving on with her life as he'd hoped. That she'd quit the Planet. That she was really barely existing, rather than actually living - and that all of this was because of his 'death'.
Clark's very nature is what prevents him from putting his own devastation above Lois and his concern for her in the end. His love for her. I can't even imagine him not apologizing.
Okay, I am not sure if I've made ANY sense, but hopefully I did.
SJH wrote:
If Lois doesnt have a nervous brake down after making love in her sleep to a dead man,finding out she's pregnant , and then discovering the son of a gun is Superman of all people,she's the invulnerable one.
LOL
I haven't given her a nervous breakdown as you can see, but I could definitely see why she might have one. She's just a plucky one, I guess!!
Thank you Irene, Kristen and Wendy for complimenting Lois's reaction to seeing Clark again. As Clark, that is. And Laura, Susan, Wendy- for writing that you enjoyed that she didn't tear him apart; that you enjoyed the reaction here or that you found it interesting that her relief would overwhelm her anger.
MAF wrote:
Tell him about the baby!
Are they going to let Perry in the secret?
How are they going to bring Clark back?
... stick with me
Thank you all for the replies and the VERY interesting discussion. It does give me (and others!) food for thought. While I tried to be sensitive to Clark, it's interesting to see how it translates, for sure!!
~NICOLE
