Hi everyone! It’s so great to log on and see comments while I travel and am feeling short of energy!
Sheila-
This person would have to have lots of power and deep pockets. You've gotta hurry back and solve this for us!
Definitely! Lois, Perry, Clark, Jimmy, Martha, and Jonathan are trying to figure out who it is right now and they’ve narrowed it down to just this list of criteria, but no names yet… Could it be John?
I am still thoroughly enjoying this!
Thanks, Sheila! This is fun to write, so it’s always good to hear that it’s fun to read as well.
Ann-
I should have realized you would take issue with this chapter. It was a bit Clark-centric, wasn’t it?
Everybody here supports Clark, protects Clark, hugs Clark, finds excuses for Clark, tries to make sure Clark isn't upset or uncomfortable. Nobody, on the other hand, supports Lois.
Some of this is purely related to the fact that Clark is hurt and that naturally makes people who care for him want to make sure he’s okay.
She should have known that Clark was Superman. She shouldn't have asked for a relationship with Superman. She couldn't be trusted to know Clark's secret. She should have gotten married.
However, this wasn’t supposed to read like this. While, you are right, support was for Clark, it wasn’t an attack on Lois. When I wrote this, I wasn’t seeing everyone as weighing in on the Lois/Clark argument. It wasn’t that Perry thought Lois should have known Clark was Superman – it was that he didn’t tell her as he thought she did know. It wasn’t that she shouldn’t have asked for a relationship with Superman – it was that she deserved better than that. It wasn’t that she should have gotten married – it was that Clark had hoped she would (ie, he wanted her to go on and be happy without him).
I’m not sure what was said that made you think someone thought she couldn’t be trusted with Clark’s secret, but that was definitely not the case. Case in point – Martha said, “I think Clark should have told you the truth,” Perry assumed she knew, Jimmy assumed she knew, etc.
Perry, who was described in the show as someone who loved Lois like a daughter, watched Lois sink into despair for ten years and never once had a serious talk with her about Clark.
It’s probably asking a lot that you remember this, but at the very beginning of the story Perry (or Jimmy, I can’t recall which) explained that Lois rebuffed all attempts to get together with them after Clark’s death. Add to this the fact that Perry was going through his own thing, he didn’t think he had anything to say that she didn’t already know, and he didn’t push as hard as he should have to talk to Lois.
Martha, who told Clark almost as soon as she had met Lois that Lois was in love with him, did little to make Clark go to Lois and tell her truth about what had happened.
Clark’s an adult and so I’m not sure what Martha should have done aside from try to convince him that he was wrong (which she did). Aside from this, it’s not really Martha’s role to go to Lois directly.
And here, when Lois is angry, Martha immediately defends Clark, or at least suggests that Lois has no right to be angry.
I don’t see Martha as defending Clark here and certainly not suggesting that Lois has no right to be angry. Just explaining that she did agree with Perry that it would be reasonable for Lois to be upset that Clark is dead even if she knew that Clark was Superman as a relationship with Superman may not be enough for her.
Lois has just had to buy a new couch, as well as some other furniture and equipment, for Clark's sake. Did Martha and Jonathan offer to help her pay for it?
They did actually – I just hadn’t mentioned it yet. I thought that perhaps the issue of money was something that wouldn’t have come up when everyone was focused on making sure Clark didn’t die.
I have to tell you, anonpip - if Clark doesn't sit down with Lois and have a serious talk with her, and if he doesn't admit to her that what he did was inexcusable, and if he doesn't tell her that he has to apologize very deeply and seriously anyway, then I don't think Lois should stay with him.
While there will definitely be some more apologizing, I should warn you that it may not be enough for you. I feel like Clark has already done this and since I don’t view the scene above as everyone ganging up on Lois, I don’t know that another serious discussion/apology makes sense. Lois is getting over it (slowly).
And if Martha doesn't apologize for not trying harder to make her boy go to Lois and tell her the truth, and if she doesn't apologize for jumping in and defending Clark's behaviour when Lois was angry, then I really, really don't think Lois should want her for her mother-in-law.
This, too, is unlikely to happen since I don’t see Martha as having defended Clark – I didn’t see this as a rehash of the argument. Just Lois getting upset, because her emotions were running high, because Clark was so sick.
And if Perry doesn't apologize to Lois for not talking to her about Clark for ten years, then I don't think she should go back to the Daily Planet.
Just as a reminder, Perry has retired. He’s not the editor of the Daily Planet anymore.
Anyway, this is the last time I'm going to write a negative review of this story. If I don't like the upcoming parts of it, I won't be reviewing at all.
Just so you know, I don’t mind your negative reviews. While clearly they don’t stroke my ego as much as positive ones, I really appreciate all the time you take to comment on the story and give your opinion even when you don’t agree. And a lot of what you’ve said in the past has had an impact on what happened after as I realize better where what I was thinking when I was writing isn’t coming through as much as I would like.
Good luck finishing in, because it is an original story with a really interesting A-plot.
Thank you!
But I have to admit that Lois's timing was off when she started taking people to task for how they had treated her. This is not the time for serious talks about past mistakes or for heartfelt apologies. This is the time to concentrate on dealing with the horrible kryptonite threat to Clark's life.
Precisely. This was the main thing going on. People were trying to diffuse Lois’ anger to get back to the matter at hand. Lois wanted to as well, it was just that she was feeling so emotional, she burst out. That was part of the reason why one minute she was trying to put aside her feelings to concentrate on Clark and the next she’s lashing out.
(And I'm really curious about how you will pull that one off - the dealing with the kryptonite threat, I mean!)
Well, hopefully the story won’t go in such a way that you feel the need to stop reading and you’ll find out.
Gr8shadesofElvis-
Still enjoying reading.
(yes, sadly that's all I have to say.)
That’s great to hear even if you no more to say. It’s always good to hear that others are reading and enjoying my story!
