Wow!!! What wonderful feedback! I'm overwhelmed.
Thank you all!!
The ending lines... I'm just blown away by your reaction to them. There I was, sitting on IRC while trying to finish up the story, convinced that I only needed one or two more sentences to do it. But everything I added seemed incomplete and needed more. Finally, in an IM with Sara (Krafty), I admitted my frustration. She started joking around and something she said just put that babe/jerk exchange into my head. So thank you, Sara!
I can't even begin to do justice to your wonderful comments, insight and praise, so please believe me when I say that you made my month.
This is the first story I've written in what, for me, is a very long time - I've had several months of writers' block, being unable to dredge up the motivation to write. But I wrote this. And finished it. And now I'm working again on a long story I'd started in the spring, and I think I might actually finish it.
Which feels
really good. Your comments help even more to keep the motivation going on that.
By the way, I mentioned in my reply to part 1 that I'd say something about what inspired this story. It was a conversation on IRC between a some of us who love Season 1 Lois and some others who only liked her once she mellowed. One of the Season 1 Lois camp argued that Clark was guilty of cruel behaviour: that he played mind games with her all season. Thinking about it, I realised that I didn't entirely agree. Yes, Clark did play up to her as Superman. He did seem to take advantage of his dual identity to keep her confused and in a spin. But at least some of what he did was done because he just didn't know any better.
He loved Lois from first sight. She had no time for Clark. She fell for Superman like a ton of bricks. He ached for a smile or a kind word from her. All he got from her as Clark was sarcasm. So when he got smiles and active encouragement as Superman he couldn't help but respond. Give a starving man a crust of bread, and he'll devour it... and that's what Clark did, the way I see it. Just like he couldn't help pretending to be under the influence of the pheremone at the end of PML - after all, she'd driven him to the end of his endurance when she'd been under the influence and trying to seduce Clark. So no mind games, I think, just confusion, naiveté and feeling his way in the dual roles. And that's what I was trying to show in this story.
I'm glad you all liked it! Thank you again.
Wendy
I finally caught up and I spent the past half hour reading both parts and laughing out loud in turns with awwwing in plenty of places. Beautiful story!
