Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: An Affair To Remember (5/5)

David, please add an appendix with your next story. Thank you.

Dave, please understand that I'm not using the same yardstick when I'm reading your story as you used when you wrote it. I believe that to you and to Wendy, and quite possibly to the huge majority of the people visiting these boards at all, the story of Lois and Clark emanates exclusively from a self-contained ABC TV show starring Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher. Those of you who are looking at Lois and Clark that way are, or so I think, primarily exploring

a) individual episodes of that show, and

b) the character development of Lois and Clark seen as a function of the continuity of the show, which was created because the episodes were aired in a particular order.

Anyone who has written his or her story exploring a) and b) deserves to have his or her story judged according to a) and b). Personally, however, I'm completely unable to do that. I started watching the show like the rest of you, but I was distracted and unable to really concentrate on it because I was upset at things going on in the comic books at the same time. So after some time I just stopped watching. Although I watched the odd episode after that, I never really jumped on board again. This means that I have watched less than half of the episodes, and I've never watched a single episode twice.

To me, the individual episodes of L&C:TNAOS aren't important. The continuity of the show isn't important. All of that is a blur in my mind. What is important to me is that the show established that

1) Clark is the real person and Superman is the disguise (which was honestly the case in the comic book world at the same time, too), and

2) Lois is completely necessary to Clark, so that there can be no story about Superman which isn't also a story about Lois. And that was something that had never truly been an aspect of the Superman myth before. And...

3) Yes, they did get one another eventually!!! They got married in the comic books too, but without the presence of 2), a marriage doesn't necessarily mean that much. In fact, the way things were going in the comic books, I'm not absolutely, absolutely sure that Lois and Clark would have gotten married in the comic books at all, if it hadn't been for the TV show.

The Superman myth, all of it, is like a blur in my mind. It's like an incredibly huge canvas on which comic book editors, writers and artists, movie directors and movie actors, TV show directors and TV show actors, as well as big money-making corporations have all left their marks. It's like a super-gigantic salad bowl into which all these aspects of the Superman myth have been put and shredded and mixed together.

When I look at that canvas of the Superman myth, I can see that there is just too much of certain colors there. I can see that there are these beautiful strokes of red, symbolizing love. But there is also way, way too much yellow, representing cowardice, and too much black, representing lies. (Are lies black? To me they are.)

So whenever I get to read a story where I think that either Lois and Clark is acting like a coward or a liar, I just get frustrated. And I don't stop to ask myself whether the particulars of an individual TV show episode, or the location of that episode in the continuity of the TV show, actually more or less demands that Lois and Clark should behave that way.

Wendy made her point beautifully when she explained why Lois's behaviour in Dave's story not only makes perfect sense, but is also loyal, loving and supportive, when we see it from the TV show continuity point of view. I was unable to see it that way, and to me, it just added more yellow strokes to a canvas already far too full of yellow. I'm really grateful that I have been offered another perspective of things.

And once again, Dave: Thank you so much for writing this beautiful story. I haven't seen the episode on which your story is based. But believe me: I couldn't have loved that episode better, or even as much as, the story it prompted you to write. Which is really the fourth extremely important thing that the Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher TV show has given to us: The wonderful stories that you guys out there keep writing and posting for us! Thanks!!!

Ann

Ann said:

True. I do see the series as providing the entire canon and continuity for fanfic that I write, and the Lois and Clark universe I work within. It's not that I'm not aware that there are comics and there have been films and other TV series, but I regard those as 'alternate universes'. The Lois and Clark - or Lois and Superman, since in most of these 'alternate realities' Superman is the real person, not Clark - of these other universes are not the Lois and Clark I know and love, and their stories have nothing to do with the stories of the Lois and Clark I write about, read about and watch.

To me, therefore, it makes no sense to judge 'our' Clark on the behaviour of his comics counterpart, because that isn't him. It's his counterpart from a completely different reality. The same goes for Lois.

Whether I'd feel any differently were I as immersed in the comics as you are, Ann, I don't know - I'd be interested to hear the perspective of a comics fan like Tank on this point.


Wendy

Thanks for sharing this story! More from you, soon, please!!

~NICOLE

ps- Much as I love drawing my own conclusions abotu their undoubtedly wonderful, romantic future, I REALLY would love to read that epilogue!!!

First of all... wow.

I'm glad so many people enjoyed the story, and I'm very glad there were no stones tossed over the ending. The epilogue has been submitted to the fundraiser DVD, which will be available sometime later this year. You'll have to speak to one of our committee members for more details.

A few quick comments...

Long? With... A plots and character development? /me looks for a 'gulp' graemlin

Wow, Chriscy, thank you!

Not in this story, no. And, as I have little tolerance of the little man in the bowler hat, it's not likely to happen in any of my other stories, but, as I said earlier, I wouldn't mind reading a story that had a bit of manipulation in it.

Yes, that did always bother me, especially since breaking up the asteriod had more probable side effects than pushing it into the sun would, but I realised that Clark probably has no clue. If an "expert" like the scientists at Eprad told him it had to be done a certain way, he'd probably be inclined to believe them.

I'm sorry, what?


Now... I'm also glad it sparked off a psuedo-debate. They're always fun to read.

Let me see if I grasped the issues correctly.

1) Lois being worthy of Clark; and

2) Why Lois said 'no' to Clark's proposal

I'll start with point two...

I think Wendy and Nicole answered this perfectly, but I will try. I'm pretty dense myself, so there's no promises.

They nailed it when they said it was too soon. They nailed it when they said it wasn't in Lois's character for season one, and they nailed it when they said she had doubts and insecurities. I love how Wendy phrased it.

And, despite knowing all that, for a time, I contemplated her saying yes. Because I couldn't fathom Lois sending Clark to face the asteriod after turning him down. She'd say yes if she had to, to give him the courage to go up there. I was torn for the longest time - one of the reasons this chapter took so long to come out. Dare I say I was agonising over Lois's answer as much as I would have if I'd asked someone to marry me.

In the end, I decided to write the scene from another angle. From Clark's POV once he was already up there, and I had him remember the conversation on the balcony with Lois. I realised, Lois doesn't need to say yes, because she doesn't need to give him enough courage to face his death. She honestly believes he will make it back. There's no doubt in her mind, and so, she can be true to her own feelings when she answers. And, as Nicole pointed out, it's only been a day. She's discovered so much in a day. She's confused and she has a lot to sort through. Yes, she admitted she loved him, but she only just realised. It's not that she doesn't want to marry Clark. Her answer isn't 'no', it's 'I can't', because she honestly can't. She can't make that kind of decision when she doesn't know how she feels. When her entire world has been turned upside down in the course of a few days and she hasn't had time to contemplate anything because she's been so busy trying to be strong.

Which brings me back to point one...

Is Lois worthy of Clark?

I believe so, yes. I don't believe Lois was acting out of cowardice or that her love of Clark was less than Clark's love of her. I think, throughout, she was just being honest, and being honest when the temptation to lie is so great says a great deal. If we put aside all the issues with continuity and just look at the context of the story, you'll see that Lois and Clark are approaching the same theme from different angles. Different backgrounds. For Clark, his love for Lois is an established fact. It's something he, as far as he can recall, has always known. He loves her enough to dream of a life with her. While for Lois, her love of Clark is new. It's something she's just discovered. I think it's completely natural that she'd be awkward with it. That she'd be less inclined to follow impulses, that her gut reaction may still be to back away instead of move forward. There's no instant change, no magical tranformation. She's only just learning how to love Clark. Her love isn't less, it's just different.

Again, to everyone who took the time to read and leave comments - thank you. Writing this story has been a real experience. Mostly, thanks to your comments, good.

Dave (who loves that his story has sparked a discussion)

My apologies, David, for not reading this earlier! Real life gets in the way sometimes.

Still, now that I have...What a great ending. Not too over the top, yet satisfying. We know how it's going to end, even if he doesn't (which I think Wendy said as well).

You capture the intensity of the moment so well, as always. I can't wait for the epilogue

Dave

I'm sorry I'm so late here.

The finish is perfect. I love it and can't wait to read the epilogue.

Tricia