Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK If I Were You 6/?

Sweet! Excellent chapter!

I wondered about Clark's just dropping Lois off like that, so I'm glad you decided to address that issue with Martha, rather than just do the normal "Hi Lois! Welcome!" thing. The Mrs. Kent thing though is very sad. But I gotta say, I feel...vindicated (wc?) that Martha's so firmly in Clark's camp in this chapter. She and Lois are always so close that it's nice to see her loyalty to Clark, simply because it highlights for Lois how much her rejection, unwillingness to listen about Lex, and of course the request for Superman (incomprehensible even 13 years later) really did hurt Clark, how insensitive and pretty much cruel it was.

That first sentence is the reason sa many fanfics can get to me. I find the idea of Lois reacting to rejection from Clark absolutely fascinating. The whole idea of self-fufilling prophecy with her is just so interesting!

And this whole scene...
There's something about Superman bustling around a kitchen, getting totally cowed by his "Mo-om" that is just too delightful!


Ah! Totally satisfying...but I still crave more! How do you do that Caroline?

Loved this part!

I'm sure Martha was unhappy with Clark for dropping Lois off without any notice or explanation the night before, but I'm not sure she's really upset with Lois. While she has to be hurt on Clark's behalf, her prickliness has made Clark treat Lois better. Given her unshakable belief (and rightly so!) that Clark and Lois love each other, this could just be a great manipulation!

I can't wait to read more!!

One of my favorite things about the LnC:TNAOS canon is how it seems to say that Martha believes in Lois, likes Lois and is looking forward to the day when Clark will stop being such a lunkhead in regard to Lois. That's why I found it really disquieting that Martha would freeze out Lois the way she did here.

But that doesn't mean I think you were wrong to show Martha like this. Indeed, you made it perfectly logical and believable that in the end, Martha would ultimately side with Clark when he and Lois have had a serious argument.

It was hugely interesting to see how you had Jonathan come through for Lois and support her to make up for the cold shoulder she received from Martha. Personally, I've always thought of Martha as a little warmer than Jonathan, at least when it comes to Lois. But this worked very well.

Also, the way Martha froze Lois out made Clark react protectively towards Lois! I have to agree with Angie here. Perhaps Martha's frosty behaviour is at least partly an act, to force Clark to feel sorry for Lois and acknowledge at least some of his love and attraction for her. And the attraction bit certainly worked! I loved this:

Actually, the whole paragraph there was lovely, but I'm afraid I'm only going to quote that one sentence!

I need to talk more about Clark, but first I must quote my favorite sentences in all this part, which have to do with Lois coming to terms with who Clark is:

Caroline, I think that may be the best description I've ever come across of the dichotomy and enigma that is, as you have Lois put it, SuperClark. I love it!

But the most moving part of this chapter was certainly the ending. This is so extremly fascinating and well-written:

This is so incredibly well written: Clark's story, the reaction he expects to get from Lois, and the (to him) completely baffling reaction that he does get. And it gets worse:

This is incredibly poignant. It seems quite clear why Lois is crying: She's crying because she's made such a colossal mistake. She, Mad Dog Lane, world class investigative reporter, never guessed at Lex Luthor's dark side, let alone the incredible magnitude of it. That sort of mistake is unforgivable on so many levels. It's unforgivable because her stupidity made it possible for Luthor to victimize more people while Lois let herself be taken in by him. It's a blow to her pride in her journalistic ability that she may not recover from. It's unforgivable because it made her act towards Clark in such a way that he may never be able to like her, let alone love her, any more. And it's unforgivable because it makes her look like one of those incredibly stupid women who wilfully get involved with men who will destroy them.

And it's so sad and poignant that Clark understands none of this. He doesn't understand Lois's vulnerability, and what kind of condemnation she will pass on herself because of this.

Interestingly, Clark hasn't understood that he has hurt Lois. He has been all wrapped up in his own hurt feelings, the pain she has made him feel. He doesn't understand that he is indeed partly guilty of sending Lois into Luthor's arms. Not really because he rejected her as Superman. But because he refused to tell her what he knew about Luthor. Why didn't he tell her? If he had told her as Superman, she would almost certainly have listened to him, and none of this would have happened. Isn't he to blame almost as much as Lois is herself for what has happened?

I hope Clark will blame himself a little for what happened. Not so that he starts wallowing in self-disgust. But maybe enough to make him realize that we all make mistakes. Yes, Lois made a bad mistake, and she hurt him badly by it. But he, too, made a horrible mistake and hurt her. He is not the only one who is in pain. Perhaps he and Lois could start forgiving one another?

It's a beautiful chapter, Caroline. So sad and poignant.


Ann

Hi,

Great part.

That's it, I need to read the first 5 parts. And to think I was going to take a nap during my afternoon off.

Jen

Ah, Caroline...another great part! I love how you portrayed Martha's feelings toward Lois. I agree with the previously stated notion that it may all be an act of manipulation on Martha's part.

Clark is so hurt and so is Lois. I'm curious to know what Clark was going to say when Lois told him to 'just go' at the end.

I am really enjoying this story and I hope you post again sooner than in a week. This is absolutely fabulous!

great part. I love the portrait of the emotions. Can't wait for the next part.

Tahu

Wow I am really loving this Caroline! Great job. Laura

This was a great chapter.

I liked the whole "using a quote from the series without actually following the plot line of the series" trick. It also showed how much alike Lois and Clark really are, whether they're willing to admit it or not.

As much as it pains me to see my favorite people fight, I think these are conversations that really needed to be explored.

Can't wait to read more!

Marcy

*sigh* Caroline, this story is good. It is so good.

I'd been seeing the installments posted on the board, but thought to myself that I'd probably be better off waiting till it was complete and in the archive to read it. But then every time I saw a new feedback thread post count getting higher, I felt myself wavering a bit more on that. So I finally took the plunge, and for the most part, I am very glad I did.

This is such an excellent piece. You have each and every one of the characters and their relationships pinned down precisely, and your story offers fascinating insights into their respective psyches. I ran the gamut of emotions while reading it, my heart breaking over Clark's pain and Lois' fears right before I'd end up laughing at an amusing comment or thought.

I loved the rapid, sharp and snappy banter, which I haven't found in fic that often, and it brought my appreciation of your story to a higher level.

There are so many lines that I could quote from each installment, but this made me grin widely, so it's the one I'll single out for now:

Awww.

I loved Clark's continually trying to convince himself that he can be instantly over Lois and done with her, when it's obvious to everyone that that's just not possible.

I said earlier that for the most part, I'm glad I decided to read this now. What about that teeny tiny part of me that might not be over the moon? It's the one thinking that I'll be waiting with bated breath for the next chapter, and that that might not be a very healthy situation to be in.

Out of curiosity, since you said you discovered the show via the DVDs, have you actually seen the entire run of the series, or just the first two seasons? Whatever the case may be, I think you have their relationship at the end of S1 down pat.

Really lovely writing, Caroline. Can't wait for more.

Caroline

WOW! This is superb. I'm thoroughly enjoying this.

Tricia

What beautiful and brilliant observations this part has inspired of your readers, Caroline! I'd have to agree with nearly all of them.

All of yesterday, I was battling RL in order to read this story. Then, when I finally got to, I was too tired to post proper feedback, so here I am now.

I'll have to admit that Martha being so prickly bothered me at first, but now I've realized that it's because I was right there with Lois, being incredibly uncomfortable with Martha's treatment of her. Oh, and that Lois babble... brilliant.

Now, I enjoyed the whole part, but the following three quotes are the ones that made me stop, gasp, and copy and paste into a Word file for later commenting.

Wow, wow, wow! I love this observation! That last part of it, especially. "...for Clark Kent, nothing was simple." That, paired with the previous "Clark might wish to be an ordinary man, but he never could be," is just...

Well, brilliant. And the best part is that Lois has observed something that Clark doesn't even know about himself. It's incredibly sad, but yet so characteristic of Clark. He's got such a naïve outlook on things sometimes, but that's what keeps him with so pure a heart, no?

I could go on, but I'm really not sure how to. It's more of a *feeling* I have that's hard to describe other than saying: A++ on your characterization of Clark and Lois here. )

This one... made me catch my breath and I very nearly cried, right at the moment her hand touched his arm. I can't even articulate it, really, but the last sentence you have there does a good job of it, actually. Unsettling.

I continue to be in awe, Caroline!

I can't wait to see more of this story!!! (I'll wait patiently, though. *sigh* You can't rush brilliance, eh?)

Sara

I've only seen the first two seasons, but I do have a pretty good idea of what happens in the last two seasons based on reading fanfic and skimming through the posted scripts. I wouldn't attempt to write a story set in one of the seasons I haven't seen, however. I don't think I could trust myself to distinguish fanon from canon or to get the characterizations right without having actually seen the shows. Lois, in particular, seems to change dramatically from season 1 to season 4.

Whew! I'm so glad to hear that you and other commenters think I made this work. I was prepared to hear a lot about Martha's characterization, and possible OOC-ness, in this part of "If I Were You," because I know that as the series went on she and Lois became very close and had something perhaps more like a mother/daughter relationship than most mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. And I think that's wonderful - Lois clearly needs someone like that since her own mother is rather deficient in that role.

In my story, however, Lois and Martha don't know each other that well. They'd met during the events of "Green, Green Glow of Home," but Lois was still treated very much as a family outsider in that episode, with Martha and Jonathan clearly committed to keeping her from learning Clark's secret. No other face to face meetings come to mind from season one, though feel free to remind me if there's one I'm forgetting. Martha is enthusiastic about Lois in season one because she senses that Clark is and she wants him to be happy, but I don't think she knows her well enough yet to love her for herself. In my story, she recognizes that Clark has messed up along the way, and even points that out to him, but when it comes to harboring the woman who broke her son's heart, I think it's only natural that she would balk a little. And, of course, it doesn't help that Clark has made some significant miscalculations here, based mostly on his misunderstanding of women: Wanting comfort, he told his mother too much, little realizing that he'd ever need his mom to accept Lois, let alone so soon. And then when he did realize it, he went about it in a cowardly way, dropping Lois off without warning and figuring it would be easier to get forgiveness than permission. It really wasn't fair to Martha or Lois to put them in that position.

I kind of saw Jonathan as deciding he'd better step in and play 'good cop' once he realized that his wife was going to give Lois a hard time. Under normal circumstances, neither Kent would want a guest in their home to feel uncomfortable. Right now, Jonathan is a little more able to be objective about Lois. I think this is partly because Clark tends to confide more fully in his mother than his father, and partly because Martha just seems to be a little more emotional in general than her husband. Anyway, I'm glad it worked for you.

Thanks to all who have commented! Your feedback is such fun to read, and often the comments give me great food for thought for future chapters.

Best,

Caroline

Thanks for the answer, Caroline. Lois' softer side did come more into evidence in S3 and S4, you're right. Luckily, DVDs of the last two seasons are expected out this year, so maybe in the future, you'll also be inspired to write fics set in the later seasons.

For now, I'm enjoying this particular ride. Thank you.

I adore this story;my emotions are all over the board. I'm laughing, crying, and feeling embarassed all in one sitting,and I love it. You've done a wonderful job expressing the pain,anger and regret felt on all sides, and I'm waiting on the edge of my seat for the next update.

Ah, you're a DVD-bred FoLC like me? You certainly wasted no time making your mark on the fandom! And what a nice mark it is...