Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic The Roads They Walked Alone Part 42 - Comments

Thanks for reading and always taking the time to comment, everyone. Comments, good or bad, welcome.

Hi,

Great part.


More ASAP, please.

MAF

So.

Lois is facing her own personal Rubicon. Will she give up on helping the innocent victims of civil war in Kinwara? Will she continue on as she has been doing, working within the boundaries the UN has set up? Will she return and eliminate the threat permanently? Or will she go straight to the source, the nations providing the munitions and advisors for the conflict?

And no matter what she does, will she feel worthy of being a mother after she does it? How much can one woman - even a super woman - take? She thinks she's failed Ingrid and Luc, and no matter who tells her it's physically impossible to be in two places at one time, she'll believe she should have done something - anything! - to prevent this tragedy.

Just as Clark has faced a trial that took him beyond his limits, Lois is facing a trial that is taking her beyond her limits. Please, please let her find the strength to do the right thing, no matter how difficult it might be.

And don't let her abandon Jon! Being a parent is the most difficult, most frustrating, most demanding job on the planet. Fortunately, it's usually worth it, even if your part-time job involves saving lives on a wholesale basis.

Wow, this was intense. Getting more and more concerned about what's going to happen when Lois and Clark get back together again... neither is even remotely the same person they left behind!

Keep the parts coming!!

Julie

Well, Rac, I find myself unable to quote from this one, and it has to do with my reactions to deathfic and to death-of-women fic. Ever since I sat down to really read the Bible in 1985, I have been aware that women's lives can really and truly be considered much cheaper than the lives of men. In case anyone is interested, you might want to read what I consider to be the very worst, most misogynic part of the entire Bible, namely Judges, chapters 19-21. If you read that, pay attention to how the women are treated, and take note of what punishments the men receive for doing what they did.

Ever since I read that and became aware of how women can be treated - indeed, ever since I became aware of the fact that such deadly misogyny can become part of an entire culture, an entire society, a whole way of thinking and a part of a holy book, I'm hyper-sensitive to stories where women are innocent victims of deadly violence. And because there has recently been a fair number of LNC stories where Lois has died (and stayed dead), but only two where Clark has died (and stayed dead, one by David and one by Shayne Terry), the idea that when a male and a female doctor work together at a war zone, the man gets saved and the woman dies - well, I react primitively, I cringe and shudder and I can't concentrate on the text, or quote from it. Sorry, Rac. Please understand that I'm describing my own hangups and hyper-sensibilities rather than criticizing your story. There is nothing gratuitous about your Ingrid's death in your story, I most certainly agree. Any female venturing into a war zone - well, I firmly believe that the risk that something horrible would happen to her is greater than it would be for a male civilian.

I skimmed the part where Ingrid was kidnapped. I couldn't really read it. I read the part where Lois was almost going crazy with grief and sorrow through a fine film of tears between the text and my eyes.

The situation is harrowing. So harrowing. And that is all I can really say about this chapter, Rac.

Ann

Hi Rac,

Just a very short comment to let you know that I am still reading this story and am completely moved by the power of your writing.

This is an immense story and you paint the intense feelings of both Lois and Clark as they each face their demons.

I wait patiently to see how our heros -- and you -- work their way back to some semblance of a more hopeful life together.

Yours Jenni

Thanks for commenting, everyone.

Maria, thanks for your comments. I was hoping to capture the intensity and the confusion of these events, especially with the scene you quoted.

Hi Terry. Lois most certainly is facing a Rubicon of sorts. She's finding her beliefs and ethics being challenged by horrors so profound that she can't really even comprehend them. It's a test of character very few people ever have to endure.

As for her relationship with Jon, I think Lois sees that as central to who she is as a person. She won't abandon him, but I can see why she would try to keep what was good and pure in her life separate from the darkness.

In the end, I see Lois as a character of remarkable strength. At this point, the characters are dictating to me what they're going to do and how they're going to react instead of the other way around. I don't have much of a choice except to put my faith in that strength.

Hi Julie. It's great to hear from you. I agree that Lois and Clark are definitely not the same people they were when this story began. Time changes people. Experiences change people. We can try to undo the past and be the people we once were, or we can decide to move forward with our lives. You can never step in the same river twice, after all. The next time you come to it, the water will be different, the river will be different, and you will be different. I will deal with these issues, but it's still going to be a while. Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment.

Hi Ann. Thanks for reading and commenting even though you found this part difficult. I hope it's clear that the misogyny in the story is not something I endorse; it's actually one of the many, many things I despise about some of the villains in this story. (To be fair, one of my biggest villains is a woman, and she obviously isn't a misogynist, she's a misanthrope - she hates everyone). Also, I haven't exactly been nice to the men in the story, either. I think what I put Clark through is the worst thing I've ever done to a character who's still alive. And that entire ordeal began because of his reaction to a minor male character's death. Incidentally, that character was also a doctor, though I promise I don't hate doctors, either. In fact, I think that next to children, the deaths of doctors in war are about the most senseless things imaginable. You don't kill people who save lives - it's just horribly insane.

I know it's cold comfort that Ingrid knew the dangers involved, and chose her line of work anyway. In my mind, she wasn't a bystander because she'd actively chosen the side of good - the side of healing and protecting the innocent and defenseless. This certainly doesn't mean she was asking for her fate and I can think of few characters who deserved it less. But people needed her and she answered their pleas; in the end, making the ultimate sacrifice. As for why she dies instead of Luc, I blame the villains. Lois certainly didn't favor one over the other - she reacted the only conceivable way she could have.

Jenni, thanks for your very kind words. I really have created a monster with this one. It was an exceptionally ambitious undertaking, but I wanted to create situations that would truly test the characters. With characters this strong, their ethics, their beliefs, their views of the world all have to be on the line in order for that to work.

I think the journey back from the edge of darkness is going to be long and difficult. Nonetheless, these characters have a pretty tremendous capacity to be hopeful in the face of extreme cynicism. I think there are few forces in the universe more powerful than hope.

Thanks again for all of your comments!

Rac