Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic The Roads They Walked Alone Part 58 - Comments

Any and all comments welcome.

Thanks for reading!

Rac

Oh, nice chapter, Rac, very nice chapter! We see Talan on the precipice of a breakdown, and we see a deeply distressed Clark reaching across the heavens to hold on to Lois and keep himself together. We see Lois hanging on by her fingernails, feeling a lot like Talan (if either one only knew about the other!) and reacting much the same way, except Lois has Dr. Friskin to talk to and to borrow strength from. Talan has no one, and I begin to fear for her sanity. Maybe she can find respite in her nephews, but it may be too late for her without some intervention from Clark, and I don't think that's a viable option right now. I know I don't want to see it happen. Although it would be a very complicated complication to throw at our heroes. (How would Clark explain a relationship with Talan, and how might Lois react?)

But I'm so very glad Lok Sim and Enza seem to be moving towards something special and precious in their shared future. (Thia is so wonderful, and smarter than the two adults put together.) Maybe their example will encourage Clark to hold on and wait for Lois. Maybe it will buoy Zara and Ching while they wait for Kal-El to do whatever legal voodoo he has to do to cut loose and go home to Lois so they can be together in a public relationship.

And little Jon is so cute! (He reminds me of my five-year-old grandson!) He's got the entire town wrapped around his little finger and doesn't quite realize it. And I adore the way Smallville seems to have adopted Lois, and I applaud the support and counsel they're giving her. She needs it so desperately. If she weren't under such intense pressure, she'd realize that Dr. Friskin's examples of Superman's doing all he can and people still dying to be applicable to her. She must learn to forgive herself for not being perfect.

I see the light at the end of the tunnel, although I wonder what will happen to Nor. Will the legal system work its ponderous way, or will someone (hopefully not Talan, and especially not Clark) take justice into his or her own hands? The story still entices and entreats me, Rac, and I plan to hang around for the duration.

I just had an interesting thought. What if Clark and Talan stay as they are now (friends only) and Talan goes back to Earth with Clark and meets Lois? Wouldn't that be an interesting conversation, especially when Lois puzzles out how Talan feels about Clark and that Clark doesn't return her affection on the same level?

Okay, that's my attempt to throw a monkey wrench in the works. I'm going to bed now. Good night, and Merry Christmas.

Nice scenes with Jon, and with Lok Sim and Enza - the contrast between those and the emotional anguish of Talan, Clark, and Lois works really well.

Clark's dream of Lois was really intriguing for what it reveals about his subconscious. Although he denies "forgetting" Lois in this dream, it's interesting that his subconscious has raised the question which suggests that, in fact, he had.

As well, for the first time he notices the "sorrow in Lois's eyes" so maybe we can hope that he is about to beome, in his dreams at least, concerned about the problems and trials Lois might be facing. Thus far, in his dreams he has not been especially interested in Lois in her own right but more in Lois as *his* lover. In that sense his dreams, and they were lovely dreams , were sort of subconscious one-way streets - he was the one receiving comfort, not giving it.

But his dream gave me some hope that there might be a "Lois and Clark", although not completely, for as his subconscious said, "Clark Kent is dead" (paraphrasing here) Yet, as he wakens he seems more determined.

The scene with Lois's breaking down was such a contrast, too, with Clark's meltdown in the last couple of parts. Lois has no Talan-parallel to hold her in his arms while she weeps. Instead, she cries "behind her mask", a truly heartbreaking image.

All Lois has is her shrink, who will always be one level removed (by virtue of her job description ) from providing the true emotional supprt that Lois now needs.
Lois is so alone, and so close to breaking. And so is Talan. I suspect each will break - and I wonder how it will manifest itself.

Like Terry (it's always interesting to read Terry's perspective), I hope that it is not Clark who enters the picture for Talan at that point - that would really signal the end of "Lois and Clark". Now that we know that Clark has had sexual thoughts about Talan, regardless of his motivation, as well as his awareness of "her", any emotional-physical contact between the two would be laden with much more meaning than just supportive friendship.

This is not to say Clark should not help Talan - but in a Friskin sort of way. As well, Clark is not the only person in Talan's network.

About Terry's suggestion that Talan accompany Clark back to earth. Awwwwwk! Nooooo! Too much angst! Having trouble with the angst level now, as I guess is pretty obvious. Not to mention the hoary (and no, that's not a double-entendre ) old "one man and two women" cliche. (of course, when it's two men and one women, it's not a cliche <g>)

Anyway, another well-written chapter, Rac.

But please help Lois. I think, actually, she's been through more that has Clark and is, in a sense, more islolated. (not to minimize what Clark has been through, however).

One other thought from the previous part - I was surprised by Zara's speech to Clark about what an amazing leader he had been. I thought she was going a bit overboard, based on what we have actually seen Clark do.

So what was going on there? Was it Zara's recognition of the agony he was going through, and so she was slightly hyperbolic in an attempt to comfort him? Or is Zara up to something? (although she hasn't seemed to be the nefarious type in this story.)

Anyway, imo, this last point is a bit trivial compared to what *isn't* happening between Lois and Clark. In the next part, will we see some concrete action on Clark's part that shows that he still deeply loves Lois Lane?

c.

Hi,

Great part!


More ASAP, please.

MAF

Hi Rac,

I'm still reading and still appreciating this story, but I'm still as short of time and energy to comment in depth as your other readers have. Just when I think my life is settling down, fate jumps up and hits me in the face.

I echo both Terry's and Carol's thoughts.

I loved the wrap up of the end of the war, but am still worried that there is a lot of heartache to come for all our characters.

I hope Talan finds someone to comfort her, but not Clark. I really think that wouldn't be wise. Clark might not realize that Talan loves him, but she needs to find someone who can give her an unconditional love and not someone who belongs to another.

And, please, please, Lois needs Clark and Clark needs Lois.

I think your intention might be that each of our heroes should find salvation deep within themselves, and it's probably true that self-belief is the best kind. As the song says, learning to love yourself is the greatest gift of all... or words to that effect.

Yet it's also true that no man - nor woman - is an island, and learning that fact is perhaps an even greater gift.

Just a few rambling thoughts of my own and I'll await the next part of this wonderfully complex, poignant story with not so patient interest.

Yours Jenni

If not for the name of Dr. Friskin, this passage could have been about Talan. I know that the similarities between Lois and Talan have been pointed out before, not least by Terry, but I love how you bring these similarities out. Both these women are such very noble persons who want to fight the good fight without ever stooping to the level of those they fight against - tempting though it might be.

This paragraph is so very interesting. It is because Lois is a humble and level-headed person, able to take a critical look at herself, that she realizes that she needs to talk to somebody about her frustrations. But it is this very self-knowledge and wisdom that might cause some people to condemn her as unbalanced, and to make them regard her as a possible threat to the Earth.

The main reason why I love this is that it underscores the biggest difference between Lois and Talan: no, Talan has no sense of humour, but Lois definitely does!

So absolutely horrible. And at the same time - yes, I'm glad that Lois still has it in her to be horrified. Talan said to Clark that he mustn't meditate away his feelings, his pain. It's the same thing with Lois. She hurts so terribly over those she couldn't save, mand the reason why she hurts is because she still cares. It is the final proof that she fights the good fight, and does what she does for good reasons. She does it because she wants to help people, to rescue them, to make things better for them. She identifies with them. She naturally regards these poor people and victims of war as valuable, as people whose death is a loss to the world, and as human beings whose suffering is an affront to all decency. She wants to help them, and that is why she is a good person, and that is why she hurts so badly when she fails.

This image of Lois, heartbroken superheroine, is so moving. And there can be no real comfort for her, nothing but a hardened heart. We don't want to see that sort of change in her, which is why she must keep hurting.

This is harshly, painfully true.

I love Lois's reaction to what seems like an accusation of Superman for sloppily failing to save lives. I'm sure Clark was devastated after this incident, and he must have told Lois how much he hated himself for failing to save the two victims in the tunnel. And undoubtedly Lois heatedly told him that those two deaths wasn't his fault, that he had done a marvellous job saving all those people on the airplane, and that he just couldn't be in two places at the same time, and that the deaths he couldn't prevent hadn't been his fault.

I don't know how much this will comfort Lois, but it's good that Dr. Friskin says it, nevertheless.

This, too, is great. (But there may be a small typo here - it should probably be "to learn from your experiences".)

I think it must be hard for everyone who has kept striving to reach a certain goal, to find themselves in a situation where the goal has been reached and the road they have been following won't take them any further. Where do you go from here?

This is incredibly moving, and very reminiscent of Lois, too. However, Lois hasn't been a soldier in the same way as Talan, so Lois hasn't been sending people to their deaths in the same way that Talan has.

This is so beautiful. Talan thought that she had lost her ability to feel any emotions, and that she had, effectively, made herself slightly less than human that way. But finding unhappy love has made her able to feel pain and sorrow again.

The sheer power of Talan's grief is extremely moving. I have to wonder what will happen to this amazingly remarkable woman.

I feel very sorry for Zara and Ching. They shouldn't have to keep their relationship a guilty secret.

As I was reading this, it wasn't obvious to me that Clark was dreaming. I love the bleak poetry of the scene, though.

This is absolutely lovely; how Lois is ultimately Clark's final, safe haven. He doesn't mention her name, because that's not necessary.

I love that he knows and acknowledges that he is dreaming.

Here, Clark sees Lois's pain and sorrow. He doesn't regard her as someone who should just be there for him and comfort him when he needs it. Her needs matter to him, too.

This is very beautiful, but very, very painful, too. Lois and Clark need to be reunited very soon. Of course, their reunion won't be as easy as it was in Clark's dream, where Lois walked toward Clark and he was running toward her, until he fell into her arms.

Clark can't endure very much more, I think.

I love the entire part that deals with Lok Sim's return to Enza. All of it is extremely sweet, and tinged with burgeoning desire of two very innocent, very good people. I love this paragraph:

I hope it won't be too long until Enza and Lok Sim can get married, so that they really can be a mother and a father to Thia, and so that they can go to bed together after they have tucked Thia into bed.

The scene with Lois and Jon, and Gus and Roger, is so well-written, too. I love the warmth of it, how Gus and Roger tells Lois that "this whole town" - Smallville - is proud of Lois. At the same time, you describe Lois's frustrations so poignantly:

In a way, Lois resembles Talan again. The war is over, and she doesn't know what to do with herself.

Please bring Clark back soon, Rac!

Ann

Hi everyone! Thanks for your comments. It's always nice to see that people are still reading this.

Terry, thanks for your very thoughtful comments. I figured I've been pushing Talan so hard, both by putting her in terribly difficult situations and taking away the tools she'd been using to deal with them in the past that we were ripe for a breakdown. Without a war, she no longer has something she can put front and center in her thoughts to keep from dwelling on the horrors of what she's seen and done. Of course (because I'm kind of a jerk ), I did this to her at a point where she doesn't have much of a support network.

As for Lok Sim and Enza - well someone on this planet has to be happy some of the time, right? I think that even in the bleakest times, people don't stop looking for happiness. That's one of the most wonderful things about the human spirit. I think that pretty early in the story, Zara and Ching realized that they had everything to fight for and, without each other, nothing to live for. Enza's always had something to live for, but for a lawyer, she can be pretty damn noble and selfless all the time. And Lok Sim, well, I've been trying to write him as the kind of person most of us want to be - kind and decent and brave when it's needed. He's been a very fun character to write, not least because he started out as just a bit player to move a plotline forward.

I'm glad you like the interactions among Lois, the people in town, and Jon. I find it really difficult to write small children believably because you can't write from their point of view. Whenever I write a scene, I try to get in the heads of every character in it to figure out how they would react to the situation. Two year olds can be pretty straightforward in some ways, but a total black box in others.

Hi Carol. I think you're right that this dream takes a somewhat different view of Clark's relationship with Lois. He has, in the past, had plenty of dreams of not being there for her - but in a Superman sort of way. He's constantly getting there too late to save her from Nor. Obviously, if he thought about it rationally, his invulnerable, superpowered wife a trillion miles away, is pretty much safe from any threat Nor could pose, but since he's Clark, he's going to think about the most dangerous person he can imagine, going after the people he cares about. This time, however, he's not thinking about being unable to protect Lois from physical harm, he's seeing the emotional harm his absence is causing her. The only other time we've seen this is when he dreamt that they were on Krypton and she asked him if he still loved her.

For the most part, Clark has been remembering the Lois who was his emotional rock - the Lois who was completely fearless and was brave enough for both of them, when Superman couldn't be. He's thinking about the Lois who has inexhaustible faith in him because whenever he needed her, she could be that Lois for him. He might be unwittingly idealizing her, but I think people tend to do that when they're separated from the ones they love. In his defense, he can't possibly know about the particular emotional burdens on her.

Lois is definitely being pushed harder than anyone ever should be. I've said before that I think in some ways, Lois and Clark find themselves in situations that the other would be better suited for. I'm not saying that Lois would be better suited to endure torture (it's a macabre comparison I've never made) or that Clark would be less affected by not being able to save thousands of children in a horrible war. Instead, the way their flaws manifest themselves are ill suited for the situations the two of them find themselves in.

I think Clark becomes hesitant when he's unsure of himself. He second guesses things a lot and this can look like indecisiveness. I think it is because his entire life, he's had to hold back. He's used to having to be deliberate and to think and analyze almost every decision. Lois, on the other hand, is impulsive, especially under pressure. I don't think the Kryptonian High Council of Elders would have ever looked at Lois and thought, 'but is she decisive enough to be a leader?' Of course, foolhardy decisiveness is no virtue, but Lois is comfortable taking control and leading, whereas Clark really only does it to the extent he has to as Superman.

And Clark's patience would have certainly been useful in dealing with all the diplomacy and negotiations in moving toward a resolution in Kinwara. I don't think anyone will be asking Ultrawoman to mediate a peace process any time soon, but Clark was particularly good at it.

Of course, in the end, they would be able to handle both of these situations better if they could do it together.

As for why Zara gives Clark so much credit, I rely on the fact that Zara's memory of events is better than ours. In recent chapters, Clark's role has not been as central to the action, but he was the one who exposed Pelmon the judge as one of Rae Et's plants, along with the horribly compromised chief of staff, Trey. He uncovered the plot to make the massacre at Breksin into a casus belli for civil war and figured out how to save Ching's life without declaring war on half the planet. He and Shai were responsible for the general election that ousted Nor's supporters, including Jen Mai, from the Council. And it was his idea to turn Ching loose on the intelligence services.

In physically dangerous situations, he's pulled wounded soldiers out of ambushes, saved innocent civilians from rebels, taken on three rebels to restore power and communications in the main colony during an attack - saving a bunch of school children from being suffocated in an emergency shelter, rescued New Krypton's most decorated soldier, and along with her, rescued the survivors at Silban. On top of that, he did survive six weeks of torture, retaining the strength of character and sense of self enough to continue doing his job, when I think most people would have been utterly and completely useless. He's doing what he was asked to do - be the figure that can hold a fractured coalition together long enough to win a war - but he's done a lot more than that, too.

Hi Maria. Thanks for always reading and commenting. I'm glad you enjoyed this part.

Jenni, you raise excellent points. I guess my philosophy on the issue is that we do have to learn to find strength in ourselves - no one else can give that to you. But that doesn't mean they can't help you find it, or that they can't help you when your strength falters, or when the strength of one person just isn't enough. Not even Lois could have turned Clark into Superman if the strength of character, if his fundamental goodness and decency, weren't already there. What's interesting about these characters is that they share in each others' strength effortlessly, almost unconsciously, and that makes them stronger.

Ann, thanks for your very kind comments. I'm quite pleased to hear that you enjoyed this section. Please indulge me for a moment while I wander onto a somewhat related tangent - it turns out that we've discovered the genes that allow us to feel physical pain because some people lack functional copies of these genes. It might seem like a blessing to be able to go through life without the pains and aches associated with this mortal coil, but it turns out that not being able to feel pain is often a fatal condition. If you can't feel pain, you don't take yourself out of dangerous situations. Pain is a vital and necessary part of who we are. I think of emotional pain the same way - you can't be a complete person if you don't feel it. Pain gives rise to sympathy, compassion, and understanding. We can only empathize with others because we know what it means to be hurt.

Now, I don't think anyone should ever have to suffer as much pain as Talan, Lois, or Clark have, but they don't get a choice of turning the dial back down from eleven. They're stuck - either they remain emotionally vulnerable, or they become emotionally numb. From the writer's standpoint, being able to explore emotional vulnerability as a source of strength is really interesting. These characters are strong because they can be hurt, not because they can't.

Thanks again for all your comments, everyone. I'll post more later today.

Regards,

Rac