Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: Early Revelation: Top Copy 7/12?

I'm so glad to see Lois let her anger out in this chapter. I think it is much healthier for their relationship that both of them acknowledge that Lois has a right to be angry about some of ways Clark treated her between his dual identities. I'm also impressed that you can write a genuine Lois who still manages to not allow her anger at Clark to override her love for him and her desire to support him. Great part!

Ahhh, Beth, you know you are stoking my anger at Clark and making me say bad things about him, don't you? Isn't there a criminal charge of instigating unnecessary outbursts in other people? I mean, here you show me how Lois is standing by Clark in spite of his lies to her, and she pays for her entire relationship with him by figuring prominently and very unpleasantly in the bottom dregs of the press - and in the midst of her agonizing over that, Clark tells Lois that he's feeling sorry for Mayson!!!! Just look at how much he empathizes with Lois's suffering here:

Go back to your um... cursing!!!! Don't let me interrupt your protracted outburst just because I need to feel sorry for the woman who is really suffering here, Mayson Drake!!!! Insert picture of me kicking Clark's backside with a kryptonite boot!

Okay, Lois gave him a piece of her mind, but I really think she forgave him too quickly. She should have told him that she didn't want to see him for the rest of that day, so he could go and talk to Mayson if he was feeling lonely. (Ahh, but... then you would have made some badguy attack her and Clark would have to come to her rescue, and then he would tell her, sarcastically, that he apologized for bursting in on her and saving her even though she had told him that she didn't want to see him!)

This is not exactly what I want to hear. I spent more than twenty years waiting for my childhood comic book hero, Superman, to get together with Lois Lane. Believe me, that was very slow, and still nothing happened. The problem was hardly that he was rushing things, the problem was his prevarications and excuses and his cowardice and callousness. Honestly the real problem seemed to be that all things considered, Superman apparently thought that life without Lois was simpler and more satisfying than life with her would be, but he found it hard to tell her so. Better to let her go on hoping for a pipe dream that could never come true, while he went on his own life as usual. Yes, that was what things were like in the comic books, not in the LnC show, but let me tell you, Beth, I haven't forgiven comic book Superman for his treatment of Lois. And when I see some of the same callousness in LnC Clark, I blow my top. Really, Clark doesn't need to take things more slowly with Lois, he needs to truly love her and commit himself to her instead! He isn't doing that if he is all wrapped up in his guilt about Mayson while Lois is going to pieces right next to him.

Okay, they found a clue about who it might be that left the kryptonite in Clark's desk drawer. I want to know who that was, and I want Lois and Clark to catch the villain, of course. More than that, I want them to find a way to deal with the outcome of the fact that Clark's secret has been blown. But most of all I want to see that Clark truly loves Lois, because I'm still not convinced of that, Beth!

Ann

I really enjoyed this part, but I do have to agree with Ann that Clark was being particularly dense, and even a little cold toward Lois. And I was a little surprised at how fast Lois calmed down after Clark expressed his worry for Mayson. I would have expected her to blow her top, letting off steam for quite some time. I have to admit, I enjoy watching Lois go postal on Clark when she's justified!

On the other hand, I really like the way she's sticking by him. I'm happy to see them working together on the case, and I hope that they can catch the bad guy (or guys) before anyone has the chance to strike again.

I'm really enjoying this story. You've done a wonderful job!

Ann, you gave me a lot to think about!

For me, the purpose of this scene was to show that the damage to L&C's relationship is far from being healed. I really think that Lois needs more time to get over all the lies Clark told her, and that it can't be swept under the rug. It was Lois who asked for more time, and Clark was just being the gentleman and backing off. Obviously, they still love each other and are still going to 'be together' but the point I'm trying to make is that Clark isn't about to get down on one knee any time soon.

Now let me explain the whole 'whisperer' thing from my perspective.

First of all, I see Lois as someone who get mad very easily, but that doesn't always mean she is under serious stress. Just because she is yelling, doesn't mean that she's suffering untold amounts of pain. Clark knows this about her, therefore when she reacts typically to the article, he doesn't automatically read more into the situation. In his perspective, Lois has forgiven him, and all is well with their relationship. It isn't until Lois starts really talking to Clark about all her hurt feelings that he sees that she's still struggling. Remembering Mayson bawling in her office, and constrasting it with Lois' typical reaction to anything that upsets her, can you maybe see why he is thoughts strayed to Mayson for a brief second?

My point is that Clark has no idea the emotional strain Lois is currently under. He has optimistically assumed that everything is sunshine and lollypops in their relationship, so therefore he can afford to think of other people's emotions.

As for Lois being able to forgive Clark quickly, she wasn't mad at him for dumping her feelings in the trash and concentrating on Mayson. Lois has a thick skin, and I really don't think think that one stupid tabloid is going to wound her all that much. What DID wound her was that Clark didn't seem to really understand what he had put her through. She hadn't been open with him about her feelings, and pretended that she was okay with what he had done, when really she wasn't. The news article just put her over the edge. Once she was able to vent her feelings, she could forgive him because she already had that night at his apartment. Her blow-up was a result of tension from keeping her feelings to herself.

In short:

Lois didn't share her hurt feelings completely with Clark. Clark therefore underestimated those feelings, and instead thought of the person he thought would be most hurt by the article: Mayson. Lois vents. Clark now realizes what she's going through. They come to a peacful reconciliation, both realizing that their relationship is far from healed, but willing to move forward.

What do you think?

I agree with that. However, the past is the past, and it can't be changed. If Lois wants a future with Clark, she has to forgive him for what he did in the past. But that doesn't mean she needs to forgive him everything he may do in the present and the future.

I agree with this, and it's a serious problem. I haven't read that much-talked-about book, Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, but it apparently claims that women expect men to just know how women feel, even if the women haven't told the men about it. Lois can't expect Clark to be a mind-reader, so she must tell him how much his lies really hurt her. But in my opinion, this very point makes Lois's quick forgiveness of Clark in part seven of this story all the more problematical. Clark treated Lois badly once again, but she quickly and readily forgave him again, without telling him that he must change his behaviour towards her if they are to have a future together.

Yes, he optimistically assumed that everything was sunshine and lollypops in their relationship, because that way he didn't have to invest any efforts into making their relationship work. He seems to have assumed that Lois would take care of all that and make sure that their relationship was running smoothly. After all, she had committed herself to him, so why should he have to commit himself to her in return? Isn't that a waste of efforts, like two people doing the same chore at the same time? Isn't it better that she takes care of loving him while he is off taking care of the world? So because he could assume that she took care of their relationship, he could pretty much ignore Lois and invest his own emotions and efforts into solving the problems of other people instead. Like worrying about Mayson, for example.

If Clark had been "just Clark", I think Lois could have had a happy life with him in spite of his streak of dense inconsiderateness towards her. After all, Clark is a cute, gorgeous, kind and well-meaning young man, and if he didn't have to be Superman, Lois would naturally be such a large part of his life that the good things about being married to this darling lunkhead would far outweigh the negative things. But because Clark is Superman, and because he will always be required to spend a large part of his life helping out all over the world, it will be extremely unsatisfying for Lois to be married to him if he is just going to take her happiness and contentment for granted, no matter how much emotional suffering such a marriage may cost her.

So I don't think that Lois primarily needs more time before she can marry Clark. Yes, obviusly she needs more time right now, when both her and Clark's lives are in turmoil because of the revelation of his identity. Still, what she really needs, if you ask me, is that Clark reconsiders what a marriage to Lois ought to be about in the first place. Right now he seems happy to assume that a marriage to Lois will just mean that he will have a woman around him to love him and take care of him. He needs to realize that he will have to give love to Lois too, not just accept love from her. And that isn't going to happen if he is just waiting around for her to decide that she loves him so much that she will put up with being dismissed and taken for granted by him.

Ann

I don't think Lois needs to spell it out to Clark. He's had a major wake-up call as to her emotional state and is now prepared to treat her with the proper respect etc. When she said that they needed to take things slower, that means they need time to build their relationship properly ie, with honesty and respect.