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Joined: Aug 2007
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OP
Columnist
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 700 |
I love that you brought back Henderson, and the backstory of how he knows. Really, when you think about it, it makes sense that he would find Clark in the winecellar and help him out.
Good job Henderson for making sure Clark's background will check out!
And I loved Clark's little observance that it was nice to wake up without any calls for help. This shows how lonely and one-track his life has been for the last ten years. *sniff*
Hopefully, that's going to change now.
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,797
Nobel Peace Prize Winner
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Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,797 |
I like this chapter. I love seeing Lois being the sleuth, so I loved how she had managed to put Weis at the scene of the crime every time there had been kryptonite dust in the air when Superman flew in to help. I, too, very much liked the observation that Clark loved to stay in bed and wake up without having sounds of despair intruding on his peacefulness. And then it was somehow even more moving that as soon as he realized that there was a catastrophe going on - in this case the wildfires - he just had to go there to help anyway, even though he didn't have any powers and even though he had every reason to suspect that there would be kryptonite there and even though another exposure to kryptonite dust could possibly kill him. I loved Lois's words of reason: If you try to go, you'll likely get yourself killed and think of all the people in the future that will be hurt because of that. Listen to Lois, Clark! I loved, too, that Lois wouldn't go investigate the fires herself while Clark was asleep: Clark smiled at her slightly and ran a hand along her cheek, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “Why are you here, Lois?” he asked. “Why aren't you…”
“I thought about it,” Lois admitted, cutting him off. “I thought maybe while you were sleeping. But then I realized I'd never get back before you woke up and you'd come after me and then you'd be exposed again. It just didn't seem worth it.  I'm glad that Henderson immediately came over to Lois and Clark to discusss Weis with them. I could share Lois's anger that Henderson, too, knew about Clark's identity, although the explanation for why he knew was a good one. I don't think it is necessary to postulate that Henderson would have figured out the truth that time in Luthor's wine cellar, and I'm sure I have read fics, post-HOL, where Henderson didn't know. But it certainly isn't far-fetched to assume that he would have figured it out. I grew up with a comic book Lois who always strongly suspected that Clark was Superman, while absolutely no one else had a clue. So to me it is painful to see galactically stupid Lois who has no clue while others around her are putting two and two together. Well, galactically stupid Lois is canon LNC, unfortunately. Ann
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 921
Features Writer
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Features Writer
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 921 |
Thanks, Beth and Ann for the comments as always.
I'll come back later to respond more, but I did want to say that I don't really see Lois as galactically stupid. I never did, really. To some degree, I think the more you know Clark, the bigger the differences between him and Superman are and thus it may be easier to see that they are the same person if you don't know Clark that well.
To Henderson (and to a lesser extent Perry), Clark is a guy always running to be at the fore of a story, always seeming to lend a helping hand. To Lois, Clark is a guy who always seems to want to help, but whenever anything dangerous is around, he runs away. While Superman is always very much in control and confident, Clark is at his most awkward and nervous around Lois. We know that he acts confident as Superman and the awkward Clark is real (at least in LnC, I don't know about other Superman stories), but he's good enough at acting that way, that Superman is believable as confident.
To be honest, I've always hated the idea that in LnC, Lois is supposed to be this really intelligent woman, and yet she didn't figure that Clark was Superman. But then I thought of it as if my husband suddenly developed an alter-persona that was completely unlike him. I might have very vague suspicions, but I know him and so wouldn't expect him to also be this completely different person. I've decided that's what happened to Lois. She knew Clark so well, why would she suspect he was another person?
This is also why she was able to identify him early in this story. When she saw Superman again after ten years, she didn't know Superman or Clark very well anymore and so the differences aren't so "blinding".
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Joined: Feb 2007
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
Joined: Feb 2007
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 Still here too.
When Life Gives You Green Velvet Curtains, Make a Green Velvet Dress.
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Joined: Oct 2003
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
Joined: Oct 2003
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Don't think for a moment that I would have missed this! I've been busy with school work so my reply is just a little delayed. But, rest assured, you did not disappoint! Another wonderful chapter...of course! Placing a hand on his arm, she gently led him to the couch. Sitting beside him, she took his hand in hers and turned his face towards her. “Clark, I know this is going to be hard to hear. But it is likely something is going to happen that you can’t help with. You’re going to just have to deal with that. If you try to go, you’ll likely get yourself killed and think of all the people in the future that will be hurt because of that.”
“But…” Clark started and then stopped at a loss for words.
“I know, Clark,” Lois said. “Really, I do. You are even more a person of action than I am. But sometimes you need to hold back. I think your life being in danger is a good reason to adopt that approach.” So the tables have turned and Lois is now the one looking out for Clark. Lois is showing Clark repeatedly how much he means to her and at any cost she wants to keep him safe. She's taking care of him just as he would have taken care of her. Clark smiled at her slightly and ran a hand along her cheek, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “Why are you here, Lois?” he asked. “Why aren’t you…” Clark still touches Lois in the same old affectionate way that he always has. Everything he does and says to her screams "I love you!" “I’m sitting here with Clark Kent,” Lois started.
“Clark?” Henderson interrupted.
“Yes, well surely you knew he was in the Witness Protection Program?” Lois said, wondering whether or not Henderson would buy the story. “But now that Barrows is dead, he’s free to be Clark Kent again.”
There was another pause before Henderson said, “Tell Clark I’ll make sure there is a record of him being in the Witness Protection Program in case anyone checks this story.” You've gotta love Henderson. He is so significant to the characters, yet very underwritten. I have read a few stories where Henderson's character was was written as essential to the plot. Those stories make me appreciate him even more and he's always going the extra distance to protect Clark's/Superman's secret. For the most part until it comes up, no one knows that he knows. White lives on Osteria Dr, right?” LOL! Is this like Wisteria Lane? “Yes,” Lois replied before Clark’s words reminded her, “Oh, and he’s on to you, too. Did everyone but me know you were Superman?”
Clark had the grace to blush slightly. “It’s complicated, but Henderson has known since before I died.”
“You told Bill Henderson but you didn’t tell me!” Lois demanded feeling all of the anger she thought she had put behind her come to the fore.
Clark looked at the floor sheepishly. “I didn’t really tell Bill. He sort of figured it out.”
Lois got up off the couch as her breathing got ragged. “So, Henderson, who barely knew you, figured out that you were Superman while I, who worked beside you day after day, had no clue.” Poor Lois is still struggling with the fact that she didn't know about Clark. I really think that he should have told her before TOGOM even though she hadn't seen Clark for Clark, yet. And especially when she thought he was dead. I can certainly feel her anger.  “Henderson was the cop that found me in Luthor’s kryptonite cage,” Clark started to explain and the words seemed to have an immediate calming effect on Lois.
She sat down on the couch again, although on the very edge as if she would get up instantaneously if he said the wrong thing. “You mentioned the cage the other day. What was it? When was it?”
Clark took a deep breath. “I don’t know how to explain it except as a kryptonite cage. It was a standard cage made large enough to fit a person, namely me, inside. The bars were coated with kryptonite. Luthor had it built at some point and then because… well, honestly, because I was careless, he managed to get me inside shortly before your wedding.”
“You were in the cage during the wedding?” Lois asked, moving further back on the couch.
“I guess. My memory of what happened is hazy. I managed to get out, so I guess I was simplifying things by saying that Henderson found me in there. Luthor had left a key outside the cage right before he went upstairs to the chapel. I got out, but had been in the cage for so long I barely had the strength to hold myself up. So I crawled behind some wine caskets. Oh right, the cage was in the wine cellar. Anyway, I passed out. I heard Luthor come back down at some point, but I was too weak to confront him and luckily he didn’t see me. The next thing I knew, Bill was leaning over me.”
“And how did he know that you were Clark?”
“I think half of the disguise is the fact that it seems ludicrous that clumsy Clark Kent could be the same thing as invincible Superman. But when I’m clearly not invincible, it’s easier to see. Plus, my hair was a mess and probably in more of a ‘Clark’ style. Anyway, we never talked about it. He called me Clark when I woke up and that’s the only way I knew.”
“That’s why you weren’t at the wedding,” Lois said, tears gathering in her eyes.
Clark moved toward her, wrapping his arms around her awkwardly. “Lois, I’m okay now,” he whispered. Finally Lois is understanding just how evil Luthor really was. And she is understanding all that Clark went through for her. Hopefully she sees how much he really loves her in spite of what he did to her, and perhaps this can help to speed the recovery of their relationship. I don't think you ended in the wrong place but it's just the fact that you ended this chapter at all! You've got to come again soon because I'm just dying to see how Lois and Clark's relationship mends. The A plot is just cake, but I don't need it. Wonderfully written! ~Sheila
I'm a firm believer in the fact that God doesn't put any more on us than we can bear. He does however make us come to Jesus every so often.
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 921
Features Writer
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Features Writer
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 921 |
So, I meant to reply to this last night, but time got away from me. Sorry about that. Beth- I love that you brought back Henderson, and the backstory of how he knows. Thanks! While I’m not sure how well I’m able to write Henderson, he’s one of my favorite secondary characters. And I think he provides some much needed comedic relief for this story. And I loved Clark's little observance that it was nice to wake up without any calls for help. This shows how lonely and one-track his life has been for the last ten years. *sniff* It could be me, but I’ve always assumed that was what Clark’s life was like pretty much since he became Superman. Even when he had a life as Clark, waking up was probably filled with a kind of listening for calls for help. Not that it’s not still sad, but I’m not sure it’s unique to these past ten years. Ann- I like this chapter. I love seeing Lois being the sleuth, so I loved how she had managed to put Weis at the scene of the crime every time there had been kryptonite dust in the air when Superman flew in to help. I love this side of Lois. I’m struggling with this as I write a lot. I feel like it’s important that both Lois and Clark are working on this together – figuring out things together, both for the “together” aspect and because, well, Lois just wouldn’t be LnC’s Lois if she wasn’t brilliant, and Clark needs to see his worth as something other than Superman again. It just wouldn’t be good for either one of them to take a backseat to the other on this. That’s one of the reasons I have Lois doing her own research. It gives her a way to do some real work while Clark rests and then when they talk thing through, Clark can build on what she’s done. Hopefully, I’ll be able to continue to build this as a symbiotic investigation where they both contribute, feeding off each other’s thoughts. It’s one of the best parts of LnC, but hard to write (for me, anyway). I liked the fact that they contacted Henderson. He was as sardonic and yet helpful as usual This was one of my favorite parts to write. As I said to Beth, I’m not sure how well I can write Henderson, but in my head, he’s very funny and a deadpan kind of way. I could share Lois's anger that Henderson, too, knew about Clark's identity, although the explanation for why he knew was a good one. I don't think it is necessary to postulate that Henderson would have figured out the truth that time in Luthor's wine cellar, and I'm sure I have read fics, post-HOL, where Henderson didn't know. But it certainly isn't far-fetched to assume that he would have figured it out. This is definitely true. I think (and I’m not 100% sure) that Detective Henderson’s role on LnC was a bit smaller than the way he’s portrayed in fanfic. There were lots of episodes where the cop they were working with was someone else. I think Henderson gets a star role in writing as he was one of the better drawn police officers in the show having shown up more than once. But while he clearly was part of the crew that came after Lex, that was a big break and presumably it was done as part of a team. In reality, it may be unrealistic that he found Clark since he was with Luthor when Luthor jumped. But it just made sense to me when I started writing that he would have known (and I didn’t want another revelation – this isn’t supposed to be the story where Clark decides his secret isn’t worth keeping from anyone anymore) and the timeline of what happened between when Perry, Jimmy, and Henderson bust in on Lois and Lex’ wedding and when Clark wanders outside is very ill-defined (particularly in my memory), so I decided it was possible he was the one who found Clark and viola, no revelation required.  Gr8shadesofElvis-  Thanks for letting me know!! Sheila – Sheila, your feedback always makes me smile. Thank you! Don't think for a moment that I would have missed this! I've been busy with school work so my reply is just a little delayed. I can completely understand about real life getting in the way. I’m a little hurt that reading my story isn’t the most important thing to you, but I guess I can live with schoolwork coming first.  Clark still touches Lois in the same old affectionate way that he always has. Everything he does and says to her screams "I love you!" Yes, this is exactly right. My hope here is to sort of focus more on the A-plot (although the next chapter is a bit more b-plot heavy), but aspects of the B-plot come through in the fact that more and more Lois and Clark fall into their old patterns with each other. LOL! Is this like Wisteria Lane? You know, I knew the name Osteria Lane sounded like something else, but I couldn’t place it, so I decided to ignore it. I don’t actually watch Desparate Housewives, so that’s probably why I couldn’t place it. As always, I really appreciate all of your the comments. It really does make my day and urges me to write faster (even if my posting rate is still pitifully slow).
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