Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: On The Other Hand, 94 and 95/?

FDK goes here .

Next scheduled post:

Good question . I promised in the OTOH Anonymous thread that I'd post tomorrow's chapters late tonight if I got enough writing done [and by enough I meant finishing writing 108]. I finished 107 last night and hope to get 108 done today. So the next scheduled post is a little sketchy...

a. Tonight - 10pmish ET
b. Tomorrow - before 10am ET or tomorrow night, probably late, but can't be more specific than that
c. Sunday - after 3pm ET

Sorry .

Previews

Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Thanks.
Carol

Wait... Clark took the high road and started a talk? Wow!...

I'm still surprised he didn't react more to Lana's comment about not 'playing step-mommy' to Christopher... and I really hope someone kicks Clark and reminds him that he shouldn't leave his wife alone for Christmas...

The reception was bittersweet... and great plug for the sequel =P

Yes, that's exactly what I wanted from Clark, even though Lois isn't making it easy.

BTW, have you noticed that it's only Lois that talks about divorce. She dwells on it.


Elisabeth

It's what I wanted Clark to do, too. In fact, as I read these sections, I wondered if you had looked into the future and seen Elisabeth's comments re touching and talking.

Unfortunately, however much Lois protests that she loves Clark, I don't believe her. "Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things; believes all things; hopes all things; endures all things." She may be in love with him, but I don't think she loves him. Her focus is so totally on herself--how she feels, what she needs and wants--that there's no room to love anyone else.

Once again, Carol, I'm making these suggestions for your rewrite, not to have you stop and change things now. Keep writing!

Okay, you said things would be differently in 93 once you get around to it, but I still have whiplash now

And if that pillow ever dares to peek in again, I'll take and bind it to the nuke from last FDK.

And the foreshadowing on Unanswered Prayers. You do know that people won't accept a bad start for UP now, right?

I was never so scared about a sweet part before

Michael

Sheila said:

I have to partly agree with you. Lois wants Clark for herself, but so far, we haven't seen a lot of evidence that she loves him in the biblical sense that you refer to. In other words, she doesn't love him completely unselfishly and altruistically. But it's not as if she isn't thinking of his feelings at all. One reason for her misery is that she is so unhappy about the fact that her marriage to Clark is preventing Clark from being with his true love, Lana. And in one of the previous chapters - I haven't got the strength to find it now, sorry - Lois asked Clark if he was happy. And when he told her that he was, she was thinking to herself that she was happy that he was happy. Doesn't that imply some measure of unselfishness and caring?

What about Clark? Never once has he asked himself if Lois's unhappiness has anything to do with his plans to leave her. Yes, she is the one who keeps bringing up their coming divorce, because the thought of it is killing her. But he has never even asked himself if his plans to leave her bother her - much less has he asked her.

Sheila, you seem to put all or most of the blame on Lois here. Is that really fair? Aren't you sort of saying that we must have patience with Clark, because he is a man, and we must not ask as much from a man as we must ask from a woman? So it's all right for Clark to be totally dense when it comes to Lois's feelings. But we should blame Lois for not loving the man who plans to leave her with divine, altruistic love?

It seems to me that you ask women to be some sort of patient Griseldas. Whatever their husbands put them through, they should obey them meekly and do everything to make them pleased, because that is a woman's lot:

Griselda married the Marquis and had his daughter, but the Marquis made her send her daughter away. Griselda obeyed meekly, because she had to do what her husband asked her to.

Remember that Lois is worried that Clark will take Christopher away from her.

The Marquis sent Griselda's second child away, too. Lois may well be worried that Clark might take both of her children away.

The Marquis sent Griselda away from his castle and made her return, dressed in rags, to her poor peasant home. Well, Lois has a much more opulent home than Clark and she will not be sent away from it, but he may well leave her.

And the Marquis asked Griselda to be present as a servant during his wedding to another woman. And isn't Lois terribly worried that Clark will divorce her so that he can marry another woman?

All the time Griselda loved her husband with utter devotion. He took her children away from her, sent her away from his home, made her wear rags and asked her to be a lowly servant at his wedding to another woman, and she did all of it gladly, for that is a woman's lot, isn't it?

Isn't Lois a bit like Patient Griselda, Sheila? Except that she isn't as meekly happy about her husband's plans to leave her as Griselda was. Is that why you complain about her?

Sheila, you quoted the Bible, so let me quote the Bible, too. This is Mark 10:2-9:

Also hear what Paul the Apostle said in his letter to the Ephesians (5:28-31):

A man must not divorce his wife, said Jesus, and he should love his wife as his own body. Has Clark done that?

Yet you only find fault with Lois. Do you believe, unlike Jesus, that we should be thankful for whatever little bit of love that a man shows his wife, but a wife should love her husband with a love that asks for nothing and endures everything?



Patient Griselda-Lois?

Ann

I think the reason why Sheieh's placing more blame on Lois is because she "loves Clark", while Clark doesn't.

First of all, I would disagree. Clark admits that he loves her as a friend. Therefore, he should care about her happiness as well.
And the fact that he keeps asking her if she is okay and what is wrong is certainly evidence of that.

Second of all, I would also agree with Ann that Lois has shown some signs of "unselfish love."
When she asked HIM if he was happy in one of the earlier posts. And the fact that she's willing to accept he will leave her is a big one. Certainly part of that is because she's trying to gaurd/prepare herself because she knows it happening. But I think part of it is because she believes Clark will be happier with Lana. So she's willing to let him go, even though it will rip her heart apart.

These chapters are very hard on Lois, I'm not denying that.

But personally, I'm glad that Clark is still wondering about Lana, and seems to what to care for Lois mostly for the baby's sake.

Why?

Because, as I've said before, if he acted otherwise, it would assume sex solves everything. And that's not a fic I would want to read.

Also, I really think if Clark said he WAS in love with Lois, I would believe he was forcing himself to do so because it was the "right thing to do", rather than because he REALLY was in love with her.

And as hard as this is for Lois, I honsetly believe that would be a lot worse. Clark would act like he loved Lois for a while. Then he would run into Lana and all his old feelings would come back. Or something like that. And Lois would be three times as hurt because she believed Clark DID love her, only to have that ripped out from under her.

You need to be honest with your feelings. And right now, Clark is being honest that he cares for Lois like a friend, but is not in love with her.
And this is where the "double-edged guilt" comes in, which I am definitely seeing right now. (read the 89/90 thread, I believe, for more details on what that means.)
EDIT - I just checked, and I guess it's the 90/91 feedback thread.

Carol, I'm glad that the last step backwards for Clark wasn't intentional. It was really heartbreaking to have Clark retreat back to the point where he was questioning his tie to Christopher. After the *almost*-confirmation of it earlier, I expected his feelings to be deeper, not more superficial.

I'm not saying that his feelings were superficial before, just that his initial reaction to the possibility felt like he was getting confirmation that he wasn't alone on the earth--that he finally had a real connection to someone. We all know that to Clark, the fact that his fathers weren't biological didn't matter, and I don't think it matters to Clark's feelings about Christopher--I think it matters to Clark about his feelings about *Clark*. Does that make sense? In his quest and wish for normality, I think he had to have doubted his ability to procreate.

Now, on that trail, his wife is having a second child. One that he is sure from the start is his. I want him to *want* to be involved, to participate in this birth--not because he loves Christopher less--but maybe in a way to relive and relearn Christopher.

Now as for the discussion about the current chapters, I agree with both arguments above. Ann's right, Lois has shown love for Clark in her concern about his feelings (at the expense of her own heart), but I think she understandably is withholding the agape love because she knows it's not coming back.

Sheila is also right, that Lois's focus is on herself. She's in love with Clark--she's admitted as much. And I don't think that Sheila is saying that Lois needs to extend love to Clark without his reciprocation. The point is that if Lois claims to love (external projection of) him, it could be shown through actions, whereas we all know that Clark doesn't *love* her. He's said that he loves her as a friend, but that isn't enough for Lois. Should it be? For Lois, it's not because she can't yet figure out a way to express her love for him as a friend that is separate from expressing love as a partner.

I'm really glad Clark was stubborn in this part. He's taking some deliberate strides toward finding common ground. Lois is too heart-hurt to go along willingly, but she'll get there. Thanks for the cuddling! Just please, please, please, no more AU steps backward for Clark. He's a husband. He's a father. Let him commit his mind to those facts and stop blabbing everything to Lana. BTW- I may not have met her, but I can't stand Laura Lang...

~s
(/who thought she was cured from her addictive refreshing behavior but foresees a slip tonight)

Finally, Clark acts a little bit more like a grown-up. About time. Unfortunately, Lois is beyond that stage by now. I just hope Clark will be able to get her back to it.

Great parts, as usual.

Ditto the others. It's about time Clark had a little adult introspection with himself...who *would* he talk to about his problems? That's a heck of a query. I wonder if Perry has an Elvis story that involves eloping in another country and running from terrorists and sketchy ex-girlfriends. :p

JD

Is this the two chapters Lois tell Clark her real feeling??? Is Clark finally owning up to that Ms. Thang is gone, move on??? Will they make love again??????

Stay tune to chapters 96 and 97!!!!!!!

No, Ann, I'm not picking on Lois because she's female. It's only because she claims to love Clark. If Clark were the one who claimed to love Lois and behaved like she has, I'd jump down his throat, too. It has nothing to do with gender. I'm not getting that at all. She mentioned once, 50,000 words ago in part 76, that she was sorry the marriage was keeping him from Lana. That was when she was happy-ish, herself. Now that there is distance between them again, the only thing she is unhappy about is that he doesn't love her and that he'll be leaving her for Lana in just over 3 years. Yes, it did, but as I mentioned above, that was 50,000 words ago, almost the length of an entire romance novel. That's why I brought this up to Carol. It's been too long since we've heard anything from Lois that put someone else's feelings before hers. She doesn't have to do it all the time, but we should see it happening occasionally (every 10-15,000 words, about every 4-6 chapters) so the readers believe she actually does love Clark instead of just lusting for him.

However, when I say that, I also want more than just a passing thought. Even though Clark only loves Lois like a friend, he gives her foot rubs and back rubs; he asks how she is doing; he gets up with Christopher to keep him quiet so Lois can sleep in; he bakes her a cake. The only thing Lois does for Clark is help him with his bow tie when he asks her. She doesn't offer to watch Christopher so he can go to a ball game with a buddy; she doesn't ask if he needs anything when she's out; she doesn't ask if he wants a ride or how he's doing. I need to see a few random acts of kindness to occasionally remind me that she loves her husband--and equally important, to give me a reason to believe that Clark would fall in love with her.

However, Ann, "Patient Griselda" isn't a good example to use for me. When I was taking a Chaucer class my junior year in college, I wrote an essay describing why Griselda's patience was neither loving nor godly--and that doesn't even touch on her sadistic, abusive husband, who had told her he was having their children killed when he took them away from her. No, I don't desire to see anyone, male or female, in that kind of master-slave bondage masquerading as a marriage.

I beg to differ. When Pop Pop had died and Clark was going to pieces, Lois took care of him almost in the same way she did when she saved his life in that blizzard. The only things that were different was that Lois didn't actually save Clark's life this time, and they didn't have sex. But she did offer him the kind of comfort that Clark needed so desperately, and that he couldn't get from anyone else. And thanks to the loving way she took care of him that night, Clark got over his shock quickly and has not suffered any sort of depression afterwards. So did she not show him love? More importantly, didn't she offer him just the kind of love he needed to be well again?

You say that if someone claims to love another, then this love should be like the agape form of love, which endures everything and asks for nothing in return. You find that that the love Lois claims to feel for her husband isn't even remotely like that, and I certainly agree. But you don't criticize Clark for hanging on to his Lana fantasy even though he has just made Lois pregnant with their second child. So if Lois claims to love Clark, we should chastize her for not loving him purely and divinely, but if Clark enters into marriage with Lois, he should not be particularly criticized for hanging on to the idea that he will divorce his wife in five years and return to his childhood sweetheart?

Ann

I agree re Lois taking care of Clark. That was at the time they were still sort of happy-ish together, before the falling pillow put another chasm between them. It was also 12 parts ago (pt 82), which makes it over 30,000 words ago. I'm not saying it wasn't a good thing, but the situation was so extreme that if she hadn't done something, she would have looked like the biggest b*tch on the face of the earth.

Maybe the problem is I know some people who are selfish and unpleasant in normal, day-to-day interactions, but they come through like champs in a crisis because it's such a limited, one-time thing. Because of that, I don't tend to be overly impressed by good behavior in a crisis. Without congruent daily behavior, I'm inclined to believe that crisis behavior isn't what people are really like.

If you, OTOH, believe that a crisis reveals someone's true character, you're going to be much more impressed by crisis behavior than I am.

Please answer this. Isn't Clark's pining for Lana the root cause of the problem here? Don't you think it is? (And Sara K M, I understand why he is doing it - but still, isn't his decision to leave Lois after five years what makes her so miserable and their marriage so bad?)

I see this story as a sort of companion piece to Learning to Love, or maybe a sort of mirror image of it. In LTL, it was Lois who caused the marital problems. In OTOH it is Clark's fault more than Lois's.

I agree that both Loises - the one in LTL and the one in OTOH - are terribly bad at dealing with the idea of Clark leaving them. If Lois had been more independent and more hopeful regarding her ability to get on on her own after Clark leaves her, she would not be so depressed, and she would probably come through as a more lovable woman, thus making it easier for Clark to choose her over Lana.

However, I don't agree that Lois is doing nothing for Clark on a day-to-day basis. What she does, more than anything, is protects his image to the world. A lot of people might disapprove if they knew that Clark was just a 'pretend husband'. To him his marriage hasn't been for real, but just a sham needed to cheat Navance. A lot of people might take offence if they knew how Clark was putting on his 'husband identity' much like canon LnC Clark has been putting on his Superman suit: as a way to fool the world and protect the real person underneath. The real man. The man who loves Lana.

Lois has been privy to his secret. She hasn't blown it. On a day-to-day basis she has protected him, so that he can dump her in five years if he wants to and go on with his life with his public reputation intact. Isn't that love?

Ann

Okay - I'm going to try to get a post ready tonight but still not entirely certain it's going to happen [and isn't it like *really* early there Ann?].

Thanks to all for your FDK.

Sheila - I do appreciate what you're saying. I think what you're wanting to see is more of what we've discussed before. We don't *know* that Lois doesn't tell Clark to go to a game with Jimmy or whoever, but we haven't seen - or heard - about it. We also haven't seen or heard that she doesn't. I'll make a note of that.

As for Christmas...

Yes, everyone should think they want to be together for Christmas, but I would think these fall under 'extenuating' circumstances. Plans had already been made to go to Smallville. Sam can't go so the options are:

a. All three stay in Metropolis, no one sees M/J since they've said they can't make the trip to Metropolis
b. All three go to Smallville, Sam - fresh off his heart attack - stays home alone for Christmas
c. Split up late Christmas Eve

None of the options are terribly appealing and I think that all the parents/etc involved understand that.

As for what the final decision will be... RAFO .
Carol

I woke up at five a.m. this morning, which is a Saturday, and I couldn't fall asleep again. Bummer. I've had too much to do in school lately.

Ann

In a word: no. She isn't protecting him. She's maintaining the public facade of a real marriage for the same reason he is--to protect Christopher from Navance. The only difference is that Clark is trying to protect her and Christopher. In no way is this about either of them protecting Clark's reputation.

Absolutely, she is protecting Christopher. That is her main concern. But she could tell Clark's parents that their son is counting down the days until he can leave her, and she could do it without endangering Christopher, probably, and she hasn't done so.

The way I see it, she is protecting Clark, and she is doing what she can to make it possible for him to leave her after five years if he so chooses.

Ann