Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: On The Other Hand, 136 and 137/?

FDK goes here .

Posting Schedule:
Saturday: 138/9, probably 10-noon ET
Sunday: 140/1, after 4pm ET
Monday: 142/3, probably 10-noon ET
Tuesday: 144, probably 10-noon ET
Wednesday: 145, probably 10-noon ET

Previews

Chapter 138
Chapter 139
[Yes, I know they're both Clark previews but I wanted to use the Clark one from 139 because I can and there wasn't really a good Lois one from 138 so...]

Thanks!
Carol

/shivers/

At this point it feels like even if Clark wakes up and tries to tell Lois he wants to stay married she won't believe him. She has her mind completely made up, full steam ahead...

I think whatever caused Clark to scream "Noooo!" is the shock thearpy I've been talking about.
That'll do it for him.

I've been wondering what Lieta just said, too.
She didn't believe Lana when she told her Clark did love her. Would she believe Clark?
Particularly if she didn't witness his reaction to above event?

I still maintain her letting Clark go is about selfless love from her perception. Objectively speaking, it isn't what she should be doing. She should at least wait for Clark to decide what he wants. But that isn't an option from Lois's POV. Like Carol said, they had already decided they would get a divorce back at the beginning. She's accepted that. She believes letting him go is the best thing she could do.

BUT - as much as it is selfless love from her POV, there is a lot of defense mechinism there as well. That's why she brings up the divorce first. She's not willing to wait and have Clark bring it up. She's preparing her heart early. It's that same defense mechinism that refuses to believe Lana's speech and to wonder why Clark does some of the things he does. (Out of love?)

So, given that that is the case, would she believe Clark if he came to her and said, "I don't want a divorce. I am in love with you."
I wonder if "Unanswered Prayers" is about Clark CONVINCING Lois he is in love with her.

Great job!
Is it true that there will be a sequel?
I hope it is. I have loved reading this story from the beginning. Every morning I come online to check to see if another part of the story is added. You are a great writer carolm.

Can't wait to see how everything unfold

Sem

Well, I think that the main problem is the fact that Clark still seems to be stuck on the idea of finding his 'soulmate'. And he worries that Lois isn't his soulmate, but that he will be stuck with her because of what has happened in his marriage to her:

Clark does not feel that Lois is his soulmate, and he wants to find the woman who is. He used to think that Lana was the one, but Lana basically told him here that the two of them don't have a future together. And because Lana won't be his soulmate, Clark is still stuck on finding the woman who is. Why else would he want a divorce? He has no other woman who waits for him, not really. If he leaves Lois, he has nothing and no one to go to instead. The only thing that makes any sort of sense to me is that Clark wants to find his soulmate, and he doesn't feel that Lois is the one.

Good conversation with Van-El. I thought that Van-El would drive me crazy, but he didn't. He told Clark some useful things about Krypton. Like, if Clark had still been on Krypton, his parents may have married him off to someone who wasn't his soulmate at all, and he would basically be stuck with her. Or he might have found his soulmate and been unable to marry her, because the two of them belonged to different social strata. So stop living such a pipe dream, Clark!

I agree with those who say that a bit of shock therapy is just what the doctor ordered. Let's see what the launching of the Messenger will do to Lois and Clark.

Ann

I think Clark is overthinking it. He expects some huge signs like garlands and bells to tell him that *she's* your soulmate. What about love.. slow and tender?

So yeah I agree.. he needs some jolt to get him on the right track... and Lois probably needs to be in a tight spot (not necessarily a deathbed), to believe the depth of Clark's feelings for her.

Besides, these two characters are totally believable (given despite their life experiences, they're only 22? 23? One can only cope up with so much at a time...)

Carol, I've been following and still enjoying this story, though it is making me crazy.

I agree that Lois is preparing her heart for the divorce that "she knows" is coming. I think if Clark would just think about the true meaning of love and then compare it to what he and Lois have, he would realize that he has been in love with her for a long time. He is like Lois is in the series. He has almost talked himself out of ever loving her. But then her selflessness is what will finally make him realize the depth of her love for him. The thought of Lois' dream about the Kryptonite cage is still toying with my brain here. Will that be the determinant?

As for your posting schedule Carol, why not just make us all happy and post all of it. You've already finished it, so what do you say--huh...as a late Christmas gift...please? I'm just so anxious to find out what happens next. Please don't make me grovel more.

~Sheila

Carol, I hope you have something happen in this story or its sequel that teaches Clark to keep his blabber mouth shut re his relationship. He talks with every frickin' person in the story except his wife--and blabs all the details of their relationship, even after she asked him not to. I literally cringed when he was telling Lana about when and why he and Lois had made love. How will Lois ever trust him to keep their private business private if they get back together?

And I knew it. Clark's pulling that same stupid card that Lois did--making decisions based on what they think the other one wants ("He wants a divorce." "She wants someone who loves her the way she deserves"). I hope you have something in mind to teach them the utter falseness and stupidity of that kind of behavior.

I did like Bernie, and he had a lot of good things to tell Clark. I still don't get why learning that his baby brother was alive was so overwhelming that he had to disappear for several days. I mean, it's not like he suddenly found out at his beloved dad's funeral that he had a younger sibling because his dad had cheated on his mom. I could see why someone in that situation would need some time to deal with it before meeting the sibling. But finding out the baby brother he'd thought was dead was still alive? That should have been a cause for rejoicing and swooping down and hugging him. Could you please add a scene, a paragraph, something, to let us in on why it wasn't?

I'm glad to see Lois is being herself about the EPRAD story. I'm just worried because there isn't a Superman yet, and I'm afraid she's going to get into trouble that will cost her her life.

/waves/ Not sure what time I'll get to post tomorrow after all but at some point... may be midafternoon...

Michael - LOL! Possible... or not... Bobby Bigmouth found Lois I think. Never saw those Star Wars... no young Harrison Ford .

Lieta - perhaps...

Sara - very well could be. I see it as a lot of defensive mechanism. I will also say that no one has even come close to the main premise of UP... Not remotely close...

Seme - yes. Sequel is probably 3/4 written though it does need quite a bit of editing in places [for instance, had no clue Lana might actually turn out okay and they could stand each other if necessary...] And thank you .

Ann - I'm glad Van's not driving you crazy. That he would be completely unpalatable to you was a concern of mine because you've stuck with me this far. I doubt Clark would have ended up with Zara [is that L/C canon or Sman canon?] since he was betrothed to Van but... /whispers/ Messenger already exploded with Commander Laderman on board [is he any relation to Eugene a few eps later?] and Prometheus is the space station itself and the ship that's getting ready to launch is only listed as the 'colonists' transport' in the script... Believe me, I looked repeatedly for a name .

AnKS - Yes, they are only 22. Martha said something to that effect last go round. Too young to understand that he can decide to love her even if he's not in love with her. One of my favorite songs/sayings is "Love is a verb" - it requires action. Feelings come and go - there's times I *really* don't like my kids but I take care of them anyway - even to the point of being sick at times because they're sick. Ditto DH. And Clark is still pretty young and may not quite realize that.

Sheila - so sorry it's driving you crazy but no, not going to up the posting schedule. In part because then the clamoring for UP will start and I need some more time on it [I didn't write a word for THREE days! And then started my ficathon fic this AM... ]. The Kryptonite cage was just a random bad dream thing [at this point - not to say it couldn't show up SOME day but no plans in either OTOH or UP].

SheilaH - I don't know about *every* person - his parents, Perry, Lana and his brother. Okay - more than he probably should have - especially Perry at this point. Lois also talked to Sam some [though not quite as much] and doesn't really have anyone else to turn to [Vicki? Though she's been a minor character at best though I've indicated that they have been close in the past]. If anyone deserves more of an explanation it's Lana and the reason for the secret doesn't exist anymore... And he's always gone to his parents for advice - until the whole Lois/Navance thing - and they can't give advice unless they know the whole story. And Van is the only one who can tell him if being Kryptonian plays a role in it... I think it was more than just Clark being alive but also the debut and maybe something else we don't really know about [and because I needed him to avoid Clark for a few days]. No, there isn't a Superman, though there may be a Van-El but...

Anyway - more tomorrow .

Carol

Edits: By 3/4 written I mean I'm on ch. 28-9 something like that and I'm thinking 35ish but I may need to add a chapter in the middle somewhere b/c of a couple things that happen in the last few chapters...

And SheilaH - I did read your post on the last chapter and have made some mental notes...

Ditto to several people here. Personally, I think soul mates in general is a bunch of hogswash. Instant connection. BOOM. You're in and ready to go. And...I'm just out of things to say heh. He's only 22, and I don't expect him to learn overnight what love's all about at 22; we learn things at different ages. Love is a verb, and so is happiness, and fact is Clark hasn't woken up and tried to make the best out of most of his days, so how can you possibly build on a bunch of crappy days? I wonder what's going to make him stop spending all of his time gabbing about his tortured soul to people and start taking life by the horns.

Great parts,
JD

Personally, I've never believed in soulmates so much as "instant connection, we're made for each other", either. I CAN believe that you feel a connection to the person you end up marrying (it didn't happen to me, but I know a lot of people who have said it happened to them.)
But I can't believe THAT CONNECTION itself is love.

That's why, like I said before, as much as I love canon LNC's relationship, in many ways, the way their relationship progresses in this story works better for me.

Now, that said, it doesn't surpise me that Clark is reacting the way he is. He's got the rug ripped out from under his feet and he doesn't know how he feels. He expected two and half more years of being married to Lois. He loves his sons. He wants to love her. But he's still got some "double-edged guilt" to deal with, although he's very close to resolving it. He isn't in love with Lana anymore, and he's willing to realize it.

I think a lot of people reading this story expected when Clark actually realized he and Lana weren't meant for each other, he would jump into Lois's arms, so to speak. But that's not very realistic, even though we all want Clark to get together with Lois for real.
Getting over Lana for real, as opposed to accepting it might not happen (which he had realized a long time ago), is an important step in Lois and Clark's real relationship.
But it doesn't end there. Like I have said before, ending things with Lana in Clark's mind, DOES NOT get rid of the "double-edged guilt."

Which the "Lois deserves someone who really loves her" and the conversation with his parents, and his brother, is evidence that he is still expriencing.

Personally, even though I want Lois and Clark together as well, I'm really glad Carol did not have Clark running to Lois after he talked to Lana. It wouldn't be realistic for me, because he would be skipping a whole step in the thought process.

Oh, and I liked Clark's conversation with his brother. It sounds to me like Clark was worried he forced himself into a life-long commitment before he was ready when he slept with her.
Now, from a personal standpoint, I believe sex should be about life-long commitment.
But, I also believe Clark wasn't ready for that at the time. And I don't want Clark to decide to stay with Lois because he feels he has no choice. (In as much as I don't really want to, but I guess I have to, because I slept with her that night.) I want to him to stay with Lois because he loves her. Because he realizes he CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT HER.

Shock thearpy here we come!

Sara -

That was a big part of the problem with the original ending. It was too easy. It went from the first part of the conversation with his parents [I added the last 1/3 or so recently] to resolution [whatever that resolution is] in a few hours and that just didn't work - and I knew it didn't work when I wrote it but I had to get it out at the time. I was able to use big chunks of it [thank goodness!] but left about 1700 words unused [and ready to be deleted]. Turned it from 1.3 chapters into about 8 actually, but more stuff in there too. That's also why the last two chapters were added. I could probably have wrapped it up in 143, but after all this time, to wrap it up that quickly I think did a disservice to them, to me and to all of you so it got stretched [though 145 is still a bit short].

Thanks!
Carol

Assuming there's a happy (or even mostly happy) ending in 145 you could give us some WAFFiness after all the angst to fatten up the chapter... If not... maybe some reflections from the character? Assuming you even want to make it any longer =P

It took me about three days to know that James and I were doing the happily-ever-after, white-picket fence thing. That wasn't love at first sight, but still... At least we waited two years for the whole marriage thing. It's too hard to be married while a college student, after all.

Anyway, as always, that was all a big aside...

I just caught up on the last week+ worth of post. Part 128 caught me flat-footed. Fantabulous! Part 130 was even better. No foreshadowing in sight. Stupendawonderful!


Elisabeth

DH and I knew very quickly as well .

Not everyone does... I know a few people like that...

Glad you're still reading/enjoying and that I caught you flat footed .

Carol