Lynn, I have to tell you why the idea of killing Lois to explore Clark's feelings bother me so, when the opposite is not true in quite the same way. It is because I don't think of the ABC TV show as a self-contained universe, but rather I think of it as a part of a much, much larger Superman mythology. And in this Superman mythology, Superman is the one who can never really die. As long as there is a Superman mythology, there will also be a Superman. Although I have to admit that there does not absolutely have to be a Clark. It would be possible to destroy Superman's Clark identity and have him live on only in his superhero persona.

But there are no gurantees whatsoever that Lois will always be a part of this Superman myth. I can easily imagine DC comics eventually getting rid of Lois in order to give Clark - or Superman - a new love interest. Clark already has a new love interest in the smallville show, and the idea that Clark would make love to Lana is certainly something that never existed before that TV show. Who's to say that Lois could not be killed in the comics or in a future movie and be replaced by Lana as Clark's love interest?

I feel Lois's existence as Clark's love interest is honestly precarious. And I honestly want us FoLCs to defend it. When I see people killing Lois to explore Clark's feelings, then I feel that they, too, just like those people in charge of the wider Superman mythology, see Lois as a temporary character, an appendage to Superman rather than his equal partner. I do believe people outside the FoLCdom may want to get rid of Lois, and when FoLCs write death-of-Lois fics, I feel we are somehow encouraging those who want Clark to find somebody else.

I'll never be equally upset by a death-of-Clark fic, because I know there will never be a self-sustained Lois Lane mythology out there, where Clark could get killed so that people all over the world might take an honest interest in who will be Lois's new beau. Superman will never get killed just so that Lois will be permanently rid of him, but as I said, it wouldn't surprise me too much is someone in charge eventually decides that it's time for Superman to move on and for Lois to die, so that Superman won't have to betray her in order to take an interest in some other woman.

So, yes, I do feel that Lois is an endangered person, and I feel that we may actually contribute a little to her death in the wider world of the Superman mythology if death-of-Lois fics become popular here, and certainly if they become a lot more popular than death-of-Clark fics. Please don't think I'm asking for stories where Clark is killed. But I do think that we are encouraging something I truly hate, the idea that Lois is just an appendage, if it becomes natural for us to equal deathfics with death-of-Lois fics. Because that way I do think we are saying that Clark is the only one who really matters, and it is his life and feelings that should be explored.

Ann