Well, Sue, I adored the first part, and it's such a pity that most of my feedback just disappeared. But now that I've thought a little more about the first chapter, I'm struck by a few things that I wouldn't have said in my first comment anyway. What particularly strikes me is the way you bring to life your wonderful interpretation of the character of Lois Lane. Lois is, as so many people have said, a complex person. I'm sure you could quote those immortal words from Shakespeare that I only remember in their Swedish translation, about how each person is an entire world, each of us trying to keep in check a multitude of conflicting wishes making up what we like to think is a very together and straightforward sort of "I". Instead we are the hosts of a chorus of "little selves" - little Anns, little Sues, little Woodys (forgive me, Sue and Woody, for presuming that you aren't always perfectly together and self-assured and sure of what you want all the time). And one thing is certain - our favorite female reporter is often almost bursting at the seams because the all little Loises inside her keep clamouring for her to make mutually exclusive decisions. Go for that gorgeous guy, Clark Kent! No, wait, are you crazy, you're much too attracted to him and he'll break your heart! Wow, it's going to be great to have someone as cute and smart as him as your very own partner! What??? What if he turns out to be better than you and make you look bad as a reporter?
I once saw a TV documentary about a woman whose two brain hemispheres had been severed in order to control her very serious epilepsy. Anyway, this woman was now literally two persons inhabiting one body - she was "left hemisphere Mary" and "right hemisphere Mary". Left hemisphere Mary was the dominant one, because she was the only one who could speak. But in the documentary, we saw left hemisphere Mary opening her closet (with her right hand) to pick a dress that she was going to wear this day. While left hemisphere Mary was busy explaining to the TV reporter that she thought she'd like to wear her dark blue dress today, right hemisphere Mary took advantage of the other Mary's distraction to put her left arm (controlled by the right hemisphere) into the closet and grab a green dress from a clothes hanger.
Lois certainly is like this, torn by mutually exclusive wishes. And that is why it was just so brilliant to have her just suddenly blurt out to Mickey that she and Clark had gone to Las Vegas to elope! And why would she say just that? Well, obviously because one little Lois inside her has been fervently hoping and dreaming of doing just that - of eloping like a whirlwind on a moment's notice and just suddenly finding herself wonderfully married to this guy she is so absolutely obsessed with. What an amazing way of silencing that clamour of conflicting wishes and voices ripping conglomerate-Lois apart and just, literally, make this über-Lois take the plunge! Just make her let this totally terrifying and unbelievably thrilling thing simply happen! Just like that! So it was wonderful that Lois would tell Mickey that she and Clark had come to Las Vegas to elope, because when Lois said those words, it was really one of her most insistent inner Loises who was speaking up, voicing her favorite fantasy.
I loved seeing, too, how conglomerate-Lois was happy to let the wedding just happen. Maybe she was sort of happy that she didn't really have a choice? Mickey and his goons made sure that the decision was out of her hands. And it was no big deal anyway, because she and Clark could always get themselves an annulment afterwards. Ah, but... the Lois who made her speak up and say that she and Clark were eloping is so unbelievably thrilled about the whole thing!
But then other members of the menagerie of Loises reasserted themselves, and one of them made that absolutely priceless comment about wanting "the usual" for the wedding ceremony. This Lois undoubtedly felt that the whole thing was ridiculous, it was beneath her, so let's get it over with and let's hope Reverend Bob notices her contempt! The same Lois, or a Lois not unlike her, noted with exasperated interest that Reverend Bob didn't realize he had to use sunscreen before bringing his bald head into the Las Vegas sun, the idiot.
I completely loved how you showed us this menagerie of Loises so beautifully, Sue. Best of all, you captured each of the different sub-Loises so perfectly, and still you managed to make conglomerate-Lois perfectly believable and mostly likable, too.
In this new chapter, Lois-who-wanted-to-marry-Clark wants to ravish him, and she is the one who kisses him and herself senseless. A slightly naugtier version of this Lois was the one who straddled Clark and kept kissing him even though Clark had begged her to stop. The Lois who panicked at the very thought of marriage and commitment (and the unavoidable consequences, such as broken hearts, professional embarrassments etcetera) was the one who barricaded herself in the bathroom and cried her heart out because the kiss had been so wonderful. A Lois not unlike her was the one who had chosen the flannel pajamas - okay, the cotton pajamas! And a Lois more like the one who wanted to marry Clark wished that she had chosen the silk nightie with the spaghetti straps. The Lois who was prepared to spend hours in the bathroom looking after her own cuticles was probably one who learnt survival strategies when she was a child growing up with an alcoholic mother.
No quotes this time either, Sue. I'm sorry. But I absolutely love this story.
Ann
