I didn't expect balloons and party favors, and I didn't get them. In fact, I anticipated that this story would produce frowns rather than smiles. And while I don't ever set out to make people feel bad, life isn't all strawberries and cream.
Kathyrn84, thanks for reading. The ending was hard for me to write, but the story wanted to go that way. I had little choice.
Betty - no Utopia here, at least not through Lois. And there was a warning in the first post.
In “She’s,” Lois didn’t survive the freezing process. In this story, she does survive – but at a cost.
While this isn't a WHAM warming, it is a danger flag, and since none of the major characters died, I didn't think the warning was necessary.
As far as this Lois being "taken down," someone else should present that tale.
Kathy - thanks for the comments. My understanding of this real but extremely rare phenomena is that memory of events and people is not hindered, but those feelings associated with the events and people is detached from them.
He hesitated, then leaned closer. “Lois, you used to like it when I brought you coffee in the morning.”
She turned a granite face towards him. “I used to eat chocolate-covered cereal with lots of sugar on it for breakfast, too.”
He straightened. “Meaning what?”
“Meaning I grew up and acquired different tastes. Maybe you need to grow up, too.”
Lois remembers, but she doesn't attach any feelings to those memories.
Framework4 - no sequel in the works, at least not at the moment. That is, of course, subject to change.
Happygirl - you raise a good question. But Lois is behaving selfishly and amorally, not criminally. If anyone "takes her down" it will have to be on some non-criminal level. And even if Clark is partially responsible for her current condition (which he is), it doesn't necessarily follow that he's responsible for cleaning up after her.
IolantheAlias - You're right, the feedback is amazing. I'm never disappointed by the insights people bring to stories, especially mine.
Marcus - Thanks for the comment. The ending fits, even though I wish it didn't.
Ann - You might try Tank's story about Lois taking down a Superman who was everything Jason Trask thought he was in
Lois Lane - Assassin. That might meet your criteria for Lois taking down an evil Superman.
BJ - Chapter 2 contains this statement.
She stopped speaking to Superman except to get news material, and her attitude towards him was always filled with barely repressed contempt.
Hard to be someone's conscience when that person loathes you.
In this imaginary universe (which is similar to ours but not identical), Clark just decided not to press charges against her. As indicated in the end of the last chapter, he was hoping that she'd eventually heal, and he didn't want any further barriers between them (arrest, trial, possible fine, restraining order, etc.). And while Lois had a long-term relationship with Lance, he read more into it than she did. He wanted something permanent with her. All she wanted from him was sex.
There are lots of WaFFs available on the archive. They're excellent stories, too.
Vicki - I'm a little different from most of the rest of the writers here in that I don't always show everything. Some things are best left to the imagination. And since this was told from Clark's POV, I tried to focus on his emotional suffering.
Michael - wow. Didn't mean to make you whimper, dude. Really.
How did Lois stay alive during S3? Maybe Superman saved her "off-camera" a few times.
The New Kryptonians? Wow, I never even considered that aspect. Certainly Clark would have less emotional attachment to Metropolis, but would he leave his adopted home world? I don't know. Why don't you write it and let us know? Sounds like a great story waiting to be told.
Tank - thanks for reading and commenting. Someone else agreed in another story's feedback (sarcastically, I think) that Lois' attitude problems towards Clark were caused by her overly long hair. Wait - didn't you write that one?
Remember, just because I didn't write Superman saving this mean and nasty Lois doesn't mean it didn't happen. It just means that I didn't write it. And I agree that her meteoric rise will probably be accompanied by an equally meteoric collapse. The epilogue you propose is intriguing, too. Hmmm.
Thanks to all who read, and thanks to all who read and commented!
