Originally posted by VirginiaR:
[QB]
John: 
You spoil me. Thanks for the long FDK. I'm glad you're still enjoying my story, despite wanting to bash in Clark's head at times, regarding his wishy-washyness on revealing his most secret and private and earth-shattering of news.
Actually right now it is more Wells I want to bash.
I was hoping both Lois and Clark would meet Herb, but no such luck.
Why would he bring Lois? If he hasn't had time to explain what's going on, who Herb is, it wouldn't make sense to try to bring her into his conversation without having all the facts.
OK, I was mainly hoping that he would open the door and let Wells in. OK< that would have required waiting for Lois to get a bit more presentable, but I was still hoping it would happen. I guess I have to admit that what Clark did makes more sense, but still.
Clark's referring to opening Lois's shirt and kissing down her chest.
Hmm, well, she might be mad. Still, he does have the excuse that she was flirting with him that morning, and he was not there when Lois got sprayed with the Pheremone. I think if he keeps things under control for the next 36 hours, Lois will mainly forgive him. Of course maybe I am being overly optimitic about how honest Lois will be with herself about the whole thing.
Herb doesn't want to take that chance with Lois's life. He's working within known parameters of Lois and Clark's relationship.
Except he is assuming that they did not consumate their relationship based on no death. Now I am thinking he should have gone and tried to talk to them at the Lexor. I mean what if he shows up tells Clark "you can not have sex with Lois or she will die" and he says "we already did that two weeks ago, I wish I could undo it, because she is still mad at me since she was under a drug, but it does not look like she is about to die." I still think Wells should at least tell Clark what he knows. Although since Wells may be wrong on what he thinks he knows it might mess with Clark's mind by giving him too much hope.
Herb is basing his hunch <<assumption>> on history (his dimension's Lois and Clark where Lois died of an unknown illness the next day). He's trying to pre-emptively save Lois's life. True, his assumption may have been wrong, but his heart was in the right place.
Hmm, so in canon Wells actually at some level allowed them to consumate and create the proof of its negative impact while here he wants Clark to go on not really explained or proven examples. I guess the easiest way to explain this is it is what the story needs, but I still think alt-Clark should demand proof. He is far too trusting of the reality of curses.
Clark is basing his conclusions on the belief that Herb wouldn't have come to him, having visited the future, without concrete proof that Lois died as a direct result of their coupling.
Thus, Clark is trusting Wells to have more information than he really does. It is about time he stopped believing that Wells really knows anything.
Herb's not trying to manipulate him. Clark HASN'T made love to Lois. It's always possible that by telling her that he's Superman, that they wouldn't have made love, until their possible wedding day two weeks later. It's always possible that her reaction to him telling her that he's Superman made Clark realize that she wasn't acting like herself enough that he checks out what she could have been exposed to to make her act like that. There is no proof that they would have made love.
True, I still think that Wells should provide Clark with the knowledge of what he really does know.
True, Clark's no in full possession of the facts, but Herb isn't one reveal too much of one's future, now is he?
Maybe that makes sense in some cases, but I think here he is just coming across as manipulative. Although I think Clark is in some ways better off not being told that he and Lois married on Valentine's Day, since I do think that that is false information.
Herb thought that Clark had already made the decision to leave this dimension, and only decided to stay when he discovered that they couldn't save Baby Kal-El. He figures now that Clark knows that they cannot consummate a marriage (should they reach that point), Clark wouldn't want to torture himself by staying in this dimension and would want to return to his dimension. It's a wrong assumption, but a fair one.
It of course ignores many things. Such as they could consumate the marriage if they jointly returned to his dimension. Hmm, that gives me an idea. They could live in this dimension but only have relations in alt-Clark's home dimension after they broke the curse there. OK, maybe that would be hard, but I am trying to think of possible solutions.
If Herb is correct about the curse still affecting them, wouldn't that also be true in alt-dimension?
Yes, but in alt-dimension they can go back in time and remove the curse. Alt-dimension does not have a broken time, so they can go back in time.
Why tell Clark that he and Lois were to be married? Wouldn't have that been extra cruel, having just told him that they couldn't consummate said marriage? (or that Clark would have killed her on their wedding day?) Don't forget that Herb comes from another time, when it was the accepted norm not to consummate until after one was married.
I guess you do have a point. I still feel that Wells is being manipulative, and will stand by that view.
Herb told Clark more than canon Clark knew. Canon Clark had to figure it out for himself.
I guess that is true. OK, maybe I am being needlessly harsh against Wells. I guess the pheremone does help. Still, he realizes that his theories about what will happen if the universe resets do not agree with what he knows actually happened. He should at least have told Clark that Lois' memories of the past might be even more complexed than he pewviously thought.
