Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: The Letter (1/1)

So. My first ending (which lasted all of two minutes before I changed it to what was posted - not even being sent to a beta) is hiding behind this spoiler.

KenJ kindly gave me another alternate ending. I don't want him to think I don't appreciate his version of the ending - because I very much do ... but it's not the feel I wanted for this fic.

Anyone going to comment? Which ending do YOU prefer?

It may not be everyone's idea of a great story but I really liked it.

I liked all three endings. The ending you posted, I mean after all this Clark would want to emotionally punish himself for the next 80 years or so right? On the other hand there was something even more compelling with your original ending (the hidden one) as it fit the story theme better. Ken's ending was certainly more upbeat and would fit also and maybe the dream he had would spark him to go to Lois and come clean. I mean Lois and Martha together could have come up with a bunch of approaches to fix the problem.

Given the ending you chose, Lois and Clark's stubbornness/fear and what it could have easily resulted in is explored very well here. The story was very melancholy. Lois' story was sad but she led a long life with family who loved her very much. The real problem was that she knew it (her life) could have been so much more but she was afraid to go for it. Clark's solitary life was of his own making so I had a bit more of a problem feeling sorry for him. I mean after his folks were gone (they could no longer be targets) Clark could have gone to Lois and explained everything but he chose himself not to do that (too stubborn or too scared it is hard to tell).

In the end your story described two lonely people who could have solved their loneliness with a simple call or visit from either side. You basically took their muleheadedness from the series and amped it up quite a bit. That said I guess when you look back on canon it should be considered a miracle that they ever got together considering all the times their stubbornness and fear got in the way and they nearly went down the path you described in this story.

One thing that I ponder in stories like this is why is Clark still so adamant about keeping the secret? Parents are gone, Lois and just about all of his friends are gone. Why bother? Why not come out and live a "normal" life or at least take on another identity? Why be Superman full time? I guess this Clark is basically masochistic in his core...

Finally, this must be "Let keep Lois and Clark apart for a long time" month with this story and DC's "Make Love, Not Warcraft" last week...

Mike

Chickens in the yard. KEN, YOU WON!!!
I guess we have another sucker for happy endings here, huh?

Anyway, I personally prefer the one in the definitive version, I think you got it right... Way to go, KK!
(And now... Where are my tissues? Sniff...)

Sad, emotional, bittersweet. SO heartfelt. Wow--can I borrow a tissue, HiddenMoon?

I really enjoyed this piece, KK. I am definitely more of the 'happily ever after' type--hence, Ken's ending does have great appeal --BUT...I agree with your final choice. Overall, I think how the story reads now would be my preference.

I come away from reading with such a feeling of missed opportunity. So much time with everything left unspoken. Two heartbroken people, blinded by all of the chances they never took. It was very easy to feel the loneliness of their lives--and the regret.

Lois' letter gave Clark (or I guess Superman) a link to reality. I'm so glad that he knows the truth about how Lois had always felt. He can now live the rest of his life knowing that she loved him as much as he will continue to love her. There's pain in knowing that, I know, but there's also so much value.

Very much loved the story, KK. Wonderful job .
Laura

Very powerful - so emotional! I can imagine why Lois would keep writing the letters, but then immediately destroy them...after so many years, where do you even begin to hold this conversation? I actually thought it was going to end like your first ending - there's a finality to it. The story feels more substantial without a happy ending, though keeping the letter gives just a glimmer of hope, a tangible reminder than he has something to hold onto.

Not to bring up yet another discussion about deathfic, but I actually wasn't bothered by it in this case. I've thought about why all day and have concluded that it's because, in the story, she's been presented as dead from the very beginning. When she starts out alive, I hold onto the hope for a miracle or a happy ending where she lives, and them I'm sad when she doesn't. Here, I could just focus on the story from a hopeless position already, which made me feel more for the struggle of both characters. So, kudos to you!

What a beautiful, bittersweet story. Clark should have come clean to Lois (or she should have told him that she knew). He could have made another identity in order to have a life with her, or even had a life with her as Superman.

This story was a real tearjerker. I just wish I hadn't read it at work.

Aaaaand here's the first dagger to my heart.



Hmmm....



<Heart sinks> She's dead, isn't she?


Gotta love how smart they are.



Ah, my second guess. My first was the funeral.


Hmmmm....


She knew. Clark, you idiot, you wasted your chance at happiness.


LOL! I'll bet!


<reaches for tissues>





Beautiful and heart wrenching story! I'm fighting a huge lump in my throat right now, seriously. Well done!

Of the three endings, I don't like the one where he burns the letter. It's too out of character for him to destroy something, anything, that was connected to Lois, especially if it reminded him of her love, no matter how hard the reminder might be. The farmhouse one - that's what I kept hoping for...that he was being given a glimpse into how much his life would suck if he didn't figure out how to resurrect Clark. (Though the aging thing would be off canon then...he didn't know about that until BY, which was after TOGoM.)

Unlike everyone else, I thought that it was someone else's funeral and that Clark would see Lois and they would finally confess their love. I suspected it was Perry's funeral and the letter was from him, telling Clark he's being a lunkhead for letting a little thing like death to keep him from his one true love. Elvis wouldn't have done it! So, needless to say, I was a bit shocked and saddened to see it was Lois's will reading. Then, I hoped that she had figured out the truth and faked her death, so that 'in death' she and Clark could finally be together and live. Alas, that too wasn't so. Sigh. Lois was truly dead and she knew Clark's secret. Instead of somehow finding a way to break the silence they both ended up living alone in their misery. Then, when we arrived to the ghost scene I began to hope that maybe YES Lois was still alive! Alas, no. Then, I thought, is Superman going to die there, having read Lois's letter and unable to go on without her soul there to be with him. Would ghostly Superman fly off with ghostly Lois to finally be together in ghostly Utopia? No matter how hard I tried, you were determined to keep Lois dead, KK, and Lois and Clark apart.

While Ken's alt-ending did give us the possibility of the happily ever after we all longed for, there was something missing. It was *too* neatly tied up in a bow, having been a dream. I also agree with groobie. It would have been out of Clark's character to destroy Lois's admission of love. Understandable, given the way he was feeling, but I couldn't see him do it.

I agree you chose the correct ending. Will Clark be able to move on now and find love? Will he, as he did in the Home Series, find Lois's reincarnated self (20 years later)?

Beautifully written. Very sad though. Do you have another one of your romantic vignettes to turn our smiles up-side-down? (see, I can do cliche's too!)

A sad story but a good one. When you described the gun shots, at first I thought that was Lois getting shot. Your story emphasizes what we've known all along - that Superman needs Clark Kent, that he's not complete without him. It's sad that Lois and Clark would be so stubborn for so long but life sometimes happens that way.

I like the ending that you went with.

Joan

Thanks, Mike. And it seems that it actually is everyone's idea of a ... well, an okay story.

I do agree, that this is (kind of) the correct ending, but I couldn't do it, in the end. Guess there is still KK WAFF in there somewhere.

Glad that came across. Don't feel too sorry for her. Yes, she missed out on Clark, but she still had a great life.

Oh yeah. He took the solitary, martyr hero a bit too far in this.

More like ... too much time had passed to bother trying to sort it all out.

You could be right.

Conversely ... with all those people gone ... who was there that he would want to have a life with? No friends, no family and no 'girl'. Why bother to create an identity and a life but still be alone? May as well just continue to be Superman.

When I read DC's story I was shocked that she managed to keep them apart for 15 years. But then, inside, I was going ... "But you haven't seen how long I'm going to keep them apart in my next fic."

Oh he is. He fought with me on this, convinced that no-one would accept my choice of ending. I think that's due to the fact that everyone expects WAFF from me.

Thank you.

Sorry, no tissues allowed. You have to cry freely for all to see ...

Yay. Thanks. Even a die-hard 'happily ever after' likes my ending.

very sad.

You are correct. I wanted there to be a little bit of comfort in knowing that Lois loved him, but that she also respected and accepted his decision to be Superman and devote himself to the world.

Thank you

That's what I hoped for, thanks.

Thanks.

She said as much in the letter. She would have gone anywhere and become anyone just to be with him. But she also didn't want to approach him, or push him, as he'd made his position clear by becoming Superman full time.

Awww, sorry.

There will be more, sorry.

You're thinking ... Bar Mitsvah?

Yup.

Oh yeah

Yup, that's already happened ... off screen.

Of course. And I kind of just imagined you doing a Gibbs Slap on Clark during that sentence.



Sorry, I think we are out ... too many other readers have already taken them.

Thank you.

One of the reasons why I didn't go with it ... even though - in some ways - it fits the mood of the story better.

Yeah, I think lots of people were. Ken especially . But I personally felt that it would cheapen the rest of the fic to make it all a dream.

Yup, that would mean that he also happened to be psychic then, if he had this dream in TOGOM.

Sorry, no such luck.

Sorry. Dashed your hopes there.

Still dashing your hopes, sorry.

And once again with the hope dashing!

I'm still at it. Sorry. Any more hopes for me to dash?

Yup. I was!

I agree too. Well, duh! I chose that ending!

Um ... *whistles innocently*

Not sure ... something I'm working on now ... is more WAFFy, but still has sad bits ... um, you'll have to wait and see.

Absolutely. But somehow he's managed to live into his 80s as Superman, plodding away, without realising this ... until this letter came along.

Unfortunately it can be, yes.

Thanks.

You know what, I like it!

Too often, stories like this -- with this mood/genre -- they're SO well written until the very end when the author feels like he/she has to wrap everything up in a pretty pink bow and make it all okay, but those stories fall SO flat. *cough* Hunger Games *cough* This was raw and had a very realistic ending.

As for your alternative endings, I think the first one was too rash for Clark/Superman, and the last one was too light and fluffy for this story. Your final choice of ending was perfection! I really enjoyed this.

I've actually never commented before on here, though I have been registered. I reviewed your sequel on Fanfiction.net as Crazeeisthebest.

Anyways, I don't usually read or enjoy overly angsty stories but...I don't think this is all that angsty or dark. I know Lois and Clark didn't end up together, but they lived decent lives apart from each other. I think the ending of Clark deciding to live for Lois' sake reminded me of some of the great Superman alternate universe comic stories. Even though Lois is dead and they aren't lovers, she STILL keeps him tethered to his humanity from beyond the grave. That's a very optimistic approach instead of moping for seventy years like in some other fandoms...

Wow! This is beautifully written and just heartbreaking. While I am definately a sucker for a happy ending, I think this is perfect just the way it is.