Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: Seeking Friendship by Lieta

Comments go here.

I don't think the story about Giulia took away from the story. At first, I thought Giulia would be the Nigerian princess, but as the story continued I realized that wasn't the case.

Thank Christina...

Have to admit I'm a little thrown by the lack of response on this one *shrug*... I really just wanted a BatP/HoL piece where, instead of Lois finding out Lex is bad or getting an epiphany about her feelings for Clark, she got to the point of turning down Lex for the reason their relationship never made sense to me... that she'd have to become a society wife at most and an editor/executive at least with her elevated profile... there's really no way half of the '3rd richest couple in the world' can be at a press conference aside from being in front of the mics/cameras....

About 4k words into a MoSB touch up that I'm kinda hitting the wall on, but I'll try to knock that out in the next couple of days....

I have not been too active in FDK recently but I DID like the story. I never liked that episode pair much as I prefer my Lois to be strong and smart. In those episodes she was anything but that. This version was quite a bit more to my taste in the Lois Lane character. I did like the discussion and how you setup the ending. I really liked your Clark, a strong and fearless Clark, taking more after Martha and less after Jonathan. The series seemed to make him take more after his dad than mom hence the chickening out at just about every opportunity.

Mike

I also really liked this story. I loved how Clark was able to calmly discuss the issue of Lois not being able to be an investigative reporter as Lex's wife. It would have changed Lois completely to be a society matron, and she would have given up so much of her own identity for reasons that never made sense to me. Why she was in a rush to suddenly get married after not even dating a few months before also never made sense.

I'm probably in the minority, but the BatP/HoL arc was not one of my favorites. I've always wondered how it was changed from whatever they might have originally planned, since both John Shea and Deborah Joy LeVine left after Season 1.

It always seemed so out of character for Lois to meekly accept Lex's proposal, and for Clark to be unable to reach her.

I really like the way you wrote this, and know I'll be coming back to read it again and again.

Thanks you two. I was trying really hard not to come off as whining for feedback in the last post... whether or not I managed, well... *shrug*

There's definitely a lot of the Ides Jonathon (of all the couples to try the throw-away "I think my partner is cheating" episode with *ugh* why not Perry/Alice where we know there's continual off and on problems?) in some of my less favorite episodes... And Lois at the end of season 1... well...

I can sorta get Lois' actions after the Planet is bombed. It's not really in character, but then I kinda see her as in shock and possibly even in a semi-breakdown and trying to find any rock to cling to for a sense of stability and, let's face it, "Marry me" is a lot more stability than just "I love you" when she's considering her options, especially if her thought processes are muddled by trauma, grief, and shock. (Also, as an aside, the "I can't" at the alter has to be one of my absolute least favorite plot tropes.)

That doesn't explain why she doesn't laugh in Lex's face at the initial proposal. I mean really, their relationship pops out of no where in Fly Hard. There doesn't seem to be any hint that they're more than occasional dinner dates (with Lex in male Cat mode wanting a notch on his belt, not a *wife*) before that. And both Vatman and Rival don't really make sense if Lois doesn't view herself as single...

And I think a lot of that is due to, as cuidadora brought up, Shea deciding to leave. Then again, the original plan was to go like 10 years/as long as possible (off a comment in a season 1 commentary if I remember right) without risking the 'moonlighting curse'... which might have given us the (to me) unsatisfactory final getting together of the couple like Bones (oops pregnancy, really? Really?!) or Castle (just *sigh* that show right now...). where they drag it out so long then they just throw them together in a ridiculously quick moment or it just doesn't necessarily make sense for it to even happen anymore... with *years* of frustration behind the let down... And I do enjoy the will they/won't they of early seasons... but it can quickly get stale and formulaic.

I really liked the way you handled this, as well.
To me, Clark's biggest mistake in the BatP/HoL arc was letting his feelings get in the way of the situation at hand. Clark confessed his love, which I think is perfectly understandable under normal circumstances. In this one, however, getting close to the story was not smart in the first place, because it took away his credibility in warning Lois about Lex.
This was the conversation they should have had before they found out Lex had bought the planet. I like that Clark took it sensibly, trying his first tactic without bringing up the "Lex is evil" scenario. All Clark's accusation did was make Lois defensive, and rightly so. It made it sound like Clark was just saying those things because he didn't like Lex, whether or not he believed them. Tack on the hurt and you've got a discredited Clark.

If all he could do was slam insults on Luthor, how could she trust him to not be biased in helping her? He was supportive and logical in the way he went about things. He wanted to get her away from Lex, but he wanted to support her, too. This was a good middle ground.

I see this as the what Lois would have done if everything hadn't fallen apart. To me, her breakdown in the series was very in-character. 1st season Lois is ruled by her insecurities. The planet was her stability; her home. That was taken from under her, she was losing Clark already, Perry and Jimmy left, and she was rejected by Superman. She didn't have anything to cling to. Someone as insecure as Lois (the Rival, anyone?) could easily make an out of character decision when her support system is pulled out from underneath her. I liked the way they handled it on the show, but I love your interpretation of what might have been, as well.

The other thing I love is that Clark acknowledges Lois's feelings for Superman as being understandable. So many people get on Lois for that, but Clark's mannerisms are completely different as Superman. He's a different person entirely.

This is an excellent story. Would love to see more. Lack of feedback totally kills my muse.

Each new story from your pen is more impressive than the last.


There are few stories which explore Clark's life as a young man wandering around the world carrying a battered old suitcase. This is an example of one of them.

His time hanging out with Giulia could have easily been one of those stories. Imagine how frightened she must have been to see her friend floating in his sleep. No wonder the poor girl had been frightened out of her wits! Clark was so embarrassed he could even tell Martha and Jonathan.

Nonetheless she showed incredible tact by not telling the world who Superman really is. Kudos to her.

I wonder what would happen if she showed up in Metropolis one day?

Thanks Annie, I tried placing this fic as right after the proposal. Lex proposes on the plane ride home and Lois immediately goes to Clark's place to try and talk it out. Unlike my MoSB fic, I didn't actually rewatch the episode before writing this but if I remember the timing right, we have Lex propose, commercial break, then daylight at the Planet with Lex seen coming in to claim ownership. Then Clark doesn't find out about the proposal until Lex shows up. And with Lex preening about it, Clark's even more bitter and judgmental in his reaction. This fic would take place in that commercial break, before the wedge in LnC's relationship starts to be driven in.

Thanks L, =)

Thanks Morgana, you know, before my muse died before I'd played with the idea of more fics like Coin Toss or One Way Down/Finding the Way Up... fics that played with Clark's childhood or travels... although a secret of One Way Down is, if you put it in the universe of my long unfinished fic, that's not *Clark* falling... and I think I still never actually used his name in that one outside the summary (yay for first person perspective).

Giulia... was a total surprise to me. I meant to kind of parallel her with Lex. Someone who would be higher profile (a politician maybe, I even considered her being a contact for him in the LnC UN or something) than someone with as much to hide as Clark could really be comfortable in a relationship with. Then, as I was having him describe their relationship, I kind of thought: how might someone devoutly Catholic respond to Clark's powers? Especially if he wasn't *saving* them at the time they discovered them? And the rupture of their friendship came out. And then, because of her terrified reaction, Clark just vanishes. He never tries to see if she just flipped out because it was the middle of the night and could have been calmer or more rational in the morning or if she would have still been terrified of him... which I get the feeling happened a lot with Clark in his years abroad. I tried to give the feeling in the letter that there was a strong possibility that she looked for Clark the next day and wondered or even worried about what happened to him. But, the letter was also written to Superman. So she couldn't actually say that much.

Loved this! ...

I'm--once again --pretty behind on reading/FDK'ing stories, discovering this gem while eating a late lunch just a few moments ago.

I've always been a huge fan of BATP/HOL (see sidebar pic, thanks to Lady Loisette ). Not really for quality character decisions--Lois accepting Lex's proposal, while steamrolling over Clark's feelings...Clark's hurt knee-jerk comment to Lois in her robe as Superman...etc), but mostly for all the angst.

I love the sense of urgency throughout both episodes, how the world is crashing in--really--around both of them. How Lois looses all sense of security, grabs onto Lex because he can't hurt her heart, and--even though it's so last moment heading down the aisle--realizes that Clark is all that matters to her. How Clark--even though it's horrible timing--finally gets up the guts to reveal his heart, tell her how he feels, because loosing Lois is incomprehensible to him.

I totally--and completely--become entranced by these episodes .

But, I am really loving your thought process ! I like Lois immediately (as in that night) going to Clark's apartment. Needing her best friend--and feeling like she can talk to him about everything because there is no wedge between them. Clark sensibly (because he hasn't been hurt yet) being able to be Lois' sounding board. Lois being open to 'them'--because she's seeing Clark as her confidant.

Great details--loved the body language. And Giulia was a great addition!

Wonderful!
Laura

Thanks Laura, glad you liked it =)

I like that pair of episodes by themselves, I just wish I didn't feel like I was getting whiplash when comparing them to the pre-FlyHard episodes. Imagine if we hadn't lost John Shea and had season 1 being just establishing all the characters with the Lois/Lex thing being more developed in season 2... oh well, such is life.

Hi Sara!

Jealous, huh?

He does realize he keeps spare keys under his doormat and plants outside the apartment. Plus, Lois knows how to pick locks.

See?

Well, it’s Lex Luthor she went on a date with so who knows what’s happened to her.

So, not flat out laughter and fingerpointing, then? But how will he know just how preposterous and ridiculous this idea is. I mean, a mere mortal *proposing* to *Superman’s* girlfriend?

Well, to be fair, they have only been to two dates so far, several months apart and Lois is still insisting that the first one had actually been an interview.

Ooooh, he’s a sneaky one. Maybe Lex will dump her, now that she’s not willing to bend to his whim.

Well, in Metropolis lingo, he just told her that he and his girlfriend had sex when they were 15.

I never saw that one coming. This Lana’s quite different from Alt-Lana.

Kids #1 and #2, I’d wager.

Pretty blonde. Limited dating pool. Teenager.

To be fair, that *could* be enough to sow his wild oars *and* have time for coffee.

Well, Lois meant with *herself*. Doofus.

So, dating a mobster is incompatible for Clark but not for Lois?

LOIS: I wouldn’t be dating a mobster, either. Clark? Clark! Why are your eyes so big?

Wait, by ‘the way I had planned to travel’ he is not referring to his mode of transportation, is he?

I wonder, she never got curious about her travel-friend not trying to become more and rebuffing her advances instead?

Oh boy. That’s one way to ruin one’s reputation.

So, Giulia knows his real name, that he can float and that there’s now a flying man homebased in America?

Looky there.

Well, he *was* sleeping in rather tightfitting clothes and without a blanket and Giulia sounds like she grew up in a rather…protected environment.

Wooden stake. Heart. Maybe some holy water, too. Well, a bathtub full of it.

Well, she’s not squeamish when it comes to breaking the law or the sight of blood, so…maybe?

Well, to be fair, after the offices of the first two trash magazines burned down and two photo journalists and one gossip columnist got mugged and spent the next 3-4 months in the hospital, reporting on Lex’s private life suddenly decreased significantly.

Yes, they call it ‘trophy wife’.

Oh boy.

CLARK: What, I’m fine with ‘yes dear’ once she’s ready.



LOIS: *blinks* “Okay, it’s time for more now.”

CLARK:

Ooooh! Cute one!

Michael