In World of Cuisine Clark is seen in the suit, on a cell, buying takeout.

Now as it is on the other side of the globe likely no harm was done.

But what if Clark, as Superman, being in love with Lois, always, from his very first appearance, portrayed Superman as a married man, whose wife's identity is kept secret for her safety?

Think about it, Clark would not want Lois to fall for Superman, he wants her to fall for Clark.
Also he might want to keep his distance so she can't figure out that Superman and Clark are the same man.

Why do I think Clark would get in trouble when he finally revealed his secret to her? She'd think he was cheating on his wife!

Very interesting twist! I think the public would have a very interesting reaction to that-- but why shouldn't he be? It's no worse than Superman, after Clark has married Lois, pretending to still be on the market. The only thing I can see why that might not be a good idea is that Clark wants to minimize the attention that he gets from the female population by pretending to be a non-sexual being altogether.

How would he pull that off, though? Just casually mention the missus every now and then in conversation? Would he go so far as to wear a wedding ring? Would he ever get confused as Clark, trying to keep his identities straight? Technically, pretending to be married is the same as pretending to have a Mrs. Superman out there, so he's really creating yet another fake identity. How would he keep it up? He has enough trouble with the two identities...

Lots of interesting possibilities.

Originally posted by VirginiaR:


CLARK: No, really Lois. I just made up the idea of a wife as a better cover!

LOIS: I bet that's what you tell all the ladies!

He could also claim that he was emotionally unavailable, because his beloved kryptonian wife died in the explosion of the planet. *sniff*. I'd like to see how he tries to get out of that one, when Zara shows up.

Clark: No really, Lois. It was all just a ruse. I didn't know there were still kryptonians out there.

Only problem is that he wouldn't be able to use that excuse until after the Foundling, but I could see him using it when Lois confesses to loving SM as an ordinary man after her rejection of Clark. This would work in multiple levels. a) It would keep Superman as a man of honor... b) It would also (unfortunately) leave Lois with some hope of an eventual relationship with SM... c) Plus, it's darn Romantic, and Lois wouldn't be able to fault him for that.

Another problem might arise when Lois remembers his professions of love while under Revenge (wink, wink) but, then again, she convinced herself that HER professions of love were drug induced as well.

I love this idea!

To solve the problem of not being able to use the excuse before Foundling, he could claim that he's married from the start, and then later reveal to Lois that she died on Krypton, claiming that he didn't say so before because it was too recent. I don't see any reason for him to tell the public that the missus is dead.

The real problems, of course, arise when Clark tells her that he's Superman (or she finds out) and he has to come clean that he's never been married. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes when she realizes that all her sympathy for the poor widower were not deserved.

Random question: what does the thread title (ADL) mean?

Along similar lines I see him answering in a mysteriously formal way to make it sound like a Kryptonian thing. Something along the lines of "My heart has already been given," to any interested parties. This lets him fend off any groupies at the moment and the news media gets to speculate on his Kryptonian mate.

Most importantly, when Lois finds out his identity and is unsheathing her claws he can defuse the situation by telling her that she has his heart and he's been saying so from the beginning.

I'd guess ADL means activities of daily life. That's how we use that abbreviation.

That's what I took it to mean, but it's more just used in medical circles here.

I have to say I like the "my heart has already been given" line. It actually fits in with Clark trying to tell as few lies as possible while presenting his Superman image. He is being truthful about what he feels like, but is misleading everyone at the same time. It is a very Clark Kent thing to do.

Sort of like his getting out of the whole Lois/Superman scandal in "Sex, Lies and Video tapes", when he says "I have not had illicit sexual relations with Lois". It is true, but the way he says it, many will miss that he used the key modifier "illicit".