I know this premise has been beaten like a dead horse, but...

Okay, I'm wondering about marriage. Specifically, where L&C end up married when one or the other, or both, didn't particularly want to be. I want to know about specific stories already written, too. (For repetition sake.)

We have Green Card (almost self explanatory). We have On the Other Hand (Clark marries Lois- still in love with Lana. He's protecting Lois). I recall one where they were married because of some obscure law when they spent the night at the Lexor. (She finds out right before her wedding to Luthor.) A Gift For Life (and I should know all about that one ) There's First Comes Marriage (though I don't remember a whole except they really don't know one another) Honeymoon in Vegas (hilarious) What others have them thrown into a marriage one or both might not have wanted?

Now tell me what other reasons could you see a couple marrying a stranger? And why? What would keep them married? (e.g. say they 'pretend' to be married for a story (and later learn 'guess what? it's real!), when he story's over, what would keep them together?

I have bits and pieces of a scenario in my head, but I need some serious tension. And the whole 'I might have to sleep next to you but don't touch me' thing could be fun.

And I'm trying to push through a writer's block.

While we're here, what is the absolute worse thing you could see Clark doing to betray Lois and be redeemed?

SQD

There was a movie a while back, I can't even tell you who was in it (I think Julia Roberts or Kevin Costner)... where the couple of people who hate each other but are forced together for some reason... runs into a wedding chapel in Vegas to hide from some people who are chasing them and they have a conversation through-out the whole service, not listening to the minister and only realize they got married when the justice of the peace says "You may now kiss the bride". Very funny. Wish I could remember which movie it was. All I remember was that it was the best scene in the movie.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Except Clark marrying Lois because she got pregnant and doesn't want to be known a single mom (sham marriage to keep her folks quiet) and the other reasons you mentioned.

What is the worst thing that Clark do / say and still be redeemed, sorry SQD - I've already used it in GEM and haven't posted it yet, so I can't tell you. If you're dying to know, I can e-mail you privately and tell you.

Oops... You had already covered this one. Never mind.

A green card is the first thing that pops into my mind. In fact, I am fairly sure we have a story around that premise.

Oh, duh! I totally forgot to mention Mr. and Mrs. Kent by Mozartmaid, where (alt)L&C pretend to be married because she has bad men after her family because she's a hired assassin.

In "PML Oh Boy" Clark is equally affected by Miranda's pherimone and they run off to Vegas and get married.

The story is about the aftermath.

Tank (who remembers a story where Lois and Clark are divorced because Lois couldn't cope with sharing him with the rest of the world)

SQD said:
I couldn't think of any other stories that fit your criteria, but the story you referenced was Erin Klingler's The Accidental Husband

I selfishly hope you find what you're looking for and that the block disappears.

B

Nan's The Newlywed Game is a terrific follow-up on the pheromone-induced wedding idea.

CarolM has a red-K-induced sudden wedding in Falling Slowly .

A second 'obscure Lexor law' story is Lois and Clark and the IRS

Regarding the movie scenario--it's not the ceremony that makes you legally married, IIRC--it's the license. It would be hard to accidentally sign a marriage license. Maybe it's different in Nevada.

Here's a scenario I've thought of for a reluctant marriage: Suppose that, at some point in their dating relationship, Lex won't take 'no' for an answer and Lois is the victim of a date rape. Not only does she have the trauma of the rape, but she ends up pregnant. Meanwhile, now that her Lex blinders are off, she's more willing to listen to Clark on the Lex is evil front. Clark, with his supersenses, realizes that Lois is pregnant pretty early on. Here's where the marriage comes in: In most states (and since New Troy is fictional, we can use whatever state law we want), when a married woman has a child, her husband is assumed to be the child's father. That could lead Lois and Clark to get married for the sole purpose of protecting her child from Luthor, who would, of course, want custody out of a sheer desire for control. Much potential for angst in that scenario, and a lot of difficult decisions for Lois, starting with why she chooses to keep the child in the first place. Many mixed feelings for Clark, too, who would be torn between loving the child because it is Lois's and trying not to resent it for being Lex's, with much ensuing Clark-introspective-guilt.

Hmmm, how about if Lois and/or Clark decided to investigate a group that's "for married people only" or something? And they check out newcomers thoroughly, so no fake marriage certificates.

Or maybe...in the US, a wife cannot testify against her husband (and I assume vice versa), so maybe one marries the other in order to keep their mouth shut...or else to keep themselves from being obligated to tattle.

Personally, I've always wanted to put a Kryptonian spin on the whole "I didn't know that made us married!" thing.

Actually, in some states if a ceremony is performed by a bonefided pastor, it's as legal as the signing of the certificate. As much a the government insists on separation of church and state, so many things are considered legal and binding when associated with church. (e.g. whatever is written in a Bible- birth records, marriage records-- hmm... that could be interesting )

I've actually tossed this idea around for years. I have one on my HD where I used PML as the kick starter. Lois believes herself pregnant from an attack, Clark marries her, but they eventually find out that Clark really is the father. (He was affected, too.) But Luthor being father, or thinking he is (I don't know if I could actually make him the father .) could really make life intersting.

The spouse can't testify thing could be interesting... very interesting. Would it be believable if a bad guy(s) forced our couple to marry to make one look guilty? (The other is already suspected of being guilty.) Then they remain married to get them out of testifying?

On the subject of crazy laws, in SC if a man and woman spend one night together, they'd considered common law married. Of course, common law is not what I'm after. I want living in the same house, I really don't want to be here, I'm about to blow up but I can't stand the person who shares my bed kind of thing. (Did I mention our couple is not going to be very happy about this arrangement?)

Thanks for the response so far. It's been great.

SQD

There was also a story in which Lois and Clark pretended to be married in order to catch a criminal who was targeting newlyweds, but I can't recall the title at the moment. They were living in Clark's apartment with Clark sleeping on the sofa at first, but then they had to share the bed because they realized that there was a camera watching them. There was some anxiety over coming up with a cover for why there weren't actually having sex.

Another reason why someone might marry under duress is for inheritance purposes--some crazy old grandma leaves Lois a fortune, but she only inherits if she's married within, say 30 days or so. Trouble is, I can't see Lois or Clark actually doing that. I think Lois would rather lose the inheritance than marry for it.

Another possible reason for marrying is that Lois wants custody of a child (maybe Lucy's) and thinks she'd have a better chance with DCS if she were married. That would require killing off Lucy, or at least incapacitating her, and putting the child in danger of going to someone that both Lois and Clark consider dangerous (not difficult if you consider the crazy guys Lucy tends to date).

What if Lois bonded with Amy? from Smart Kids and a married couple could adopt but a single person couldn't.Have to make where she would be going to bad enough that Lois wants to save her. So she needs a husband at least on paper.

The Backwards trilogy by CarolM comes to mind.

Lois Kent is helping with the Kent B&B when Clark Lane shows up on a story. They wind up in bed together and by the laws of the county they are considered married. This is used to pre-empt Zara's claim to Clark as a birth wife.

Delightful set.

SQD said: It's not exactly the scenario you mentioned above, but in Sue S.'s Honeymoon in Vegas , Lois and Clark use "getting married" as a cover when the bad guys notice them tailing them from Metropolis to Nevada. Said bad guys made sure they followed through with their claims.

HappyGirl, I believe the story you're describing is Jessi Mounts' "For Better Or For Worse." A great story--very well done.

KenJ mentioned Zara. Besides the wierd "birth wife", strangers could also marry in an arranged marriage. Jennifer Whatsername did inna movie...

In today's society, why would a marriage be arranged?

SQD(thanking everyone for responding)

So your daughter wouldn't end up married to a super fast, super strong, flying alien?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

In some cultures, arranged marriages still exist, even though they are becoming more and more rare.

Random thought: does it have to be today's society? The idea about arranged marriages is good, but I kind of agree it's a little more unusual for this day and age... but if it was set in a different time period, or another Soulverse, you could make it so that it was an arranged marriage. *Thinking back to storybook days of princesses locked in towers or being forced into marriage for their country*

On a similar note, it could be an entirely different scenario. Say, perhaps, that (if Zara is either dead or had never been an issue) Clark was forced to marry a human as proof of an alliance between New Krypton and Earth. Of course, that would require a lot of manipulation of backstory and perhaps an Alternate universe altogether, but the fact that Lois and Clark were forced to marry against their will (each loving someone else, sort of like the Kal-El/Zara situation) could cause a lot of tension and resentment between them... just a thought.

Ooooh. I like this thought, Mouserocks. Cool idea.

In CarolM's It\'s a Big Bed It works on the 'Lexor-Law' But lois and Clark were on the path to love and Lois knows CK=S; because they decided to share the bed in the suite and Lois sees Clark float in his sleep.

Also Mrs. Luthor's A Mother\'s Love is a story set on Krypton, where Jor-El had built two ships instead of one and sent baby Kal-El's birth wife to earth as well(a alt-Lois). While it ends at Krypton's explosion, it is a good Altverse working the ideas of L&C being soulmates and a Kryptonian birth marriage.

In 24 Hours Lois and Clark get married because Lois thinks she is going to die, and if it happened Clark would be her next of kin.

Andreia

So glad you liked it! I reread it here not too long ago even .

An old one [that I cringe reading] that's a soulverse is my Sister Switch where Herb messing things up so Clark ends up married to the wrong sister and Lois and Clark have to go back and fix it. That Lois-character marries the Clark-character at the last minute.

And, SQD, I'm rereading OTOH [in my 'spare' :p time] at the moment, thanks to seeing your mention here a few days ago .
Saw Falling Slowly mixed in there too - reread it first since it doesn't require 8000 hours to read .

Carol

Had this idea while FDK'ing Virginia's Green Eyed Monster. Okay, she brought it up. I moved it over here. And hey, maybe it's even in her story later on, so never mind

What if Lois has to marry Clark (okay, not a stranger, just S1) to get out of the reputation of being Superman's girlfriend? Because it hurts her work. And is too dangerous. Etc. Etc.

Michael

Was thinking that, too, Michael. Would be very interesting. And what if (and this is unlikely) Clark didn't actually tell her he was Superman beforehand? Again, not really likely, but I can see Lois just pushing him through this sort of thing and he just gets caught up in the whirlwind and, whoops...

"Yes! That oughta get the tabloids off my back about shacking up with Superman!"

"Um, Lois, about that..."

Using Mouserocks's idea, Clark could marry Lois without telling her the secret. She would find out it later, maybe à la Tempus: "Duh! Your husband is Superman!" How is that for galactically stupid?

Oooooo, actually, that's *very* likely if you take S1 and no actual hanky-panky on their honeymoon. There's a story by MLT that has them married during BatP and HoL, don't remember if it was just as friends or as young love but sans consummation

Michael

Don't think it's been done this way yet, but...

What if Lois and Clark (S1 or S2)got into a situation where they had to pretend to get married for their cover for a story. They have to actually go through with one of those quicky ceremonies, like at a Vegas chapel.

Clark is stunned, but Lois tells him she has it all covered. The guy who is going to marry them is just an actor she hired and not someone certified to be able to preform an actual marriage.

After the ceremony, the 'actor' comes running up to Lois to apologise for being late, but is ready to go then.

Lois realizes that a real official had to step in and take the place of her 'personal minister' and thus... they are really married.

Or, Lois gets the chapels mixed up and they go to the wrong one. She doesn't realize until later when she gets back to the room and checks her communication with the actor that they went to the wrong chapel.

Tank (who thinks it might be fun to watch all the chaos that happens that keeps forcing them to put off getting the annullment until...)

This just popped into my brain right now... though I can't say I like it all that much...

What if Lois married Clark for the sole purpose of marrying Superman? Say, if Clark didn't tell her yet, when they were dating, but Lois already knew. Don't know how, but somehow they ended up married and when Clark found out she only married him for Superman and not Clark, it confirms his worst fears and he's no longer happy in the marriage. Clark pulling away makes Lois unhappy, too, since she sees less of Superman...

Just a thought.

This thread has fed my muse about 3 different plot bunnies. Now, to see if she can turn them into distinct stories.

I like the idea of Lois being forced to marry Clark for some reason (thinking along the lines of something set on Krypton).

And I like the idea of Lois and Clark faking a marriage for some reason and finding out later that it was real. Actually, that kinda reminds me of the plot bunny in Friends where Ross and Rachael are drunk in Vegas and get married, and Ross doesn't want to anull it.

Well, that one might fall under the catagory of something unforgiveable. Can you see how Lois would be able to dig herself out of that hole? I can't.

It almost falls into the rhelm of PML, if Clark HADN'T behaved when Lois had seduced him. Would she -- could she as S1 Lois -- ever forgive him? And continue working together?

Well, I did say I didn't particularly like the idea... Yes, I can see how in Clark's eyes that would be unforgivable (or at the very least, close to it). There wouldn't be any digging out of it, I don't think. Were we specifically looking for happy endings though?

Hmm... Clark not behaving (while initially fun ) would be difficult to do. Because as long as Lois knew or even ever found out in the future about CK=S, she wouldn't forgive him, knowing the spray had no effect on him. As Clark, she might. As for working together... they might, but if they did, Lois would ruin him. Ruin. Him.

Now if Clark (unaffected) decided to *marry* Lois while she was under the influence... /shudders/

BTW, because I forgot to mention this...
I literally just saw that episode the other day! One of my favorites! Does kind of have the same feel to it, Ross and Rachel's relationship. Which is why they're on my rotating desktop of my favorite couples... with LnC of course!

Ah, but what if he was, in fact, affected?

Okay, that's been done, and quite a bit, so for a twist...hmm...

Lois wakes up and finds out she's married to Superman. She comes to, groggy, and floating two feet above her bed with an equally-groggy man wearing only a wedding ring. Now Clark has to prevent them from actually getting anulled or divorced, because that would involve looking at the paperwork, which means her seeing the marriage liscence and realizing what names are actually on it.

Wouldn't the floating 2 feet above the bed be a sure give-a-way?

Or do you mean, she knows she's married to Superman, but the marriage license says Clark Kent? Ooooh. Yep, that would be a twist.

<<cough, cough>> And why would she be wanting the annulment / divorce again?

Or conversely...

Lois wakes up, same as you described, and Clark was affected, too. End up married, yada yada yada, but the name on the marriage certificate is *Superman* not Clark Kent (not sure how one would work that I guess just prove he was Superman or something?). So instead of Clark being the one wanting to stay in the marriage, he's trying to get a divorce (can't imagine it being anulled, considering their sleeping arrangments ) to keep the public/media from finding out that Superman got married to Lois Lane.

Now that the ball's started rolling, I can't seem to get these ideas out of my head...

Maybe that's what really happened at the beginning of Queen of Capes story: It\'s Gonna To Be A Bumpy Ride ? And after the media found out they put a different spin on things...

Very funny little read! Glad you recommended it! Yes, perhaps...

I missed that the first time around. Queenie, you really should expand it. I want to know exactly how Lois and Clark got into this situation, and how she ended up pregnant if Clark thinks this marriage is only going to last for a couple of years.

Please?

Happy

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by HappyGirl:
<strong> I missed that the first time around. Queenie, you really should expand it. I want to know exactly how Lois and Clark got into this situation, and how she ended up pregnant if Clark thinks this marriage is only going to last for a couple of years.

Please?