Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related Deathfic Debate- love 'em, loathe 'em, and everywhere in between...

I read that story and had no problem with it, Wendy. More than that, actually. I enjoyed it. But it wasn't a deathfic because it didn't end with L&C separated by death. Similarly, for example, if Catherine had written her "Betrayal of Justice" so that Clark took Lois's dead body to STAR Labs where Dr. Klein revived her (which is possible from that kind of death even at our current level of medical science), and if Catherine had then explored Lois & Clark's sense of betrayal and decision to leave Superman behind, I would have been cheering and waving flags. It wouldn't have been a deathfic, and she could have spent real time exploring the effect of that betrayal and how L&C ultimately reconciled their sense of betrayal by the justice system with Clark's need to use his powers to help the innocent and helpless.

Maybe that's the difference for me. It's like ML's "Death of a Reporter" (?), in which Lois dies, but is brought back by TPTB because of Clark's desperate need for her. Or even the old "Scent of Magnolias" (?), in which an aged Lois dies before Clark but comes to him every night in a form he can hear and see and touch until he finally dies of old age and joins her, both young again. A deathfic ends with them separated, with the survivor in pain, always knowing what he/she has lost and cannot have again. For me, a deathfic denies the power of love or hope or courage or goodness or faithfulness to triumph over obstacles or overcome evil, and I can't read that. LOL! Maybe because I spent 75 minutes writing my previous post and then changed it four times after I posted it? Having been involved in several flame wars and once, to my shame, instigated one, I have finally learned to read ... re-read for the connotations of my words ... read yet again, picturing the people to whom I am responding and anticipating their reactions ... and then edit until I have removed any heat or finger-pointing. That, more than anything, explains why I don't participate more on the boards. If I responded to more than one or two threads per week, I would have no life at all. (Dang--I'm up to 50 minutes on this one and running out of time before work!)