For my own conscience, I need to say two things about this latest discussion about Lois deathfic. First, that I won't criticize Terri for writing his story, and that I don't for a moment doubt that he wrote it because he was so honestly moved by Rachel's video.
But the second thing I need to say is that I agree with Carol's views. I do think it's truly depressing that we see as many Lois deathfics here as we do.
I *think* - and I may certainly be wrong - that many, perhaps most, female LNC fans have come to LNC mainly because of Clark (make that Dean Cain's portrayal of Clark). I also think that many of Dean-Clark's female fans respond to their hero *precisely* because of the combination of physical strength and emotional vulnerability that he projects. Because it is this aspect of him that they love, they'll tend to see him as emotionally more vulnerable than the the TV series actually warrants. If you love a character for his vulnerability, you may want to create situations where you can explore his vulnerability as much as possible and make him as devastated as possible.
Also, if a female fan writes a story where she kills Lois and makes Clark devastated, I think that, perhaps, she can also imagine that her own story continues in such a way that she herself gets to console Clark for the loss of Lois.
All this leads to, I think, an LNC fanon with a somewhat exaggerated compassion for Clark and a lack of compassion for Lois. I don't mind any sort of compassion for Clark, don't get me wrong, but a lack of compassion for Lois pains and bothers me.
Ann
