u/yojiimb0

I am putting a disclaimer on here that this is not a hate post, so please don't see it as such. It also took me at least a month to get it all out lol, so be gentle with me. But I was thinking about Lois and Lana, and the trajectories of their characters, and it occurred to me that not only are they polarizing within the fandom, but their journeys are kind of the inverse of each other. Lana needed to protect herself more, and Lois needed to open up more. And the people who gave them those lessons, who were transformative in a big way, are also kind of polar opposites. For Lana, it was Lex, and for Lois, it was the Kents. I think the relationships they had with these people changed them the most.

Let's talk about Lana first. She's everything soft and demure, old school femininity with delicate features and a soft voice. Even her name, with two short vowel a's, ending in that sound, is delicate in a way. Some could even call it lilting. She starts out as the perfect girl next door. All that softness, a cheerleader, a (mostly) loyal girlfriend, a dutiful niece, a kind friend. And her emotional vulnerability is almost too open, she wears her heart on her sleeve. Losing her parents at such a young age informed how Lana would make attachments. She wanted someone to connect with so deeply, but sometimes that would blind her to something that wasn't serving her. She would cling so hard and ignore the warning signs, refusing to cut the cord. But there is some steel underneath, like when she is cunning enough to start a new business and force an established business to close down, when she is strong enough to stand her ground against her aunt and stay in Smallville, when she is capable enough to learn how to defend herself. As a typical small town girl next door, of course she's into horses lol. And I say that as someone who was also into horses when I was younger, I just didn't have the opportunities she did to be around them. But other than that, I don't really think Lana is the typical small town girl. She's into higher class things like museums, and she reads the classics. She's champagne and caviar. She's into poetry and art, and she kind of chafes at the idea of being stuck in Smallville forever. Now, obviously, anyone can be from any kind of town and be into classics and museums more than a trendy book or trendy music, but for the purpose of this essay, I am using those typical stereotypes. When Lana goes to Paris, we see that cultured side of her grow a bit more, which kind of leads into the thing that changes her the most. Her relationship with Lex.

It is through Lex that Lana gets to explore more deeply those things we saw interest her in season 1, the art and museums and such, but also that steel of hers that has a bit of a dark edge. Being with a Luthor, and being a Luthor herself, almost comes naturally to Lana. She can hold her own in those shark infested waters, because she was able to grow gills. She's kind of a natural. And after her relationship with Lex, those character changes stayed and Lana honed them to a knife's edge. She learned to be less emotionally vulnerable, she became good at deception, she even quoted things like the Luthors did(I can't remember specifics, it's been a minute lol, but it happened once or twice.). I think Lionel said she might not have been a Luthor by name anymore, but she's still a Luthor in spirit. And I'm not even saying that's a completely bad thing. I think Lana learning to trust a bit less and guard herself a bit more is a good thing, but in learning those things, she lost some of her moral code, some of her innocence. Not all of it. She's not evil incarnate, but she learned to blur the lines, that the ends justify the means. And that brings us to the end of her trajectory, when she still has those Luthor tendencies, faking a kidnapping and thinking she can one-up Lex by stealing his supersuit for herself, but it's been tempered by an understanding of how easily she can tip over into the abyss. And so the soft and demure girl, who clung to everything and everyone she could, became a stronger independent woman, who didn't need to cling anymore, and she cut the cord and let go, ready to stand on her own.

Lois is almost Lana's polar opposite. Where Lana is soft and demure, Lois is bold and bossy. Where Lana is old school femininity, Lois is a bit of a tomboy when we meet her. Where Lana has delicate features and a soft voice, Lois has striking features and a loud voice lol. Even Lois' name is not soft, but sharp and commanding in a way. And I think that this polarity not only makes them more fascinating, but it's done on purpose. Lois is no small town girl, she's an army brat who loves the hustle and the bustle of the city. She's not soft, she's brash. She's not emotionally vulnerable, she's got walls, walls, and more walls. Her steel is on display for everyone to see, and it's her soft heart that she hides. She is brave, and fiercely loyal to the people she cares about. And when it comes to interests, Lois is more of a country girl than anyone else on the show, which is really fun in my opinion. She likes 80's hair metal bands, monster trucks, beer, sports, video games, riding mechanical bulls(according to Clark lol). She is meat and potatoes. About the only typical city things I can find is how much coffee that woman drinks lol, and her wardrobe in the later seasons. She doesn't really care about the finer higher class things, and I have a feeling she would never suggest a museum for an outing, and that's not a dig at anyone who would, just an observation. When she tried the higher class thing, going to events with Oliver Queen, we see Lois be awkward. She doesn't kowtow and act different, she is unabashedly and unashamedly herself. She'll try to make small talk and end up putting her foot in her mouth in front of a prominent figure. She honed those skills as a journalist and by the end of the show she could hold her own in those environments, but always by still being herself. Now, while the relationship that changed Lana the most was the one she had with Lex(not saying it was a good one, just transformative), the relationship that changed Lois the most was the Kents, both the parents and the duality of Clark and the Blur. First as a friendship, then as work partners, then as soulmates.

When it comes to Mr. and Mrs. Kent, Lois found parents who let her be messy, who let her be lost, who let her be loud. At every turn, Jonathan and Martha validated Lois. They told her she was always welcome, they believed in her abilities and felt she was destined for more than making coffee her whole life, and Martha told her she would have wanted a daughter just like her, which is everything to Lois. In a world that told her she was too much, or her father telling her she was a weak link, the Kents just took her as she came, flaws and all, and that was enough for them. \*She\* was enough. Which brings us to Clark. Lois and Clark are so fun and refreshing partly because they fall for each other almost against their will. They become friends pretty quickly, but it's not a sweet friendship. It is one whose foundation was in snark and ribbing each other, while always having that thread of genuine affection, which meant the insults were never taken too far. And as the years progressed, Lois opened up to Clark more and more, trusting him. She was powerless against that farm boy charm she secretly liked. Here was a good man, who had no ulterior motive with Lois. Someone who cared about her and consistently showed up for her, and Lois had never had that before. Both Lois and Lana, and honestly Chloe and Lex and Clark, had abandonment issues. With Lois, losing her mother young and losing her father in a way around the same time, informed how she would create attachments to people, which meant that she wouldn't, too afraid to truly let most people in. But she let Clark in. And she fell for him so very hard. But what made their relationship so special and impactful is when Clark called Lois as the Blur and she became his confidant in his other life. Not once did Clark let someone see that side of him unless they already knew his secret. But Lois was different. He wanted her to know all of him, even if he had to split it into two people and she didn't know they were one and the same. And Lois, she didn't want to pursue his Blur persona for a story anymore. All she wanted to do was help. She found a calling and a purpose through helping Clark, both before and after his secret reveal. Both of Clark's sides made Lois want to be a better person, she admired the Blur, but Clark, in his unassuming way, made her see that uncovering the truth is a reward in and of itself. He opened her eyes that her job could be more, and he called her out when she took it too far. Stiletto was another turning point in their work relationship, and friendship, unbeknownst to Lois. That Blur call changed everything. Which brings us to our final transformative relationship, Lois and Clark as romantic soulmates. In this relationship, Lois blossoms. She's still snarky and bold and overconfident lol, but there is a softness there now. Lois is used to being in charge, but she lets Clark take the lead, and trusts him. She takes it slow for the first time in her life, wanting to get it right this final and most important time. We see her be vulnerable and open, willing to put in the effort, willing to support Clark no matter what, defending him against her father, and even who she thinks is the Blur. Lois' loyalty and faith is unwavering, unshakable. Through the Kents and especially Clark, Lois learned to open up her heart, and rely on others besides herself. And so the guarded and brash army brat, who was raised to be independent and self-sufficient, became a woman who found her family and her love and her calling, found strength in vulnerability, and learned to lean on people, because she wasn't alone anymore.

I hope you enjoyed these ramblings, and I hope they came across as at least mostly cohesive lol.

Once again, I am putting a disclaimer on here that this is not a hate post. It also took me at least a month to get it all out lol, so be gentle with me. But I was thinking about Lois and Lana, and the trajectories of their characters, and it occurred to me that not only are they polarizing within the fandom, but their journeys are kind of the inverse of each other. Lana needed to protect herself more, and Lois needed to open up more. And the people who gave them those lessons, who were transformative in a big way, are also kind of polar opposites. For Lana, it was Lex, and for Lois, it was the Kents. I think the relationships they had with these people changed them the most.

Let's talk about Lana first. She's everything soft and demure, old school femininity with delicate features and a soft voice. Even her name, with two short vowel a's, ending in that sound, is delicate in a way. Some could even call it lilting. She starts out as the perfect girl next door. All that softness, a cheerleader, a (mostly) loyal girlfriend, a dutiful niece, a kind friend. And her emotional vulnerability is almost too open, she wears her heart on her sleeve. Losing her parents at such a young age informed how Lana would make attachments. She wanted someone to connect with so deeply, but sometimes that would blind her to something that wasn't serving her. She would cling so hard and ignore the warning signs, refusing to cut the cord. But there is some steel underneath, like when she is cunning enough to start a new business and force an established business to close down, when she is strong enough to stand her ground against her aunt and stay in Smallville, when she is capable enough to learn how to defend herself. As a typical small town girl next door, of course she's into horses lol. And I say that as someone who was also into horses when I was younger, I just didn't have the opportunities she did to be around them. But other than that, I don't really think Lana is the typical small town girl. She's into higher class things like museums, and she reads the classics. She's champagne and caviar. She's into poetry and art, and she kind of chafes at the idea of being stuck in Smallville forever. Now, obviously, anyone can be from any kind of town and be into classics and museums more than a trendy book or trendy music, but for the purpose of this essay, I am using those typical stereotypes. When Lana goes to Paris, we see that cultured side of her grow a bit more, which kind of leads into the thing that changes her the most. Her relationship with Lex.

It is through Lex that Lana gets to explore more deeply those things we saw interest her in season 1, the art and museums and such, but also that steel of hers that has a bit of a dark edge. Being with a Luthor, and being a Luthor, almost comes naturally to Lana. She can hold her own in those shark infested waters, because she was able to grow gills. She's kind of a natural. And after her relationship with him, those character changes stayed and Lana honed them. She learned to be less emotionally vulnerable, she became good at deception, she even quoted things like the Luthors did(I can't remember specifics but it happened once or twice.). I think Lionel said she might not have been a Luthor by name anymore, but she's still a Luthor in spirit. And I'm not even saying that's a completely bad thing. I think Lana learning to trust a bit less and guard herself a bit more is a good thing, but in learning those things, she lost some of her moral code, some of her innocence. Not all of it. She's not evil incarnate, but she learned to blur the lines, that the ends justify the means. And that brings us to the end of her trajectory, when she still has those Luthor tendencies, faking a kidnapping and thinking she can one-up Lex by stealing his supersuit for herself, but it's been tempered by an understanding of how easily she can tip over into the abyss. And so the soft demure girl, who clung to everything and everyone she could, became a stronger independent woman, who didn't need to cling anymore, and she cut the cord and let go, ready to stand on her own.

Lois is almost Lana's polar opposite. Where Lana is soft and demure, Lois is bold and bossy. Where Lana is old school femininity, Lois is a bit of a tomboy when we meet her. Where Lana has delicate features and a soft voice, Lois has striking features and a loud voice lol. Even Lois' name is not soft, but sharp and commanding in a way. And I think that this polarity not only makes them more fascinating, but it's done on purpose. Lois is no small town girl, she's an army brat who loves the hustle and the bustle of the city. She's not soft, she's brash. She's not emotionally vulnerable, she's got walls, walls, and more walls. Her steel is on display for everyone to see, and it's her soft heart that she hides. She is brave, and fiercely loyal to the people she cares about. And when it comes to interests, Lois is more of a country girl than anyone else on the show, which is really fun in my opinion. She likes 80's hair metal bands, monster trucks, beer, sports, video games, riding mechanical bulls(according to Clark lol). She is meat and potatoes. About the only typical city things I can find is how much coffee that woman drinks lol, and her wardrobe in the later seasons. She doesn't really care about the finer higher class things, and I have a feeling she would never suggest a museum for an outing, and that's not a dig at anyone who would, just an observation. When she tried the higher class thing, going to events with Oliver Queen, we see Lois be awkward. She doesn't kowtow and act different, she is unabashedly and unashamedly herself. She'll try to make small talk and end up putting her foot in her mouth in front of a prominent figure. She honed those skills as a journalist and by the end of the show she could hold her own in those environments, but always by still being herself. Now, while the relationship that changed Lana the most was the one she had with Lex(not saying it was a good one, just transformative), the relationship that changed Lois the most was the Kents, both the parents and the duality of Clark and the Blur. First as a friendship, then as work partners, then as soulmates.

When it comes to Mr. and Mrs. Kent, Lois found parents who let her be messy, who let her be lost, who let her be loud. At every turn, Jonathan and Martha validated Lois. They told her she was always welcome, they believed in her abilities and felt she was destined for more than making coffee her whole life, and Martha told her she would have wanted a daughter just like her, which is everything to Lois. In a world that told her she was too much, or her father telling her she was a weak link, the Kents just took her as she came, flaws and all, and that was enough for them. *She* was enough. Which brings us to Clark. Lois and Clark are so fun and refreshing partly because they fall for each other almost against their will. They become friends pretty quickly, but it's not a sweet friendship. It is one whose foundation was in snark and ribbing each other, while always having that thread of genuine affection, which meant the insults were never taken too far. And as the years progressed, Lois opened up to Clark more and more, trusting him. She was powerless against that farm boy charm she secretly liked. Here was a good man, who had no ulterior motive with Lois. Someone who cared about her and consistently showed up for her, and Lois had never had that before. Both Lois and Lana, and honestly Chloe and Lex and Clark, had abandonment issues. With Lois, losing her mother young and losing her father in a way around the same time, informed how she would create attachments to people, which meant that she wouldn't, too afraid to truly let most people in. But she let Clark in. And she fell for him so very hard. But what made their relationship so special and impactful is when Clark called Lois as the Blur and she became his confidant in his other life. Not once did Clark let someone see that side of him unless they already knew his secret. But Lois was different. He wanted her to know all of him, even if he had to split it into two people and she didn't know they were one and the same. And Lois, she didn't want to pursue his Blur persona for a story anymore. All she wanted to do was help. She found a calling and a purpose through helping Clark, both before and after his secret reveal. Both of Clark's sides made Lois want to be a better person, she admired the Blur, but Clark, in his unassuming way, made her see that uncovering the truth is a reward in and of itself. He opened her eyes that her job could be more, and he called her out when she took it too far. Stiletto was another turning point in their work relationship, and friendship, unbeknownst to Lois. That Blur call changed everything. Which brings us to our final transformative relationship, Lois and Clark as romantic soulmates. In this relationship, Lois blossoms. She's still snarky and bold and overconfident lol, but there is a softness there now. Lois is used to being in charge, but she lets Clark take the lead, and trusts him. She takes it slow for the first time in her life, wanting to get it right this final and most important time. We see her be vulnerable and open, willing to put in the effort, willing to support Clark no matter what, defending him against her father, and even who she thinks is the Blur. Lois' loyalty and faith is unwavering, unshakable. Through the Kents and especially Clark, Lois learned to open up her heart, and rely on others besides herself. And so the guarded and brash army brat, who was raised to be independent and self-sufficient, became a woman who found her family and her love and her calling, found strength in vulnerability, and learned to lean on people, because she wasn't alone anymore.

I hope you enjoyed these ramblings, and I hope they came across as at least mostly cohesive lol.