We are back with yet another chapter focusing on Superman's love interest stories. 

But before we get started, I have to let you guys know that my break has finally come to an end and my classes are resuming from this Monday so I won't be able to update often.

Anyway, enough about me. Let's hear from you guys.

So the cliché under the limelight for today is Superman's One True Love and as you all know, there are a lot of fanfics based on it. I haven't read many but the ones I read were not much different from each other so I am going to base this chapter on the aspects I have seen overused in fanfics.

Like I always say, you guys are free to share your experience in the comments plus any tips or fanfic recommendations you have. And without further ado, let's dive into the cliche of our favorite Kryptonian's center of affection.

[Well, second favorite for me because my favorite Kryptonian is and will always be Kara Zor-El. I would have labelled Clark as third favorite but then I realized that Connor is a clone and not actually a Kryptonian so...]

Ah before I get carried away, let's return to the topic.

OC's Personality and traits:

1. The OC is either someone associated with the Daily Planet or some other newspaper agency (preferably a reporter) or she is someone who has to be interviewed by Clark for an article.

2. Most of Superman stories start as meet cute plots, some are childhood friends tropes with the OC being the only other Kryptonian (apart from Kara) who came to Earth shortly after Superman.

[The childhood friends trope is also explored in a different way with the OC being someone who lived with her family close to the Kents' house and met Clark at a very young age].

3. So for clarity in these different plotlines, let's name the Kryptonian OC as Zara Lor-El, the reporter as Clara and the civilian who has to be interviewed as Maria. 

[I am not separating the plotline where OC lived near the Kents because it tends to go down a very similar cliché plotline of the two of them growing up together and then developing feelings, that's it. No character arc, no development, just some drama with cute scenes, a little fluff and boom: love story ahoy].

4. Since Zara is Kryptonian, either she also crashed to Earth in a space pod not far off from where the Kents live but got adopted by some other family. Then later she meets Clark and is thrilled to see that he is like her and they form a close friendship.

5. With Clara the reporter, she either meets Clark on some event they are both covering for their respective newspapers and bond over shared interests. 

6. The interviewee plot is the one that is not used as often as compared to the above two. But for the stories that are based on this plot, Maria is someone who's Bruce Wayne level of famous and a successful woman or in other words, someone who has done a lot for her to be featured in an interview.

[But the only part where her accomplishments are brought up is the interview, in the rest of the story she just becomes someone who Clark is interested in and has no story arc of her own].

7. And then when the two finally fall in love and everything should be happy for them, some villain decides to strike. Sometimes the villain choice is absurd too. Joker is a very popular choice such that people often forget that the fanfic is set in Metropolis and not Gotham.

Otherwise, another common choice for the villain of this story is Zod. Like he has nothing better to do than torment itty bitty Clark by kidnapping his girlfriend...

8. Whoever the villain is, we all know the outcome of the story. Superman swoops in to save his damsel in distress, beats the villain to a pulp and the day is saved... No thanks to the PowerPuff Girls!

9. Then Superman gets married to the love of his life (ahem, not Lois) and they live happily ever after because that is very much expected.

10. Oh and by the way, the villain situation plays out a bit differently in the Zara stories because as she is a Kryptonian, she shows the villain who's boss and helps Clark in defeating him. Or the story follows the entire plot of Man Of Steel with Lois cut out of the script and Superman and Zara get to save the world in the end.

[However, with the addition of shows like Supergirl and Smallville, we are finally getting more plots to chose from instead of just Man Of Steel and Batman vs Superman so that's a good thing. There's nothing wrong with following a show's timeline and events, all you have to do is add enough that it becomes your story rather than just an OC insert].

Effects on other characters:

1. For the other Kryptonian girl stories, Zara is much stronger than Clark and even Kara. She basically replaces Kara's whole arc and storyline, with the only difference being that she is not Clark's cousin.

[Nothing, Kara dear. You just got replaced with a Mary Sue, sorry].

2. In the reporter stories, Lois is the one who gets replaced as Clara is much more smarter, prettier, kinder and the female lead of the story. So what is basically happening is a story with just Lois' attributes assigned to some other girl with a different name but who is supposedly much better than her.

[For your character to be unique and remarkable, you don't have to give him/her all the good attributes in the world. Leave room for flaws because they are just as important in shaping the character and making it more relatable to the readers].

3. The Famous Socialite stories also don't have much to offer although they can be weaved quite intriguingly. The main effects our Maria has on the other characters is that everyone worships the ground under her feet and Superman himself is head over heels for her, giving her even more popularity.

Exception:

I have yet to find a well written fanfic for Clark Kent's Love Interest so if you guys have any recommendations, feel free to comment them here.

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Hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

Next chapter will be posted soon as I get time because with uni starting again, the schedule is going to be tight for me.

But you all have fun reading and writing.

Happy Sunday!