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apachefirecat asked: Smallville, Lana Lang, growing up feeling alone in a small town

This is interesting - I've never really given Lana (as a character) much thought, but now that I am in terms of that topic, it is true. She's definitely one of those people who probably feels alone in a crowd. The show introduces her as the "girl next door", the popular but sweet cheerleader dating the QB, and the dream love interest of the main character. However, despite her falling into certain stereotypes, she is also the same person who will hang out in graveyards in the evening, which isn't exactly what you would think of from someone like her.

While she loves and is grateful for her aunt, I think there is a slight disconnect there from both sides, as she's trying to find herself and not just be content with how the whole town sees her. The song "Halo" by Bethany Joy Lenz has always reminded me of Lana. The song as a whole but these lyrics stand out:

I always said that I would make mistakes
I'm only human and that's my saving grace
I fall as hard as I try
So don't be blinded
See me as I really am
I have flaws and sometimes I even sin
So pull me from that pedestal
I don't belong there

One thing is clear
I wear a halo
I wear a halo when you look at me
But standing from here
You wouldn't say so
You wouldn't say so if you were me
And I, I just want to love you

Early in season 1, there is that scene in the football field where she and Clark just decide to let out their feelings and scream and it goes to show that she has a lot pent up inside and doesn't feel like she has an outlet. Of course there was limited options in terms of regular cast that continued to shrink as the seasons went on, but she didn't seem like she had a really close friend pre-canon and I feel like that's why she was happy to befriend Chloe, even as they had their ups and downs, and genuinely touched that she got listed as a "sister" in Chloe's family tree.

She didn't want to be the stereotypical damsel in distress, shown by the way that she learned kick boxing and wanted to take care of herself. I'd believe that she would want more than what Smallville has to offer and felt restricted by it and its limitations - I can't picture her living there in the long run. There are only so many things to do there after all. Unfortunately, without a laid out path, the show didn't quite know what to do with her either. Chloe got to be the journalist before DC finally let the show have Lois and then they struggled a little with her but eventually she found her place as Watchtower. Lois was always going to end up the journalist that everyone knows her as, even though her path there was rocky at times. Lana's path is not so cut and dry, which is why it felt like her arc wasn't consistent (and most things in Smallville weren't to be fair) and it didn't help that the show eventually waved off everyone going to college, which would've given her an opportunity to discover herself.

Being in charge of ISIS was the career that got closest to using her skills and worked for her personality, but I don't know if I've ever been convinced of a career choice for her. I haven't read the season 11 comics in its entirety but from the brief panels I've seen, I think she has lost the power suit then but I am not sure what else happened to her. Wherever her future lies, I definitely think it is outside Smallville and Kansas as a whole.