Merry Christmas to you, too!
(I still like you...for now
) Thanks for the update, seriously! I've been on edge.
Wow, what a chapter! I'm so glad I was wrapped up watching Christmas movies while I read this, or I would have been writhing on the floor right along with Lois! Well-written, good explanations (with Perry knowing about Clark), and great reactions. Martha and Jonathan may hate Lois, but at the end of the day, Clark's death is not the time to carry that out. Lois was hurting probably more than they were, so I do think it would have been wrong to have
not tried under these specific circumstances. Here is the time
to be compassionate regardless of the circumstances. Lois's reactions were awful but believable, and they remind me of the kind of disbelief I'm sure she was feeling under her grief in TOGOM. Especially here, where she has fallen in love with him, I think her level of grief was expected. Still horribly heartbreaking, but expected.
Poor Martha (and Jonathan)! We don't get a lot of her reaction, but I can't imagine how it would feel to lose a child. It's hard to imagine how she reacted (and maybe I should thank you for leaving that painful image out of Lois's observations, for the most part). Maybe not worse than Lois, since she loves him, but somewhere very close.
I liked your addition of Perry as Lois's caretaker (she needed somebody there if the Kents rightly wouldn't be), and I like your explanation of his appearance. However, would the news or any spectators have seen Lois's interactions with Clark and her reaction as he flew off? Maybe I'm getting a little bit picky (sorry :)), but I'm curious! I also wonder why they didn't take Superman to the hospital. He was still dressed as Superman at that point, so there was no risk where Clark is concerned. I know theee's no Dr.Klein, but they do take him to the hospital in Top Copy despite that. They could have helped him so much more even without the knowledge of his physiology.
They won so many battles, but in the end, they lost the war.
I love this description.
I admittedly didn't think there would be anything more intense or exhausting than last chapter, but boy you proved me wrong! I kept thinking things would get better as the chapter progressed, but they just got worse and worse! Great chapter, just warn me if for some reason Clark being mostly dead becomes completely dead! FIX THIS!
