Hi everyone, thanks for your comments.
Maria, I'm glad you liked this section, especially the speech. As for why Rae Et's still alive, I go by Terry's suggested rule of thumb - never believe a fictional character is dead until they've been autopsied and embalmed. In the case of vampires, even this isn't enough.
(Disclaimer: I promise there are no vampires on New Krypton or anywhere else in this story. Seriously.)
Hi Terry! We're definitely not done yet, even though we're making steady progress toward the finish line (I think). I'm not sure I agree about Zara telling Clark. For one thing, Zara's pretty much decided she doesn't know the nature of Clark's relationship with Talan and doesn't consider it any of her business. So even if it would be a good idea for her to talk to Clark, I think she'd be quite reluctant to do so. Secondly, I'm not sure it would be a good idea; I don't see how it benefits Clark to know that Talan's in love with him. If anything, I think it'll throw him off-balance. He won't feel as comfortable around her as he does now. As much grief as it's causing Talan to be in love with someone who can't love her back, Zara's principal concern in the matter has to be Clark's wellbeing, not Talan's. Clark is the one who has to keep it together to get through the trial and to convince the Council to let Ching replace him.
As for Lois, she's definitely approaching the limits of superhuman endurance. I think it'll be interesting to see how she handles the situation.
Liz, thanks for commenting. I'm glad that you're reading and enjoying the story. And I've been trying to write Rae Et as the female version of Luthor, so I'm glad everyone agrees that she's completely and irredeemably wicked.
Thanks for your very kind comments, Ann. I'm glad you liked Clark's speech. I find writing good speeches difficult because, well, you have to be good at writing good speeches. With dialogue, you can get pretty far by just thinking, 'well, what would I say in response to that if I were so-and-so?' Most of us don't give speeches regularly, nor are we expected to give great, stirring speeches that inspire people. Not that I'm claiming I've written such a thing, but that would be the goal in this section, if it were feasible. A pretty good speech is victory enough.
As I've said before, I also think that true strength lies in accepting and facing your vulnerabilities, not in pretending they don't exist. It's taking Clark a lot more courage to ask for help than it ever took for him to pretend he didn't need help.
Enza has some definite abandonment issues, which I think are pretty well founded given she lost her entire family. I think it takes a lot of guts on her part to try and make a relationship work. But yeah, this story was getting so dark even I couldn't stand everyone being miserable all the time, so right now, at least these two are pretty happy.
I'm also glad to see that you're cheering for Zara and Ching. Ching came across as such a jerk on the show that I was afraid it would be really difficult to turn him into a sympathetic character. I took some liberties with him, but I wanted to stay true to many of the essential characteristics of who he is without rendering him a third rate jerk.
Thanks again for reading and taking the time to comment, everyone. I really appreciate it. Happy New Year and more is coming up!
Regards,
Rac
