I'm finally caught up! And wow, Yvonne, the story continues to be fantastic. I'm fascinated with how real you manage to draw your original characters, like George. And poor, poor Clark again!

Kaethel

Good part!

I though we weren't going to know about the conversation between Perry and George but you surprised me with Clark coming into George's office

So when does Lois appears?

Or do you have any surprise in the bag?

Jose

Very poignant story, Yvonne. You have a great plot going on and wonderful characters :)I can't wait to see what happens next, and, unlike some, I hope Lois doesn't show up, at least not for a while

Hi,

Great part.

Really great story!

I have been following it, but not posting since as a Social Worker, I have worked with my share of addicts and just wanted to lurk a little more before commenting.

The characters, as mentioned, are right on (the supportive yet confrontive George, the nurturing Alice, the worried Perry -- and so, is the addictive personality you've given to Clark without making Clark not Clark (even Alt Clark) any more.

A very remarkable job.

Barb.

Poor AltClark.

You did it again, Yvonne, you put tears in my eyes. It's heartwrenching to read how lonely and lost and wretched this man is without his Lois Lane.

And I agree with what Barb said about the supporting characters. Totally believable.

Ursie

That weak sniveling wretch doesn't deserve a Lois Lane. He should be locked away in a deep dark hole, never to see the light of day again, and throw a little red and green kryptonite in after him just for good measure... does that sound a little harsh?

Actually, Yvonne, you are drawing your characters very well. Maybe too well. Clark is one messed up individual, but it's kind of hard to feel too sorry for him. He is Superman, and that does carry some benefits that the 'common man' doesn't enjoy.

Addiction is generally a selfish and cowardly form of coping with a bad situation. Not something you would normally associate with a super hero.

While it's true that he's lost (or more accurately, never found) is true love, that doesn't exactly make him a unique case. The world is full of people who have either never found, or have lost their 'soul mate' and the vast majority of them find a way to soldier on despite that. They find the strength to carry on. Is Clark that much weaker, or is Lois really that much more special? (Guess which way I'm leaning?). I'm not critizing your protrayal of an addicted personality and the chaos and pain it causes them and those around them. I'm just saying that it's hard to feel too sorry for them.

Tank (who thinks that Clark needs a good slap upside the head... maybe in the form of seeing what addictions can do to other people, and more importantly, what it does to those who try to love and support them)

I debated whether or not to post about this, and I waited a whole day to think about it, but I still feel like I need to say something.

First off, I should say that I've never been addicted to alcohol/drugs/etc, nor have I had someone close to me go through that. So I don't have much experience with it, and I don't mean to preach on the subject. And I don't mean to direct this to Tank specifically. I've just dealt with this sort of thing a bit too frequently in the last few months and I felt a need to vent <g>.

I guess I'm at a point in life where I've had to deal with some very difficult things, and I'm very aware that even when you're in a lot of pain, most people around you have no idea. (I don't mean family, of course they know. I mean coworkers, people you pass on the street, etc.) That makes me a little less judgmental than I might have been in the past. Because you don't know what the person next to you is dealing with, or what drove them to whatever they're doing now.

And I don't think anyone can tell anyone else they haven't suffered much. Because unless you've been there, you really have no idea. Even if you have been there, it seems insensitive and judgmental to tell that person how they should be reacting or feeling.

And none of us have been where Clark is. Clark's been put into circumstances completely beyond our experience. None of us have been introduced to a 'soulmate', explicitly paraded through how happy life might be with her, and then abandoned with absolutely no hope of attaining it.

I'm not saying drugs are the way to go. I'm not trying to defend that. I just have more understanding now that people break sometimes. None of us can be strong all the time, and different people handle that in different ways. I don't think we should dismiss what other people are feeling just because they've chosen a 'bad' way to deal with it (be it drugs or some other mechanism).

Getting down off my soapbox now...

Yvonne, I've loved all of this, although I've been quiet in comment folders because mostly I'm a shy person <g>. But I've been happily printing it off in little pieces and taking it to class with me, because I couldn't wait three or four hours until I got home again. It's been painful, and I have no idea how you're going ot fix it, but I've been incredibly impressed throughout with the premise and the writing itself.

Kaylle

Between my cold and the cold pills, my brain is too fuzzy for detailed fdk just now.

But I am still reading, and on the edge of my seat.

Oh, and I agree with both Tank and Kaylle.

But my main comment is, MORE!!! ASAP!

Awww, Rivka - thanks for posting despite the cold.

Kaylle:
This is so, so, true! Been there, got the t-shirt, as they say. I can remember thinking 'if they only knew how bad things are for me, they would be a little kinder' - but you can't actually bring yourself to say anything, because that would be whinging and/or asking for sympathy.

And thank you for your very honest comments - I'm glad you posted As it happens, I (in my usual fence-sitting way) can agree with both Tank and you. My gut reaction is to think that addicts are weak and very, very stupid people, but then again, I try hard to understand and sympathise with their predicament and the reasons why they ended up the way they are. In Clark's defence, I don't think he would have even suspected he could become addicted to anything - drugs don't work on him, and he quite possibly wouldn't view red kryptonite as a drug in any case. So the addiction crept up on him, so to speak.

Is he a weak, snivelling wretch who doesn't deserve our sympathy? Personally, I don't think so (there's a surprise <g>), because at least he has the strength to fight his addiction. Having got himself into a mess, he's man enough to recognise he's in a mess, it's his own fault, and he has to fix it. Yes, he needed a helping hand to get started, but I think you really would have to be superhuman to recognise your own problems when you're so low as he was. Anyone who's had a long term illness will understand what I mean - you generally don't realise just how ill you are until you're better again. Then you look back and wonder how you ever survived.

On the question of Lois, my lips are sealed. <g>

Yvonne