Lois & Clark Forums
Posted By: TOC FDK: Rebuilding Superman 12/20 - 01/10/07 10:58 AM
Since I have so very little time these days, I'm afraid this will be short.

Your writing is so intense and captivating. You make me feel so strongly how the prosecution and the defense make Yolanda paint such different pictures of what happened to her on the night that Bill Church was killed by Superman. Actually, we can see that Yolanda's description of Superman's behaviour is consistently the same, but the reason for her fear of him is seen to change drastically when she is questioned by the defense. The drama and emotional tension is palpable. This, to me, is undoubtedly the high point of an excellent chapter:

Quote
“Don’t fear Superman unless you break the law, Yolanda. And if you do break the law – “ she paused to take a breath “ – the people will try you and convict you and send you to jail for a long, long time. Fear me, Yolanda!”

Connie gritted her teeth and leaned over the rail until Yolanda fell backwards into the chair. “You’d better fear me. Because I’m one of the people!”
That packed an incredible punch. Yolanda was utterly shaken by what Connie had said to her. But Connie was extremely shaken by what she herself had said, too:

Quote
“Connie?” he asked. She didn’t say anything. He gently touched her shoulder. “Connie, are you all right?”

Instead of answering, she stood and stormed past him. He looked at Blair questioningly, but she shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t know what’s wrong. I got an idea, but I want to talk to her first. You be here tomorrow at nine, okay?”

He turned to watch Connie slam through the door at the back of the courtroom. “You sure she’ll be okay?”

“No. But even if she goes down, you still got me.”
I think Connie found it hard to accept the punitive, scary role she was forced to assume here. It was emotionally draining, and I think she scared herself as well as Yolanda. I'm certainly not saying she did the wrong thing, though. Indeed, her performance was incredibly impressive.

By the way, I love how the defense has demonstrated so effectively that the prosecution's first two witnesses were thoroughly criminal themselves.

This entire chapter was full of intense emotions. There is Lois throwing up her coffee and having to accept that she has just broken Ron's heart by telling him that she is his friend, and therefore, by implicaiton, not his future lover or wife. And there is the closing scene where Lois and Superman so much want to touch each other and relax in each other's arms and comfort one another, but they have to uphold the pretense that they are - well, just friends.

And in the next chapter - chapter thirteen, the unlucky number - Lois is going to have to testify. Her testimony could very well ruin Superman's future and her own relationship with Clark and their chance of being happy together.

This is so tense and so extremely well written.

Ann
Posted By: MrsMosley Re: FDK: Rebuilding Superman 12/20 - 01/10/07 05:42 PM
Poor Ron. Poor Clark. Poor Lois. I just want to hug them all.

Quote
Fear me, Yolanda!
I almost feel sorry for Yolanda after what Connie put her through!

Looking forward to seeing what is up with Connie.
Posted By: mariadferdez. Re: FDK: Rebuilding Superman 12/20 - 01/10/07 07:03 PM
Hi,

Great part! hyper
Posted By: angelic_editor Re: FDK: Rebuilding Superman 12/20 - 01/10/07 09:08 PM
Terry, this was stellar. The way you revealed Ron's not-quite-platonic feelings for Lois and how the word "friend" was a sucker-punch to his psyche — ack, it was painful to read!

I loved Connie's take-no-prisoners interrogation, but, like Maria, I'm wondering if she didn't have a similar experience in the courtroom that ended not so happily ever after, and that's why she stopped taking defense cases?

And this brought tears to my eyes:
Quote
“Some philosopher once said that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. You getting stronger?”

She tried to smile at him. “I’ll live.”

He sighed and crossed his arms heroically. “Not sure I will.”
Wow. Just ... wow. There's no way to adequately convey just how much this passage affected me, and how well you've encompassed Lois and Clark's respective emotional states in just a few well-chosen lines.

Brilliant work, Terry. I'm looking forward to the next part!
© Lois & Clark Fanfic Message Boards