Ok, so first, I'll try to keep my notes coherent for this because LONDON DURING THE BLITZ??? I'm SUCH a sucker for this premise, and the story doesn't disappoint. I was up past three one night, tearing my way through to the ending in one go. It's so heart rending and I feel like it’s the SUCH A GREAT ENDING for alt-Clark, who has surely deserved it after all years of him getting often tragic and damaged Loises. But I loved this version of alt-Clark, and yes, the romance/emotional story, too. But it was the STRUCTURE of the thing overall that was so satisfying for me. In the LONDON BLITZ. Just hits all of my buttons. Ok, here we go:
PART 1her feet sinking into deep green wetness as she scrambled to escape.
Love the word choice for verbs in this section but the ambiguity of the 'deep green wetness' somehow makes this WORSE; really evocative.
A rock. All this over a rock.
On nooooooo....
She knew there was nobody to help her. Nobody to save her.
This is particularly crushing because we know that there SHOULD be. And because we know he could get there, if only he knew where she was. So, doubly tragic.
The crack of the shot and then the rock exploding in her hands.
Oh, yikes.
🧐
Clark had never even met her and yet the news that she was alive had felt miraculous. Wondrous.
Awww
More than that – wherever he went he was cheered, welcomed and even loved.
This is a really great extension to the world building on the show, where everyone knew that alt-Clark was Superman, but we weren't entirely sure how that was going to go for him. But this sounds like it's working out overall.
He’d learned to compartmentalise his loneliness; to push it deep down until it became a low level ache inside – painful, but bearable.
...perfectly healthy.
Wells stood there, fist raised looking slightly flustered.
“Sorry,” Clark said somewhat sheepishly, standing back to let the small man enter.
Great interaction here, lol. I always love a flustered Wells.
Funny, being late, considering I have a time machine.” He chuckled.
THANK YOU! And yes, this is funny.
Or maybe he was stalling because he still had no idea what he would say to her.
Too cute!
“We have a genuine mystery on our hands,” Wells replied.
Love it!
“You can do this, Mr. Kent,” Wells said softly, placing a reassuring hand on his back. “In fact, you may be the only one who can.”
I think that this is the best version of Wells. He's not a hero, he's not really great in a fight or in a pinch, but he has a Lois Lane level of faith in people, and particularly in Clark. I know it's because he knows how this works out (or should), but he still uses his knowledge in a really kind, warm way.
And I refuse to assume that things will just magically fall into place because the universe supposedly says it should.
I love this for the character, in the obstacle that it gives him and but also in the meta aspect - because as a reader, I feel pretty confident that it will work out, lol.
And we’ll need a store that sells something that would be appropriate for the year 1941.
Aww... back when they had cotton clothes instead of mostly plastic blends. Can they take me shopping there, too? But earnrstly, shopping with Wells just feels delightfully absurd.
I re-read this date like 3 times because I was so surprised that you were going here. Great event to isolate.
This is when I started to think it was a British writer.
Was that what happened to his parents? Lois still didn’t know and he refused to talk about it.
Oh, nooooo.... I was wondering if this was why he was still in London all the way into 1941.
Now was not the time, especially since she knew that bear was the most important item he owned.
I loved the teddy bear is splashed across the story and how you it was used, from intro to nickname to mid-bombing location device. It's somehow more heart-rending to think that the teddy bear sees so many bombings - including the one that kills Jamie's parents and the one that nearly kills him. Really great metaphor for the effect of war on innocence. And, of course, I can't help but link Snowy to the bear that Clark wins for Lois in our primary Metropolis.
It had been six months since the air raids had begun, but they hadn’t gotten any less terrifying.
Yeah... he really needs to get her out of there. It's March, so this gets worse before it gets better.
It was as if a part of her was afraid that if she let go of him for even a second, she would lose him.
This is the most 'mom' sentence ever written.
He wasn’t hers, and yet he was.
She's got a pair of these, then. And it's actually really sweet to slot a new character/little kid into the linked souls group that we see in Soul Mates.
She couldn’t leave him there. She just couldn’t.
I like that this line is separated out because of the extra drama it's lent by that, but also because it separates it a little more from her own experience with the soldiers helping her -- because, while she doesn't know it, this is only half the reason she's about to go back for a man during an air raid, lol.
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but she cut him off before he had the chance.
That's somehow the perfect introduction, her just interrupting and yelling at him, lol. And after he spent all that time worrying about what to say to her!
Except the man seemed to keep pace with her which was not something most people were easily able to do.
Absolutely darling detail to incorporate into an AIR RAID, when we usually think of this scenario in terms of reporting.
At this point, I started wondering if the author was British, or just a stunning researcher. Because I know (and know of) published (mostly American) authors who don't bother with even mentioning the tickets for deep-level shelters, let alone adding in ARP wardens anywhere but walking down a street yelling 'lights out!' So. Wow. I'm impressed.
He was kind and willing to look the other way on certain things such as people smuggling small pets into the shelter.
Ok, well, now I'm in love with Tom. Was he based on someone, in your own life or in history?
It put her on edge. Did he know her? Was he a part of her life before she’d lost her memory?
Oof, yikes, bad start, Clark. I also kind of love that he's in trouble before he even says ANYTHING!
He’d found her and lost her in the same night.
Aw, poor guy!
They felt more like a promise – a window into what it might feel like to actually belong somewhere. And he had been searching for that as long as he could remember.
Ugh, that's so Sweet!
Clark had so many questions for her, but there hadn’t been time.
Great device to use on us, too.
You’ll want to help. You’ll want to save people. It’s in your nature. But you can’t.
I feel like... nahhhhhh... Clark's not going to do this, lol. But what a great obstacle to put up to really plunge him into despair while he's here! And it's also great because this is historically a problem that Lois Lane can solve.
He hated that word – casualties. There was nothing casual about war or death.
Love this detail. Excellent.
He wasn’t sure he would be able to live with himself if he did what Wells was asking. And yet, he wasn’t sure he could live with himself if he left her there either.
And this is how you trap Superman. If more villains understood this kind of mental paradox, he'd have been a goner long ago.
He couldn’t just do nothing.
YAY!
It was nearly impossible to avoid, however, and even as he worked to get one person out, another fell victim to the flames or the collapsing structure of the building.
Ugh, that's devastating.
He’d seen a lot since assuming the identity of Superman, but this was a new form of horror.
There were moments he almost doubled over and wept as he came across not just bodies, but sometimes just limbs.
So this whole section is brutal, of course, but it really does a credible job of landing us in a collapsing building during the bombings, detailed and emotional.
And though the blood would wash off, he knew that in many ways, it was there for good.
That's a brilliant line.
Lois couldn’t let that happen. He was already so scared and so alone. He needed her.
That's so heart wrenching. Especially coming from a woman whom we assume had Sam and Ellen as parents.
She allowed her gaze to drift over to the dresser on the other side of the room where a small piece of rock sat atop it – the most unique shade of purple she had ever seen.
Huh.
Instead, she was allowed emergency residency under the assumption that she had either a partner or family member fighting with the British army – an assumption she hadn’t bothered to correct.
Clever. It's amazing how she retained enuogh of her personality/instincts/training as a reporter to just keep sneaking her way into places.
Lois often wondered if he woke up every morning expecting to see the faces of the parents he’d lost, sleeping in the bed he once slept in
Ooof, Author.
Though she’d stumbled into the job at the Daily Mirror, she quickly learned she had a knack for it, not to mention a willingness to go places others wouldn’t.
Wow. Yeah, lucky that she 'stumbled' into it. Why do I have a feeling that she gravitated to it?? I love that Lois always ends up in a similar profession. And I also love that here, the reader has a little more knowledge than Lois about who she is/what she does/what's coming. It makes it more fun, and helps to balance the backdrop of the Blitz.
“Do you think that man from last night is okay, Lolo?” Jamie asked quietly.
It's sweet that he's still thinking of Clark. It makes it feel like the connection can be between the three of them, and really sets up the family feel.
“I’m sure he’s fine, little bear,” she told him, hoping the use of the endearment she had for him would put him at ease.
The nickname really got me.
Built in the art-deco style of the 1920s, it was a large multi-story stone building with lots of geometric detail and large steel-framed windows that flooded the interior of the building with light. It stretched over an entire city block, housing not just the editorial areas, but the printing presses as well.
Is this intentionally set up to remind of us of the Planet??
Her editor had told the employees on more than one occasion that the Mirror was a daily paper and would come out every day.
This so deeply vibes with the mindset of the time. Nice touch.
It was necessary to let people think she had a British husband overseas in order to stay in London and it was necessary for people to think that Jamie was her son who had been evacuated and sent home again because he missed her. Lois knew that if the wrong people got wind of the fact that she had found him and taken him in, she could lose him.
So she's under quite a bit of threat here.
The men she worked with had made no secret about their disdain for a woman reporter – especially one with a child. Though all were expected to “do their part” right now to help the war effort, Lois knew that she was expected to do so somewhere more befitting her sex.
So infuriatingly frustrating and SO perfectly on target for the time period.
it always simply read ‘by Staff Reporter’.
While this is good for the history books, and a nice workaround to messing up the timeline, I just want to slap her editor.
Seems the Cafe de Paris was destroyed last night.
Lois had already done one story on it, calling it a symbol of defiance and hope. A way for the people of London to say that they would not be terrified into submission.
GOOD! That's right in line with her character. Love this.
Towards the front of the building she saw the figure of a man.
It's almost as if she were drawn to him, lol
“It…it’s you,” he said, sounding slightly shocked.
“And you,” Lois replied, feeling oddly out of breath, though she couldn’t explain why.
Yay! And I love where you're taking the soulmate bond vibe here!
The smoke had cleared, but Clark still had trouble breathing.
Awww, poor guy.
But the costume wasn’t here, and he was the one who needed saving.
That packs an emotional wallop.
Clark closed his eyes, trying to imagine they were in a park in Metropolis. He tried to imagine that they were sitting there watching people walk to and fro, going about their daily lives with a coffee in hand as they talked.
This is such an innocent daydream for him, just wishing for the mundanity of the little moments. So in character.
And then, yeah, gut punch.
“You got involved,” Lois said, with no judgement in her voice. The first rule of journalism – keep your distance from the story. Don’t let it get personal. But it was a rule that no good reporter could abide by and they both knew it. “You tried to help. You risked your life.”
“I had to,” he croaked, trying desperately to keep his emotions at bay. “I tried and it wasn’t enough. I…I couldn’t…”
I wonder if she's more or less willing to jump in without checking the water level here? Maybe less willing, since she has to look out for Jamie? but regardless, I love that this puts them on the same level with 'they both knew it.' It makes them both more vulnerable.
It’s all any of us can do.” A soft breeze wafted through the air blowing gently through Lois’ hair and he felt something inside him stir.
I know you're not literally writing magic, but this feels like a universe-given sign. She literally utters the magic Lois to Superman words and the wind picks up. Sweet and a lot of fun!
Suddenly he wondered – was he right to try and interfere with that? What if she was happy here? Was he right to try and bring her back because of some misguided notion that they belonged together? He didn’t believe in soul mates, after all.
Oh, MAN, this Clark cannot resist putting things in his own way! This does make it a lot trickier, though.
“A collaboration between the Mirror and the Planet then?” He said, trying to sound as casual as possible and failing miserably.
I feel like this is the equivalent of asking Clark if he'd like to meet Santa.
He would do anything she asked him to.
Oh, no, he doesn't believe in soul mates at aaaaaalllllll...
She didn’t want to have to start all over again.
Great, emotional, heart tugging reasons to not want to trust someone!
Jamie knew to call her ‘Mama’ in public if he had to, though it hadn’t happened often and she didn’t let many people get close enough to ask too many questions.
Really smart kid. Perfect fit for her.
Nobody had smiled at her like that in a long time.
Awww. The love in wartime trope is so perfectly ooey gooey.
Having no memories meant that she had no sense of what she’d lost. She had nothing and nobody to mourn. She might have had friends, family…she might have been married and have children of her own.
"It's the not knowing that kills you." (...or something like that.)
But he wasn’t in uniform and somehow she knew that he wasn’t a soldier at heart.
That's a fully loaded statement for the reader.
“You look good,” she said, before she could stop herself. He raised an eyebrow and she felt herself blush. “I mean, you clean up…good.”
Adorable.
Working with Clark was surprisingly easy. He had a tendency to edit her spelling which she found supremely irritating,
This an adorable detail, too, to carry over to the alt-universe.
Part 2... (I'll post part 2 separately, and I'll plan to finish this story before the GTA deadline).
