Hi everyone! Thanks for your comments (and Happy Halloween!).
Ann, thanks for your feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed this section and the opportunity to see things from Talan's POV. I really enjoyed writing this section because I felt like it was one of those times when we get to see why someone as remarkable as Talan thinks Clark is just about the most amazing person she's ever met. Oddly enough, it's not really the powers that make her think this - it's what he did with the powers and why.
As to the events on Earth, I've been trying to get the diplomacy and the politicking right. I think that sometimes we take for granted just how difficult and maddening the process of negotiation can be. This is doubly true in Lois's case. She's not exactly a patient person and she's fully capable of using brute force to get the outcome she wants, but she can't. She knows what the consequences of turning Ultrawoman into a benevolent dictator would be, so she has to sit on her hands and be endlessly frustrated while innocent people suffer. No wonder she needs a shrink!
I think Zara has developed a sister's love for Clark, even if she is nominally married to him. Her feelings toward him aren't nearly as confused as Talan's. Even if all Kryptonians are somewhat emotionally stunted, Zara cannot hope to hold a candle to Talan in that regard. Also, her relationship with Ching and her feelings for him have probably prevented her from ever seeing Clark in any way except as a friend and as a brother.
Hi Maria. Thanks for commenting. To answer your question, I think the reason Clark seeks out Talan is because, despite the substantial degree of deference she shows him, he can still talk to her like a real person. Moreover, he knows that she's seen some pretty awful things, so he feels like she'll have an easier time relating to what he's been through. And, he feels like whatever he has to say will be less shocking to someone who has seen so much of war.
I've tried very hard to have the positions of the countries involved in the diplomacy mirror their actual approach to places like Darfur and Kosovo. The Chinese government has been rather strident about protecting countries from outside interference by the UN, even to stop genocide. So Lin isn't hiding anything, he's just expressing his country's position that sovereignty should trump just about everything, including humanitarian intervention. I think it's clear that both Ultrawoman and I disagree.
Thanks for your comments, Terry. I think your comments regarding Lois and Talan are spot on. Even though they believe in the same things and will go to great lengths to fight for their beliefs, they have very different personalities and express themselves in totally different ways. Lois is fire, and Talan is ice. As different as they are, I can see why they admire the same qualities in Clark. He's a pretty easy guy to admire, after all.
I can also see why Zara and even Ching (though he'd never admit it) admire these same qualities in Clark. He has friends who want to be there for him, but Clark isn't particularly good at asking for help and none of them have figured out just how to offer it.
Lois certainly does have her work cut out for her. I think she's turned being a working mom into an art form few could imitate, but that doesn't mean that what she does is easy. I think you're right that it will be extremely difficult for both her and Clark to deal with the fact that she's been raising Jon without him for years. It is, of course, no one's fault, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been hard on Lois and Jon, and it doesn't mean Clark won't feel guilty about it.
Carol, thanks so much for your comments. I've definitely tried, throughout the story, to show the different types of important relationships people have - romantic, platonic, and familial and how they're not necessarily as easy to define as one would think. For one thing, family is about more than blood - it's about taking care of the people you care about. I think that Lois's relationship with the Kents exemplifies this. Also, even blood familial relationships are sometimes hard to pin down. Enza is a lot more than just Thia's aunt. She's Thia's entire family. I also don't think Ching and Zara's relationship is any less meaningful because they aren't married. They've put up with an awful lot to be together and they continue to deal with daunting circumstances that keep them from being together officially. And sometimes its friendships, largely considered to be 'less' than relationships of blood or marriage, that save people's lives.
With respect to the two sentences you quoted, I clearly didn't do a good enough job showing that the entire scene is from Talan's perspective and shows her interpretation of Clark's reactions. Personally, I try to always use the third person limited omniscient perspective and stay in just one character's head for an entire scene.
Hi Liz! Thanks so much for commenting. I'm really glad to hear you're enjoying this.
Jenni, it's great to hear from you, as always. It's my absolute pleasure to write this story (even if it sometimes seems to be prioritizing itself ahead of other things in life), and I'm so glad to hear that you enjoy reading it. You're definitely right that Clark is reaching an emotional breaking point and that the people around him, as well meaning as they are, are still just proxies for whom he really needs to be with.
Well, there are seven minutes left of Halloween where I am, so you can consider the next part - coming up in a moment - either a trick or a treat. I'll let you decide. Thanks again for taking the time to read and to comment, everyone!
