I haven't been commenting, but I have been reading.
I sympathize with Clark's revulsion at the double standard forced on him. He's supposed to live as if there were plenty to go around for all, yet his own parents could barely make it if he weren't there to help. His heart - and his guilt - pushed him into giving Becky's family money and extra food. His rural Kansas upbringing and his sense of duty gets him up in the morning to help his parents at the farm (the fact that the camera crew hates him for it is just gravy). And he's pressured by President Snow's knowledge of his powers, although I doubt that Snow knows everything that Clark can do.
I was so sad when Rachel walked out on him. It's hard to blame her, since they did kind of have an understanding with each other. Had he not been Reaped, they probably would have married. I think she could have handled his "specialness."
And since this is a Lois & Clark forum (something of which I have been gently reminded in the past), I can't envision Lois being permanently gone from this narrative. Perhaps her physician father pulled her out of the frozen coma Clark put her in and healed her bloody wounds. If he did, however, the outcome of these Games is in disarray, since both Clark and Lois survived. My bet would be that Lois goes to District 9 under cover and marries Clark using an assumed name to keep herself safe - and they discover that, by working together, they can topple the current tyrannical regime and replace it with something better. What might that something better be? I guess I'll have to Read And Find Out.
Anyway, you have a fan. And I hope you can keep up your posting schedule. I know how tough that can be. I can't wait to see how you resolve all of this.
