OH THANK GOD I COULD CRY WITH HAPPINESS. OMG. YOU'RE AMAZING.

I paused so many times while reading this and had the most physical reaction ever while reading fic (I managed to jump clear across my bed to curl in a fetal position for a few seconds). Those are the reactions of someone who was so caught up in the whole chapter that they just had to process everything.

And I do mean everything.

In a manner of a few paragraphs you managed to take us through several stages of grief: from denial, avoidance and finally the break down, then you turn it all around and give us joy and hope and happiness.

I also loved how you painted the scenes between Eddie and Rob. Clearly there is still so much this family needs to deal with. Ben was perfect. And Patrick, I'm with Mary in believing he is putting on an act. Yes he's a psychopath but he's a high-functioning one, portraying himself as clearly unhinged will give him a little leniency and even gain him some sort of twisted sympathy.

As always, I await what next twist you bring us.

I am officially dead after this chapter. I hope you are satisfied. ;) Brilliant, as always. So brilliant I had to read it twice! I am smiling now-grinning like an idiot over the end of this chapter! Love this story so much!

Know you are busy, however, would love an update.

Just reread this story, I'm so glad you recently updated it. Can't wait to read more!

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If he's dead...
Happy writing and please update soon!

Keep going...I'm very much engaged! :) It's nice to see a resolution starting between Rob and the rest of the family. And nice job giving Eddie a job that makes use of her talents for a good cause. :)

Just catching up to this, and this chapter was riveting as usual. I loved Rob's talk with Mary about losing the love of his life. So much revealed in that brief interlude. Eddie as a forgery detective is a nice twist, too. I'm patiently awaiting to find out Matthew's fate, and I know you have some intriguing explanation worked out. I am going to obsess about the possibilities until the next update. Bravo!

I also agree with a previous reviewer that I would do love to read your non-fan-fiction work. Your writing is exceptional.

So what would have happened if no one was there to pick up Rob? Please tell me that Matthew is NOT DEAD (I've had enough of that already). What is going on with Alice? Isn't she MORE pregnant than Sybil? So? Are we going to find out what the kidnappers wanted, as opposed to what they said they wanted, and why they took Matthew (and how he GOT AWAY)?

I really love your writing. The spaces in between chapters, not so much, but who am I to complain?

This is so fantastic! I literally just read the entire story so far in one go. You make everything so interesting from the art and drama, to the economics and politics. Please just carry on writing this fantastic thing as you have been. It is superb, and easily the best fan fiction I have ever read, not that lots of the other stuff isn't great too...

If Matthew is dead no one will read this anymore. But I don't think he is dead, he's just "gone". Here are some reasons why you really should not have him die: 1. We fricking love matthew 2. Mary loves Matthew and it would be too devastating in her life 3. Terrorist groups want attention. If they did kill matthew they would have been public about it. 4. Matthew is a smart enough person and has been resilient throughout his parents deaths and other tragedies that I believe he could have escaped.
If he did escape though, why wouldn't he be recognized or have contacted mary. I think it's ironic that the terrorist group was found in Spain. That's good writing to tie it back to where mary and Matthew first showed their love for each other.
PLEASE HAVE MATTHEW LIVE.

Oh my god. Im so involved with this story! There are so many possibilities! If he got away, how and why didn't he contact mary and wouldn't people recognize him from the news? I am so eager for the next chapter! Please update quickly! Great job on this story.

Ahh cliffhanger! Gone as in dead or gone as in they don't have him anymore...hmmm. I really do love this story. I picked up Bikram about 2 months ago and when I was reading this chapter I was like YESS that's what Mary's been doing! It works wonders. Can't wait for the next chapter!

HOLY! man, you're good at this...

By the way, do you have any background in the financial world?

You will now think me a heartless psychopath, but I've been wondering some time if you'd eventually kill off future Matthew Crawley. After all, if the original one survived in this Universe, then the Universe would take its token some other time. And this is so exciting! God I'm awful, I know, but the Mary/Matthew relationship in Preferred Stock has been so iconic, so engaging, that I'm probably going to mourn this Matthew way more than I did with the other one, and I'm going to be more involved in Mary's pain (so much more enhanced, what with her past of loss and loneliness) this time around (and I already was with the show, so GO FIGURE).
I'm just happy to see what happens to this Mary and this Universe now that Matthew Crawley is gone...and technically I think in PSverse it's two years ago? It's like seeing unfolding a story that it's already been written, somewhere in history, in some place that is not this reality, and it makes me feel both powerless and in complete wonder. God I love you.
I also just realized that this fanfiction has been going on for a very long time, basically accompanying me through most of my DA fandom life, and it's also the only fanfiction from that world that I'm still reading. Maybe because it's really not about that, it stands on its own two feet, and when it's done (but I don't want to say my goodbyes to it, not just yet) I will have it made into another book (the second Chickwriter on my bookshelf), and this is just how much I'm emotionally engaged in it.
TELL US WHERE WE CAN READ YOUR ORIGINAL NOVEL, I SHALL NEVER FORGIVE YOU IF I WON'T BE ABLE TO READ IT.