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Okay, a semi-evil place to end, I know, but I couldn't help it. A lot happened in this section. Thoughts? Opinions? Ideas?
Thanks,
Annie
Being a reporter is as much a diagnosis as a job description. ~Anna Quindlen
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Blogger
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Annie, First off, I've been really looking forward to Playing for Keeps since the end of Playing to Win and now it's finally here. Yay!  I was so glad to see this up tonight. It made my day! I love how the relationship is going at this point. Also, I love how Clark met her at class. How cute! I'm also glad that Lois knows the truth early on in the story. I'm really looking forward to reading the rest and seeing everything develops!!  Becki 
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Freelance Reporter
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"I'm not a NASA experiment, Lois. I'm Kryptonian." I was expecting it, but I still ended up feeling stunned by that line. Whoa! More soon please.
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
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OOooh! Wondeful cliff hanger! Very well written, realistic dialogue and great revelation
Imagine.
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Pulitzer
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Eek! Well first of all, it makes me want to re-read the other two. Second, and more importantly, eek! What happens now??!! Does she get mad?! Does she cry?! Does she kick him out?!  JD 
"Meg...who let you back in the house?" -Family Guy
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Pulitzer
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wow, you're posting PFK!  i haven't been reading very much these days (some fluff, BRing non-l&c stuff for a few good writers who happen to be friends, and some stories for the archive keyword project), but when i saw PFK was up, i had to go see. i'm really glad i did. you really know how to make sparks fly between them, don't you? then, just as we're really used to things being all sweet and waffy and stuff, you bring in superman. the robe line was a great touch. more, tho, i love the interaction... clark's fear, lois's changed feelings, clark's self-admonition and determination... i especially like this: He couldn’t do it this way. Not just because he was scared, but because she deserved to hear this from her boyfriend, not a near stranger. i like it all the more because, shortly before i read it, my eyes caught the fact that he said simply "thank you" and then left. i was afraid he'd chickened out, but that is a darned good reason, and very insightful, too. it's also original (in my reading experience, anyway), and that's not easy these days when it comes to revelations. otoh (in terms of clark being insightful and such), there's this: “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I don’t mean to scare you.” He looked into her eyes for a moment before leaning forward and capturing her lips in a sweet kiss. "You're going to hate me for that in a minute," he said softly as he pulled away. "But I just wanted to kiss you one last time. Before I tell you this, just remember that I love you." gee.. way not to scare her, clark.  can't wait to see lois's reaction. while i'm writing... a couple of very minor typeos and things: She’d thought about asking him to stay a couple of time, just to hold her, but she’d felt strange about it. i expect you meant "times." She dropped the receiver into the cradle with a soft click, her eyes lingering one the phone for just another second before turning away "lingering on" i think there may have been one or two others (a few always get through...), but i can't seem to find them again. <shrug> anyway, great to see you posting this! looking forward to more (and what do you mean, we only get 4 parts? ). Paul
When in doubt, think about penguins. It probably won't help, but at least it'll be fun.
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Top Banana
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Annie,
I don't think I've ever had a chance to read one of your posted stories as it develops, though I'm a big fan of your work on the archive.
Just a few things that I really enjoyed and that made this different for me:
Paul touched on this one. The idea that Superman is a stranger to her, so he shouldn't be the one to tell her who Clark Kent is. I love that! We know he really thinks this, and yet so often we see the revelation coming from Superman. This was thoughtful in an original way, and also, illuminated the distance between Lois and Superman that has to be there before anything with Lois and Clark can happend.
Trying not to ramble, but just this other thing. Love the "I'm Kryptonian." Because his alieness, rather than his Supermanness, has always been with him. It makes such good sense that starting from the beginning like he did, the spaceship found in the field and so forth, that he would say that rather than "I'm Superman."
So I just adore how you turned that around. He's practicing to the picture, using the word Superman, but in the conversation he goes to what is most real for him.
Whew! Too wordy, sorry.
Can't wait to see more, Annie. And thanks for saying you'll post every day. So nice!
CC
You mean we're supposed to have lives?
Oh crap!
~Tank
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Columnist
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Annie, you have no idea how excited I was to see that you've started posting this story. I love the first two stories in the series, and was just about bouncing out of my chair when I saw 'Playing for Keeps, part 1' as a thread.
This didn't disappoint. WAFFy and wonderful and well-written, and then to end it when you ended it.... Let's just say that to wait two days for more is really, really cruel!
Looking forward to part 2... and 3... and 4!
Irene
I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.
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Hack from Nowheresville
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I have been waiting for this. But now it's not "playing", it's real thing, right? I remember that you promised to tell how Jimmy and Perry reacted to Lois and Clark's dating. It was high time for Clark to tell, Lois was having doubts why Clark was running away. "I don't understand, Clark. Are you telling me that you're…some kind of science experiment?"
"I'm not a NASA experiment, Lois. I'm Kryptonian." Did Lois really understand from this that Clark is Superman or that there are other Kryptonians on the Earth?
Gabriele
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YAY!!! You're posting Playing for Keeps!!  Superman's visit was really poignant and wistful - poor guy was devastated for a moment, but I love the way Lois rescued the situation. And it makes a lot of sense that he should tell her as Clark, not as Superman. And then the revelation... I've read a lot of explanations for why Clark didn't tell Lois sooner, but somehow this one really resonates with me: "I know I should have told you earlier," he said, rushing to tell her the rest before he lost his nerve. "But at first I was protecting my secret. It wasn't just for me – it was for my parents. If anyone knew who I was – what I was – they would use my parents to get to me. If something happened to them because of me…I would never forgive myself. Then, when we became friends, when I got to know you and trust you…. I should have told you, but I just wanted…. I needed…. You didn't understand. You couldn't see that he was just a disguise. When you looked at me, I need you to see *me* - not him. I know that's selfish, but I didn't want to be different. I just wanted to be me, and I just wanted you to love me." I think it's his uncertainty, his humility - that's what does it for me. He's not defensive or accusing. He's stating facts, simply and carefully, and explaining how it affected him. And I can't see how Lois's heart wouldn't melt at this!  Oh, one thing I've just noticed from posting that extract - you have Word's autocorrect function messing around with your ellipses. They look fine in your post and in mine, but it didn't in the posting window, which is what alerted me. When you send this to the archive the ellipses will turn into one . - so you might want to fix that before submitting the story. Anyway, can't wait for MORE!! Wendy
Just a fly-by! *waves*
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Kerth
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Okay, a semi-evil place to end Nah  But they went into serious matters quickly!!! waiting the next part, Annie!! Jose 
"Practice up your shielding spells...and remember to duck if you see green light coming your way." Harry Potter to Wizengamot in OotP trial A Bad Week in the Wizengamot
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Boy, Annie, when you're not gone from FOLCdom, you're really not gone! <g> I adore this and can't wait for more. PJ
"You told me you weren't like other men," she said, shaking her head at him when the storm of laughter had passed.
He grinned at her - a goofy, Clark Kent kind of a grin. "I have a gift for understatement."
"You can say that again," she told him.
"I have a...."
"Oh, shut up."
--Stardust, Caroline K
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Beat Reporter
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YAY!
That's all I'll say for now!
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Top Banana
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Great job, Annie. I haven't read the other two prequel stories to this, but still you've managed to show me the emotions so well that I'm picking up where these two are in their new relationship perfectly. And your references to their time spent in Washington DC is certainly teasing me to go read the other stories. I like how Clark presented his past to Lois as a buildup for the real confession. Kind of easing her into it in hopes that it will make the truth easier to swallow. That he didn't just present it as "I'm Superman" but that there was a history involved. And like others, my favorite line has to be the "I'm not a NASA experiment. I'm Kryptonian." I think this is destined to become a classic. I'm looking forward to the rest. Really enjoying this. Lynn
You know that boy'd walk on water for you? Or he'd drown tryin'. -Perry White to Lois in Just Say Noah
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Pulitzer
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Wow Annie this is great. I read the other two stories to refresh my memory. I am really looking forward to more. laura
Clark: “If we can be born in an instant, and die in an instant, why can’t we fall in love in an instant?”
Caroline's "Stardust"
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I'm an A-plot junkie, Annie, so I wasn't sure I'd enjoy this. But you had some really lovely touches, particularly (as others have mentioned) Clark backing off from telling her as Supes and telling her as himself. I also like that, for a change, one character didn't open mouth and insert foot at the worst possible second. (Can you tell my feelings towards forced angst? ) I confess that I found Lois' cluelessness a bit forced. C'mon, Lois: he's telling you his parents found him in a capsule, and you still don't make the connection? Although if your Lois never envisioned a secret id for Superman, the idea might never enter her head, I suppose. So I guess I should forgive her. Lovely beginning, Annie. Looking forward to MORE! Hazel
Lois: You know the deal.
Clark: Superman gets the guys in capes, Lois and Clark get the guys in suits.
-- Action Comics 827
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Pulitzer
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Hi, Great start. Clark ran out of steam and stopped, allowing the silence to fill the room. He had expected her to yell, to scream, to lash out at him. Instead, she sat with her hands still in his, unmoving, silent.
He thought that nothing could be worse than having her hate him, having her scream and accuse him of horrible things. But this – this silence - was much worse. Poor Lois can process all that babble. 
Maria D. Ferdez.
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Don't like Luthor, unfinished, untitled and crossover story, and people that promises and don't deliver. I'm getting choosy with age.
MAF
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Top Banana
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Annie, I am really glad you've finally written this .  I've been waiting for it for a long time! I love this part and I'm looking forward to the rest of the story. - Laura (sorry the comments are so short . . . gotta get back to work  )
Laura "The Yellow Dart" U. (Alicia U. on the archive)
"A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles." -- Christopher Reeve
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Blogger
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LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!!!!! oh, by the way... I LOVE THIS STORY! couldn't wait...had almost forgot about it being in the works (ALMOST)...loved the first two prequels... although WHY NOT EVERY DAY? OR ALL AT ONCE!??!!?? I'm gonna go bonkers getting this in spurts  please, take pity on me...and i'm sure a few more of us who are secretly dying for more!!! mor1980
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Merriwether
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get the feeling this story is all done...which is why i ask: WHY EVERY OTHER DAY!?!?!?!?
WHY NOT EVERY DAY? OR ALL AT ONCE!??!!?? Actually she's still tweaking the later sections, so the every other day thing is to give her trusty BR companion (just call me Rex ) enough time to read through the updated versions as they hit my mailbox. Kathy (who gets nearly as excited reading comments for a story she's BRed as she does for one of her own, LOL)
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