1 [Report This]Date: October 09, 2020 10:13 pm Title: Real Friends (AKA The Time They Pretended)
Ah, yeah, that's good stuff. Very nice combination of self-justification that COULD be accurate but isn't alongside just enough clarity about Jim's POV on this that makes it clear we are in canon angst for him already.
And I love Larissa the theoretical physics major as a threat for Roy.
Author's Response: Thank you! Making sure I reflected that differing perspective between the Pam that's just so thrilled she's connected with someone that she can't even stand it AND THAT'S THE ONLY THING THAT'S GOING ON and the Jim whose heart is cracking just a little more every day was a big part of why I wanted to write this.
It's actually hard to imagine two characters in The Office who have less interest in dealing with each other than Roy and STEM Genius Larissa.
1 [Report This]Date: October 04, 2020 06:23 am Title: Real Friends (AKA The Time They Pretended)
I loved this. So beautifully written, with so many nice moments and just the right amount of angst (and also Larissa! I'm sad it doesn't look like she ever appears on show). I was also wondering about Pam's friend situation, and the not fitting in with jocks or the artsy kids makes so much sense, plus the dropping out of college (I don't know if that's canon, but it feels like it should be). I loved the little snatches of Jim's perspective, and also this line - "Jim is beaming at her, his you’re the greatest thing since sliced beets smile" - because he really does look at her like that. This is just lovely!
Author's Response: Thank you so much! I'm sad about the lack of Larissa too, but that does make her REALLY useful for fanfic purposes. The Pam dropping out of college bit is semi-canon, I think - never mentioned in the show, but Jenna Fischer has been public about that being part of her personal backstory for Pam. I'm glad you enjoyed this one!
1 [Report This]Date: October 02, 2020 05:27 pm Title: Real Friends (AKA The Time They Pretended)
Awww I loved this! I could smell, taste, feel and see everything. You wrote early Jim and Pam so well. I loved every minute of this!!
Author's Response: Thank you so much! I think there's so much to be done with the pre-cameras part of their relationship, it was fun digging into it.
Date: October 02, 2020 04:59 pm Title: Real Friends (AKA The Time They Pretended)
Another great story - yeah for a JAM story -although I do so enjoy your ensemble tales and especially your rejected cold opens.
I will say I have a different vision of Pam meeting the friends, but I really enjoyed this one and does feel right, too. I'll be sharing mine take on it way off in a future chapter and we will have to compare and contrast then. It's one of the things I am enjoying in this forum of talent and different mindsets - all the possibilities for our JAM, each one creative and beautiful and so real in their own way.
Stuff I loved here. the disclaimer of course, meeting Larissa, the female Jim, great stuff there. Little boy boss - yup that's Michael. The Voodoo doll -(if you look closely at Jim's room in Office Surveillance, he may have one there although I think this one is a Roy version) and Pam seeing the night as a piece of art she goes home to create. All great touches.
Great work as usual.
Author's Response: The rejected cold opens are fun (and honestly both more enjoyable and easier to write), but what can I say? I need my daily dose of JAM.
I am very much looking forward to seeing your take on Pam meeting the friends - there's a lot of great meet-the-family JAM fic out there, but they're still within an age range where meeting the friends is a pretty big milestone and it's very under-explored. And I agree - one of the things I love about fanfic is seeing how different people come up with different answers to the same questions and how that changes how I think about it.
The Dwight voodoo doll is my not-so-secret favorite part of this, not going to lie - I'm glad you liked it all!
1 [Report This]Date: October 02, 2020 01:17 pm Title: Real Friends (AKA The Time They Pretended)
That was lovely, you really set the scene nicely and it felt really on character for Jim and Pam. Larissa is always a fun add too, because everyhad a different take on what she's like.
Author's Response: Thank you so much! Not gonna lie, as my first real deep dive into Jam-as-Jam I was pretty nervous about keeping them in character.
There's just so much to be done with Larissa (and Penny and Isabel), especially since Jim and Pam at times both DESPERATELY seem like they need someone outside their situation to shake them up a bit. I love the way the authors here have put them to work.
1 [Report This]Date: October 02, 2020 08:41 am Title: Real Friends (AKA The Time They Pretended)
This little story made me quite emotional. That feeling of loneliness and losing touch with friends that Pam experienced here are too familiar to me (unfortunately...). You captured them so well!
'They're allowed to have their own things. There's nothing wrong with any of this.' I like this line. This statement is right, but knowing the backstory added a slightly different tone, and it feels like the first sign of grand changes...
And the ending is so, so sweet, with the hint of bitterness — perhaps, my favorite taste. I hope you'll right more Jam content because it's awesome.
Thank you!
Author's Response: Yeah, I know exactly what you mean - I tend to relate a lot more to Jim than Pam, but she is just so palpably lonely in the first few seasons that it's hard for me not to identify with her. It's a hard thing, I'm glad you feel I did it justice.
I'm glad you picked up on that line - that sense of being prematurely defensive, and knowing on some level that something here doesn't quite fit with what she's consciously aware of, is I think really important in this part of their relationship, and I wanted to make sure it came through.
Thank you for your kind words and for reading! There's definitely (well, hopefully) more Jam content from me in the pipeline.
1 [Report This]Date: October 02, 2020 04:41 am Title: Real Friends (AKA The Time They Pretended)
This is so sweeeeet, ugh; I was smiling throughout. You bring out the 'real' friendhsip just perfectly. Just freinds *cough cough* emotion is so there and yet it's not angsty and yet there is this angst that makes you squirm a little and yet it leaves you all warm and fuzzy! Loved it.
Author's Response: Thank you so much! Riding that line of "is this angst or fluff" was pretty much what I was going for here - it's been really interesting reading the range of interpretations of where it ended up landing.
1 [Report This]Date: October 02, 2020 04:00 am Title: Real Friends (AKA The Time They Pretended)
This was both lovely and bittersweet. I really liked the premise - of course their first social event outside of the office is quietly monumental in its own way. Much like Jim I imagine, it broke my heart a little that Pam returned home to Roy at the end of the evening. This works well as a stand alone one shot, but I wouldn’t be mad if you decided to add to it if inspiration strikes.
Author's Response: Thanks for the kind words, friend. I've always been interested in what their relationship looks like outside the office pre-Casino Night, and it's sort of underexplored in fanfic (most of the peak era stuff assumes they didn't really have one, which Niagara indicates is not quite right). That dynamic must have been really complicated, and developing it would have been so fraught - I enjoyed thinking through what it would've looked like right at the beginning. Yeah, that was not a fun end of the night for Jim, who at this point I'm sure is already pretty aware that she was much happier hanging out at the barbecue than she would be with Roy. I suspect I'll return to this part of their relationship at some point, although that wasn't actually central to the concept of the original 5+1 I had in mind.
1 [Report This]Date: October 01, 2020 10:00 pm Title: Real Friends (AKA The Time They Pretended)
Well, this was just all sorts of lovely. From the image of the sunset to the way Pam interacts with all of Jim’s friends. I love it!
I think one of my favorite parts was when Larissa puts her head on Jim’s shoulder and tells him she gets it. So perfect.
Also, you need to write a cold open about Dwight microwaving Michael’s shoes now. You know that, right? ;)
Author's Response: Thanks for the kind words, my friend. Larissa in particular appreciates that you were struck by her strong relationship with her brother - although she's asked me to pass on that that comment was not entirely meant as a compliment, and also that she didn't think my shot at her jawline was necessary. I'm not sure I could do the shoe microwaving justice, but I'll brainstorm about it a bit and see if Jim and Pam come up with anything!
1 [Report This]Date: October 01, 2020 09:39 pm Title: Real Friends (AKA The Time They Pretended)
This was so adorable. You nailed the moments that showed the strength of their friendship as well as the times where they test the waters of flirtation before fleeing back into their comfort zones (that maybe aren’t that comfortable).
On a side note, I almost made Larissa a computer science whiz when I wrote my first fic, so I’m glad someone else is making her a female STEM warrior!
Author's Response: Thank you so much! It was fun to play around with them walking that narrow line. And I'm very happy to give the female STEM warriors some badass representation!
1 [Report This]Date: October 01, 2020 08:59 pm Title: Real Friends (AKA The Time They Pretended)
This was so delightfully cute! Just goes to show that Pam really was just as smitten for Jim right from the off as he was for her. Took them awhile to really get there, but there was a lot more than friendship even way back when.
I loved the images of Pam running around talking to everyone. You wrote her so happy that it's a joy to read.
Great job.
Author's Response: You know, my take is that Pam was really into Jim from the beginning, and sublimated that into really intense feelings about their friendship. There's an odd side effect in that to my mind, which is that a lot of these incidents that Jim feels really angsty about were probably pretty good times with a best friend she adored for Pam, and this story kinda comes from that.
Pam just charming the pants off of everyone was fun to write!
Thanks for reading and reviewing as always!