1 [Report This]Date: October 19, 2020 12:31 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
I appreciate you taking the time to dig into the mini-genre of "just because we didn't SEE Jim talk about transportation back from New York with Karen doesn't mean he actually abandoned her" fic. Which really makes total sense! Why the hell would Karen want to spend two hours in the car with someone who just broke up with her for another woman?
And this is a very kind treatment of Karen - you're giving her both the opportunity to vent some well-deserved rage and a certain level of recognition that this was a fight she was always bound to lose.
Author's Response:
I wrote this before we found out that apparently he left her "crying by a fountain," but I still don't think he just straight-up abandoned her! That takes a lot of the charm out of "It's a date," doesn't it?
Karen deserved more than she got out of that whole situation; I'm shocked she stayed with Dunder-Mifflin at all. I liked the idea of letting her say her peace (her piece? I don't know which way that expression goes, both could work!), and then sort-of giving her blessing before Jim rushes back to our girl.
1 [Report This]Date: November 30, 2018 10:02 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
This is great and very similar to how I’ve pictured it. I like how you hit on her getting emotional but also a bit tough with him. I think that’s a fair assessment. And with those deleted scenes, I always imagine her heading to the fountain close to PJ Clark’s at Brookfield Place, where she met her friends downtown. This is really great. And, yes, he would never just leave her! Thank you for this.
Author's Response: Karen got the short end of the whole situation, didn’t she? Jim may not have done right by her, but I could never buy that he just abandoned her without a word, either. I’m glad you liked this— it makes me happy!
Date: August 08, 2009 06:47 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
Just came across this one - and I loved it. I always felt that our Jim was way too good of a guy to dump Karen without a word - so I think it's great the way you wrote this. I can certainly picture this conversation exactly - Good Work....
Author's Response: Thank you so much! I just couldn't see him doing that. I guess he did leave her "crying by a fountain" as we found out later, but still... Anyway, thanks for finding this old story!
Date: January 01, 2009 07:56 am Title: I can't just leave you here
No, he really couldn't have. Even if it was said he did. But this makes more sense.Even keeping in chanracter for Karen.
And I totally love what I know happened next to that.... maybe in about 2 hours, when Jim burst into the conference room.
Author's Response: Well, she said he left her by a fountain. We don't know if he left her without a word, or without offering to drive her home, right? RIGHT? Heh. And yes, the anticipation of what comes next is the best part. Thanks, EmH!
10 [Report This]Date: September 29, 2008 08:39 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
That was perfect. I could totally imagine him being like that eeek :)
Author's Response: Thank you, Hannah! "Perfect" is really the nicest thing I could hope for!
Date: May 31, 2007 10:14 am Title: I can't just leave you here
“Stop. Just…if you’re going to do this, do it, Jim. Stop being an asshole and making all three of us unhappy.” He really liked her. He really, really did.
Aww, me too Jim, me too, b/c I can completely imagine Karen saying something like this at the end of things. And I agree that Jim wouldn't have just left Karen- there had to have been some sort of convo, and I imagine it went almost exactly like this. Great job!
Author's Response: Thank you! I've been pretty vehemently anti-Karen, but she isn't a bad person and this isn't her fault. I wanted to make things OK for Jim and Pam without sacrificing Karen's dignity. Also, I just refuse to believe he just ditched her with no ride, not a word. That's cruelty and that's beyond what we've seen from Jim, even in his worst moments.
Date: May 28, 2007 06:25 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
This could totally be the way it went after the interview. Very real. I am going to favorite this and we'll all see in September how close you were. Great job!
Author's Response:
Thank you! Oooh, a follow-up test! I'll be interested to see if we ever really find out. I'm glad you thought it seemed plausible.
10 [Report This]Date: May 20, 2007 10:28 am Title: I can't just leave you here
aaww, i'm sure jim didn't abandon her completely, but if he did, i don't feel bad at all. hehe.. guess i'm a bitch too.. ^_^
Author's Response: You and Pam, eh? Hee. Thanks for commenting!
Date: May 19, 2007 02:27 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
Well we have to wait for Sept to really find out but who knows. I can't wait to find out though.
Author's Response: You know, I am so sure this is the kind of scenario that happened that I wouldn't even be surprised if they never showed us. Honestly. Thanks for reading!
Date: May 19, 2007 12:27 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
Love it! I absolutely believe that this is what happened, or some form of it. It just wouldn't have worked out timing-wise for them to actually show us in the episode. And I love that he tried to get her to meet him so he could do it in person, but it was her own insistence to know immediately that made him be less sensitive about it. He tried!
Author's Response: Yes! Jim's not perfect, but he liked Karen and had tried to make it work- I don't see him becoming a total asshole at this late moment! Thank you!
Date: May 19, 2007 07:30 am Title: I can't just leave you here
Awesome Lis. Because of course he wouldn't just leave her (even if he did just leave Katy once upon a time - kinda.)
This time was different and he couldn't move on to Pam without dealing with it in some fashion. Thank you so much for this little bit of redemption.
Author's Response: Thank you! He would know that Pam wouldn't want to move ahead until the Karen situation was dealt with, for one thing. For another, he obviously likes Karen. Also, he was her ride home. I mean, even after Booze Cruise, I'm sure Jim still offered to drive Katy home! Anyway, thank you, again! :)
Date: May 18, 2007 09:18 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
Dude. How can anyone think Jim just left without a word to Karen? I could totally see this. Karen's going to land on her feet, and she's going to be just fine.
Author's Response: Seriously, I know! And to act like it's so obvious that he did that? Yeah, he was a dick to Katy, but he didn't abandon her three hours away from home, either. Heh. Thanks for the solidarity, LL!
Date: May 18, 2007 05:16 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
Aw, I like it! It seems very in character for both of them. Karen's preemptive break-up with Jim. Jim really, truly, honestly liking Karen. Karen telling Jim to step up and finally talk to Pam. Totally real. Maybe it'll be a flashback in the season premiere!!
Author's Response: Thanks! I missed your beta-ing skills for this one, but I couldn't wait to post it. I really think Jim likes Karen, but it was never going to be "long term". Thanks again, sweets!
8 [Report This]Date: May 18, 2007 01:59 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
Oh, MAN. That? Was AWESOME. And exactly how thing happened in my head. I cannot be convinced otherwise. :) Thanks for writing Jim and Karen fairly. That's kind of unheard of these days.
Author's Response: Oh, thank you so much! Yeah, I just refuse to think he took off and left without a word! Heh. I wanted to be fair to both of them- even if Karen was never in a fair position to begin with. Poor thing. Now on with the fun!
Date: May 18, 2007 01:18 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
If you ask me, Karen had been "abandoned" long before the trip to NYC. But I agree that she probably ended up taking a bus back to Scranton a day or two later.
All kidding aside, this is very nice. I especially like the line "He really liked her. He really, really, did." Because up until the now infamous "Pam is kind of a bee-yotch" line, there wasn't any real reason to hate Karen other than that she wasn't Pam. So well done, I say!
Author's Response: Yeah, I think you're right about the abandonment, actually. But I don't think he'd physically leave her that far from home with no ride! Hee. Thank you so much- I tried to do Karen justice. I think Jim did, too, even if he failed.
Date: May 18, 2007 01:07 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
I really loved the way you resolved this. I especially liked that Karen urged him to talk to Pam. It's the way I'd like to think of her, even when I'm screaming at the television "Oh no you did not just call him Halpert! You little weasel!" Ahem. Not that I did that or anything. I'm just saying, hypothetically...
Author's Response: Thank you! Was calling him "Halpert" worse than calling Pam a bitch? Hee. But I like Karen fine, I'm just glad she won't be an obstacle anymore. Thanks again!
Date: May 18, 2007 12:53 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
Yep. I'm with you. I think this is very much the way things could have gone. I like how you have Karen tell Jim to 'do it'.
I was glad Jim took the step to ask Pam to dinner and make sure she knew it was a date. Much better than him just coming back and moving to his old desk or something. This is definitive! A date! It's fun that in your fic, Karen might have been the one to prompt that definitive, no-doubt-what's-going-on move.
Author's Response: Thank you! Yeah, I wanted to let Karen end things on her terms and also give our boy a kick in the pants. She had to be good for something, right? (was that mean?) Thanks again!
Date: May 18, 2007 12:20 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
Yes. I have no doubt this happened (though it would be funning to see S4 start with Karen hitching on the side of the road w/ a piece of cardboard that says, "SCRANTON"
Just great!
Author's Response:
Oh, heavens, that would be funny. Mean, but funny!
Thank you very much!
Date: May 18, 2007 12:20 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
Yeah, I like this version. There are SO many ways things could have happened, and like Jim's trip to Australia, we may NEVER know. But this was great :)
Author's Response:
It wouldn't bother me to never know, honestly. But it bothered me that so many people were vilifiying him for something that it isn't clear he actually did. Thank you so much!
9 [Report This]Date: May 18, 2007 12:14 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
Very plausible and well done. Nice job.
Author's Response: Thanks so much!
Date: May 18, 2007 12:12 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
I imagine we'll see something very close to this in S4.1 - even if just via a TH, we'll find out that he at least spoke to Karen and told her/they broke it off before he left. I really cannot see Jim just abandoning her (would be very o.c., IMO.) Thanks for giving us this in the meantime!
Author's Response: Yeah, I'm just amazed at how many people seem to think that he left without talking to her. I just can't see that at all! Thank you so much!
Date: May 18, 2007 12:04 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
This is sort of what I imagined, too. Thanks for spelling it out so my feeble brain can stop working overtime processing it all!
Author's Response: Ha, no problem! Thank you!
Author's Response: Ha, no problem! Thank you!
6 [Report This]Date: May 18, 2007 12:04 pm Title: I can't just leave you here
Good start...more more more, please!
Author's Response: Thank you! Probably no more for this story, but I have lots of ideas to get through this summer! Woohoo, Jim & Pam!