1 [Report This]Date: October 19, 2018 01:03 pm Title: just keep telling me facts
Wow this is like eleven years too late but idc, I’m still going to comment. Thank you for leaving it open ended so that I can imagine a happy ending because I want them to have that after this perfect journey. I love how their timing shifts from being just right and sweet to being totally off book; that’s so realistic! I think you’ve really captured two people who do really genuinely love each other and WANT for it to work but very likely don’t know HOW to make that happen. You’ve done great with shedding light in their flaws and their strengths as a unit and individually. Just so wonderfully done (although I’m always going to want that ever after, even if they have to work hard for it). Thank you for this. Oh, btw, I got So Mad when Jim changed her car presets. I would NOT have been able to contain myself. Like, I’m getting mad, imagining someone doing that to me.
8 [Report This]Date: July 29, 2007 01:19 pm Title: just keep telling me facts
This was so beautifully sad and heartbreaking. You really did a great job with this.
Author's Response: Thank you so much, kaystar!
10 [Report This]Date: July 29, 2007 02:32 am Title: just keep telling me facts
this breaks my heart into a million pieces. it's just written so well, it's so heartbreakingly beautiful. but here's the kicker: it's so plausible. your characters i feel are spot on, i can't completely see jim and pam like this, and falling into this mess. i can totally see this happening on the show, and if they did end like this, well, i'd probably sign myself up at the nearest convent.
Author's Response: Thank you so much! While this isn't a scenario that the majority of people want to see unfold on screen, I think it is possible, and that is what makes Jim and Pam so compelling as a couple - they are real people with a lot of issues, and those issues can and have gotten in the way to their inevitable relationship. They've taken such divergent paths this past season that seemed to lead to each other, but at the same time maybe not. I can't wait to see where the writers take us!
Date: July 28, 2007 10:05 pm Title: just keep telling me facts
Man, talk about some major angst. I can't say that I like Jim's character in this though. He seems completely unwilling to work at the relationship which I find tough to read. I'm just wondering if that is the end cause that is one hell of a cliffhanger to not eventually finish it.
Author's Response:
I'm sorry if you found Jim's character in this tough to read, but I tried to stay as true to his nature as I could. Jim's major fault, in my opinion, is his tendency for avoidance, and with the amazing character arc that Pam has had this past season, I wondered if they would still mesh well. Not to say that they aren't a good match, but I think that there is a way to go before it's all sunshine and rainbows - especially since they have a history of not talking, not saying what is really going on. I think in this I tried to represent that there is a difference between wanting things to work so desperately, and actually trying to make things work. As for the ending, it's not a cliffhanger, per se, and it is a completed story. I purposefully left it open-ended because sometimes I prefer that to a neatly wrapped ending with a bow on top. People can interpret the ending as they wish - in your case, I would imagine that you would see a reconciliation. On the show itself, rarely do we have a concrete ending to a storyline, especially where Jim and Pam are involved - they are constantly evloving and changing as things change around them, and as they change themselves. I just believe that in this case, ending it the way I did is the best possible ending for the story as a whole. Thank you for reading!
Date: July 28, 2007 08:47 pm Title: just keep telling me facts
Mmmkay, so how is it that I haven't read this yet? Because yes, yes, YES, and thank you.
...she's always wondered if he'd fit in her car. I want to marry this line, please.
I love that you include how Pam's uncomfortable with everything that's happening, the way Jim's changing her radio stations and leaving his hand on her knee -- it makes sense that they're not going to fall into things easily and perfectly and instantly.
That bit with Pam comforting Michael about Ryan leaving is priceless. The juice and the crying and the TWSS. I love it.
And this whole thing just BREAKS ME for being so realistic in that things don't always work out, even though they should, even though you want them to. There's quite a bit of history between them and sometimes it can be too hard to get past all that.
On the other hand, you could always just continue this and give me a happy ending. I guess I wouldn't really mind that. ;)
Fabulous, my dear. Love to see such a long piece from you!
Author's Response: Haha, I think I originally posted this on LJ when you were in....Brazil? (You went to Brazil, right?) But thank you so much, I'm so glad that you liked it! As for the happy ending, the ending is whatever you want it to be, so you can just imagine away and that is the ending you get! And this is SO LONG, I know - I don't know what got into me, all I've been writing in the past few months are these ridiculously long things. Weird. :)
Date: July 28, 2007 06:41 pm Title: just keep telling me facts
I may have read it on LJ... I remember seeing it rec'd like crazy, but can't remember if I read it (this is before I even read it here, so its not like I read and forget), but I figure, even if I read it and reviewed it there, it probably is good enough for a reread and a rereview.
Okay, I did read it on LJ. But I am still sticking with the good enough for the reread rereview
"He grabs a pen from his desk and writes Pam, Desk, 5, URGENT on a post-it, sticking it to his monitor. " I think that is so cute and Jim like.
I probably mentioned this in my original review, but this:
She insists on driving, because she feels like it and she's always wondered if he would fit in her car. His knees push against the dashboard,
makes me laugh, because I totally always wonder that whenever I see just how tall he really is, and also, because I have a freak tall brother, and it is always... well, since he is my brother, it is just annoying. but whenever he tries to get into my car, it is just like, so weird. And of course, my brother chooses this teeny car when he buys a new car. he can fit into it, but no one else, because he moves the seat so far back.
"better if she had a bed of coals to run across every time she needs to say something important"
Probably better if she doesn't do that, because her feet wouldn't be in good shape. But, I can agree that that makes it easier.
I love all the call backs to what the other doesn't know (does that make sense? I hope so). But it is a process of rediscovering each other.
Its so cute that Jim 'forgets' his own name.
"Yeah, are you too old for playgrounds and fun?"
You are NEVER too old for playgrounds and fun. I make it a daily point to go to a playground. Of course, my job is to act like a kid all day long, so its a win win (win)
I love Pam in a hoodie.
Oh, yeah, kissing on a swing. Totally totally one of my fantasies. It is totally one of the most romantic things in the world to me.
This may sound odd (yeah, like the rest of the review isn't), but I love how it is so simple, but so complex at the same time. And so in character, but that is a given.
"She's taking steps forward while still looking back" such a great phrase...
Murdering strawberries. Well, I don't like strawberries so that is one offense I don't believe I have committed. At least not recently. I am sure I have once tried strawberries because I remember not liking them very vividly. But, I have killed other fruits in cereals. I havecommited genocide of apples and bananas.
Is it wrong that I was living in denial.... I didn't want to act like I remembered how this story ended. I liked denial. It worked for me. But then I kept scrolling. And denial... denial doesn't work with scrolling.
I miss playing Mario Kart. I really missed it yesterday. I was so tempted to run out and buy a game system just so I could play Mario Kart again.
Its so horrible how horrible it is because it is so realistic. (which, if you didn't get means it is good... but bad. its bad because it is too good).
Oh, and Pam in flip flops. I also love that visual. Actually, strangely enough, I love casual Pam, and whenever i got to dress casual Pam for anything I write, I usually start by dressing her in a hoodie, jeans, and flip flops. That makes me sound way more strange than anything else in this review. Which that is totally unrelated to what happens in the story.
Gah. Breaks my heart every time. I still agree with the its bad because its too good comment from earlier.
(yowza... long review.)
Author's Response: Hahaha, yeah, you did review this already, but more are always welcome! :) I'm so glad that you enjoyed this, and I love casual Pam, too - her Beach Games ensemble was too cute for words. And I miss Mario Kart too! I usually only play it at parties, and the last few I've been too have been Kart-less which makes me sad. Oh, and thank you for saying that it's simple but complex - that is exactly what I was going for. Thank you so much!
Date: July 28, 2007 06:19 pm Title: just keep telling me facts
Wow! This is gorgeous. I can't believe I missed this the first time around. I think I remember having it on my to-read list and then sort of forgetting about it so I'm really glad you posted it here and brought it to my attention again. It's such a beautiful story, and so true to life. I really hope this wouldn't happen for them, but at the same time I loved that it was so real. Nice job!
Author's Response: Thank you so much, Azlin - I'm so glad that you enjoyed it! I probably should have posted this here when I first wrote it, since it's about Jim/Pam, but that must have slipped my mind. I'm glad someone reminded me. :)
Date: July 28, 2007 04:46 pm Title: just keep telling me facts
First - I was so glad to see you'd posted a story. And this was just so achingly poignant. There are so many moments and lines I could mention, but what most impressed me was how well you created a sense of time elapsing and the reality of how hard it is gradually coming into focus (especially for Pam.) From their first sweet, but awkward date (even then, in discussing Roy, there was the hint of a disconnect) through the ups/downs of trying to make it work, to the ultimate disillusionment. His desperation, her being torn between who she needs to be now/who he needs her to be...it's all so vivid and wistful and sad. I love that you showed their depth of feeling without prettifying it (is that a word?) And I also love that the end is a little inconclusive, not tied up in a neat package. Okay, now I'm rambling...to sum up: really beautifully written.
Author's Response: Thank you, Colette! I've still been posting stories, just not here - I figured I'd keep any of my newer non-Jim/Pam ones on my LJ only - I didn't realize there were people here that would be happy to see a new story from me! And I'm so glad that you enjoyed it - especially that you mentioned the ending, which has gotten mixed reactions in the past, and that you felt I conveyed the depth of their feeling - I think that with those two, just as in real life, it's not all about the huge gestures and...prettiness. But anyway, thank you so much! :)
Date: July 28, 2007 04:40 pm Title: just keep telling me facts
I love this story...perfect characterizations and the dynamics of the whole thing just work
Author's Response: Thank you so much - I'm so glad that you think the dynamics work! :)
10 [Report This]Date: July 28, 2007 04:33 pm Title: just keep telling me facts
Thank you so much for bringing this over here. It brought me to tears the first time I read it, not because of the way it ended but just the way you really get these two characters. I see this as a plausible, living thing and you've done so right by both of them. Beautiful and bravo and well done.
Author's Response: Wow, thank you so much - I've gotten mixed reviews from some people that feel the exact opposite, that I didn't get the characters at all, so I'm so glad that you think I did. Just, thank you. :)