Date: March 14, 2008 02:03 pm Title: Chapter 11
" so did not expect to be giving Pam my underwear tonight...."
Best. Line. Ever. Well, maybe not ever, but it is certainly memorable.
And Jim says "I love you" with his eyes constantly. Guh.
Author's Response:
Heh heh -- that was one of those things I just threw in there because I could imagine him suddenly realizing just how bizarre and surreal the moment was. :o)
And ho yes...JK is a master at emoting the silent "I love you." Big fat sigh. :o)
Thanks for the feedback!
Date: March 13, 2008 12:00 pm Title: Chapter 10
I really don't know that you were hard on Roy. It felt like a very honest and true portrayal. He just doesn't get Pam. He's not right for her. He's not a bad human being, he's not intentionally mean or cruel. He just doesn't match. I'm glad that Pam realized their demise was inevitable, regardless of Jim.
Author's Response:
Side note: How awesome is it that when you catch up on chapters you've missed, you review every single one?? I know it's tedious to do that, and I really, really appreciate your doing so. :o)
That said: Glad you didn't think I was too hard on Roy. I think my hesitation about the portrayal stemmed from the fact that in the past, I've written him much more sympathetically than this. Still, though, I think you're absolutely right to say that he's not a horrible person; he just doesn't get Pam, and that's why it had to end. It's also nice to hear that you appreciated the bit about Pam's realization being separate from her revelations about Jim -- because I'm really trying to emphasize here that it's not a matter of Pam running from one guy to the next (which would've been disastrous, IMO).
Thanks, as always, for reviewing!
Date: March 13, 2008 11:25 am Title: Chapter 9
I like the notion that Roy's own shortcomings are a large part of Jim's continued adoration of and devotion to Pam. I don't know that I've ever seen it written down quite so plainly and yet it makes complete sense. That Jim views that as his "innocence"...ouch.
Love this: the chances of salvaging anything of their friendship are flickering on the edge of oblivion.
Author's Response:
I've always thought that it had to really exacerbate Jim's feelings for her to have to witness her with a guy who was so oblivious to her needs; I can remember being in high school and pining away for this guy I was friends with, and he was stuck on this girl who was an absolute bitch to him...which frustrated me to no end. :o)
Thanks so much for reviewing!
Date: March 13, 2008 10:53 am Title: Chapter 8
GAH! You're right. Stupid fuckin' Pam.
Author's Response: Bwah! She'll redeem herself later; I promise. :o) Thanks for the feedback!
Date: March 13, 2008 10:39 am Title: Chapter 7
Wow. This was incredibly intense. Poor Jim. He's really strung out. I like that Pam's fully aware of what's happening though, even despite remaining unwilling/incapable of doing anything about it.
Author's Response:
I know -- I tend to really drag poor Jim through it all when I write him, and I have no idea why. :o) (Well, I have some idea why -- JK just does angst so well....) I'm so glad you're still enjoying this!
Thanks for reviewing!
Date: March 13, 2008 09:02 am Title: Chapter 10
I loved this chapter. And you know, I think sometimes you just have to be harsh on Roy. There's no getting around the fact that the guy was a real tool at points. Anyway, I'm eagerly anticipating more of this. Especially now that she's at Jim's!!! Great job as always, girl7! ;)
Author's Response:
I want you to know that I chuckled at your comment that Roy was a real tool at times -- because he so was! I tend to forget that amid images of season three's Tortured!Roy, but...yeah. :o)
Thanks so much for reviewing!
Date: March 13, 2008 08:40 am Title: Chapter 2
"ordinary moments tinged with a significance far beyond their actual merit."
I loved this line because to me it describes what all fanfic really is. I know what's not what you meant when you wrote it, but I think it is a perfect...explanation for it.
Author's Response: Hm. Thank you....?
Date: March 12, 2008 10:36 pm Title: Chapter 10
I just read the last 5 chapters....I am addicted to this story. I love your writing. I feel like I can actually picture what it going on. It is a joy to read this....such a guilty pleasure! lol Don't keep us hanging....update soon!!!!
Author's Response:
Again, I feel as if I should apologize to you for having read the past five chapters in one sitting, as angsty as they were. :o) And I so appreciate your kind words -- when I write, I try to envision the scenes myself, and convey what's in my head. So it's nice to hear that it came across to you. :o)
Thanks so much for reviewing!
10 [Report This]Date: March 12, 2008 09:52 pm Title: Chapter 10
Finally!! We're getting somewhere!! I can't wait for Jim's reaction to Pam being outside his house!! Another great chapter!
Author's Response:
Yeah, it only took ten chapters to get there, no? :o) (I'm slow; I can't help it.)
Thanks so much for reviewing!
10 [Report This]Date: March 12, 2008 09:50 pm Title: Chapter 10
ok.. I am going to say it.
Hallelujah Pam, FINALLY!!!!! It used to bother me how much she just brushed off in the quick glimpses we saw in the show. I love this story and keep at it! Great job!
Author's Response:
Heh -- glad you were satisfied with her finally taking Roy to task for his obliviousness! (And yes, I also get annoyed at those little moments on the show that she just let slide.)
Thanks so much for reviewing!
Date: March 12, 2008 08:23 pm Title: Chapter 10
NO APOLOGY IS NECESSARY FOR MARIAH. (Before 1999, she was truly talented and made respectable music.) I'm so excited you used that song because I've always thought of it as a Pam song and it's one of my favorites. It just works so well for her.
Author's Response:
Thank you so much for saying that. :o) Seriously, I started to include that in my author's note (that she once was very talented, back before she started tarting herself up and bartering with her sexuality -- grrr).
THanks so much for the review!
Date: March 12, 2008 07:02 pm Title: Chapter 10
*thud* Oh my goodness this is amazing. I don't know how I've missed it for so long but I just caught up with all ten chapters and you literally took my breath away. I usually like to try and stop, if not every chapter then at least every couple, when I read a longer story for the first time, but I literally could not bring myself to pause through this.
As a result I've probably forgotten a lot of the more specific stuff I wanted to say but I think the fact that I just read straight through this (with frequent verbal reactions) says a lot.
Your characterisation is so accurate, I understood where Pam was coming from with regards to Jim and Roy, and yet I felt every bit of Jim's heartbreak along with him. The peripheral characters like Jim's brothers aren't just thrown in for fun or to pad out the story, they're alive and interesting and unique in their own rights. Some of the descriptions throughout this really got to me, just achingly accurate and so poignant. I really can't wait for more :)
Author's Response:
Whoa -- I feel almost as if I should apologize to you for having read all ten chapter straight! (They're a wee heavy on the angst, I realize.) :o)
That said, I'm glad you enjoyed it and found it believable. I know I write Pam as incredibly frustrating, but I really don't know that she'd be able to do & say all the right things in these situations; I think it would take her (and anybody else, for that matter) some time to get a handle on all that's happening.
Thanks so much for your review!!
Date: March 12, 2008 06:29 pm Title: Chapter 10
Roy deserves it. He also said he'd "do" Angela when they played Who would you do in the parking lot. Ugh!
I think Mariah works just fine in this story - no need to apologize!! I still have tapes (no CDs back then) from HS so it totally makes sense that Pam would have a Mariah CD in the glovebox.
You know I am loving this story and really enjoying the anticipation between chapters (though you've been spoiling us for a few days here). This *should* be a short chapter b/c it is about THE CHANGE (dun, dun, dun).
Even though I'm eager for JAM action, I will admit that when Pam left the house I blurted out loud, "You should go to your mother's." Of course that is not where she ended up and not where I would have gone, but the maternal side of me was talkin'. See how wrapped up a person can get in a girl7 story?!
You are a master.
Next chapter, please!!
Author's Response:
Ah -- you make a good point about the "Who Would You Do" response! I'd forgotten about that.... :o) And re: your maternal side talking: She'll be heading there soon enough, I promise. (Because I agree with you that she'd need to sort of close ranks and get some distance & perspective.)
You are awesome. :o) Thanks so much for reviewing!
Date: March 12, 2008 05:59 pm Title: Chapter 10
Ooooh girl7! (By the way…I feel like I start off every review w/ some sort of ridiculous overly dramatic sigh…FYI, I mean this in a good way, as in a release of the emotions you’ve just brought out in me.) First thing’s first: you get complete amnesty re: Mariah Carey. The second CD I ever bought (yep, right behind Ace of Base) was the one and only Mariah. So, that being said…
Phenomenal as always! I love that you’ve made this about Pam realizing that Roy’s wrong for her—that Jim’s part of her realization, but he’s not the whole thing. That’s SOOO important. It’s a huge distinction. It’s vital. Pam cannot make the dissolution of her relationship w/ Roy wholly about Jim or that relationship is doomed. So props on having her realize that Roy’s just wrong for her, plain and simple, Jim or no Jim. Pam needs to understand and accept that she deserves more than what she has, and you’re pushing her there.
Holla! I enjoyed this immensely. And you go ahead and be hard on Roy, girl. After your reminders, he totally deserves it!
Author's Response:
Okay, so I may or may not own the Ace of Base CD...also from high school. :o)
I totally agree with you that it's tremendously important that Jim not be the primary catalyst for Pam's break up with Roy; as much as I'd have loved for them to have ridden off together in the sunset after Casino Night, when you really think about it, the events unfolded exactly as they needed to in order for them to have a solid foundation for a future together. I just think there's no way they could've made it work had she run straight from Roy to Jim.
Your "Holla!" made me giggle, BTW. :o)
Thanks, as always, for reviewing!
Date: March 12, 2008 05:52 pm Title: Chapter 10
I'm ready to take my "slap" back now. Pam finally grew a pair. Pleeeeeease don't keep us waiting too long for the next chapter!
Author's Response:
Heh. *hands you back your slap* There you go. :o)
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for reviewing!
Date: March 12, 2008 05:05 pm Title: Chapter 10
Can't say I'm surprised she ended up there, either. (Thank GOD!) And the 'breakup' is the very essence of what was wrong about Roy. He didn't get it. And it is completely believable that he wouldn't understand that his going out would be the last straw. I bet he's surprised when he gets home and she'd not there, too.
And I forgive you the Mariah reference, because it would fit a girl who grew up in Scranton and works at a paper company.
Author's Response:
Good lord, I'm ashamed to be responding to this review almost ten days after the fact! (I swear, Spring Break was supposed to be my chance to relax and catch up on everything...not even close. Gah.) I'm glad you thought the break up was believable; I do think it could just as well have been something tiny that tipped the scales for Pam.
Thanks, as always, for reviewing!
10 [Report This]Date: March 12, 2008 04:43 pm Title: Chapter 10
Hey...hey! Where are you going? Come back here with Chapter 11! You can't just abandon us like this!...OK, you totally CAN, but GAH! The agony. The delicious, delicious agony!
Oh, and GO Pam, go Pam, go go go Pam! Glad you finally pulled your spine out of the storage closet, dusted it off, and slapped it back into place before having a long-overdue reunion with your self esteem! Later for YOU Roy. Woo hoo!!!
Author's Response:
I swear, your reviews totally crack me up. :o) If it's any consolation, the husband got back night before last; we've got a slew of rented movies to watch (among them "Dan In Real Life" -- can't wait). I spent all day working on (and pathetically, sadly engrossed in) this fic, and actually had a hard time pulling myself away to go out to dinner. (Seriously -- how sad is that??? I am sooo this story's bitch.)
Anyway, we'd decided before dinner that we'd "do our own thing" (read: me writing like a fiend, him reading & surfing the web), but on the way home, he suddenly said, "Hey, so what if we watch a movie when we get home, since it's so early....?"
Cut to me all wild-eyed: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! LOL. Thank god he's understanding. :oD
I laughed out loud at your sustained metaphor for Pam's long lost self esteem -- so true. :o)
Thanks for reviewing (and for suffering through my pointless ramble). :o)
Date: March 12, 2008 02:43 pm Title: Chapter 1
Of course Josh's girlfriend is named Sarah. I love it. Oh, and I love your stories, too. You know, if Jim ever needs a cousin, there's always Ned, the Piemaker. Tall, lanky, adorable. Just sayin.
Author's Response:
Listen, I spent a good hour the other day wasting time on youtube, watching Chuck & Sarah videos. Guh.
And OMG!!!! NED!!!!!!!! Seriously-- holy god. What an awesome cousin he'd make. So how 'bout this: Scott Foley & Zach Levi as brothers; Ned the Piemaker and Ron Livingston as cousins (drool); Jon Stewart as the cool uncle....?
It's sad and sort of frightening how much thought I've put into this, isn't it? :o)
Thanks so much for your review!
9 [Report This]Date: March 12, 2008 01:53 pm Title: Chapter 9
So first off...your husband is adorable! Secondly I love this story but when will the angst end????? I'm hoping for some relief in the next one...can't wait!
Author's Response:
Yeah, I think he's pretty awesome. :o) (Seriously -- I've stolen more than one Jim line right from him, heh.)
The angst will end, I promise, and I also promise to give you more than just one "happy" chapter; I'll drag out the fluff/steam/smut almost as long as the angst. :o)
Thanks so much for reviewing!
Date: March 11, 2008 11:59 pm Title: Chapter 9
Aw. Poor Jim. I want to buy him a puppy.
Author's Response:
Hee -- don't we all?? (Actually, I think for much of the fandom, the need to comfort him might manifest itself in other ways....) ;D
Thanks for reviewing!
Date: March 11, 2008 11:49 pm Title: Chapter 8
Oh! Painful! I'm so glad I didn't read this chapter until the next one was already up, because if I had to stop reading now I'd be too sad to sleep. Angstapalooza, why dontcha? ;)
Author's Response:
Yeah, yeah...I know. I'm a total angst whore; I can't help myself! It all happened so fast! [/Pam] :o)
I will say this: I'm committed to taking this story past the resolution, to spending a few chapters (knowing me, probably more, LOL) exploring the fluff and the steam and the wonder that is the two of them together...finally. :o)
Thanks for reviewing!
Date: March 11, 2008 10:14 pm Title: Chapter 9
Whew! Another awesome update!! I was so enthralled reading about Roy and Pam's various Valentines day's, and I don't think I've ever been so drawn into their relationship before. You made it realistic without being campy - it was really a fantastic juxtaposition to Jim and Pam's (hopefully!) relationship to come.
I loved this line:
"Only it wasn't for the ways he failed to understand her, rather for the ways he unfailingly did"
Just a beautiful story. I can definitely feel you building to something big (a big Valentines day climax perhaps?!) and I'm VERY excited.
Oh P.S. the dog story is too cute! How cool that it's a true story, haha I wish my boyfriend would do that for me :)
Author's Response:
I'm glad you liked the Valentine's Day flashbacks -- I really wanted to show how their relationship has kind of slowly deteriorated over the years, so much so that Pam almost hasn't noticed. And you're absolutely right -- I fully intend to contrast Jim & Pam's eventual relationship to her past with Roy, because...can you imagine going from being with a man like Roy to a man like Jim? Whoa. :o)
Glad you liked the dog story -- it really was sweet of him. And of course, I love my doggie, too. :o)
Date: March 11, 2008 08:27 pm Title: Chapter 9
I can't stop reading this story. When you post a new chapter, it feels like I get another new episode of the show! Yeah that's how obsessed I am with this story.
Author's Response:
OMG - seriously?! WOW. That's high praise indeed. (Seriously, my life has been sadly empty since that damn strike started....) :o)
Thanks so much for your kind words!
Date: March 11, 2008 07:30 pm Title: Chapter 9
yeah yeah yeah for rapid updates!!! i've been reading all along but hadn't had the time to review. i LOVE it. love love love.
keep it coming!
Author's Response:
So glad you're enjoying this! My husband's home now, so I'll be hanging out with him tonight, but I fully intend to keep working on this and posting updates as quickly as I can.
Thanks for reviewing!
Date: March 11, 2008 06:53 pm Title: Chapter 9
How sweet of Josh and your husband. What a lasting gift!
Author's Response: Listen, he was the best gift ever -- I am, like, ridiculously attached to that dog. :o)