1 [Report This]Date: November 28, 2020 01:17 pm Title: Past...and maybe future
Oh, the choice to end this with just an ordinary day that's better because they get to spend it together is LOVELY.
Author's Response:
This is why I had to juggle the order around from the original story-- because I think seeing what she had lost, like this, was the thing to send her over the tipping point.
Oh, I really enjoyed revisiting this one with you. Thank you!
1 [Report This]Date: November 28, 2020 01:16 pm Title: Future
This actually feels like a pretty fair glimpse of Jim's future with Karen - probably fine (provided he isn't forced to build it while Pam sits six feet from them), but definitely not the love of his life.
Author's Response: Yes, I think the show did a good job of showing that Karen was pretty great. Roy was a disaster, there was no good future there, but there was nothing wrong with Karen. She just...wasn't Pam. I'd have to look at the dates to see when I wrote this vs. what was going on in the show at the time (did I write this before season 3 started? Had we seen Karen promos yet?). I don't remember how much I knew or suspected about Karen at this point, but regardless, Jim would have found someone and been happy. But nobody would have eclipsed Pam.
1 [Report This]Date: November 28, 2020 12:29 pm Title: Present
Kevin as Ghost of Christmas Present is also pretty inspired - and I love his appreciation of the strip club. Thank you for leaving what he was doing in the vicinity of that redhead undefined, though.
This is solid Roy-work, I think - just awful enough for you to want to shake Pam, not quite awful enough that Pam can't easily be like "oh, he's just saying he's already committed to me and he's just kidding about the other thing."
Author's Response: Thank you! I needed to make sure Pam saw what she needed to see, without making the choice too easy for her. And Kevin is hard to write, even as a vision!
1 [Report This]Date: November 28, 2020 12:25 pm Title: Prologue
A CHRISTMAS STORY AU. Yes. Here for it - and the choice for Michael to be the one carrying the heavy weight of regret is perfect. As is his insistence, even as a manifestation, to be mildly inappropriate.
Author's Response:
I loved writing this. I had so much fun with it, and I remember really having to think about how to balance which characters played which part, and how much they needed to stay in-character. I think a lot of them were dragging around regret (I mean, they worked full-time at a paper company in Pennsylvania...) but Michael was my first choice for Marley.
I'm so pleased you've arrived at this one. 'Tis the season!
Date: May 27, 2007 08:18 am Title: Past...and maybe future
Really great take on the classic :) I liked it, it was cute. I esp. like that the ghosts were people from the office. You definitely got their personalities down.
Author's Response: Thank you so much! It was a fun one to write, and I liked trying to capture the spirit of their personalities while still staying at least a little bit true to the original. Thanks for eading an older story!
9 [Report This]Date: February 12, 2007 06:04 pm Title: Prologue
Dickens is probably boring a hole in the dirt as we speak, but he'd probably be laughing too.
Author's Response: I hope he wouldn't be offended! :)
10 [Report This]Date: October 11, 2006 05:52 pm Title: Past...and maybe future
This is terrific! I adore A Christmas Carol, and this was a great take on it. The spirits you chose were especially apt. Loved it!
Author's Response: You're always so encouraging- I appreciate it so much! I'm glad you liked it. Choosing the spirits was hard (for instance, I thought Meredith would have some insight into an unhappy marriage, and it was just freakin' hard to leave out Dwight...). Glad you liked it!
10 [Report This]Date: October 11, 2006 03:23 pm Title: Past...and maybe future
You did such a good job with this concept. I'm a veteran of the Gilmore Girls fanfic community, where the ghost of past-present-future has been time and time again, and this was just so much more touching and funnier. Your Pam was subtly sassy, Kevin was hilarious, and Michael was just great.
Author's Response: Thank you! "Subtly sassy" is such a great way to describe Pam; I'm really happy you think I captured that.
10 [Report This]Date: October 11, 2006 08:36 am Title: Past...and maybe future
This was completely and totally inspired! I think I love you even more than I did last week, if that's possible! Take a bow, my dear.
Author's Response: *Lis blushes, and then bows*. Thank you so much!
10 [Report This]Date: October 11, 2006 08:33 am Title: Present
"Marrying for tax purposes" Awesome! That's exactly how romantic Roy is! And lecherous Kevin? Always a hoot!
Author's Response: I don't think Roy's a bad guy (I resisted the temptation to have him being reallyl naughty at his party), but not the right guy for Pam. And Kevin is just fun to write. :) Thanks so much!
9 [Report This]Date: October 11, 2006 07:46 am Title: Past...and maybe future
"There was nothing special about this day, was there?..."
That revelation is perfect. Utterly. Love it.
Author's Response: Thank you. I don't think they need art internships or promotions or even to leave Scranton, really- they just need each other and the rest will happen because they are happy.
9 [Report This]Date: October 11, 2006 07:39 am Title: Future
“Yes, well, your subconscious has a lot of random stuff in it, Pam.”
LOL.
...he just looked at her and raised his eyebrows in a way that suggested a shrug.
Yes! That's Toby! And three-years-older Jim is a little heartbreaking.
Author's Response:
I found Toby harder to write this time than I expected, for some reason. I'm glad it worked out well! I wanted to show Jim as having moved on and doing well, but also for Pam to see in an instant that she's broken something in him. Not sure if that worked as well... :)
9 [Report This]Date: October 11, 2006 07:30 am Title: Present
Your Kevin and Kelly voices are really good. Love how Kevin says colleague. Cracks me up. Nice situations to include in the Present, too.
Author's Response: I love writing both Kevin and Kelly. Thanks!
10 [Report This]Date: October 11, 2006 07:24 am Title: Past...and maybe future
This was perfect!! Really--I mean that. Loved your choices of characters for the ghosts, you had their voices down incredibly well. Loved your Pam voice too--all of the asides,etc. had me giggling the whole way through the first few chapters then aching a bit through the last 2.
This was just so clever and so well done. Loved it!
Author's Response: Thank you! I worried about my Pam voice a bit- she sounds a little too much like me for my taste here. I'm relieved it worked for you!
9 [Report This]Date: October 11, 2006 07:23 am Title: Prologue
Nice start! Jacob Marley always freaked me out, all floaty and clinking.
I love the ambiguity of the sigh in your last line.
Author's Response: After "our" recap, I realized how much alike Pam and Michael are in some ways, so I thought it seemed appropriate. Thanks!
10 [Report This]Date: October 11, 2006 01:35 am Title: Prologue
OMG! I've been writing a type of Office "Christmas Carol" for a couple of months now! Ours are very different but it's awesome to know I wasn't the only one with this idea, lol! Love it! Kudos to you for being the first to post it!
Author's Response: Thank you! I look forward to reading yours!
10 [Report This]Date: October 10, 2006 05:11 pm Title: Past...and maybe future
This was sad and awesome and amazing. You are such a great writer. Loved this.
Author's Response: Wow, thank you. It's so much fun to play with these characters. I kinda did leave out the joyous ending of the actual Dickens story, but a break-up is just not the same as Christmas, you know? I'm glad you liked it!
10 [Report This]Date: October 10, 2006 04:53 pm Title: Past...and maybe future
This is the best Pam Realizes explanation ever!
Author's Response: Oh, thank you!
10 [Report This]Date: October 10, 2006 03:19 pm Title: Past...and maybe future
That? Was awesome. I'm in awe, seriously. Everyone was in character and you kept true to the story, but updated it and kept it cool at the same time. Loved it so much.
Author's Response: Thanks! I love that you called it "cool"!
9 [Report This]Date: October 10, 2006 02:38 pm Title: Past...and maybe future
Holy crap...
That was incredible. Absolutely amazing. So poignant without being treacly, and everyone was totally in-character. And this line:
Pam, again, found it incredibly bizarre to see herself from the outside, although she figured this would be how it would feel once the documentary started to air.
was just...shockingly...right. I can't even express it.
Author's Response: Thank you. I always worry about the in-character thing, so I especially appreciate that. I'm glad that line spoke to you, too!
Date: October 10, 2006 02:16 pm Title: Past...and maybe future
'Trust me; you only get one chance at that. And, uh...you were his chance.' Awww. This concept was so ambitious, because if not done well, it could really have fell flat...but it absolutely sang. Great!
Author's Response: Yeah, I thought I was in over my head about halfway through. I'm so glad you thought it worked out OK. "Sang"? That's a lovely way to put it, and I'm touched. Thank you.
10 [Report This]Date: October 10, 2006 02:00 pm Title: Past...and maybe future
This was just wonderfully done. Wow! What a way to spin a classic on its head, and give a great way for Pam to reflect on her life. Two thumbs way up. :)
Author's Response: Thank you for both thumbs! I'm glad you liked it.
10 [Report This]Date: October 10, 2006 01:04 pm Title: Past...and maybe future
Even bigger chills now. What an incredibly brilliant concept - to let her see from an outsider's perspective what she and Jim are really like, the gift that they had. Ah me. This is beautiful. If the show were more traditional (read: not mockumentary style), I could so see them doing an episode like this.
I believe, nqllisi, that you have just posted an instant classic. ;o) Excellent work here!
Author's Response: Thank you. I really do appreciate your many comments. You are always so supportive! I thought that showing this last, unlike in the real story, would be the best way to illustrate to Pam what she was giving up.
10 [Report This]Date: October 10, 2006 01:01 pm Title: Future
Okay, I actually have chills. This was beautiful - I cringed when she first saw Jim because of how unbearably painful it would have to be for her to see him three years ahead, without her, with someone else.... And Toby was the perfect, perfect guide here. Just brilliant!
Author's Response: Oh, thank you! I almost waited to show any Jim until the last visitation, but I decided she needed to see what she'd done to him, too.
10 [Report This]Date: October 10, 2006 01:00 pm Title: Past...and maybe future
Okay, this was pure genius! I laughed out loud at this:
since she assumed that her lifetime ban also included astral projection
Author's Response: Hee, I liked that line, myself. It was added during the proof-reading phase, because that paragraph needed a little more oomph. :) Thanks so much.