Lots of good internal thinking going on here. I liked how you keep bringing in elements from the show and it still doesn't seem out of place. The 27 seconds of silence and the Dundies making their sci-fi appearance.

The only thing I would say is that while it was all good internal thoughts, it was a lot of internal thoughts. Many of which are in similar vein to a lot of other stories. When Pam woke up and realized she was going to be late to get to command, where Jim was, I was kinda looking forward to that interaction. I'm sure it's coming. I think it's about knowing your audience. Most people who come around this corner of the internet are familiar with the basic JAM timeline and story. So while it's fun to bring in new twists like you did her with Whitest Spacesuit, in my opinion what makes an AU like this fun is seeing what new things will be brought to the table. Hopefully that makes sense.

Author's Response:

Thanks, warrior. I appreciate your thoughts. I'm deliberately treading a more internally-focused line here for two reasons: one as an excuse for worldbuilding, making clear how the JAM timeline and story map onto these elements, because there are a lot of differences (starting most obviously with frozen Roy), the other because I'm more interested in their internal thoughts than in the externalities I might choose to create. Now, obviously those internal thoughts are going to change as the story goes on, and in very AU ways because in the regular universe they don't keep interacting. But especially in an extreme AU, I'm personally much less interested in adding in a bunch of alternative action in than in seeing how the Jim and Pam we already know react.

 Also, sorry to disappoint you here, but I think the key element of a story where Jim is still around in the Casino Night aftermath, regardless of universe, is that there isn't a lot of actual interaction between them: that Jim protects himself by withdrawing mentally if not physically, and that Pam isn't particularly aggressive about confronting him. So don't expect them to actually interact a lot in that initial moment in the next chapter either.

"He briefly considered whether there was any way to sabotage Roy’s freeze or his thawing or something like that, but he didn’t try to think about it too hard because he really wasn’t that kind of person." Huh. Turns out that *I'm* that type of person because I've been thinking about this since chapter one.

The whole paragraph about how Jim's going to give Pam the brides room and everything she wants for her wedding - it's fine, I wanted my heart to break on a Sunday night at 11:05pm. Totally cool, Comfect.

Kelly as Ice makes things a little bit better though. That's just genius.

He's a better man than me - walking away from the console like that. I'd have looked.

Looking forward to what's coming next!

Author's Response:

I mean, I put that in because I, the author, was having those temptations and I thought it was important that Jim be a better man than I am. I'm not really sorry about making you cry--just know that, as all my stories are, this is going to be a happy ending, so the tears will be worth it. I hope. :) Thanks for reading! 

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So here's the thing, Comfect. Obviously I'm going to read this and I'm going to love it. No doubt. But I don't know a single thing about sci-fi outside of the original Star Trek from the '60s and the robots on Mystery Science 3000, so I don't really understand what's going on here, but I'm following along the best I can and well, I'm here for it.

Things I already love: Frozen Roy. That's fantastic. I'm here for this. "a man who would be just as warm and emotionally available down in the freezing darkness of the Warehouse as he had been before." God, this is such a great line, and such a great comparison of OG Roy to AU Roy.

I'm excited for this one!

Author's Response: Well, thank you, Coley, for your trust! You do not need to know much if anything about sci-fi to read this story, except that some of the weird flourishes may be, well, weirder, but I promise, this is a straight JAM story just in a sci-fi setting. Frozen Roy was probably my single biggest reason for wanting that setting, so I'm really glad that worked for you!

Okay so now we're getting a bit different than how things turned out in the show. Not a bad thing at all. However there are some fun call backs. The "date night" watching a supernova, basically the biggest firework in the universe was a great touch there. Not being physically present for the ceremony, the bridge of this ship this time as opposed to Australia or Stamford.

However the shifts are also just as welcome. Him agreeing to help her with the wedding, since it will make her happy even if its killing him inside. His realization that she was at his station was a good thing there too.

Great job as always.

Author's Response: Yeah, there are some elements of the AU that just force the story into a different mode, most obviously that I'm not sure how Jim could really transfer off an isolated ship in deep space...so he doesn't get to. I'm really glad that you're finding the shifts that those alterations create convincing! Thanks for reading, as always.

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So an intergalactic version of the phone call at Jim's desk in the show. Or at least that how it feels. I do like at the sci-fi type talk you incorporate. Traveling past light speed and all that. It adds to the universe you're building here. You did nicely in keeping Pam in character. How she's still working on her confidence. The message from her mother to give her a pep talk in that regard was great.

I'm wondering if this ship has like a personnel locator function on the ship's computer. Punch up a crewman's name and the computer tells you where they are. Could be a handy thing if either Jim or Pam are trying to find or stay away from the other.

Okay we've had Jim's thoughts, and now Pam's. Now this is the part I'm looking forward to. How will the post Casino-night dynamic work with Jim and Pam stuck awake with only the ship to escape to and the Roycicle down in the Warehouse?

One other thing, great way to create a new way to not like Roy. First he proposes whilst drunk and also right before he gets frozen. I mean we all knew he didn't have anything to do with planning the wedding, but freezing himself is quite the novel way to have him get out of that. Not that I ever really expect much out of Roy regardless of what universe he's in.

Author's Response:

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Not to bad actually. Was any of this also inspired by the movie "Passengers," with Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt? Cause I get that kind of sense. There are key differences of course, but I digress.

Even though the setting is different the feeling is the same. Jim being crushed by Pam's rejection. However this time around I can see that it's even harder to bear since they're stuck on the same colony ship. Looking forward to seeing how this one plays out.

Author's Response: Wow, high praise there ;). This isn't specifically inspired by Passengers, since I haven't actually seen it, but I'm a scifi buff so it's inspired by the same sorts of things that inspired that movie. I'm glad you're finding the feeling the same--hope that continues. Jim is definitely going to have to stick around instead of transferring, so things will diverge pretty quickly, but yeah, poor boy's pretty durn crushed.