1 [Report This]Date: October 02, 2020 02:01 pm Title: Chapter 2: Her Ring
I liked this! It's a good interpretation of her dropping the Roy-bomb on Jim, and you managed to make it fit well with the overall concept of your fic - her having lost the ring offers context as to how Jim ended up missing that she was engaged before asking her out.
I really like that Jim's first instinct is to stumble out an apology for not having asked about him - it's the kind of thing that makes it easier for Pam to rationalize all the signs she's ignoring away as just friend things, since that's obviously the kind of thing someone who was genuinely interested in her friendship would say. It's a strong choice.
Author's Response: Thank you! I think he’s immediately drawn to her and even though she’s engaged, he wants to befriend her. But we all know that grows into much more.
1 [Report This]Date: October 02, 2020 09:42 am Title: Chapter 2: Her Ring
This worked well I think. It's always a bit of a heartbreak to see the moment where Jim goes,internally from hopeful to downtrodden at the thought that this lovely woman he's met isn't single. Still, you did write their new friendship really well. Likewise Pam's thoughts about why she's going out to lunch with Jim seemed to ring true as well. Despite the slight heartache it is always fun to see the start of their pranking partnership so that part was a lot of fun. Nice job.
Author's Response: Thank you, as always! :)
1 [Report This]Date: October 02, 2020 07:35 am Title: Chapter 1: Her Virginity
It hurts, but I really like this chapter. The description was very realistic, and the way Pam felt hollow and persuaded herself that everything was right (or would get better)... that was really in her character (or, perhaps, I've just always imagined that she felt/thought that way, so I'm biased here).
Nice start, and I'm curious (and slightly dreadful) about that happens next!
Author's Response: Thank you!! Don’t worry, it really does get better! Haha each chapter will be a pretty big jump in time, so we’ll get to some fluff soon enough.
1 [Report This]Date: October 02, 2020 05:50 am Title: Chapter 1: Her Virginity
This rung so true, all of it - I always thought there had to be something Pam saw in Roy and I could see the little bits a teenage Pam might see in him and a mindset of her own that could make her stay with him so long.
You have a good balance of what we know of Roy, a side that Pam only sees and her own self-doubt and self-worth getting smothered in her relationship with him.
I'd like to think that there are teen guys that are more Jim than Roy (I have 2 myself and I try to teach them well) but I imagine, a lot of teenage boys don't discover their inner Jim until they get a little older so I cut him a little slack at this stage and time in the relationship. But we all know where this goes and he does not get better.
Really enjoyed this and looking forward to seeing what Pam looses next.
Author's Response: Thank you so much for your review! As a mother of three girls, thank you for raising your own Jims. Haha I want them to find Jims! I think teenage Pam starts making excuses for Roy and then over time they just become her norm, which is sad. But we know she finds her way out, which is good!
1 [Report This]Date: October 02, 2020 03:48 am Title: Chapter 1: Her Virginity
Ah, young lust... This seems very fitting. I can totally envisage a version of events like this, where Pam starts to make excuses for Roy’s inadequacies early on.
Author's Response: Thanks, Jenna! I also imagine this as the start of her telling herself the stuff Roy pulls is “normal” since she knows no different and begins making excuses. I’m sure they had a lot of great times, but after a decade, those excuses start piling up and probably get pretty heavy. *Enter Jim*
Date: October 02, 2020 12:02 am Title: Chapter 1: Her Virginity
I think the problem with Roy and Pam’s relationship was that since they were together
in school they never really grew out of that mindset. They were always forever in teenage mode. They had to break-up to be in adult relationships.
Author's Response: I completely agree! Thanks for the review! :)
1 [Report This]Date: October 01, 2020 11:53 pm Title: Chapter 1: Her Virginity
Ugh. You know, I like to imagine that Roy and Pam were actually a better couple when they were younger, so reading this was hard (in a good way) (that's what she said). But this does feel very accurate to the Roy and Pam we see in later years - he's just convinced everything's going well because he's barely paying attention to what's going on in her mind, and she's just kind of accepting what she's given without complaint. Painful in that she's still going to be dealing with this a decade later, but good writing.
I'm going to choose to imagine that somewhere in West Scranton, teenage Jim looked up from what he was doing at that moment and thought to himself, "someone needs me."
Author's Response: I know. I like to think they had lots of happier moments outside of this because it’s hard to imagine Pam feeling like this for a decade. I don’t think she does, but maybe this is where she begins to make excuses for him and as time goes on, those excuses become normal for her and in her mind are just her reality. She needs a tall young man to stroll into her life to get her to understand she’s settling. ;)
Date: October 01, 2020 10:10 pm Title: Chapter 1: Her Virginity
So that's an interesting way to start. Seems kinda fitting in more ways than one. That it would be just kind of spur of the moment like that. That it would be over that quick. Knowing what we know now of their relationship, even then Roy doesn't really get her. Of course they're teenagers, but still. You did really capture Pam's feelings well though. Nice job there. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
Author's Response: Thank you, Warrior! I would like to think their young relationship wasn’t ALL bad, but this instance was a good way to foreshadow the fact the Roy never really makes a point to truly understand Pam from early on and that since she has been with him so long and from such a young age, she just thinks it’s just “how it is”. Guess we need Jim to come along and clue in that it’s not. ;)