1 [Report This]Date: September 13, 2021 04:48 pm Title: Perceptive
I loved this! I have to admit Erin is not usually my favourite character, but I think you’ve leaned in to the more likeable aspects of her personality here: I love the idea of her being randomly perceptive on this (and the way you’ve written her and Pete is very, very cute). I’d never thought about the parallels with the Andy/Erin storyline for Jim and Pam - it’s brilliant! I greatly enjoyed Erin saying all of that to Andy anyway, but it being a catalyst for Jim is just the icing on the cake. (Also, this is some great Nellie - I feel like we don’t get enough of her). This was so good!
Author's Response:
Thank you so much! Yeah, I get why some are not the biggest fan of Erin, she’s definitely not perfect. I just have a soft spot for lovably naïve characters. And yeah, I love her and Pete, they always clicked better to me then Andy/Erin; I felt they worked best as best friends if anything.
I think the parallels were my favorite part, and I’m glad you think so, too! There was no real cathartic moment for Andy so I was more than happy to pen the come to Jesus moment he needed. Jim getting the same smack in the face was more than necessary after everything, and I felt the crap that Andy pulled would be a good wake-up call.
I like Nellie as well! I just wish the show executed her introduction and integration into the show’s cast better.
Thanks for the review!
1 [Report This]Date: September 12, 2021 09:42 pm Title: Perceptive
It is a little odd that they bring up Pete having a drinking problem once out of nowhere and never come back to it, isn't it? I kinda figured from that that Alice was just sort of exaggerating to make Pete look bad, but I'm glad you explored it going the other way.
And ye cats. You captured the sheer obnoxiousness of Season 9 Andy well here. He desperately needed this sort of talking-to from someone, and Erin earned the opportunity more than anyone. Also, Erin stopping in the middle of her rant to notice her rhyme is VERY Erin.
Honestly, I have Andy/Erin and Jim/Pam in such different categories that the parallels between those storylines just never came to me before. That's a really interesting connection. (And I was also struck here by how different Jam would've looked to someone like Pete who only experienced them in Season 9, also not something I've thought about before.)
I'm more into Secretly Perceptive!Kelly Kapoor than Secretly Perceptive!Kelly Hannon, but you did some fun stuff with her here! Nice work.
Author's Response:
Many thanks!
YEAH, right? You’d think that’d get some more development. Naturally, the thought of Alice making him look bad never came to my mind, but I find it more fascinating to take it literally.
That whole poet thing came to me as I was writing it. I saw that and went “No, she has to say this, it only makes sense.” But yeah, Andy was so repugnant that I really had to capture that before he descended into madness near the end, since it was kind of a flip of the switch.
I never really thought about those connections either, glad you enjoyed them! It seems weird to compare them but intentional or not they certainly become apparent, especially considering that the Halperts almost got divorced, which… WOW. Say what you want about Krasinski, he saved us from one of the worst writing decisions for a final season I’ve ever seen.
Perceptive Kelly is just as fun, but I see her as one who eyes like a hawk for the latest gossip, she’d be all over everyone’s business without them knowing; Erin is such a wild card and has her head in the clouds half the time that her putting the pieces together was interesting to write about.
Thanks for the review!
1 [Report This]Date: September 11, 2021 06:35 pm Title: Perceptive
So everything about this is gold. I love all of it. I'm right there with you about Erin and Pete. Erin deserved someone a lot better than either Gabe or Andy. Someone stable who will just be there for her. Loved the way you portrayed them.
Wonderful that Andy got the riot act read to him. She's 100% right. He was a complete jerk to her and he deserved to hear it. It tracks for me that Andy would push back a bit but ultimatly realize she has a point. And to add in the thread that what she told Andy is also what Jim needed to hear?
*chefs kiss*
Really liked that you kept this one focued on Erin and kept JAM kind of in the background. At the same time you can feel the tension has left Jim and Pam and it's lovely. Nice job considering they're secondary characters with this one.
Wonderfully done. I really enjoyed this one.
Author's Response:
Goodness, high praise. Much appreciated!
To be honest, I always preferred Andy and Erin as best friends... and so did the show itself, it seems. There are so many more moments where they have chemistry apart than together. As for Pete, I can get behind some complaints about him being Jim 2.0 or very boring (the Toby comparison is a bit of a stretch), but to me he works for someone like Erin. No joke there is so much good Pete/Erin content that got cut which would make the audience root for them more.
Dwight got the most out of S9, but Erin's a close second. I absolutely adored her Pam-like development from a shy and relatively odd receptionist into a quirky yet assertive and confident young woman. Even down to the change in hairstyle! Writing her just tearing Andy a new one felt missing from the season, so I wanted to explore what that would be like.
The comparison between Andy and Jim felt appropriate considering how terrible they both were, but my word it's the same plot with both the Good and Bad Endings. Like I mentioned, the Cornell/Philly comparison came to me as I was writing it, which made it all the more apparent. And yeah, I did want the Halperts to be background so I can write other characters, the subject of the story being Jim and Pam themselves.
Thanks for the review!
1 [Report This]Date: September 11, 2021 04:16 pm Title: Perceptive
This was sweet, and I really like how the Erin/Andy situation could help Jim see sense. The parallels are definitely there.
(Also, it was super brief but I love reading Nellie… more of her, please!)
Author's Response:
Thank you! Yeah, S9 was pretty much "Let's make everyone the worst version of themselves besides Dwight," but I've tread that ground enough to make a trench. I will say that the parallels between them are pretty eye-opening as I was writing it, even the Cornell/Philly thing surprised me.
I love writing Nellie! A botched introduction and a truncated role made her extremely unpopular, but she really is a character with a lot of potential that I love taking advantage of.
Thanks for the review!