1 [Report This]Date: February 27, 2022 11:31 pm Title: "You're left thinking about the girl you really like, the one that broke your heart."
Already my poor heart can’t take this, you’ve written this angst so wonderfully well here.
The sea serpent made me chuckle, nice touch there
Great to see Jim continuing the faxing prank back in Scranton, and I loved how Pam felt connected to him from Stamford when he did that. How she would know, without knowing, that it was Jim.
‘everything is new and slightly terrifying, but she hopes in time she will emerge as something different. Someone different.’ I feel like this is such an important line for Pam. She needed that time to grow as her own person before jumping into another relationship.
I love how you’ve explained Jim having tuna for lunch, it makes so much sense he’d want everything to be different from Scranton, including his wardrobe and lunch.
‘He feels butterflies at her mention of the teapot, and can feel the quicksand creeping up his legs.’ Gahh this line! From already thinking about the teapot being behind her desk to her talking about it as such a great present, poor Jim
Really great chapter, but can we skip to the good part? Just kidding, but kinda. My heart!!! Please don’t kill me with the next chapter
Author's Response: Apologies to your heart, but it's gonna get much worse before it gets any better. Sorry about that. Thanks again for reading!
Date: February 27, 2022 07:48 pm Title: "You're left thinking about the girl you really like, the one that broke your heart."
Right from the chapter title I knew this one was going to tear me up little bits at a time - and whoa did begining with this line:
She waits for “Beesly” to tumble off his tongue. It doesn’t.
That stung. But you brought it around a little with all the stuff with the Andy prank - that was fun.
Now you know how I feel about Independent Pam - just wish she had discovered some of this independence a little sooner so she could be enjoying it with him instead of ruing the fact that 'Sometimes the brain works faster than the heart'. what a great line.
Getting to the Jim POVs - I really enjoyed getting some of the backstories from the early days in Stamford. How and why he came to get Tuna that day and how along with the nickname bestowed on him from Andy was the post-it note that said smile. I like this new head canon for where it came from and why.
It was interesting that Andy was insightful enough to know about his heartbreak.
'today is about survival' was the line here in this memory that tore at my heart a drop more.
Oh and that mention of the second string camera crew.
And then just as there was a little bit of hope:
He can’t keep doing this to himself, he can’t.
Explains a lot.
Even knowing how this story turns out its still tugging at my heart in the best possible way. Great job as usual giving the peek at what going on in their heads and adding some new backstories.
Looking forward to have my heart tugged a little more with the next chapter.
Date: February 27, 2022 04:38 pm Title: "You're left thinking about the girl you really like, the one that broke your heart."
I love how Pam mad the sea serpent look like
Karen. 😂
Jim wanted Pam to make a move to him about her feelings, but ignores the fact that he has given her plenty of reasons to think that he doesn’t care about her anymore. I think that shows how Jim didn’t handle things very well in season 3.
Author's Response:
You're right that Jim's behavior in S3 isn't great, particularly near the end, but I have a great deal of sympathy for him. He was rejected twice (three times if you consider Pam's lack of contact after breaking things off with Roy) so regardless of his persisting feelings for her, I genuinely believe a lot of his behavior was out of self-protection.
Thanks for reading and reviewing!
1 [Report This]Date: February 27, 2022 11:10 am Title: "You're left thinking about the girl you really like, the one that broke your heart."
Okay, the sea serpent bit I feel like is new to me and is a fun detail. Not so fun (but terrific) details abound here, really. Pam noticing his fabric softener has changed, the noticeable lack of Beesly-ing.
Pam's desperation to find their old normal again is tough, and the use of Season 2 moments recast in a whole new awkward way is quite well done.
"Every day for lunch she eats defrosted chicken and fish from the wedding that never happened, and each bite is a grainy, chalky reminder of what she’d given up Jim for: something cold and bland and perfunctory." Oooof. Making this about what she lost with Jim instead of ROy is a whole new level of pain.
"Years of moments now haunt her daily, the knowledge that every time he’d gotten up from his desk to chat with her, he’d been in love with her. When he’d elbowed Roy in the face during that basketball game, he’d been in love with her. When he’d convinced Michael not to embarrass her for the third year running at the Dundies, he’d been in love with her. When he'd stood at the railing of that booze cruise ship gazing into her eyes as she waited for him to change her life, he’d been in love with her." OUCH.
Cheating here, but some really interesting seeds being planted in the Stamford section - justifications for the role of Mama Halpert, and I'm very eager for the XXXXX chapter to see the light now.
"Pam’s laugh is infrequent lately. He never had to try very hard before to hear it, and now it’s like trying to catch lightning in a bottle." OW. And this take on Jim as someone who even at this late moment is desperately waiting for Pam to do something adds a whole new agony to Season 3.
1 [Report This]Date: February 26, 2022 05:49 am Title: "That was what today was supposed to be. The loving union between people."
I've mostly avoided rewatching season 3 because, excellent as it was, the angst was pretty overpowering. You've done a really great job of capturing that here, getting into the minds of each of them, and exploring that with lovely imagery and great insights. Looking forward to more.
Thanks for posting.
Author's Response: Season 3 is rough. I remember watching it live and wanting to die. I suppose I'm a masochist, as I'm essentially recreating that experience... but I do love pain. Thanks so much for reading and suffering along with me!
1 [Report This]Date: February 25, 2022 02:51 pm Title: "That was what today was supposed to be. The loving union between people."
Beautiful writing here, and looking forward for more to come.
But dammit it’s made me want to reread House with a Terrace, and that was just brilliant, so off I go…
Author's Response: You are too kind! Thank you so much and I hope you enjoy revisiting terrace! <3
1 [Report This]Date: February 25, 2022 09:27 am Title: "That was what today was supposed to be. The loving union between people."
Oh my god it's happening. EVERYONE STAY F*CKING CALM.
"the way the tint of azure in her dress would change ever so slightly beneath the lights when she’d shift her body in another direction. That tiny sliver of magenta on the inside lining he could spot whenever she’d brought her cocktail to her lips. He couldn’t recall having ever seen her bare shoulders before, either. It felt weirdly illicit, like an unexpected gift." This is just... such a good visual and such a good glimpse into his smitten, Pam-broken mind.
"For just one precious moment it was like looking through a window that showed him what they could be like forever, if only one of them had the courage to reach out and open it." Who do you think you are. What gives you the right.
"however, he truly believed that, if nothing else, she deserved to know how much she was loved." This is such a beautiful sentiment and I think very Jim that even if his feelings weren't reciprocated, he'd want her to know she deserve and can do better than what she's getting from Roy.
"The third option is the worst of the three, and it’s unfortunately what he gets." Um. Ow? I really liked this chapter a lot for how well you captured Jim's feeling of being trapped and how much Pam's behavior feeds into this idea that she's something he's going to need to escape from now that he's back in Scranton.
This moment of Jim convincing himself he has to try to get over stings all that much worse with the beginning of the chapter in mind, knowing that even this little bit of hope he has for a better future at this moment isn't going to amount to much.
"Jim had taken a chance on them, on the possibility the two of them could be something amazing. And the most frustrating part of it all is that she knows they could be amazing. She knows exactly what it would be like to be with Jim because, in their own special way, they’ve actually been together for years." Yeah. Still hurts.
Ah, seeing Pam's POV on this and how close they are to a breakthrough and also how fundamentally out of touch they are in their interpretations of what's happening stings.
In general, this is just structured really well, and I'm happy it's out in the world.
Author's Response: You're the best, Joe. That is all.
1 [Report This]Date: February 24, 2022 07:11 pm Title: "That was what today was supposed to be. The loving union between people."
I just love the way you tell your stories!
Even when it is a story we already know, you have a way of bringing us deeper into the moments and let us feel more of what is happening inside through the flashes from before and beautifully crafted narratives of what they each are feeling.
I devoured every paragraph but this may have been the one that struck me most:
It was beyond his control, as if the words had been waiting; dormant but vigilant, ready to strike at any moment. And he could have said them a number of times, a number of ways, but what had come out was absolutely raw. What he lacked in eloquence he made up for with sincerity. There was no stirring oratory, no grand plan. It was straightforward and to the point, no room for any more mixed signals.
Really moved from this first chapter. I look forward to seeing season 3 through your lens.
Author's Response: Thank you so much! Excited to reveal this one!
1 [Report This]Date: February 24, 2022 05:03 pm Title: "That was what today was supposed to be. The loving union between people."
You know my thoughts on this already, so I will state the obvious: AAAAAAH YOU POSTED IT!!
Ugh, I’m ready for this to break me into a million pieces. I absolutely love how you break this into multiple POVs of the same episode, same day.
This is brilliant, you’re brilliant d84;a039;
Ugh, YES!
Author's Response: Thanks, girl! xo
1 [Report This]Date: February 24, 2022 12:13 pm Title: "That was what today was supposed to be. The loving union between people."
Wow. The weaving of the present and the past is just immaculate. I love this! Can’t wait to read more!
Author's Response: Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to review!
1 [Report This]Date: February 24, 2022 11:53 am Title: "That was what today was supposed to be. The loving union between people."
"I can love you more than he does, he’d wanted so badly to say. I can love you better than he does.
I can promise that I already do."
Excuse me, ma'am. Ouch.
"Seconds too late, he realizes that accosting her again in the parking lot is exactly what he’s just done. And of all the things he didn’t expect on this day, at the top of that list was being rejected a third time."
EXCUSE ME.
"He hasn’t been trying to ignore what happened. He didn’t “forget.”
He just doesn’t want her anymore."
I'm not okay.
TD, this was some beautiful angst, I'll tell you what. The jumper cable metaphor was perfect and heartbreaking and I think you captured both of their thoughts and feelings SO well. Season 3 kills me and I can't wait to experience it through your words! Well done!
Author's Response: Ahh, thank you so much! Hope to keep murdering you slowly *insert devil emoji*
1 [Report This]Date: February 24, 2022 09:32 am Title: "That was what today was supposed to be. The loving union between people."
So this feels like it's going to be a huge big story just full of oof. I mean that in the amazing way you've captured their thoughts and feelings here. How Casino Night devastated both of them for similar yet different reasons. How Jim felt he needed to put up a fortress around his heart and why he wouldn't accept the signs of life Pam was showing him that day. He'd been crushed before so why wouldn't he?
Likewise Pam is forced to face what her true feelings were and all the implications of them. You can feel the air of hope she had the day of the merger shrink as the day progressed. Makes you really feel for the both of them.
Of course we all know they'll get through this year, but there's still a very rough road ahead. Great writing to bring it out though.
Also one last thing, even through all that, it still feels like there is still at least one small thread of the connection they shared tying them together. It's small, distant, and dull, but it's still there.
Author's Response: Thank you warrior, for your thoughtful review and kind words, as always!