1 [Report This]Date: August 19, 2021 07:33 am Title: Oh If I'd only seen that the joke was on me -Bee Gees
It's really cool seeing all of this Stamford stuff, leading up to what happened with Josh and the character of Matt.
I'm really interested in what finally pushes Jim to go out with Karen.
*He wanted to, wanted to take his dream at face value and stop blocking the future he thought possible but in the weeks of mulling it over he decided he’d made enough first moves. The ball was in her court and it looked to him like she had no intention of serving it up. It was looking more and more like point, set, match… point Beesly… game over. Again.*
This is great. Looking forward to the Merger...
Author's Response:
I found it interesting I made up the name Matt, I like it and it seems a common name for the age of the character and then on a deep dive they spoke to DP Matt Sohn and I was like I wonder if my subconscious knew and made his name for me. Anyway my feeling is that if they had become friends with Brian (at least for a while) it stood to reason that if Jim and Matt both came over to Stamford alone they would fast become buddies.
Now as to what pushes him to Karen - you should already know - remember this telling is not linear. He already had a call with a drunk Pam after finding out she had a call with a drunk him.
But it will become clearer in next chapter.
Thanks as always for your review.
1 [Report This]Date: August 17, 2021 05:42 pm Title: Oh If I'd only seen that the joke was on me -Bee Gees
I appreciate the song choice :D Jim’s fax to Dwight is brilliant, and I love that this prank leads to him overhearing Josh’s conversation. (Also, one thing I’ll say for snakey Josh is that he at least seems to love his wife…?) Gah, I love that Jim knowing he’s had a phone call with Pam (even if he doesn’t remember it) is enough to give him hope, and I’m glad - also for Karen’s sake - that it seems to have halted whatever might have been happening there for now. This misinterpretation of the phone calls between him and Pam is just really well written and filled in on both sides, even if it is slightly devastating. And I'm really enjoying Jim's sort of friendship with Matt - I’m glad he’s got a potential ally in Stamford! Greatly looking forward to what comes next.
Author's Response:
Thanks for your review. Always great to hear what you notice and like. Glad you like the prank - they are so fun to write but hard to come up with new ones. Yeah, and don't get the hopes up about Karen, you already know (since the timeline is non-linear) that he has at least taken it somewhere with her.
Funny thing about Matt - I chose name out of blue - or maybe it was subconscious since I later was listening to a deep dive podcast where they talked to DP Matt Sohn. Anyway, we know there was a friendship with Brian (at least for a while) so I felt it would be natural that Jim and the guy sent to follow him around with camera would strike one up right away.
Anyway glad you are liking that and thank you again.
Date: August 16, 2021 09:38 am Title: Oh If I'd only seen that the joke was on me -Bee Gees
This feels like the start of something big. Jim is a planner when he has a mind to be. He's also loyal to his friends, even if at times he has his less than stellar moments. He's also sober now and feeling a bit more hopeful. Seeing that Pam did call does put him in a better mood for sure. How long that mood will last when he finds out what Drunk Jim told her remains to be seen, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. Jim also has a fair sense of justice. Probalby why he pranks Dwight so much. Not only to make Pam laugh and his own sanity, but to remind everyone in Scranton that Dwight's Dwightishness won't be tolerated without reppricusion. So to hear everything like this with Josh I'm sure stikes a cord. To hear your boss badmouth his employees like that, hear him say he's planning on ripping off Dunder Mifflin and he doesn't care, and to find out he's also embezzeling money by taking his wife out on the company dime shouldn't sit well with anyone let along Jim. It all paints a very stark contrast between Josh and Micheal and also goes to show why Micheal does lead the stronger branch despite everything crazy about Micheal.
So we have the start of something to be sure. Feels like there's still some landmines to overcome and more than likely one or two might blow up, but we at least have a starting point.
Nice job.
Author's Response:
Yes I took the differences between the bosses to the extreme. And I think the way Michael always stands up for his employees and goes to bat for them really says a lot. But we all know Jim didn't leave due to issues with Michael so yes, all this stuff with Josh is just compounding his feeling like a fish out of water. (maybe that's why Andy named him Big Tuna).
Always a joy to get your thoughts and insights.
1 [Report This]Date: August 15, 2021 09:54 pm Title: Oh If I'd only seen that the joke was on me -Bee Gees
First, I thought this was a really solid use of the Jim fax prank! This idea from Jim would fit really easily in canon, and making this thing we already know Jim *must* have been doing canonically crucial to his discovery of Josh's scheme is really good fanfiction.
I also thought you did well with the scheme here. It seems plausibly sinister while still remaining the kind of wrongdoing that just sorta happens to pop up a lot in The Office universe. Like, not a story the SHOW would do, but definitely the sort of thing you can imagine happening in the world it sets up. Very much the kind of thing someone with Josh's ambition might go for, and the sort of thing that would deeply trouble someone trained by Michael Scott.
"Set, match, point, Beesly. Game over. Again." The use of volleyball terms is a nice touch. And also ouch.
The Simon and Garfunkel reference is noted... and also a surprisingly appropriate bar name. Love the shot of midori backstory.
Love seeing a little bit more of the behind-the-scenes stuff here and exploring Jim's friendship with Matt more...
Author's Response: