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Reviewer: boredhswf Signed [Report This]
Date: May 03, 2022 07:10 am Title: Chapter 20 - There's No Place Like Home

A long chapter is always good. She is definitely wrestling with all these mixed emotions and you wrote that well. Love the whole plan on how they would reach each other. Very clever.

Of course, I feel it is completely on point for Roy to be a cheater.

This line was fantastic: "But somehow, as if the river that she drowned herself in baptized her with a new resolve, by morning she was strong enough to focus on what lie ahead," Delightfully vivid.

I can feel this story building, the culmination of all these clues bringing the reader to the summit. Can't wait.

Author's Response:

Thanks - I felt like I was jamming a lot into this one so glad you feel it.

Still more clues and twists coming before the peak - thanks as always for reading and reviewing. 

Reviewer: grc73 Signed [Report This]
Date: April 28, 2022 10:22 pm Title: Chapter 20 - There's No Place Like Home

Wow, this was long! And a great read. Wow, that was horrible for Pam (trying not to leave a spoiler in the review) but it will help her resolve. You did a good job explaining their relationship, I think it was very plausible.

Author's Response:

Yeah I know it was a long one - but a lot had to happen in this chapter - for things to come around in the end.

This trip has been a real roller coaster for Pam but well - you of all people know how it all plays out.

Thanks  for hitting me up with a review.

 

Reviewer: emxgoldstars Signed [Report This]
Date: April 27, 2022 06:54 pm Title: Chapter 20 - There's No Place Like Home

MAX. MAX. MAX. MAX. MAX.

ROY. ROY FUCKING ANDERSON. CHEATED ON PAM?!?! ROY CHEATED ON PAM. WOW. JUST WOW. WHAT A DICK!

Poor Pam! I just want to give her the BIGGEST HUG! POOR PAM BBY!!!!

Author's Response:

Poor Pam because now she has to go stakeout the office with Michael with all this on her mind.

Thanks again for all the reviews. 

Reviewer: MrsKHalpert Signed [Report This]
Date: April 24, 2022 07:02 am Title: Chapter 20 - There's No Place Like Home

Oh my god!! My heart was breaking a little for Pam when she found the condom. GET OUT NOW GIRL!
Can't wait to see what happens next!

Author's Response:

Yeah, not the homecoming she was expecting. Pam, Listen to Mrs.K. Thinks she will?  

Thanks for the review!  

Reviewer: darjeelingandcoke Signed [Report This]
Date: April 23, 2022 07:18 pm Title: Chapter 20 - There's No Place Like Home

"But as she stood in front of her own image what she saw staring back was not the face of an elated soon-to-be bride." Oh, Pam. Just... it shouldn't be this HARD, you know? Not at this point in the marriage. You shouldn't have to struggle for it so much.

"Recollections of times Roy made her feel small and insignificant lined her mind like sharp-edged formations of angry violets, shocking indigos and gangrene olive hues, whereas thoughts of fun times with Jim seemed just as vivid but more like splashes of paint that in their haphazardness screamed of the playfulness and optimism he seemed to always have for her." Art metaphors are exactly how Pam would think in her deepest moments... and this is exactly how she would rationalize the obvious message of them away.

As a general point, though, I think you did very well making a realistic case for Pam and Roy lasting so long. That there ARE good memories of Roy, just not especially recent ones, and that he DOES notice what she does for him and it's something that she gets joy out of, even if it's a little hard to miss that this sounds more mother-child than husband-wife.

The idea that they're bonded by a shared fear of change is REALLY interesting. I feel like I often think of Roy as just *comfortable* and not scared in his own right. And again, this feels like something that would help her rationalize a lot of his issues.

So naturally this chapter ends with Roy smashing it all to bits. Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh.

(Enjoying the Michael here, too - the overly complicated plans are very him, as is the nickname Pink Pamther. And you found the right mix of doofiness and fundamental heart here.

"Moreover, the bigger disaster that would occur when he entered the arts and crafts emporium being it was the kind of place that could inspire someone like Michael to try his hand at scrapbooking, candle-making, baking, floral arranging, and more, and all at once." WRITE. THAT. FIC.

Author's Response:

Reviews like these are so gratifying...that my little story can spark further discussion, that I can bring a convincible case that even I struggled with.

The shared fear of change - it came to me in writing and I feel like the Roy's wedding episode (though that one made me SOO mad at the time) is in a small way saying that with them both sharing that trait they held each other back - yes, no, a little? Of course, Roy being a huge ass and still extremely immature also a factor.

No time for another fic but I think I'll put up in plot bunnies - you were not the only one who requested a Michael at Michael's fic.

Thanks always for the reviews that keep this ship going. 

Reviewer: warrior4 Signed [Report This]
Date: April 23, 2022 06:22 pm Title: Chapter 20 - There's No Place Like Home

Once more there's a lot to unpack here. The comfort Pam seems to be seeking back in her own home doesn't appear to be there. At least when she thinks about her home when shared with Roy. Now I get that she and Roy have years of history together at this point in their lives. Yet for all their history there's something there that comes across as stagnant. Pam and Roy got together because he needed a tutor. Years later he still needs one from time to time. Clearly it's not just Pam who is scared of change. But with Roy it comes across as that he'll hide it as best he can under layers of machismo. Puffing out his chest as much as he can to be "the man." While that can be somewhat attractive, it can also get boring. I think Pam's starting to feel that, thus not quite comfortable in her own home and trying to convince herself that what she has with Roy is good even if it means hurting Jim. Also curious that there's really only two mentions of Jim in her thoughts this time around. One when she thinks of him as playful fun colors and the other when her heart breaks a little because she knows that by choosing Roy, Jim will be hurt. Considering she's back in the home she shares with Roy it's understandable that her thoughts would turn to the man she actually is with right now rather than who she's still trying to see as just a really good work buddy.

But then Michael comes over and you transplant his reaction of her art showcase from S3 to now. His reaction is of course wonderful for Pam's confidence, but there's something more there. Pam knows that beneath the bluster and childishness, Michael IS a good guy with a heart of gold. He really does care about the people who are important to him. As many artists do, she craves validation. For someone to say her work is good and appreciated. Michael gives her that validation and the pebble that starts an avalanche gets rolling. She's known Roy a lot longer than Michael so why hasn't she ever gotten similar praise from the one guy who is supposed to be her biggest fan. The guy who's words say he is, but on reflection his actions don't seem to match up. And so the pebble becomes a snowball.

Her quest to find out if Roy DOES in fact care comes across the one area she's never explored. Now I get that it's important for a healthy couple to trust each other and have some space. At the same time being open with your partner is a lot easier when you don't have anything to hide. Case in point I have no qualms sharing my phone PIN with my wife because there's nothing there she'll find untoward. Likewise I have access to her phone and the same is true. Yet here with Pam we get more of the same kind of unease we've had throughout this chapter. Pam's level of trust and what her relationship mean to her might not be the same as what Roy feels about the relationship. The graphic porn is only the tip of the iceberg. A note from another woman that Roy DIDN't throw away. A box of open condoms that it really feels she needs to bend over backwards to explain away. Oh Pam, there's a reason why Occam's Razor is so sharp. That snowball is feeling more like the bottom layer of a snowman now, and it's still going downhill. Picking up speed and more snow too.

Thing is past Pam, what with her vision (literal and figurative) clouded as it is probably hasn't seen all these aspects. Future Pam with her vision clear and already with a week's worth of introspection under her belt, these flaws she's been overlooking for so long, aren't just passing flaws. They're actually big issues and despite her not wanting to, will need to be addressed. After all that snowball is only getting bigger and it's starting to suck in debris along with snow now too.

Author's Response:

there is nothing more gratifying than to come to a review that tells me I've made the reader think and see and want to discuss the words I've written.

I love your snowball analogy too. 

THANK YOU for this review and all of them. This fic has been a beast but to get reviews like these - it keeps me going.

 

Reviewer: tinydundie Signed [Report This]
Date: April 23, 2022 07:43 am Title: Chapter 20 - There's No Place Like Home

Roy! A cheater! I am SHOCKED to my core!

"Recollections of times Roy made her feel small and insignificant lined her mind like sharp-edged formations of angry violets, shocking indigos and gangrene olive hues, whereas thoughts of fun times with Jim seemed just as vivid but more like splashes of paint that in their haphazardness screamed of the playfulness and optimism he seemed to always have for her."

Have I mentioned how much I adore all this Pam-as-an-artist imagery? Because I do.

"Every relationship had them and it was only because she was not in a romantic one with Jim that his colors seemed brighter, that the abstracts she associated with him had fewer of those harsh edges."

Oh yikes. This actually made me think of s9 and now I have a sad.

Loved that we got to see the source of the paintings at her art show! Interesting to note, does this affect season 3 though? Will Michael put the painting up? How much of this is actually undone/ undoes what happens later? Ugh, time travel. ugh.

!!PINK PAMTHER!!

*Still, the slip that read I owe Pam Beesly for this absolutely stunning and awe-inspiring painting of art, was worth more to her than gold.*

I felt this deep in my soul as a writer. Words like this are all it takes.

Please, I beg of you, write a fic where Pam takes Michael to Michael's. Please.

Author's Response:

Sarcasm?

Well she is an artist - no matter what she calls herself.

I am so into time travel but even if it were possible I would never want to - there's too much risk - even the most tiny changes can majorly shift everything else. -as we see here.

YES- it's words like this and I thank you graciously for yours.

Michael at Michael's would be fun - maybe I'll put it up in plot bunnies. (can't tackle it myself) 

 

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