Date: August 21, 2022 06:46 pm Title: Chapter 31 - I Can't
Feels like a lot more set up for when the timelines finally merge. Good job Pam trying to keep everything in line. However, as with anything there are just some things you can't control. Jim being on a sales call or Vicky calling. It's one thing to break up with Roy, but by now she's also breaking up with what she thought would be her extended family. No surprise that there would be a lot of emotions involved.
So someone else is also tracking Pam. Interesting. I don't know if Matt here has the same time travel sense that Randall seems to, but it's defiantly a point to consider.
Also, yes Pam, get clothes with ALL the pockets. Functional pockets for all! It could be the secret to world peace, who knows?
Author's Response:
You are right that things are coming together so of course there would be a little angst to possibly put a wrench in all of it.
Thanks as always for being with me as this story comes full circle.
Date: August 21, 2022 02:21 pm Title: Chapter 31 - I Can't
*Sometimes faces alone defined a moment. Sometimes it was body language. But typically, it was the combined audio and video that told the complete story, even when they seemed out of sync; when the far away looks and longing stares and the smiles they likely didn’t even know their eyes were making, contradicted the declarations they said aloud.*
This was lovely.
Really like the section with Matt, I'm glad you addressed that. Surely the rest of the crew would start to notice. (And I love your clocks, keep them coming!)
*In fact, it was Vicky who first told him to, in her exact words, “shit or get off the pot” prompting the engagement that was intended to make Pam part of the family.*
This totally tracks for me, and we never even got to meet Roy's mom, haha... love it.
Author's Response:
I'm glad to hear it you did- so much said in in their faces in those early seasons - and the cameramen and crew would absolutely pick up on that. I know we think alike - bringing the crew and cameras into our stories.
Also glad you liked the Vicky bit. Another bit I thought needed to be addressed in this story since she was breaking up with more than just Roy - and I do believe it had a small part in keeping her from doing it sooner.
Thanks as always for being a devoted reader of this one- I hope it pays off - coming soon!
Date: August 21, 2022 02:04 pm Title: Chapter 31 - I Can't
THE SARA BAREILLES REFERENCE. HEART EYES.
You did well establishing the tension in the early going here... and Pam taking time out of this tense moment to worry about being rude to Hank very in character.
"A new version of Pam Beesly, one who had a chance to start over and rewrite her story with someone who made her feel important and smart and talented and loved... Herself." LOVE this line, and very much in keeping with the Sara Bareilles song referenced.
Pockets remain a time travel necessity.
Her knowing instinctively that of course Jim would recognize her wardrobe had changed is such a sweet moment. "Even if she wasn’t going to declare her love, she just wanted to be near him, make things right again and tell him what she had just done." That's so THEM.
EEEEEP. The documentary staff is definitely going to suspect SOMETHING is up after all this... I'm sure they've got some weird stuff.
The Vicky talk is one we don't see enough in Jam fanfic. It seems like that would be a fraught and interesting relationship, especially knowing from the superfan episodes that Vicky is definitely a "call Pam at work" kind of future mother-in-law. This characterization of her fits, I think.
THE RECONTEXTUALIZED I CAN'T.
Author's Response:
Well I know you are a fan and I love that song and have listened to it enough that it kind of took over as I wrote. And I kind of love that line too. I'd like to think that this journey was not just about finding the right partner but about finding herself again.
I'm really glad you mentioned the Vicky talk. To me that is real and something I wanted to bring into play in this piece. There's no way Pam did not have a hard time losing people that I'm sure had been so much a part of her life, no matter how that relationship was.
As always, I appreciate you and thank you.