She didn't know what hurt worse; that Roy's family hated her, or that he didn't.
You really got across how difficult and sad and emabarrasing it is to call off a wedding in real life. I actually once started a fic with Pam in the midst of all those emotionally and physically draining logistics, but I couldn't figure out anywhere to go with it...glad I let it drop, because you've done a much better job with it here!
10 I remember reading this when you published it earlier. Am really impressed that you've gone back to do a re-write - I admire your instinct to revisit a piece you've already 'done' because you felt you had something more to bring to it now. Makes me want to stop being so lazy and do the same with some of my older stuff! Looking forward to seeing where you go with it.
Author's Response: Thanks so much! I realized this needed to change from past to present tense when I was writing the second chapter, and then as I was reading through it, I found some stuff to improve. Thanks for reading!
Just wanted to clarify my review - I didn't recall your last version needing a re-write...am impressed because I think the desire to improve something that's already done is admirable. Complacency is the enemy of art (or something heavy-handed like that!)
10 The way he catches her by the waist and drags her back inside - echoes of the deliberate Jim we saw stride up to Pam and deliver the infamous kiss....but I digress. This is wonderfully spare and each word resonates. Like a poem. 'He is blind'...hottest line I've read in a while.
Author's Response: It was that image of Jim catching her waist and dragging her back inside that drove this one for me. It was SO clear - and yes, very much like his stride in Casino Night. Thanks so much, Colette, for your comments about word choice! :)
10 Lord have mercy. You've more than proven you could pull off the smut. And you've managed to keep the characters recognizable (love when Jim asks 'hey, you still with me?') even as they sizzle - not an easy feat. So, can I hope you're writing Pam's 'turn'? (Pretty please?)
This story follows "Grief Counseling". Ed Truck's death makes Pam reach out to someone.
It was too late to change her mind now. She knocked on his front door.
10 This was so funny, but touching too...hey, just like the show. You really nailed Michael, and that ain't easy. Loved his version of what Jim told him at the convention. Just great.
Author's Response: Thank you :)
This made me want to hug Jim, and buy him a soda, and...other stuff. The dream sequence was hot and sad and sounded just right for J&P's voices. Well done!
Thanks so much! It's always a challenge(for me)when it comes to their voices. Appreciate the support:)
10 You really captured how Jim would do anything for Pam, despite how oblivious she can be re: his feelings...the very heart of the JAM ache. When they danced it was so sexy and sweet and sad. Could just see Jim looking soulfully down at her a la Booze Cruise. Painful yet wonderful!
"Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations." Faith Baldwin
A story inspired by Ms. Fischer herself and her recently publicized version of Pam's backstory that explains what the hell is going on in her mind now that she's made that poor heartbroken boy move away.
10 Pam as a work in progress - being her own Pygmalion. I like it!
This plays perfectly off the JF quote - and I so hope she's at least partially expressing the show's party line on the situation (those network publicists can be very influential, trust me. Which gives me great hope when I read an interview like the EW one.) If not, those writers better read your story stat!
It made me so happy to read that - because it's what I've been craving since September.
"How could she not love him?" I screamed to the TV. "WE all love him...from afar and here she is - she's got him RIGHT THERE in front of her."
And then I realize I might be a little too into a television show.
So um...anyway. Yeah. Good article. ;)
Spoilers through S2
10 How sad. I think you really captured the way (I hope) Pam would now yearn for him. The ending - her imagining him with someone else - was especially fine.
I bought a new suit and cancelled a plane ticket.10 This really goes to the melancholy core of the Season 2 relationship...so evocative. I love when Jim thinks 'So I did what I'm good at. I pretended....' Heartache on a page. Just exquisite.
Ryan finds an assortment of junk in Jim's desk. He lets Pam decide what to do with it.10 How sweet was that? I like the clarity of it - how you took a simple idea and filled it with all those clever details (the matches, Cup-o-Noodles, etc.) Really fun.
Never in the history of literature has a bag of chips inspired so much literary thought! Who'd a thunk it? This is really fun and clever and also seems very Jim: taking an ordinary thing and having the wit and creativity to turn it into something funny and meaningful (e.g. yogurt lids, hot sauce packets, the Olympic games.)
10 Oh my lord - if you didn't write this so well, I might have to kill you. Banish the thought...sick of Jim, NO!!! But seriously, I like how you considered the flip side of Jim's attitude towards Pam. Very original and written in a way that it had it's own reality. Even if it's a reality that I cannot condone. Well done all the same!
Author's Response: I know! I know! I'm a bad Jammer sometimes, but I really like to stir the pot a little! Then I can turn my back on the dark side for a while and recommit to the forces of good. Maybe I should have tried to add some pudding...
10 This was terrific. Loved that you had them passing notes via old-fashioned paper instead of email - so much more tactile and somehow poignant. Can we get the follow-up? Membership in Steamy Fic Club may demand it! (BTW, I've never gone to the supply closet in a fic...maybe I've been remiss in my duties.)
Pure unadulterated semi-smutty Supply Closet Fic. It really serves no other purpose.
10 First, may I say that I don't know whether to be incredibly flattered - or guilty for being such a bad influence - for having anything to do with your conversion. I think I'll take the former - so THANKS so much for the dedication...truly an honor! Who knew chocolate pudding and La Liz could be such a powerful force for evil? I like it!
Now for the story - LOVE IT! You officially can never again say you can't write steam - too late for that now, Missy! So many great parts/lines here - love when he enters the closet and she says, 'oh hi Jim...did you need something?' or when she says 'I'm so glad we got that over with.' I could hear her voice exactly.
So Bravo. This was hot as a very hot thing as we say in the biz. And welcome to the dark side! Now, about that Conference Room....
Please be flattered. And influence you did - though you are not necessarily a bad one per se. ;)
Hot as a very hot thing? Well good golly. I guess I've offically arrived. :)
Conference Room....Break Room...Stairwell...Dwight's desk...
Oh the possibilities. LOL!
10 This was way, way hot. And so well written - love the rhythm of the language and how you use 'He has that effect on you' as a coda. 'I like it when you're loud'? Coming from Jim, that line is scorching. Ah, sometimes it's the simplest things...
Author's Response: Thank you so much! Who knew a supply closet could cause all of this fic? Amazing.
Okay, this is post Stamford (sort of) and is a little AU, given that we now know Jim and Pam have talked a little. It's a bit angsty, but I swear, I was absolutely seized by the urge to write this! It's based a little on some of the comments I read on Live Journal yesterday re: Jim as "a man with needs." Heh. That makes this sound as if it's going to be a pile of smut, and it's not. It'll just be a slightly different Jim - totally drunk!Jim.
Jonathan makes an appearance as well.
And for those of you who are concerned - remember, my fics always end with a happy Jim/Pam. :o) This one probably won't be as long as the others have been; I'm thinking it'll maybe be a two-parter.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.10 'So Big Tuna, looks like we'll be swimmin' in your pond from now on.' Sorry, that line just cracked me up. Also Michael saying that Jim had 'conquered' Stamford. Too funny. Okay, as always, you've wet my appetite. Must have part II stat (can you tell I watched ER last night for the first time in ages...needed something to come down from my JAM phone call high.) Jim as 'man of needs', huh? Do tell.
10 Okay, no sooner did I hit 'submit' on chapter 1, do I find this. Holy shit (pardon le francais.) This CANNOT be a two-parter now...I have enough faith in your Jammy dedication to know you wouldn't end it with a girl named Candy pawing our boy. Really fun to read about though!
Phew. Knew I could count on you to make short work of that Candy strumpet (though, I have to say, there was something oddly hot about her groping him. Am I bad?)
Alright, now the stage is set...Jim should be sobered up shortly and unless Pam is made of tougher stuff than I, she should be rearing to go. SO....end this torture! You are just soooo good at drawing it out...luckily, you're also v. good at writing the pay-off. Eagerly awaiting the conclusion!
Thank you so much! (And yeah, I rather enjoyed writing her groping in, because I have to say that...well, wouldn't we all love to do it?) And yeah, I got a little in over my head - sat there last night thinking, how the hell do I fix this? So I went with silly Jim.
And oh yeah - once he's all sober, she is so his! :o) Thanks as always for the review - and by the way - am still working on the mousse scene for Only. ;o)
10 I knew I could count on you to deliver my boy from his agony. And how.
When he says, 'God, I want to...' well, oh my. Yeah. Somehow when you write, the throaty, low Jim-in-lust/love voice is downright audible. Most effective, Miss Girl. As always, I'm sorry to see the story end (and there aren't many stories with like 900 chapters that I can say that about...though this one was relatively brief for you. Point remains the same. Never stop. Ahem.)
14 10 How utterly delightful. Each one of these had such great playful lines - I've created a monster; we were just about done with the talking part anyway;I think we officially went past being...last night' (that one was particularly amusing!)
Love how you created the scenes/moods only with in-character dialogue - and brought the heat via sheer suggestion...so much fun to imagine the rest. Perhaps my very favorite was the last one...to the point and way sexy for it. Again, indeed.
10 I think you got the root of the ambivalence Pam has always felt between Roy and Jim perfectly. It's all about her own insecurity and fear of change. Your last line is so sad...and made me really hope she redefines 'enough' (in the show too, not just fanfic - cause that's not enough!)
Jim called. Pam answered. They talked. And talked. And talked. So what did Jim saying to himself afterwards?
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.10 It's so interesting to read all the different takes on the aftermath of that call. The ying/yang between Jim's hopefulness that it means something, but fear of letting himself believe it does is very well described here.
An unexpected conversation with Karen gives Jim some perspective. Based on unspoiled speculation for season 3.Wow, you certainly dispensed with Potato Chip girl efficiently! I swear, as I was reading this, I was actually thinking 'how dare she!?!' Well done, and hooray Jim for sticking up for the Scranton crew (not just Pam) as I'm sure he actually would.
Author's Response: Jim is a part of that family; no one messes with family. I don't actually hate Karen, but I am ready to be rid of her. Isn't that the fun of fanfic? Bye, Karen! Hee. Thank you!