It's the kind of reckless that should send them running, but they know they won't get far.
She's known him most of her life, but this summer Pam sees Jim in a completely different way.
1 Oh I am a sucker for HS Jim and Pam and early college Jim and Pam so this is definitely my sweet spot. I'm looking forward to more!
1 So I somehow missed ch. 2 of this, so here's my review now: you're really good at this. Especially the buildup of tension between them even when they've managed to get together. It's somehow still in character even in the AU.
Author's Response: Aw, thanks Comfect!
1 So I'm kinda disappointed with Jim with the Jan thing, not gonna lie. But the emotional beats between the two of them (and the creative reuse of canon elements like the teapot gifts) are superb.
Author's Response: If it makes you feel any better, Jim's a little disappointed with himself too. I've got a plan for the teapot gifts so I'm always happy to see someone take note of them here. ;)
This story started out being a one-shot inspired by the Taylor Swift song Gorgeous, but then it became so much more. Thanks to Coley for reading and giving feedback.
Pam and Jim meet right before Jim starts at Dunder-Mifflin. Pam develops a crush on Jim and has to figure out what to do about it.
1 I'm so glad you decided to make this a whole thing and not a oneshot. I like the contrast between Pam not cheating and Roy cheating, and I like the dynamic you set up with Kelly, Pam, Ryan, and Jim (and nice use of BJ & John's past as a hook). Looking forward to more.
Author's Response: Thanks for the review! I shamelessly used everything for this story. I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's fun writing Pam with a crush and Jim a bit clueless.
1 Yay more! "not only was Ryan kind of a douche, he was weird too"--this is so accurate. Also, I like that you went to the reverse-angle rather than just a continuation of the previous storyline. Looking forward to seeing whose POV we get next, and where this goes.
1 Oh that's great. Jim, you need to get better at reading the Pam-room. But I'm so pleased with what you are doing here--please, please keep it up.
1 Ooooh. I love insightful Larissa stories! Also, Jim feels very in character despite the fact that we've never seen him in canon not aware of his interest in Pam. Good work teasing out his other personality quirks to make that work.
1 Aww. Good old liquid courage, but I'm glad there's no more explicit taking advantage because that'd be awkward. Good buildup though.
1 So I saved this for the anniversary and I'm glad I did. Great angst buildup. Good mixing of times. And we all know I love a good thoughts l thoughtless Roy.
Author's Response: Thanks. This chapter was fun to bring together. Lots of heartache at that time to be sure. I'm glad it came across well.
1 You used the threesome verse! Sorry, my wife's a pastor, there are a lot of jokes at seminary about the threefold cord (which is how the NRSV translates it). It's a lovely passage, but I'm very glad you had your captain gloss what he thinks the passage means.
I was not in any way expecting the time jump so nice work. I think you did a great job inside canon. Looking forward to the rest.
Author's Response: I've never heard that verse referred to like that, but I can easily see why. Like I said it was the passage my wife and I had read at our wedding so it immediately jumped to mind for me. It was fun to look into the very brief shots from the show and flesh out "their" ceremony as opposed to what happened at the church. Glad you liked it.
1 Yeah, pretty sure I don't mind :). This was a lovely story and I really enjoyed it. You have a real touch for embedding adorable stories within canon in a way that makes me think a lot about what could be happening around the edges, and this is no exception. Wonderful work as ever.
Author's Response: Didn't think you would mind, but I wanted to give credit where credit is due. Thanks as always for the words of encouragement. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much.
1 Oh, this is nice! Especially that there's only one more part ;). Not that I don't love your long stories, but there's a beauty in a short story too. This is a really good version of drunk!Pam, and I like almost-hungover-but-also-still-drunk!Jim too. Well done.
1 I did love this. Great job with the length, but also with the emotions. I think you did a great job with Pam (and the relabeling Jim in her phone was wonderful) and her emotional upset, and I loved Jim doing the "I'm processing" but then managing to actually process. Great story.
1 I think you've done a very good job here with the turn in Jim's enthusiasm--I like Pam getting a phone call as a trigger. Good work with the inner monologue too. Thanks for posting it!
The road stretches before him and threatens to swallow him whole.
A response to the 55 Words To Leave Scranton challenge.
1 Very poetic. I'm glad to see some of the older challenges getting attention! Well done.
Author's Response: Thanks Comfect! It’s been fun reading through some of the challenges - there’s so much great stuff out there.
Another day, another conference room meeting with life altering consequences.
Set Season 3, somewhere between 'The Merger' and 'Phyllis' Wedding'
1 Oh God THAT scene.
Author's Response: It’s probably my top contender for best Superstore scene 😂
I miss you, come back to me. I wish you'd come back to me. But nobody heard. And the world turned and the world turned and the world turned.
A journey with Pam Beesly from the summer that Jim leaves to the fall where he becomes hers forever. Based on the lyrics to The Gabe Dixon Band's "And the World Turns."
1 I think this was lovely and adorable. The angst at the start was vintage you and the sweetness at the end as well.
1 Very much enjoying this. Interesting to have Pam have a different perspective on Roy, both because they actually married and because he didn't have time to wear away his goodwill. Looking forward to the rest.
Author's Response: Thank you! I hope to live up to your expectations.More soon.
1 Awwwww. You took the opportunity here to really dig into the psychology of Jim here, which I appreciate. Not a lot of noncanon action (heart toy aside) but a lot of good elaboration.
Author's Response: It's an interesting challenge getting into his head space at this time in the story. Likewise, to try and keep things interesting since this subject has been covered so much on the archive. Thanks for the insight.
1 Good job Emily with the slap. That was indeed douchy Jim. I like this approach: still covers the same ground but not always the same perspective. A good way of threading the needle.
Author's Response: Kinda figured Jim wouldn't be at his best right now. Thanks for the encouragement on using the secondary characters.
1 It is interesting to see what you did here. I like inventing Hunter, and giving Roy a talking to. I think this is exactly the right setup for what we later see Roy doing: he's goal-oriented still towards Pam and proving people wrong, not growth-oriented for himself. Good work on the motivation.
Author's Response: I actually invented Hunter back in "This Thing Called Life." And by invent, I think I did some deep dive in Wikipedia and found some reference that Roy has a sister so I gave her a name and a give-no-shit attitude towards her brother. Cause let's face it, we've all wanted to give Roy a talking to at one point or another. Thanks for the reviews.
1 I really enjoyed this setup, which makes me feel bad about myself because they're both so unhappy but it's really well done. I like the little changes to canon (and the one big one) and I'm interested in where this goes!
Author's Response: Thank you every much for reading - I'm glad you're enjoying it!
1 Ohhhh boy. That took some surprising twists but I'm apparently as on board as they are with this. Will be fascinating to see where you go with it.
1 Uhhh oh my. That went much faster than I expected even after last chapter but I'm down. Hoping Pam and Jim can pull out of their own heads long enough to figure out that they have a good thing going...
1 I like these split chapters; they're useful as a way of letting us know they're on the same page even if they don't actually know it yet. Good work.