Closing in on midnight, Jim and Pam await the start of 2008.
Â
What a fun story! I love the hope and joy they're sharing. It's infectious!
Oh wow, poor Roy. That was so beautiful and sad! I love that he was happy for the neighbors instead of being bitter. And then he didn't tell the cute new girl his resolution. Man.
Happy New Year lis!
Author's Response: Thanks, babe! I don't know what came over me to inspire melancholy Roy-fic, but I'm glad you liked it.
Wow. Painful but beautifully written. Ouch.
Oh my gods Ryan would make a sex tape with Kelly. BWAH!!! Uh, anyway, this was fantastic! I've been missing your writing. It was just a perfect mix of funny and sweet and who can't relate to being trapped in an airport? And then the surprise ending! I had no idea they were on their way to a destination wedding. None. Complete surprise. But absolutely in character, too. Totally - well...I think he might not realize it at first...I'm thinking Kelly could be pretty stealthy. :) I certainly can relate - I wrote this while I myself was trapped in one. :) I am glad I surprised you. I thought I was not fooling anyone. LOL! I'm so glad you liked it. I've been missing writing - and was so thankful I got something done. It had been way too long.
Author's Response:
Jim relives the dark days of early June 2006.
Australia was never about taking a vacation.
To be honest with you, I've been putting off reading this one because I wasn't sure I wanted to deal with angst from back then. But this was so good! It was one of your best written pieces. Truly. The tension of Jim's internal debate, culminating in him finally not actually going was so compelling. It was nice to know what actually happened with that trip (since apparently the writers aren't going to bring it up). And then you had that lovely coda where it was all a bad dream! Like I said, this was so good.
Man. Even better the second time through. It's just so tense and conflicted and really, truly sleepless.
Author's Response: I can only imagine what Pam went through that night (Jim, too, for that matter). I'm so glad it holds up to repeated reading! Thank you!!
I hate the imagined intruders when I'm alone at night.
I'm still just so taken with the sentences comparing before and after Roy. And yet "home" is still not where she's actually living. Poignant.
Author's Response: Yeah, I think it takes a while to think of the new place as "home" no matter the circumstances. And I also think Roy would have been after her all the time to "come home," which would have reinforced that in her head. But I love that you use the word "poignant" because that's what I was going for. She's in a new, better place (in her life, if not in her neighborhood), but it's still hard for her because of all she's lost (both Roy and Jim). Thank you!
Oh man. Talk about bittersweet. I had forgotten this was your third night. I loved it. The idea that she had PREPARED. Ouch. But you're totally right. She had only the highest hopes and expectations. So joyful. And yet, knowing what actually happened...
Author's Response: I couldn't resist posting this without your mad beta skills- I wanted to surprise you! She was so excited, and then...and I imagine that she spent a long time the next night telling herself that she should have expected this. Poor Pam. Of course, we know things get better! Thanks, sweetie!
Hmm. I can't remember how I worded my comments that got eaten.
I love the idea of it being quiet enough for a yawn to echo. That's brilliant. And thank you for letting them have this talk (and cry and confession and revelation) while sober.
Even knowing what you had saved for the last chapter, this still brought tears to my eyes! I love that he knows exactly where the feet are thrashing and that Daddy's voice can calm the little buddy down.
I just had to reread the whole thing again before hitting "Submit". This was amazing.
I love it! Oh man, that's so perfect. It's just...exactly how Jan needs to end up. This was awesome!
Author's Response: thank you! i think i like fic/jan better than tv/jan - i loved writing this.
That was so nice. I really like how you've captured Karen's fight against her own emotions. Like, she tries so hard to be strong that she forgets it's OK to be weak, too. And I love that she's happy to have not shared part of herself with Jim. That she hadn't given him EVERYTHING.
Author's Response: Thanks! I like to think that too. I don't like to think that she put everything into that relationship only to have it end like that.
I'm grinning like an idiot over here after that. The reactions were perfect. I love Kelly and the penis size comments most. And Michael's sudden love of texting. And Dwight's various duties. Hee! All of them!
There are so many little spot-on character elements: "something he can actually do something about", "after the first time" (HA!), "forbid him to come anymore". It's spectacular how well these two come across in what is essentially just a list.
Author's Response: Hee, thank you for responding to my pathetic plea. And also for your comments! I really liked coming up with the "extra" stuff in each line to convey their personalities. I tried to make this not preggo-general, but Michael/Jan specific, and I'm thrilled that you got a sense of that!
Just a little one-shot I actually started a long time ago. It's set immediately post DM Infinity and is a shameless bit of fluff with a pinch of steam. :o)
As always, feedback is much appreciated!
*sigh* That was lovely. I like how you wove in elements from the show but in a very subtle fashion. You did a really great job of capturing the absolute depth of their connection.
Author's Response:
Thank you so much -- the connection is exactly what I wanted to convey here; in fact, the notion of exploring how profound their connection would surely have to be is what was the actual catalyst for the story in the first place. So it's really great to hear that you experienced the story that way. :o)
Thanks, too, for taking the time to review!
You walk by the watercolors every day and you feel nauseous, like the water used to paint them was under you, rocking you side to side, instead of dried on the wall.
There's one last nagging part of Pam's past that has yet to be fixed.
This was truly amazing. I love the idea of Future Strong Pam attacking her weak early art and changing it and making it something more. I've never read anything remotely like it before. And excellent use of the second person. Very effective.
Author's Response: Thank you so much! It's always a thrill to hear that I've done something original.
Not quite Afternoon so...Mid-Morning Delight? Hee!
I had no idea how much I missed Kandy. This was exactly why I love that pairing in fic. They are made for each other!
Author's Response: My feelings exactly. Thanks for reading!
Karen POV post-Branch Wars. Spoilers through BW.
She tries to pinpoint the moment when being near him went from making her feel bubbly and young to brittle and needy.
Gorgeous. So real and vulnerable and lovely and sad and deep. I think this is exactly how Karen would have been if we'd have been allowed to delve more deeply into her character.
Author's Response:
I think there's this moment in Women's Appreciation that gives us a ton of insight into Karen's character. When Karen and Pam are at the mall advising Michael on Jan, Karen tells him that most relationships have their rough patches, and you just have to get through them. Then Pam says maybe, but that it sounds like they're just wrong for each other. While Pam's talking, Karen has this look of such... vulnerability and self-doubt. And you could see that she was trying hard to believe what she was saying and didn't want to think Pam was right. That's where a lot of the inspiration for this story came from.
Ok, that was far more rambling than necessary, but... thanks so much, belsum!
Their first date gets derailed. Somehow, that's OK.
As many times as I've read through this story in it's incarnations, my favorite sentence remains, "He felt a sudden urge to kiss her, and realized with a swooping sensation that there was no longer any reason not to."
Author's Response: I'm so glad you still like it, even though you really have seen it quite a bit! Thank you!!
Oh man, that Boggle timer business reminds me of Jack and Ianto's stopwatch flirting in Torchwood! Do you watch that show? Hee! And it managed to push my insatiable craving for cheesecake right outta my head, too!
I love how you wove in their continued uncertainly and tip-toeing. It really is going to take some time for them to work through everything. But this was a lovely example of how they can get it done!
Author's Response: Yeah I don't think it's all fine and dandy - but I loved the idea of even though it might be tough, they'd be able to work through it. I'm so glad you liked it!!
If this is just a writing exercise... I like the change in perspective and the comparison of what's different to what's the same. This was a wonderful exploration. Subtle and detailed at the same time.
Author's Response:
Jim and Pam banter is really easy for me to write (I mean - REALLY easy. I can do it kinda with my eyes closed - which should ashame me a little but frankly - it does not!) so in order to not get in a rut where that's ALL I write I was trying to do something a bit more...I don't know...stylized I guess.
I'm not sure I succeeded - but I'm glad you liked it all the same. Thanks so much!
Do you know which character is which?
Definitely not too weird of a concept! I like it. I figured I'd just pick a character and then once it became clear who it was I could go back and revisit. I picked Angela straight away! But the fun thing is that a lot of this could have been Pam.
Author's Response: some of it definitely could've been Pam ;-) Glad you got it right, though.
Oooh, I liked this one much more than the last. Such sadness! At first I thought it could be Michael but I rapidly changed to Stanley. By the end, obviously, you made it clear. But it's the dual possibilities that make these so fun!
Author's Response: oh wow I'm so happy to hear you say that you liked this one better than the first one!! I was so torn about this chapter that it's just very refreshing to know that it reads well. And also I'm glad you're having fun ;-)
8