10

OH perfect perfect. This was beautiful, and felt so true. Loved the feeling that Jim is trying to push himself through this, but that maybe it's slowly starting to work. Loved the visual of them sitting the parking lot alone. The world needs more good Jim/Karen fic.

10

OHMYGOD.  How is this perfect?  How did you get inside Dwight's head?

I adored every line of this.  Every line.  I literally want to quote the entire thing back to you because it was all amazing.  

The beginning was incredible.  It sounds so much like Dwight, it's scary.  The headline made me start cracking up, and I really never stopped through the rest of this.

I think the highlight was the Michael vs. Jim debate.  This:

Michael has his advantages, although height isn't one of them.  He's better with women than Jim is, but since when is that necessary to take on the universe?  Dwight would much rather his partner be able to move objects with his mind than to have sex with his boss.

made me start clapping with glee.

And then this:

He'd be hiding behind a tree wearing a green striped tie and a plaid shirt, and he'd run and jump into his X-Earth that is no match whatsoever for the Great Levitating Trans-Am.  Dwight and Jim would chase him around corners and down side streets until smashhh!  They'd intercept him at an inters...section.  Bits and pieces of metal and glass would go flying everywhere.  Dwight would pull him out of his car by the collar, and then Jim would probably say something dumb that nobody would laugh at.  But Dwight would laugh, right in Andy's face, because he's pathetic.  And a wuss.

My stomach hurts I laughed so hard.  It's making me laugh again as I leave this review.

I'm pretty sure this is one of the best Office fics ever.  YOU are a fanfic superhero.

8

YAY Karen fic. Always love when people invest background for her that feels real and reflects what we've seen of her on the show. She's her own person, and has her own things going on outside of the Jim/Pam mess--loved your exploration of what that could be.

Author's Response: Thanks!! I refuse to let her be crazy and jealous just for jam plot development sake, you know? Thanks for the review!

This was really, really lovely. You get this sense from them on the show that even though things are insanely awkward, and they're both so hurt and unsure, they would still do anything to help each other if need be, and you captured that feeling so well here.

Really loved the last bit of conversation, which was so touching and perfectly in-character.

Author's Response: I'm so glad you think the conversation was in character - it's hard to capture the way people really speak in writing, so I'm pleased you think it worked! Thanks for the review!

OHMYGOSH. I've been waiting to read & review this because I knew that I would adore it. Jim/Dwight is just about my favorite thing on the planet, and you guys have been writing my favorite, favorite fics recently. A pretty killer combination in my book.

So I'm going to leave a scary number of reviews because I think this whole thing is so brilliant and because there are so many things in each chapter that make me way too happy.

In this one-it's so spot-on. I love how it mirrors what we saw in The Initiation with Ryan, but minus Ryan's smugness and with Jim's eager-to-please confusion thrown in.

And I laughed out loud when Jim responded with "absolutely, one-hundred-percent ready" just to show that he'd been paying attention. It just plonks you down right into their dynamic immediately-it already feels so familiar.

10

Love love love the dynamic in this chapter, where Jim is starting to get annoyed and Dwight is being weird and irritating, but also has this whole other layer of high expectations and disappointed hopes for his relationship with Jim.

And this is perfect:

"Mose! Barn, now. We're wrestling."

10

And so it starts. Love how you've built up to this-it feels like such a natural progression to this point. And the end! Dwight knowing that Jim was lying but not saying anything was so randomly touching...love those little reminders that Dwight is a human being with feelings. And it's so true to Jim's character that his self-preservation instinct tends to kick in 2 years too late, and that he may be desperate and unhappy...but he can't seem to do anything to move away from it.

10

Oooh, my favorite chapter so far, I think.

God, I love when Season 1 Jim realizes how pathetic he is--and that whole bit about him coming in to the office just because Pam might be there is so, so sad and so true to character.

And I adored the Jim/Dwight interaction and Jim's tossing the competition at the end and how he actually had fun and was productive with Dwight and without Pam. Loved it. That last line just felt so nostalgic--it was such a nice ending sentiment for this chapter.

10

OH GOSH. I love love love reading your version of happy Jim/Karen. This felt so lived in and real and happy, and then with the quick punch to the gut at the end...so good.

I feel like this has to be what Karen's feeling. On the surface, she feels it's good and is trying to convince herself that it is good. But underneath, she's got to have the fear that their relationship won't go anywhere.

10

Both of these scenes are so lovely and real-I felt like I was sitting there watching both of these moments unfold in front of me.  As others have commented, the parallel was perfect and the last line so full of meaning.  I also loved the way you wrote Pam's thoughts in both sections--it was so true to her character on the show, which is so tough to do.

Author's Response: Thank you!  I am so glad that you think that this was true to Pam, and that the parallel between Jim and Roy was realistic!

Love what you brought up here about Jim not being able to trust Pam any more because she's been dishonest about her feelings towards him for so long. I've never seen that in a fic before and I love that you're exploring it.

Oh this is so real and so them. All those little details (Flip flops & lean pockets?? Rushmore & the big screen TV? Fantastic.) really made me feel this.

And that moment at the end was perfect. There's always that moment with Pam where she could spill out everything she's holding inside, yet it always tips slightly the other way and she says something like "I should go." Really well done--loved the complete non-drama of this.