So lovely, lis!  This is one of the best reasons to be sleepless, I guess. :)

My favorite is the paragraph about things changing and staying the same.

It's a nice story.  I think it was called "5 things" and now it's not?  There are a lot of other nights Pam was probably a bit sleepless. ;) 

Nice job, but... Jim took Pam to a "dive bar" on their first real date?  I hope not. ;)  I also have to take exception to this statement: "She was tall..."  Rashida Jones is about 5'4", not even quite average for a woman her age, I don't think.  I can't imagine Karen thinks of herself as tall, especially when she was dating Jim at 6'3".

I like Karen's strength here.  She's obviously hurting, but she's strong and determined to get through it.  I like how she knew not to go into work, and this line: "He took her heart and he took her hope and he took her for granted but he would not take her pride and her professionalism with it."  I liked the bit about Jim checking out the tea bags even though he didn't drink it, also -- that was a neat detail.

Your final line "Because today, it still fucking hurt" is a great way to end it.

Oh, this is just lovely!  Number 4 is my favorite, although #2 is close behind.  With #3, I wonder if Jan just had to know because she thought if it was a boy, it would be like Michael?

What a nice idea, and nicely done. :) 

Ha!  What fun, Big Tuna! :)  I can imagine where things go from here. ;)

Author's Response:

I don't know if I want to imagine what would happen after this. ; ) I'm glad you liked it, Too Late Kev! Thanks for reviewing!

-Rose

Wow.  That was... Wow. ;)


Author's Response:

TLK?  Hello?  I know I've left this exact review a couple of times for other stories but my own paranoia has me thinking, 'Damn,  I hope that's a good wow.'  You got the winky there, so I'm thinking...yeah.  Thanks and it was fun to make you go 'wow'

I agree that Karen would be hard on herself.  This is an incredibly good look into Karen's head.  Wonderful.  I also love when people write about the "smaller" characters.  Thanks so much, thirtypercent.  (I have no choice but to favorite this.)


Author's Response: TLK, this made me so happy!  I know Karen isn't exactly a favorite topic around here (well, unless discord is involved), so I wasn't sure how this would be received.  So, thank you!

Yay!!  Lovely, lis! It's all very nice, and the description of  how Michael ended up at the hospital adds some Comic Relief.  It's funny to think of Jan and Mama Scott off somewhere, also.  To be a fly on the wall at that Girl's Night Out...  There's a story in there for you. ;)


Author's Response: Thanks. Yes, I could resist dropping some silliness into this- it is based on a comedy, after all! Thank you so much!

Nice. I especially like: "I didn't mean for this to become a thing…" and the part where he was talking about her discussion with Kelly.

Speaking of Kelly, if you hadn't mentioned America's Next Top Model in the notes, I wouldn't have know what "ANTM Anonymous" referred to. Would Jim know what ANTM refers to? Do ANTM fans actually use the letters when speaking aloud about the show? (You can tell how familiar I am with the show.)

I like this sentence "It seems that every time she thinks they've moved far beyond last year there's something else that comes up." So many people seem to assume everything's really easy, and some of the scenes in the show even make everything seem easier and more talked out than I think it would be, for example, the "is the magic gone" scene, the "we should have started dating years ago" scene, and the deleted scene where Pam's teasing Jim about Karen "because you love her?" in the baby voice. I much prefer something that shows there's still difficulty. They went through a lot last year, and those hurts and aches don't just go away with one kiss or one talk.

Hooray for stomping out writer's block. :)

Author's Response:

Thank you TLK!   RE: ANTM - I do.  It's a mouthful (twss) otherwise and they have on occassion used the abbreviation on the show as well.  So...yeah I understand it's not the best example - but I also bet you Kelly ADORES ANTM and I can imagine Pam being hooked even though you'd think it wasn't her thing.  Guilty pleasure and all that.

I agree.  They've glossed over a ton in S4.  I don't think it would happen so easily.

And they say fanfic is full of unrealistic scenarios. :)

Thank you.  Writers block sucks - but reviews like yours are worth it when you finally break through.  :)

"It's then he knows for sure it does." Does what? Does what? I had to reread the prior paragraph to figure it out. Maybe I'm just slow, but you might want to add something to that sentence for us slow folks. ;) I love that first paragraph of Jim's, by the way. Gorgeous -- you paint such a picture here.

Really nice job. I just realized I didn't have you favorited; I'm fixing that. ;)

Author's Response:

I get what you're saying.  I thought about it myself when I wrote it.  But that was meant to mirror Pam's "it doesn't" in the earlier section.   Hmmmm.  Something to think about.  I'll look at it again.  

Thank you so much for the reading and the reviewing and the favoriting.  I really appreciate it.

"Suddenly the world comes back into focus, and you know this is it. After this, things will change."

You know when Angela says under no circumstances should we have a man strip off his clothes in the office, and Meredith says "SHUT UP, ANGELA!"? I have the opposite reaction to the above sentence, like "OH, YEAH, XOXOXO!"

I love how you have this where they just about miss the boat again, and they just barely, barely manage not to.

DAWE-SOME.

Author's Response:

I've written this scenario before and I've written it a lot neater (and sweeter).  I realize I've conveniently glossed over some of the obvious obstacles but I was trying to get to the happy without spelling it all out.   The near miss kind of thing helped accomplish that fact.  So it's not them dancing and then running out to make out in the parking lot ('cause yeah...I've had them do that) it's them acknowledging what they want - and knowing they can't fix it all in one night.   At least that's what I hope came across.

And I'm guessing (hoping) from your review that it did.

Jim's brothers are like the devil and the angel on his shoulders.  I look forward to more!


Author's Response:

Thanks, TLK -- that's exactly the feel I was going for, to have each of them represent a side of Jim's conscience (sort of).

Thanks for reviewing!

"Hey, come up to my room and see some etchings!  Er, I mean, photographs!"  Well, well, what might happen?  Wouldn't it have been nice if Jim had confessed a few days after the Booze Cruise?  I'm really looking forward to seeing how this all plays out. 

Author's Response:

Hahah!  You know me too well, my friend.  :o) While I think Casino Night was absolute perfection and remember watching it when it aired (was absolutely STUNNED and blown away), it is interesting to consider what might've happened if he'd come clean sooner.  ...And that's what I'm gonna explore for the remainder of this story.  :o)

Thanks so much for reviewing!

This is sooo good!  As I was reading through, many lines came to me as being particularly good, or apt, but...I'd have to re-read it to find them. ;)

You're really capturing Pam's thoughts here, I think.  She'd be so stunned.  Jim's thoughts, too, although he got less "play" in this chapter, were really good, and I love everyone's reactions to the situation.

Also, Pam's mom is a good mom. :)

It may take me a while to get through the chapters, but I will. :)