What if Pam had gone along with Michael and Dwight to the convention? Was she ready to see Jim? Was Jim ready to face Pam?
9 I have nothing eloquent to say, but I am loving this story to pieces.
MEMBER'S CHOICE TOP NOMINEE - Jim and Pam must interact in network sponsored live chats to promote their documentary. Angst (and maybe some smut) ensue.
Story now complete.
10 Here is my short but extremely heartfelt review: This is my absolute favorite WIP at the moment. I'm always excited to see a new chapter, and always wish for more. I love how you're using the combination of the (short) time delay between events and the show, and the anonymity of the Internet (plus the craziness of some fans) to explore the characters and their relationship. This is just grand, really.
Post-Benihana Christmas fic!
Remember when Jim and Pam convinced Dwight that a CIA helicopter would pick him up on the roof? Well, neither of them could resist showing up that night to see the prank to it's conclusion.
10 This is such a great start! The characterization, dialogue, all ring perfectly true. And I love the premise. I can't wait to see where you go with the rest of it.
Author's Response: Thanks! I hope when you see Dwight next chapter you think he's in character because I had so much fun writing him!
9 This is nothing like what I expected from the summary. How dare you call it badfic? It's adorable! Really one of the better first date fics I've read.
Author's Response: Heh, thanks! I called it badfic because I thought it was slightly cheesy, but I'm glad you liked it!
10 I agree with the others: this is a well-done, believable, and refreshing take on the first date fic (I'm another who just cannot get enough of these, so I was excited to see this one). I loved Jim's question about just what she meant by "too far": you do a terrific job of portraying their relationship in all its nuances. Great character voices.
I was wondering the same thing as Colette: are we to expect more chapters? I certainly hope so!
8 This was adorable! I confess I rarely read stories in script format, but this was done so well the form didn't interfere with the reading pleasure in the slightest.
I thought the story idea was original and totally plausible, and very neatly higlighted lots of relationships and characters outside of Jim and Pam: Ryan, Jan/Michael, Dwight/Angela, Michael himself...
Seriously, this was just great!
Inanna3, I was concerned that reading script format would turn some people off. MTT has such a dedicated group of readers though!
I'm going for as much realism in my scripts as possible. It seems that it's was I need to do to get through the writer's strike.
10 I'm another one who's terribly torn about this story. I'm not an OMGJAM4EVA or I'll die!!!11 kind of person, so it's not the pairing in and of itself that I find disturbing. Of course it's fabulously well written, with attention to those little details that make everything come alive without ever descending into tedium. You're always masterful about knowing just when to zoom in, and when to pan out.
If I actually saw Jim-on-the-show as the passive, ballsless, idolizing and slightly dim character he's written as in this story, I'm sure I'd feel differently. (Really, he couldn't tell Ryan was dissing him about being a steel salesman? Srsly?) The same if I saw Ryan as the basically cool guy with a strong undercurrent of feeling who just sometimes lets his asshole side take over without quite realizing it. If Ryan-on-the-show came across to me as he does here, then I'd probably want him with Pam, too.
So how can I put it? I think this is a fabulously well written and well told story, but it's about characters that are a couple of lens stops away from the ones I see, if that makes sense. I'm able to enjoy it more if I read it as being about three original characters--played by the same actors as the ones on The Office, but otherwise bearing only a superficial resemblance.
First of all, thanks so much for those very kind comments on the writing -- I really appreciate them.
As for the characterization -- what was key for me in writing the story, and what I maybe didn't get across very well, is that this is Ryan POV, and Ryan is not necessarily a reliable narrator, especially when it comes to Jim. I wouldn't take any of Ryan's thoughts about Jim as being gospel truth, or even necessarily the truth as Ryan sees it -- from Jim's point of view, this story would look very different. And for Ryan himself, this is a Ryan that could've been in an AU if he and Pam had gotten together after season 2, rather than what he's grown into in the canon of the show in seasons 3 & 4 -- and again, of course he seems like less of an asshole from inside his own head.
Anyway, you might still be right that it's as out of character as you say, but that's what I was going for.
Thanks again for your thoughtful comment.
AU Season 2, some undetermined amount of time after Booze Cruise. Roy invites Jim to a house party.8 I really enjoyed this story a lot--it wasn't just smut (although that part was very good), but really great character development. I loved how you wove awareness of the cameras into the story, even though the cameras weren't actually present.
Great story! (And I thought the ending was adorable, not silly at all.)
Jim and Pam are Jim and Pam, only...not really.7 I am a terrible person for not reviewing yet, but I am truly enjoying this story. There's something oddly compelling about imagining them as almost-but-not-quite the characters we know, and watching this story unfold from just a slightly different angle.
So it's a very fun read... even though my real name is Dawn, so, well. Some parts have been a little uncomfortable.
NOW COMPLETE!!!
"Jim, why don't you tell Pam how you really feel?"
Jim and Pam deal with the stuff that comes with being on a hit show...talk shows, radio call-ins, and press junkets. They say there's no such thing as bad publicity, but is that really the case? Watch as Jim and Pam deal with being in the public eye and under the thumb of manipulative network producers. The story is told through interviews, transcripts, web pages and photos.
I just reread the story so far, and was reminded of how much I love it. I hope you'll be getting back to it soon!
This was absolutely wonderful. I loved following Jim's thoughts and seeing how he desperately tried to be all things to all people, until he was simply stretched too taut. This is one of those stories that is going to slide so smoothly into canon for me, I'll forget we never saw it on the show.
Thanks for writing it.
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