Date: April 10, 2022 11:01 am Title: "A real relationship can't be forced. It should just come about effortless...ledly."
Please, I BEG OF YOU, I hope you write about Jim coming back, their first date, and reconnecting with each other!
Author's Response: I would never leave y’all hanging. Next chapter is the last one ;)
Date: April 09, 2022 12:57 am Title: "A real relationship can't be forced. It should just come about effortless...ledly."
This was a hell of a read, TD. I lived this chapter but found it a difficult read because it’s hard reading about someone else loving Jim and him trying to be with that other person when we really want him to be with Pam. But you gave Karen so much pathos and you gave us permission to have sympathy with her, whilst at the same time allowing us to still enjoy him leaving her and hearing back to Scranton. That is some great writing, Lady!
Author's Response: Thank you so much! I know this one is a heavy read, hopefully the last chapter will be a welcome reprieve. Thanks for sticking with it!
Date: April 08, 2022 04:44 am Title: "A real relationship can't be forced. It should just come about effortless...ledly."
This chapter was like the story within the story and I was totally here for it - what Karen was experiencing through all this did warrant some unpacking.
The poor girl - she feel in love with with the Jim he was trying to be, only to find out she fell in love with a person that didn't quite exist...sure he still had the smile but so much else of what she feel for was a facade, the biggest of which was his ability to give himself over to someone else.
I like the contrast of her with her no-nonsense friend, Monika...and here's what I noticed...as viewers of the show we see Karen as the no-nonsense, able to act, goes for what she wants, opposite of Pam - but here we see that it's all relative; here Karen is weak one in comparison seeming unable to see what she's put on blinders to.
**It’s weird, the way your body sometimes understands things before your brain does. But this is exactly what happens to Karen when she reads Jim’s text.** - so true and I really like the way you present this
Right from the start we see Karen's attraction to qualities that aren't really the Jim we know (although in some aspects they are - the drive he has just wasn't ever for selling paper, and he is helpful) - yeah scratch that - but even so she was still meeting a alt-Jim, when she first noticed him.
**“Thanks,” he finally says after a minute or so. He still won’t look at her, just stares up at the stippled ceiling. He sounds far away again. “For being so upfront about everything. For not making me wonder.”**
This hit me - more for how it made me feel for Jim again and the hurt that was obviously still so raw, especially after coming back.
**In an instant, all of the little moments between her boyfriend and the receptionist she’d wondered about since they arrived in Scranton shuffle through her mind, one after the other, like a puzzle she didn’t realize she’d been putting together this entire time. And Phyllis has just handed her the final piece** - What a perfect description.
The double talk Jim gives her in the coffee shop exchange - great in that he doesn't quite lie and moves the conversation to a direction where he doesn't have to.
OKay, I loved the whole bit with the sunken-cost fallacy - and Karen so seems like the type who would see things with him as an investment she wasn't ready drop - she'd put too much in - including a move to Scranton.
AHA - the stuffed animal on her desk - I was curious about your interest in that and I enjoyed how you worked that in.
The talk on the way home after the beach, was well done and felt so accurate.
She stops trying - the juxtaposition to Jim in the last chapter..nice.
Thanks for giving us the little flash ahead - Lets us see that Karen will be okay and gets over her anger at having been used as *Kelvar* (nice) and understands that they all wound up where they were meant to be even if there were bumps to get there.
Great chapter- really enjoyed it. - but can't wait for what's coming - saving my last JB for the magic moment.
Date: April 07, 2022 11:57 pm Title: "A real relationship can't be forced. It should just come about effortless...ledly."
THE KAREN CHAPTER. IT'S HERE. IT'S HERE. ABONDANZA.
"It seemed like an open and shut situation. But there was just one problem. “I love him,” she’d said." Oh, Karen. This is not going to be a year you look upon at all fondly.
This fountain sequence is a gut punch. Karen's body reading Jim's text accurately is a nice touch, and the sense that for the first time she's seeing Scranton Jim and knows what that means... ooof. But awesome.
I love what you've done throughout this chapter in contrasting the Jim Karen sees with the Jim we know. This first impression of him she gets is just... so not Jim, and she has no way of knowing that.
"He told her himself he’s really bad at reading signals and for his sake more than for her own, she decides not to send him that one." Oh Karen...
"It doesn’t seem like the sort of thing Jim would spend so much valuable work time on." Oh, KAREN. SO many red flags you're just willfully looking away from in this conversation. Girl. GIRL.
I've said this before, but I think this is very valuable added context for what was going through her mind with the pummeling of Jim with about three different relationship milestones in one conversation in Back From Vacation. Everyone's trying their best here. It's just that their best is not up to the task.
"indicating she has no idea what Phyllis is talking about would make it seem like she doesn’t know Jim as well as she thought she did. And then it hits her. She doesn’t know Jim as well as she thought she did." Oh, KARENNNNN.
"She hates to admit it, even to herself, but the two of them seem perfectly suited for each other in every possible way. It doesn’t make any sense." We know, Karen. We know.
"Maybe everything is going to be fine."/"Everything is not fine." There are a lot of fantastic transitions in this chapter, but this remains my favorite.
Another thing running through this chapter I particularly enjoyed are the indications that it's not just that Karen doesn't know real Jim - it's that the glimpses of him she sees are largely the aspects of his personality that rub her the wrong way. Oh, Karen. (*glares at Jim*)
"I just want all this Pam stuff to be over." Do you, Jim? DO YOU?
"she was never going to be someone he could love when she was essentially just Kevlar." LOVE where this ended.
"“No, it wasn’t,” he says, to her surprise. “I think everything would have been okay. But… I think we both deserve more than ‘okay.’ Don’t you?"" PRECISELY.
"It’s the exact same thing Pam said to her yesterday before she left, as if they share a fucking brain or something." Awwwww. I mean, in context, ouch. But also.
Omg. This ending. Omg. This is perfect.
"DTMFA" definitely existed by the summer of 2006. I remember it fondly.
Date: April 07, 2022 09:14 pm Title: "A real relationship can't be forced. It should just come about effortless...ledly."
I was not expecting to get all of Karen's thoughts on the previous year in this chapter. As always you did a remarkable job getting into her her head. Starting out there leaving the caf? for the fountain it's the start of everything. Karen is remarkably intelligent and with everything that had gone on since Beach Day it's unsurprising that she has a premonition of what's coming. But there's the real Jim sitting at the fountain. The Jim who rolls up his sleeves and who's heart belongs to Pam. It really feels like this is the first time she's seen more than just glimpses of who the real Jim is.
Going back through their relationship one can see with the benefit of hindsight just how many red flags were really snapping in the wind. She got sucked in due to physical attraction and then let her feelings get to involved as well. Her admitting, at least to herself, that she was in love with Jim seemed to clarify that. But then as the months go on things change, even if she keeps saying things are going good. The more she gets glimpses of the real Jim and gets more clues about Pam the more things feel on edge. Great buildup to her thought process with all that. How much she wants the relationship to work even if it's just because of how emotionally invested she is in it by now. At times it did seem like she and Jim would work out. But always there was Pam. Karen clearly wasn't wrong when she told Jim there was one to many people there in Scranton for her and Jim to stand a chance.
Speaking of that. The actual breakup scene was one of the more interesting ones I've ever written. It's rare for Karen to be quite so in control like that. However the setup for it showed it was very plausible. It hurts her yes but she does well to stay in control for as long as she can. I think she knew that there really wasn't anything she could have said or did that would have saved her and Jim's relationship at that point. She was right to finally demand the full and honest truth from him. As hard as I'm sure it was I also respect Jim for finally laying it all out there for her.
Also thank you for giving us some hope for her as well. In reality the only thing wrong with Karen is that she just wasn't Pam. She also saw Jim at a vulnerable time in his life where he wasn't really acting himself. She also saw in him what she wanted to see to a degree. So that's why I'm glad you gave us that mini flash forward. Adds a nice touch of closure for her.
1 [Report This]Date: April 07, 2022 12:36 pm Title: "A real relationship can't be forced. It should just come about effortless...ledly."
Karen definitely should have listened to Monika.
Monika really hit the nail on the head with not just Karen’s relationship with Jim, but also with Karen
herself. The red flags were there the whole time and Karen choose to ignore them. She was right in that Jim was a different person in Stamford than he was in Scranton, which is what I’ve been saying for a while.
Karen fell for the guy who she THOUGHT Jim was,
and Pam wanted Scranton Jim. In other words,
the real Jim. In the end that’s who won out.
Karen should have known that she couldn’t suppress the real Jim for too long because he kept coming out like when he found the glasses to prank Dwight.
Also Karen’s annoyance with Jim’s pranks also showed how they really didn’t have that much in common, or chemistry. It was interesting to see things from Karen’s POV, but also showed that she actually wasn’t as confident as she tried to appear.
Yes she was good at her job, but as a woman deep
down she was insecure. I do think that she has every right to be angry at Jim because he did lie to her,
and was leading her on to think they could possibly have a future. At least Karen seems to have
a happy ending to with the doctor, because the camera guy was right in that Karen should be with a guy that chases after her.
Date: April 07, 2022 12:26 pm Title: "A real relationship can't be forced. It should just come about effortless...ledly."
A whole chapter on Karen…nooooo! But it was incredibly well written and all the moments you created were perfect.
“Yeah. Okay, here's the…” he looks around the coffee shop, as if the way out of this little pickle is written on the menu or something. This made me laugh so much, such a great little line in there.
CANNOT WAIT FOR THE LAST CHAPTER!!!
Date: April 03, 2022 04:04 pm Title: "What is love anyway? Maybe it's supposed to break all the rules."
There's the hammer falls for Jim that I've been talking about. At long last he finally gets it. It's clearly shaken him right down to his core, but when the hammer finally stops, he's back. The Jim who in actuality did win over Pam even when he thought he lost her. The Jim he was always meant to be, but could never really let it all out. Beautiful reading about how it finally clarified for him.
Loved the flashback scene. Jim getting a chance to just stare into Pam's eyes? Yeah that would make him go all sorts of goo-goo eyed for sure.
Now that Jim's steel has been forged and tempered, there's one challenge left. Cutting ties with Karen. Not easy or painless to be sure, but it feels like he's ready for it.
Also LOVED that you brought in the lines from A.A.R.M. I've got a feeling that this and when he caught Pam and just held her in the parking lot before quitting Athleap were the two things going through his mind when he told those words to Dwight. Superb use of those lines.
Hopefully I've got a few more jellybeans to give out cause this chapter deserves all of them.
Date: April 03, 2022 01:22 pm Title: "What is love anyway? Maybe it's supposed to break all the rules."
Another chapter that got me in the feels - the way you demonstrate just how much they are meant to be together within their own internal monologues - the thing stuck in his/her shoe...the no ones's happy with silver. Both said by the other - in other chapters.
As usual, the blanks you fill in with what happened at the Olympics and the interview - spot on.
This is no coded overture. It’s a flashing marquee, it’s a jet puffing out skywriting across the sky - how I loved this line.
Yup - Oscar taught her Origami alright- my personal head canon too.
He wants to make her his so badly it hurts. So true.
But this was my favorite line - He’s been lying to himself for so long, swimming upstream against a powerful current. And if he stops trying so hard and just lets go, if he allows the current to carry him away, he knows exactly where it will lead: right back to her.
My only but, not enough NY - now you know I'm just teasing, but you also know I love a good NY scene. But seriously, you did another great job here. Can't wait to see how you bring it all home.
1 [Report This]Date: April 03, 2022 12:48 pm Title: "What is love anyway? Maybe it's supposed to break all the rules."
First of all, I'm so glad you included Oscar's origami. Genius.
The rest was absolutely beautiful. I love Jim's realization in the bathroom that he wasn't himself and he didn't want to be someone else. So good.
I can't WAIT for the next two!!! So excited!
1 [Report This]Date: April 03, 2022 11:41 am Title: "What is love anyway? Maybe it's supposed to break all the rules."
So you and I both know that this is the first chapter of this story that I'm reading. I know you thought it was safe, but you always deliver on all fronts, and this was no exception.
My heart hurts for Jim so bad, especially after reading the office olympics flashback. And I love how you tied the silver/gold metaphor back to the interview.
Now I need to go ice my heart back to how it was before.
1 [Report This]Date: April 03, 2022 01:04 am Title: "What is love anyway? Maybe it's supposed to break all the rules."
Yes! Feeling like Judd Nelson at the end of Tye Breakfast Club right now *punches the air* - you keep breathing new life into this TD 🥰
Date: April 03, 2022 12:24 am Title: "What is love anyway? Maybe it's supposed to break all the rules."
"He’d chosen loyalty to Karen. She’s the responsible choice, the safe one. And regardless of the inner conflict he’s been trying to suppress all year long, he knows he can be happy with her. He and Pam have a history, sure... but now, so do he and Karen." I'm not sure I fully registered the blindingly clear and blindingly painful parallels to post-Casino Night Pam before. Maybe I just didn't want to believe.
"It reminds him of those times something gets stuck in his shoe and he can’t get it out." Okay, first of all: how dare you.
"t occurs to him how incredibly ironic it is that right now, when he could use some support himself, is the moment she’s chosen to leave him alone with his thoughts." Pouring one out for my homie K-Filly. Lost sight of her goal THISSHORT of the finish line.
"Jim had come out on top for the gold, which didn’t surprise him, as staring deeply into Pam’s eyes with permission was something he would have done as long as humanly possible." You're a SAP, Halpert.
"“No one’s actually happy with silver.”" EEEEEEEEP. I am excited for what's coming in spite of 100% knowing what's coming on multiple levels.
"Karen’s right… they don’t have a future in Scranton. But he does." AHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
"He can’t forget her. He will never forget her. And most importantly… he doesn’t want to." AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
Date: April 02, 2022 11:44 pm Title: "What is love anyway? Maybe it's supposed to break all the rules."
Another awesome chapter! 👏
Two bits really stuck out for me:
“He’s been trying for so long not to be the guy hopelessly in love with the receptionist that he’s forgotten what’s most important: how to be her friend.” I loved this line so much, and it’s so true. He’d been such a dick to her all season, he’d forgotten about being her friend which _is_ the most important bit
But this line really got me good. “No one’s actually happy with silver.” The fact they both say this is so perfect. No one else is good enough for them.
Now gimme more, more, more please!!!
1 [Report This]Date: April 02, 2022 05:54 pm Title: "What is love anyway? Maybe it's supposed to break all the rules."
Even though we know where this going,
seeing Jim’s mind going through all the
realizations of what he really wants, was intense.
I hope we get to see him end things with Karen,
and her reaction.
I have to say I liked how Jim also thought to himself
about wanting not sliver. That showed how even though JAM wasn’t always the best at communicating, they are still in the same wavelength.
Date: April 02, 2022 04:43 pm Title: "You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em"
Karen really is a sad and desperate woman.
She should really cut her losses.
Yes, Jim is leading on both women by
talking out of both sides of his mouth,
but Karen still completely ignoring the giant
red flags waving in her face! 🚩
It drives me crazy that Pam puts all the blame
on herself, and allowing Jim to do the same,
while letting Jim off the hook when comes to their
relationship problems. 😡
At least the others felt guilty about missing the art show.
Author's Response: It appears you have a very aggressive opinion of Jim (which is okay! your opinion is valid!) but I'm not sure your characterization of him in this chapter is very accurate... he felt badly about missing the art show, and also apologized/ took accountability for his own actions multiple times here. Appreciate the review :)
Date: April 01, 2022 02:02 pm Title: "You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em"
FUCKING. HELL.
You gave us A TRUE, FANCY NEW BEESLY. ONE WHO DOESN'T NEED JIM AND WANTS HIS HAPPINESS. OUCH, TD. I'M LITERALLY HURT IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE.
I need to go cry again, brb...
Date: April 01, 2022 02:00 pm Title: "All it really means is that we're friends."
TD, quit hammering nails into my coffin.
But please don't, this was beautiful. The piece with the note tying in with terrace... THE WHOLE ENDING WITH KIDS.
excuse me as I go and cry
Date: March 31, 2022 11:15 pm Title: "You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em"
Simply a beautiful chapter. You took my breath away. You’ve breathed such new life into these moments, this is such a fresh read. Huge kudos to you for doing so.
1 [Report This]Date: March 31, 2022 04:06 pm Title: "You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em"
This chapter was so full of little bits that struck me I don't think it's possible to remark on them all.
The chapter title and the up front notes (which are right out of the story) - really well done with the circularity from Casino Night and so on point.
You know I love a good Michael bit and I am 100 on board with Michael not doubting for
a minute everyone else went because that is what "family" does. And we know he sees this crew as a family. And that Jim wasn't there - that's unfathomable to him.
That he went to Karen first - I get it -- although that he uses the same words to her he had said to Pam - um not sure how I feel about that. Good thing this is canon compliant.
So I was wondering when Theodore was going to show up (and I hope you know my reference) and it struck me again seeing it in complete context. I just wanted to hug him here...and give him the little push to "jump" - Yes I saw what you did here - Dwight you're getting the advice Jim wasn't quite able to take himself at first.
My heart went so out again went he cursed the universe and I don't have to tell you how I feel about the idea Michael comes in and saves him for complete destruction.
I am also on board with the idea it wasn't a single thing, didn't happen in an instance when she knew. The connection to fireflies is so appropriate. They connected right away - but what they shared grew and is perhaps why it wasn't as easy to know what it was until too late. But I also love that identifying it know was what gave her "determination".
SO i 've told you before how you have a way of filling in the blanks to give what we know from the show so much depth. BOth the banter and the deeper moments here felt very real.
the lines that I feel worth pointing out:
It wasn't unrequited
My mom said something to me the other day,” Pam says. “She said that sometimes we get so used to what we have that we forget about what we want.”
And it just got me thinking… that it could have been us, you know? (this is where I wanted to hug Pam)
It’s her final round to play. No more bluffing. She takes a deep breath and pushes the last of her chips in.
UGh that she's ready to give him up though for him to be happy - again glad it's canon compliant.
ANd the ending - she feels it: the tiny snap as she breaks loose from her chrysalis at last and spreads her wings, ascending into the sky. Really well done.
Date: March 31, 2022 06:11 am Title: "You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em"
Love, love, loved this chapter. It was all so well written. And now I am just sat here waiting for the next chapter, like come on, hurry up please!!
I kinda like how you had Jim go speak to Karen first. As much as he cares about Pam, he is with Karen, so it would make total sense he went to speak to her before Pam. But the "I'm with you. I want to be with you." No Jim, no you don't. We know you don't believe yourself.
I loved in the Booze Cruise flashback how you had Jim going back to tell Pam, only to be crushed by June 10th. I wanted to hug him there.
Your lakeside side dialogue was just fantastic, the way you moved between canon and your own was seamless.
"It wasn't unrequited, Jim," she says, very quietly. OMG. I was just like wow.
I'm out of jellybeans but I wish I could give you so many more for this chapter! Amazing work
Date: March 30, 2022 11:10 pm Title: "You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em"
Simply a beautiful chapter. You took my breath away. You’ve breathed such new life into these moments, this is such a fresh read. Huge kudos to you for doing so.
Date: March 30, 2022 06:38 pm Title: "You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em"
"“I was there,” Oscar interjects. “Anyway, I don’t think it really matters. She’s obviously only upset about Jim.”" Oh, Oscar. You totally just remembered what you DID at her art show. And I love how protective Michael is of her here.
I maintain this is a spot on picture of Jim's post-Beach Games thoughts. The sense that Pam's not *actually* saying what she's trying to say is solid, and this idea that Jim feels like he's *almost past it* and *almost wants to be* is terrific. You can see how he might have actually talked himself into The Job, and to the path of least resistance that just so happens to not badly hurt Karen, and Pam feeling like really this is a victory in and of itself and she can ALMOST let him go but ALSO lets him know she won't if he doesn't want her to.
"I can love you more than he does. I can love you better than he does. I can promise that I already do." OW.
"No- he does recognize it. It’s disappointment. And he will toil over exactly what she’d been disappointed about for months." DOUBLE OW.
"Sometimes he thinks he’ll be waiting for Pam his whole life. Sometimes he’s okay with that." Life, wife. Close enough. *Heart eyes*
"It wasn’t even a light switch flicking on somewhere in her brain." Still amuses me that you called out this exact metaphor.
“Crazy about me, as in… he’s going to confess his love after years of unrequited pining?” “It wasn’t unrequited, Jim." EEEEP. The dialogue between them here is amazing. And the set-up for the conversation at the end of The Job!!!!!
1 [Report This]Date: March 30, 2022 10:33 am Title: "You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em"
Outstanding work with this one. You really captured Jim's deer in the headlights moment well. That after all this time, THAT is what she's been thinking? Yeah, it would be a lot for anyone to take it. And then all the expanded parts. Michael rounding on Jim for not going to the art show, his internal thoughts about why he didn't, and of course that conversation with Karen.
Really solid choices there with some of the wording. How he's basically forcing himself to believe what he has with Karen by sheer repetition. That if he can just it enough, he will finally move on. Thing is Jim, if you were really as invested in your relationship with Karen as you say you want to be, there would be no need for saying things over and over. I think he's finally starting to get that too. It feels like he knows his relationship with Karen is a lot more rocky than he's trying to tell himself. Good case in point, when she asks him what his first thought about the job was and he mentions Michael. Not him or Karen getting the job, but that Michael wouldn't. As if he really couldn't see himself there unless forced to. So clearly there's still a lot of internal back and forth going on in his head.
Then the expanded scene with Pam at the water's edge. So last chapter I made the metaphor about a smith and a hammer and an anvil. If feels like those first hammer blows have started to land. Mainly for Pam here. She's allowing a refining fire to burn off the slag around her heart. At the same time, this also feels like the first REAL bit of healing either one of them have had since Casino Night. They're a lot more honest with each other. Pam more than Jim though. After years of dancing around each other, Pam finally realized that, "screw that just say what you really feel." And she finds it's not really as scary as she may have thought. I get why she's thinking this may truly be the end for her relationship with Jim. Oh Pam, if you only knew this was the start of something big. Clearly Jim has a lot more to think about.
Outstanding job with this one. I'd been looking forward to it for a long time and you delivered in spades. Bravo!
Date: March 30, 2022 10:29 am Title: "You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em"
I'm not crying, YOU'RE crying.
I love love love this take on Beach Games. I always felt like there had to be more, even more than the superfan cut, and this was perfect. I love how you set up for Pam's talking head in The Job where you start up see her healing, and how there is a bigger seed planted in Jim's head when he decides to leave the interview. Very well done!