Date: March 04, 2022 04:45 am Title: "There's such a thing as good grief. Just ask Charlie Brown."
Ok first off - lay off the Libras!!!! We often see what others miss being so in tune with deeper meanings and being so observant. Jim, however not showing his Libra qualities this whole season.
But poor Jim and poor Pam. Oh how my heart aches for both of them after reading what they each were struggling through.
'Unfortunately, alone with his thoughts is not the best place for Jim to be. Alone with his thoughts only makes him realize he misses Pam more than he misses Karen. Alone with his thoughts only reminds him that he’s no better off now than he was last May.'
This really got to me somehow even if it was apparent all that season in the show. You did a great job of bringing out wishy washy Jim - this time in his wavering with Karen but how dare you have them kissing in the sacred parking lot!
Oh and she wants to tell Toby - that was rich.
Her lack of interest in his past with Pam annoys him for some reason.
I'm so on board with this. It's one line that says so much.
Re: the flashback where things starts with Karen-the whole bit about the signals and being wrong before and being careful makes a lot of sense and feels very real. I love that he thinks he wants to evolve and dating Karen is the way to do it, but more so because he thinks it is what Pam is doing.
Oh wow the chapter with Michael and Pam though - I was really into that-maybe because I usually love their relationship but here, even if it was naivety and innocent blunders at play, I was a bit irked at Michael for not having a filter and not understanding the hurt he was causing. And Pam's not understanding why Jim would be confiding in Michael (again- guess he also has a way of bringing out the truth in Jim - he's Jim's Delilah) - guess in canon she never did learn the extent of what went down on the boat (unlike in 360). I do think you nailed Michael in him thinking Jim is his best friend (oh and how sad is that).
Wrapping up the chapter with Pam grieving her friendship with Jim says so much about the actions to come from her. Looking forward to how you portray them.
Author's Response: Ha, sorry, I didn't mean to slander Libras. I think Jim did use his Libra qualities (or attempted to), he just rarely arrived at the correct answer. Poor Jim.
1 [Report This]Date: March 03, 2022 08:24 pm Title: "There's such a thing as good grief. Just ask Charlie Brown."
Oh hi, just me singing your praises again.
I love how you describe Jim and Karen's origins and Jim's thought process of knowing he's not over Pam but desperately trying to be. Poor dude.
As always, very believable and very well written and very...ouch. I loved it
1 [Report This]Date: March 03, 2022 05:29 pm Title: "There's such a thing as good grief. Just ask Charlie Brown."
TINY.DUNDIE. THE GRIEVING PROCESS?! REALLY?! YOU'RE GONNA HIT US WITH FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF OF PAM AND JIM'S FRIENDSHIP?! OUCH!!!!!
Oh my god, this was utterly brilliant. If you keep this up, I'm gonna be a broken mess on the floor (but please keep doing this).
I also can't wait to hear more about Karen's holidays and her family's disdain of her moving
1 [Report This]Date: March 03, 2022 03:47 pm Title: "There's such a thing as good grief. Just ask Charlie Brown."
"He can’t quite put his finger on it but for a moment he has to remind himself which year it is." Ouch. This is a very strong Jim Season 3 vibe.
"She claims she has unpacking to do but seems a little distant." !!!! I really am going to need to reread this all in light of the ***** *******.
"“I still don’t know how you did it.” He bites his lip. He can’t tell her how he did it." Again, very effectively making me hurt for both Karen *and* Jim here. As noted earlier, I also think you did well putting Jim's odd reaction to Karen wanting to move several blocks away form him in a more understandable context - this is genuinely a LOT all at once. "He’s run out of yeses for the time being" sounds about right, as does the idea that there's way more pressure on this relationship than there would be if she hadn't moved.
“Are you kidding? I’m sure she’s told the security guard and everyone at Vance Refrigeration by now.” Fact check: TRUE.
"omitting the fact that whether she knows it or not she’s already entangled in workplace romance drama." Oh, Jim. Buddy. This is not a good look on you.
"But the way she looks at him makes him weak. The way she looks at him always makes him weak." RUDE. And again, this thing about how he's trying *not* to interpret everything as a coded overture... yep. That's Season 3 Jim all right. And him interpreting this as a return to normal is PAINFUL knowing what's really happening out of his eyeline.
"But he’s replayed those precious seconds over and over again in his mind so many times by now that he knows Pam's kiss like a favorite song." OW.
"It doesn’t feel like a lie. The last few months have felt longer than the four years that preceded them." OW. AGAIN. They're just... ugh. So close to avoiding so much pain here and they just can't pull it off.
This is SO Michael. He's so well meaning and so damaging all at once. And it finally occurring to him that Jim told him not to say anything when Pam follows up is genius.
Pam going through the full stages of grief is such a great tie-in with canon...
1 [Report This]Date: March 03, 2022 12:53 pm Title: "There's such a thing as good grief. Just ask Charlie Brown."
Jim treating Pam like trash, while acting as
if he’s so sweet and innocent is the main reason why I couldn’t stand him in season three(and nine).
Jim is the one who started the problem with Pam in the first place. I can’t say I blame Karen’s parents for not being happy about their daughter moving to another state for a guy she hardly knows.
Typical Michael making everything about himself.
Even though Pam is grieving for her friendship with Jim, that grief can help her move on, and become indifferent to Jim and Karen’s relationship. 🤔
Pam doesn’t need someone in her life that will treat her like someone less than worthy. That’s what Roy did.
1 [Report This]Date: March 03, 2022 11:27 am Title: "There's such a thing as good grief. Just ask Charlie Brown."
Ughhh Karen and Jim making it official in ‘their’ parking lot really stung me.
“omitting the fact that whether she knows it or not she’s already entangled in workplace romance drama.” So so true
I loved how seamlessly Pam’s actual talking head fit with the rest of the dialogue. You’ve written all the dialogue just brilliantly here.
God my heart can’t take much more of this
Date: March 03, 2022 11:02 am Title: "There's such a thing as good grief. Just ask Charlie Brown."
Once more you're doing a great job of filling in what we didn't see on camera. The way their thoughts are still constantly revolving around each other. They're both still so lost in a world of assumptions, pain, and doubt. You can tell Jim is doing his best to move on with Karen and has been for a while with that flashback scene. His heart still isn't fully in it though. Almost as if he's doing his best to convince himself that what he's doing is right. From his perspective it probably feels like it. Pam rejected him twice. Told him he was misinterpreting. Rather than reach out to him, he finds out she's going out on dates. Really, he has every reason to think Pam wants nothing to do with him romantically. So, he keeps trying to go along with Karen hoping it'll work out. His fear and doubt are still holding him back though.
Same with Pam. The flashback scene with Michael was somewhat brutal to envision. However, I did like that she went in and told him right to his face that what he said was painful for her. For a moment Michael loses his selfishness and realizes that he was out of line. Nice way to bring that in. Pam realizing what Jim had to go through while she was with Roy must have hurt too. She knows what will fix things, but she doesn't quite have the courage to reach for it yet. It's coming, but she's not there in her journey yet. So she tries to be the friend he was to her. But with her knowing how she feels and now how he felt, I get why it would cause her to break down like that.
Excellent job getting into their heads even if it stings the whole way.