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 29, 2022 03:12 pm Title: "All it really means is that we're friends."
Really liked this chapter! My poor heart got a rest and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now!
Great conversations with Helene and Penny there. Also really liked the doubt coming into Jim’s mind about Karen around not wanting kids, it’s not completely about Pam, they’re really just not meant to be together.
But oh my god, he was going to shred the teapot note?!? Noooo!!!!
Author's Response: Okay, it was hard to even fathom that shredder scene (which is why I had to do it, muahahaha!) And apologies to your poor heart, I feel like chapter 7 was the release valve for them post-Phyllis’ Wedding and this one was a sort of a regroup. But yes, the light is for sure at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for sticking with it! 💕
Date: March 29, 2022 08:56 am Title: "All it really means is that we're friends."
Bringing in the moms! Moms ways know. I absolutely love the conversation Pam has with Helene.
And here you go again, creating insanely realistic scenes, like Delilah warning Jim to tell Pam how he feels and Jim realizing they must all know. And that she inspired the card!
I loved the card just as much the second time. Beautiful.
Author's Response: Thanks so much, WW!
Date: March 29, 2022 04:06 am Title: "All it really means is that we're friends."
**she is relieved that she will never again have to wonder whether or not she did the right thing last June.**
Through all this longing and hurting for Jim - there is also her mindset about all that happened with Roy and I like that you bring that up. I have to imagine she had her bouts of feeling bad she let not one but two relationships go after what happened at Casino Night and thoughts of regret were a small bit of what pushed her back his way...at least now she has peace of mind that even if she didn't have Jim, that was the best thing for her.
I also really enjoyed the conversation with Helene. For a woman who isn't in the healthiest relationship herself, she has a lot of good insights. Maybe that is why. - I loved that she differentiates between supposed to feel and actually feel...wonder if she is comparing Pam's situation to her own.
Everything about this conversation was so layered but so good - but this line - you know I feel this so strongly....Even now, she wonders if she’d have ever realized she and Roy were wrong for each other if Jim hadn’t been there to show her what right could look like.
PS - I love the little note about him wordlessly giving her the last coke - sweet - but that machine runs out of coke a lot, doesn't it.
After spending a weekend with my own sister, I can really appreciate the part with Penny too. Sisters often have a way of seeing through you and understanding without judging.
I love that Jim doesn't hide his crush from his mom. I so see this as their relationship - love too that her idea to put her favorite tea in it sparks the idea for what he ultimately does.
Yikes- he almost shredded the card.
And he's still trying to fool himself with Karen. Don't know if you intended this but I feel like the way you start the chapter with Pam talking to her mom who's dad never felt that intense love (that P&J have) for her and end it with Jim trying to convince himself that he can find love with Karen (perhaps the Helene to his William) says a whole lot.
Great Job as usual on this chapter.
I'm excited to see how you approach Beach Games.
Author's Response:
I definitely tried to approach Helene as a woman encountering similar issues about love, but I didn't actually intend the parallel with Jim/Karen. It's so true though, so I'm glad you found it.
Fancy New Beesly is a'comin'...
1 [Report This]Date: March 28, 2022 06:48 am Title: "All it really means is that we're friends."
So, as we're getting closer to the end of the year of angst, I really like what you're doing here. Both Jim and Pam have had time to get some perspective on things. How they royally messed everything up with what they did and didn't say on Casino Night. They've had to deal with the ramifications of everything. There's still tension and a little pain for sure, but it doesn't feel angry anymore. I think Jim's apology last chapter and him saying "everything's going to be okay," had a big part in that. Same with Pam's earlier apology in the breakroom. They're both smart enough and know each other well enough that they could understand the context of those apologies. So, in this chapter it feels like we're building on that.
The conversation Pam has with Helene goes to show this progress is still going on. Pam was with Roy for a long time, but Helene has known her even longer. I think Helene was able to give Pam some really good insight and clarification. Which highlights the flashback nicely too. Basically Pam's had the blinders pulled off and now that her eyes are open and she's had some needed perspective come into her life, she can see just how strong her feelings for Jim have been all this time. That last line there, "It's time to be brave." Love it. Can't wait to see how you'll treat her bravery coming up.
I get the feeling that the flashback was something that was going through Jim's mind even as he sat across the table from Karen there on their date. Then all of a sudden he pulls up sharp when she offers her toast. Like when he pulled it out of the trash it was now stuck in his mind, almost as if that little act was the first real shot of meaningful life support his heart has had since those few brief seconds on Casino Night where Pam had kissed him back, said "me too," but before he asked if she was still going to marry Roy.
So here's Jim thinking about his own words about Pam. How he admitted, at least to himself, that he would love Pam forever. Yet he's sitting across the table from Karen who just told him that kids are not the priority in her life. You can see the red flag being run up the proverbial flag pole in Jim's mind. Yes, kids are important to him, but it's just so telling that even still when he thinks about his kids, they have Pam's eyes. But then at the end he still hedges. He may have made progress, but there's still a lot of hurt there, and to be fair prior to Pam's speech it did seem like Jim and Karen were in a good place. So while he still has images and feelings of Pam bouncing around in his head, feelings for Karen are growing. Had Pam not spoked up after her coal walk or put her note in his papers, it would be very easy to see this Jim would have let his feelings for Karen grow and his feelings for Pam would have faded. Of course we all know how it all turns out (which has been one of the biggest reasons I'm so invested in such a fic of this level of angst, the other bigger reason is your great writing).
There's two ways I feel about this chapter all together. First it feels like a great set up for Beach Day. Second this feels like the first blow of a hammer on a piece of raw iron ore resting on an anvil. The smith has put the ore into the fire and let it soak in some heat. The ore is then set on the anvil and the first blow lands. It's not a very hot heating nor is it a very strong blow. Instead, the smith heated the ore only enough to see where the cracks are. The hammer strike did remove some slag, but it was more of an exploration. A way to find out where's the junk and where's the good metal. This is in preparation for hotter flames from the forge and the intense hammer strikes that will once and for all remove any impurities and forge something indestructible. Can't wait to see that.
Author's Response: thanks warrior, your reviews are always so thoughtful and I appreciate each and every one. Excited to see what you think of Beach Games!
Date: March 27, 2022 02:53 am Title: "All it really means is that we're friends."
Still arguably the best Christmas card contents on this site. This one totally got me *feels*
Author's Response: Thank you so much. That card still means as much to me as it did in terrace, so I appreciate you saying that!
1 [Report This]Date: March 27, 2022 01:28 am Title: "All it really means is that we're friends."
”We change each other all the time, Pam.”
Dammmmm this line hit me like a load of bricks. Well done. Looking forward to the next update.
Author's Response: Thanks for reading and reviewing! The next one will be a biggie...
Date: March 26, 2022 09:38 pm Title: "All it really means is that we're friends."
“Better or worse than last time?” HELENE. "I didn't mean it like that." YES YOU DID.
"Every single moment of that night is carved into her memory like an epitaph: her dearly departed chance with Jim Halpert. Rest in peace."
I think I've come around to the idea that it's kind of appropriate that Pam comes from a family of people who just... wouldn't follow up on the Casino Night call. As you know, I maintain the Beesly parent marriage is key to understanding Pam and Roy, and this is the choice of a mom who is maybe too used to not speaking up (or has her own expectations for what constitutes happiness). It's not exactly A+ mothering, but Helene's not exactly a 4.0 mother, is she, MICHAEL. And that vibe does hang over this whole conversation.
“One day he was getting a Coke out of the vending machine and it was the last one. It's so silly, but he just turned around and handed it to me without a second thought.” I love this detail and that this stuck with her.
“We change each other all the time, Pam... Love… real love, it sort of sits with you. Forever. You can’t just forget about it. It changes you, and I guess you just have to be careful not to lose yourself.” I LOVE THIS LINE.
Ah, Penny, you drama llama. You and Delilah might get along.
The note remains beautiful. And this scene with him holding it over the shredder is STRESSFUL, even knowing this is canon compliant. Good bit I think! Very symbolic of where Jim is in this journey. He's really trying, Karen... but he's not going to succeed.
“Yeah, and he’s clearly not meeting the dress code. Slob.” I'm sorry, Karen, but if you can't laugh at that, you and Jim are not meant to be Pam or no Pam. Same with this conversation about kids. The both of you need to start remembering what a red flag signals... and should maybe consider why it is you're just getting to this question now.
Date: March 26, 2022 08:22 pm Title: "All it really means is that we're friends."
Jim is really trying to hard to be in a
relationship with Karen(and her with Jim).
They simply aren’t compatible. So even if there
was no Pam, they aren’t right for each other.
Their complete lack of chemistry is a big sign of that.
So like I said before, Karen is Jim’s own Roy.
Pam’s mom is right in that Pam should tell Jim how she truly feels, and if he doesn’t reciprocate,
which we know he will, at least Pam will know the truth, instead of wondering about what could have been. That way Pam would also be able to move on.
1 [Report This]Date: March 25, 2022 07:35 pm Title: "All it really means is that we're friends."
I'm currently rewatching The Office (it's my partner's first time seeing it in full). We just finished season 3 a few days ago. Reading this story + watching some episodes I haven't seen in a while made me forget how intense some of season 3 is.
I loved the conversation of Pam talking with her mom and finally admitting what happened on Casino Night. I also enjoyed the restaurant conversation between Jim and Karen. I like Karen as a character, but I am obviously a big shipper of J+P so I never really thought much about the inside of Jim and Karen's relationship, other than what the show gave us (late night talks is about all I can think of). Definitely liked seeing what you envisioned for them only starting to think of their future this far in.
I imagine the story is getting close to completion based on the timeline, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the final few episodes of season 3. Would love to see another fic based on a different season, such as 4 (l so wish we could've had the full season they had planned!) or maybe 5 or 9. Looking forward to the next chapter! :)
Author's Response: Thanks so much! We are getting close to completion, four more chapters to go. I like your S4/S5 idea, I'll consider that. Gonna need a fluff cleanse after this one. Happy to see you here, I hope you enjoy the rest!