Pure unadulterated semi-smutty Supply Closet Fic. It really serves no other purpose.
9 Love the paper clip trail!
There was something unbelievably sexy about having her way with him while he still had a tie on.
PREACH ON, SISTER!
Man, I have to run errands now, and I'm going to be at the FedEx office looking for the fucking supply closet!
Great read first thing in the morning though. Especially nice voices on these two. Thanks! ;)
I mean...gah....the image....it's just....
Can't speak. Complete incoherence.
I'm glad you liked it. I figure I'm going to have to write some smut for NaNo - I might as well practice now.
Hope you had fun at FedEx. ;)
An unexpected conversation with Karen gives Jim some perspective. Based on unspoiled speculation for season 3.8 Oh, delicious, and pretty much what I imagine happening. Can't wait till you're proven right ;)
Author's Response: Oh, I hope so! I'd be unbearably smug if I were proven right, though! Thank you- I'm glad you liked it!
8 Great pairing, Lis! You should post a link to this at the LJ office_romances community (contact me if you need the link).
Strange women rarely bought him drinks, particularly pretty ones...
Liked that a lot. Interesting, too, that Karen went and Roy didn't. I also wonder how Karen would have finished this:
"...And now he’s married to someone who can’t possibly..."
Thanks! I think it was a pride thing for Karen to go and witness it to prove she could take it, and to punish herself for not speaking up. (I have very definite opinions about the psyche of this character we barely know, don't I?). And just like Roy thinks Jim is "so wrong" for Pam, I suspect Karen thinks Pam can't possibly make Jim as happy as she, herself, could. And now this reply is longer than the fic itself... :)
Pam makes a decision.8 She knows it that night when his hands are trembling and her knees are weak as though they haven't done this so many times before she's lost count.
Just love that. I really like the momentum of this story. Yay, Par5!
It starts with the first time Jim and Pam are in the same room again, followed by their first real fight and then..you know...a few other firsts. :)
9 Love how these two thoughts are related.
It was terrifying and empowering all at once to know that she wasn’t stuck anymore, that she was capable of rewriting the end of all this.
This is what she’d been so afraid of all along - afraid that once she changed her life he would change his mind.
Too bad she didn't do it in the right order!
His lips graze her ear and he whispers "Hey, there Beesly." He holds her for as long as it takes him to breathe in, then out, before he eases away.
Yum. Chase that feeling, Pam!
Kidding aside, I like your attention to detail in this. Good insights!
That's me. Detail girl. Never ask me what I did in a given day - you'll know what I ate for breakfast. My favorite uncle always tells me - "Krissy - your life is an open book and you want to read it aloud."
Thanks so much Shan! I'm glad to hear it's working.
9 Yes, the progression of this argument is great - the dialogue, the pace, the climax - awesome!
It just felt very real. You must feel drained ;)
8 "Which version of you am I supposed to believe Jim? The "I'm in love with you" version or the "It's no big deal" version?
You're probably referring to the scene in The Secret, but I liked these lines because even after Jim makes his big confession and kisses her, he just says, OK, and slips off. What is a girl to think?
You're right. I was thinking The Secret. And you're right. He should know that she'd respond that way. I'm about 5 seconds from beginning a long essay analyzing the reasons why I think that Jim's not blameless in this whole scenario but clearly I'm not in the right frame of mind at the moment.
I'm not even sure where my mind is exactly. ;)
7 Nice backstory here. I like your description of the paper on the box - would love to see that!
Congrats on your first Office fic :)
8 She feels... well, to be honest, she feels trapped. And happy! And old. And overwhelmed. And happy, happy, happy, because of course! He wants to marry her.
Awesome. And this...
...now that she has more realistic expectations than she did at sixteen, he never lets her down.
And great last line.
A writer has questioned their calling, and finds solace in the truth 9 Par5 says, “If you see it in 'Some People Like These: Office Fanfiction,' it’s so.”
OMFG Brilliant. I love the original letter, and this is just an awesome take on it. Great!
Not so much a story, as a Jim POV mood piece, following the phone call (that launched a thousand fanfics.)9 If later wasn’t an oasis that no amount of desperation could conjure.
If I could give you a Major Award for that line, I would.
And also for your final paragraph - fantastic.
Thanks so much, nomadshan. This was a sad one to write, so I'm glad it has some resonance. And I'm a sucker for awards!
7 Congrats on your first Office fic! It's nice to imagine the little things they might do for one another on a daily basis.
And the big things, too :)
8 Nice work, Par5! I especially like #s 2 and 5.
Author's Response: Thanks shan! I love haiku. It's like instant gratification!
Deep feelings, small words. Sometimes less is more it seems. And we all want more.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.8 Very nice! Love love love #s 2 and 4, especially the line:
Like jinx, but for keeps.
Pam's been counting the days.9 Always, though, the space, and the growing pile of days, lurked behind his eyes and under his laughter and inside his smile.
How do you do that? Every single fic has some line that just haunts. Gah. Behind and under and inside. Eee.
And, holy crap, let's hope it doesn't take 500 days! Maybe 365, for May sweeps. I can handle that ;)
Awesome, Lis!
Post Initiation, just before Diwali. Jim POV. Just pondering physics, the Kama Sutra, a phone call, and you know who.
8 No formulae, but definitely law: Jim set something in motion, and it's still in motion!
Nice, Colette! Your two paragraphs about Karen are so insightful - especially how she could be good for him, force him to grow, but not be what he really wants.
Definitely still in motion. We shall see.
Yeah, Karen/Pam...as Woody Allen once said, 'the heart wants, what the heart wants.' (Let's not get into the queasy circumstance in which he said it.) Thanks for the thoughtful - as always - review!
10 Unfold! One of my favorites - just gorgeous. I especially love their hours on the playground - such truth there. Love your spare language and imagery. I remember the first time I read this, I cheered at this:
And she does. She tells him all of this even though the trembling in her voice conquers her words in some places and they come out as tears or fragments.
Pam's awaiting the "Merger" (based on promos but mostly unspoiled).
8 blazed out through her cheeks ... drummed along her fingers
Yes, exactly. Love the pulse of this. Makes the tummy squirrely, though!
I'm sad. Pam's sad. Jim's sad. Karen's waiting for him at Coopers.
Something had to be done.
8 She's on a cliff, peering over the edge. She stumbles, loses her balance and begins to fall. Except it strangely feels almost like flying.
I'm probably not the only person to quote those lines, but they're really good.
I like this, because it would be so easy to forget and begin to take things for granted. Very nice.
You are the first - and so far - the only.
I wanted fluff - but contemplative fluff. :) Thanks Shan!
"What are you up to, Beesly?" 7 This is sweet, kaywinnit. You've captured Pam's nervous excitement well. This is a great line:
She feels giddy, like all the molecules in her body are shaking independently.
Post-Merger. A little angsty, a little triangular, but fear not - it doesn't end there. 9 Your progression here is really nice. Love this:
She crashes to the ground under the weight of all the months when she could have said something. But didn’t. She opens her mouth, but no sound comes out. Her frequency is suddenly an ancient useless thing.
The final section is just about perfect. Nice insight into everyone throughout. :)
8 It’s not true, and it’s less true every second he kisses her.
Fantastic line there. Great first fic, chunkyrice! It encapsulates their early experience really well, I think.
He's playful and animated, quippy and sexy, and always, always just a little bit dark. 8 Oh, man, the date at Cuggino's was painfully realistic. I think you've got a great handle on Karen - you should write more of her!
Author's Response: I honestly hope she's not around long enough for me to have to write more of her - not in a Jim romance senario, anyway. Thanks, nomadshan.
It's drabble day. Three at a time, three sides to each story. Staring with the one nearest and dearest to me. Pure wishful thinking - no spoilers to be seen.
9 Awesome, darlin'! Love that Jim equates Karen's straight lines with her directness.
There's an invisible line, an electric current that runs from his desk to well - not hers.
She's surprised she's kept from tripping over it - or from feeling the shock - for as long as she has.
Great image.
I'm still not sure that this wasn't just an exercise in avoidance. ;)
But thank you. I'm so glad you thought so.
10 Loving the angst!
So she goes back to an old favorite, just applies a little bit more.
Go, Pam. And, nq, I could see Jim eating that pizza, staring at the cabinets, then leaning on the counter.
We already knew this, but drabble suit you nicely :)