Also there apparently was an unspoken rule that all Brian fic titles should come from The Lumineers XD

10

Thank you for this, it makes me feel better about an otherwise JAM-less episode. I loved how you had Pam tell Jim how she feels by using the word "appreciate" rather than "love" (she's not quite brave or bold enough to say "love" at this point, even if she feels it).

10

I'm definitely not on "Team Karen" or anything, but I do enjoy reading fic where she's fleshed out a bit. I like that her friends aren't coddling her; they calling it like they see it. She sure could have used these friends in Scranton.

This is a bit too sad to be "fluff" but that doesn't make it any less well written. You're very true to the characters (which is often hard to fine in "smut") and I think you capture Jim and Karen's relationship well; fun, but inherently a bit sad.

10

You're an amazing writer, and this is an amazing story. I'm eagerly awaited the e-mail notification that tells me this story has been updated. 

Author's Response:

Wow, thanks so much!  I'll be working on it for the rest of tonight (such a glamorous, exciting life I lead, hee), so hopefully there'll be an update late tonight or sometime tomorrow.

Thanks for reviewing!

10

How did you get to be so awesome? Because this is just perfect.

9

I'm really enjoying this story. You're really capturing their quirks and creating something distinctly Jim and Pam. Makes me look forward to the smut all the more ;-)

Wow, you're breaking my heart twice here since you're reminding me not only of the Jim's card but also of that storyline in Love, Actually. Still, nice job.

Maybe this Christmas, Jim will finally give Pam that card . . . 

10

This is already so beautiful by itself, but it's even further enhanced by the fact that TPTB used this same passage for that amazing S9 "Paper Airplane" scene! (maybe a writer saw this and was influenced, who knows?)

Author's Response: Ah, thank you! I'm glad you found and enjoyed this old story. I miss these two, don't you? 

8

First off thank you so much for posting this here at MTT! I know we're not so active here but we new mods are doing our best to regain readers and having new fic definitely helps! As for the story I'm enjoying it so far and am eager to see what you have in store for our fav pair! I think you captured how Pam and Roy would have been without Jim, on the show Pam got quite a bit of courage from Jim's attention and support so it make sense that without him she's a little lost and resigned to her not-so-happy marriage. Hope to see the next chapter maybe soonish? (Not that I have any right to pressure anyone, I'm sitting here with several unfinished fics ;-) )

9

I read this on FFN and I'm so glad you brought this to MTT! I think you captured both their voices and their strained S3 relationship well. 

Only criticism is I really like the "I -You" style, so I was thrown off by the shift from "I - You" to "I - Her" in the last paragraph. I feel like if it went back to "I - You" it may pack more of a punch. "I join you by the lakeside, where you're soaking your burnt feet. I still can't believe you did that." etc.

That's the only thing, I love everything else!

Also, never really thought of PB&J when I heard this song but it's really does fit their season 3 story. Well done!

So we did eventually get answers to all the "things we still don't know" for Ep 2 except for when exactly Jim left Scranton and how he and Pam acted. My personal headcanon is Jim took all his vacation/sick days and left as under-the-radar as he could (according to Paul Lieberstein Jim didn't go to Australia so not like he needed time off for that). There's no way he could have faced Pam mere days after CN.


Author's Response: Agreed. This transitional period drives me nuts! There are so many things I want to know. Was Jim already set to transfer on Casino Night? I'm pretty sure that's what he intended to tell Pam before he dropped his confession.

So It lookes I only ended up answering one of these QtP back in the day, I'll try my best to answer the others even as we know how S3 worked out!

1) Is Pam's toned down behavior towards Jim more conscious or subconscious? Is this behavior change an attribute of FNB or Old Pam?
Definitely conscious, and at first I thought it was attributed to Old Pam, but now I think it's more FNB. When I think back to when Katy was around, Pam never really retreated to toned down behavior, she still cooked up pranks with him and participated in innocent flirting at work, and when Katy was around, Pam openly mocked her. Now Katy and Karen are completely different, and the situations are very different, but I still think Pam is being more mature in dealing with Jim and Karen, she's not really backing down as much as she's decided to let Jim reach out to her, and to react accordingly when it happens.

2) Should we be worried that Pam will become overly optimistic again? How should she proceed with Jim? (What's her next move?)
Well as we know now, yes, we definitely should have been worried about her getting too optimistic. She played things well until Ben Franklin, and while it certainly wasn't her fault that she slammed up against Jim's re-established wall and then had that talk with Karen, she was so unprepared that it sent her reeling, so if I could go back in time and give Pam advice I would warn her it would seem hard and impossible but don't give up.

3) Should Pam play a prank on Jim to even up the score? Would this hurt or help JAM's reconnection? What about a prank on someone else?
Though it didn't make the cut, Pam turning the tables on Jim in that deleted scene was pretty perfect, and would have definitely made some interesting analysis!

4) Now that Pam knows Jim is seeing Karen, how careful should Pam be about forging a friendship with her? Will a friendship with Karen effect her chances with Jim? What about any moral implications that might plague Pam's thoughts?
I would have loved for the scenario to be different so that Karen and Pam could have been friends, the small glimpses of friendship we got were great and wow did Pam ever need a good girlfriend, that seemed like half her problem throughout the entire show!
That said, had Karen and Pam become good friends, the JAM would have been delayed (if it happened at all) since Pam would have taken extra care not interfere with Karen and Jim, the beach confession would have not happened, Jim quite possibly would have gone to New York and things would have been different for sure!

5) Is it appropriate for Pam to get Jim Christmas present? If so, what should she get him?
It's really hard to imagine a more perfect gift than the one she gave in Benihana ;-)