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Ah, poor piggy. We hardly knew him. I think it'll be interesting to see them with an actual mystery to solve. And the choice to bring in Kenny sounds promising, as other than that it feels like the Roy chapter of the story would be pretty much concluded.

Author's Response:

Piggy just got to move onto the bacon afterlife a little early, no worries! It's been a while since I looked at the plot draft for this, I've been on a roll with JAM 6.0 for a bit, but I'll see if I can remember to do a callback to the pig investigation for you. Roy is very much on the path to an early exit, but he won't go quietly... or maybe he will. Admittedly I haven't worked on this for a while, but hopefully I'll get back into it once I finish up with JAM.

Thanks for your kind words and leaving reviews all along the way! 

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Okay, I am hooked. Very interested to learn the facts underlying the Jim-Pam-Roy dynamic here, and what happened to the constable before Jim.

Author's Response: I did leave a lot of danglers on that chapter didn't I? I'm glad you're looking forward to the answers! 

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I'm finally catching up on all the recent updates, so I'm a bit late but nonetheless, this was a great chapter! I loveee how you mix in parts of canon while also making it all your own, like how Jim asks Pam out. Loved it!

Author's Response: Thanks for reviewing regardless! I'm glad to hear you liked it.

I have debated for a really long time about whether or not to leave this review because it is not a specific critique on your writing style DoomGoose, which overall I really enjoy. But it felt wrong to not speak up. In the context of the current reports of police brutality against Black Americans (and Black Canadians) and the police brutality against peaceful protestors, this story seems like bad timing. It doesn't feel right taking characters we love like Jim and Pam, putting them in the position of cops and then trying to overlook the fact that the system of policing is inherently racist and broken. Just some food for thought and potentially the beginning of an open dialogue.

Author's Response:

Firstly, thank you for saying that you enjoy my writing style, that means a lot to me.

To the meat of the review, please keep in mind that this story is in no way a social commentary about current events, and any views expressed in the story are not inherently my own. Thank you for speaking up to address what you see to be an issue, I cannot fault you for that. What I will say is that I am writing this story for fun, in the vein of several popular television shows and books that I have read, I have no personal experiences with the subject matter.

Indeed, the police response in the USA to protests over deeply disturbing current events are certainly cause for concern, and discussion. However, I don't feel as though the timing of my story can really be helped in that regard, I started writing this back in May, well before this latest calamity.

As a Canadian, living in a rural area, I can say that I have never had to deal with the sorts of situations that are seen in the news everyday, and in that regard I definitely lack perspective. At the end of the day though, even if there are systemic problems in the police systems, they are still made up of human beings. My limited encounters with police officers in my life have been as the parents of my schoolmates, and as customers at my job, and they have only ever been positive role-models for me. I can see how in larger cities, and places like the US, that may not be the case. 

I respect your opinion, and thank you for voicing it. I won't stop writing this story because of current events however. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.

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Interested in knowing what the pig situation is! Toby on the case! And yep, I can see that Jim arresting Kenny is gonna be a THING. Good chapter!

Author's Response:

Well, let me add 'Pig Watch' to the story outline, just for you. We'll check back in with Toby in a few chapters to see how that turned out.

Thanks for leaving a review, I appreciate it! 

The only thing I'm confused about is the line "RM of Dunder Mifflin." Not quite sure what you're talking about there.

Other than that, nice to see Jim and Pam starting to hit it off. Jim seems like a good cop here. Courteous, professional, knows how to do his job.

Kenny getting arrested by Jim? That could prove interesting to see especially considering how Roy was acting. Nice way to add in a level of drama here. Really looking forward to seeing where you go with it.

Author's Response:

Sorry, the RM stands for Rural Municipality, size depends on the RM but the can be upwards of 10km^2 to 40km^2. I think they're quasi-equivalent to counties in the US but I'm not 100% on that.

Glad to hear you're looking forward to the dramz, hope it doesn't disappoint.

Thanks for dropping by to review! 

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Very interesting backstory there. Roy's coming off as the kind of brutish oaf he normally is. I wonder if he's going to make anything of it. County Deputy vs City Cop type thing. Still it's nice to see that Roy and Pam are not an item here.

Even better to see what looks like the start of Jim and Pam getting together. Looked like a nice smooth transition from friend to more than that. Fun to read Pam being mischievous and demand to be wooed. I've got a feeling Jim will rise to that occasion.

Nice work here.

Author's Response:

I'm more familiar with the system we have up here for police services, so that's what I've been leaning towards. By default, if a municipality doesn't have a police service it is provided by the provincial police, and usually incorporated into the taxes. If no provincial police service is present, it's provided by the federal RCMP. Some communities may find it more cost effective to hire and maintain their own police force, as the RCMP can get quite expensive over time, so that's what I imagine Dunder Mifflin has done. The Sheriff's office actually fulfills the role of prisoner transport, security for courts, and corrections, that sort of thing. There may be some manly competition though, we'll see. Maybe Roy's realised what a good thing he missed out on all those years ago?

I figured after years of knowing each-other, with no attachments, all these two needed was a little nudge in the right direction to get them together. I'm glad you liked Pam's attitude there, that was fun to write too.

Thanks for your review! 

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I’m so here for answers on the Roy connection...
“When he met her eyes, he saw her beaming ‘Save me!’ into his brain for the second time that night.” Oh I love the way they understand each other. It’s great that a look for Pam is enough to communicate exactly what she needs from Jim.
Right, the double date. Ha. Poor Pam, good thing she got out of that!

“but he was pretty sure fake date was worse than friendzone” Oh Jim. I don’t know about that - fake dating to lovers is one of the best tropes out there. I feel like there’s hope!

I LOVE that Pam hasn’t dropped his hand. The fact she’s tracing patterns? My heart.

Morning pancakes. Well, that’s all kinds of adorable.

Wow. You’re really throwing out some of the biggest and bestest lines here:
“Some people might say that we had our first date last night”
“Are you free for dinner tonight?”
I am living. They have such a fun, flirty dynamic here.

Author's Response: Loving the play by play review here, gave me a good chuckle. Really glad you enjoyed this diversionary chapter into the character drama side of things. Thanks for reviewing!

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I’m so intrigued by this! I don’t think I’ve ever read a fic where they’re working for emergency services or the police. You have me convinced that you know what you’re talking about in regards to police procedure and lingo! But then of course I am way intrigued by all these cliffhangers! Can’t wait to get some answers to all these questions! But I love how you’ve set it all up without a whole lot of backstory or preamble and look forward to your reveals!

Author's Response:

Well I'm happy to hear I've got you fooled, you can thank warrior and television for that!

I'm glad to hear that the cliffs have piqued your interest, and I look forward to trying to answer those questions! I'm pleased that the little preamble hasn't left you feeling lost, I was a bit worried that might be the case, at the end of the day though we at least know everyone's personality, so thank goodness for fanfic I guess!

Thanks for leaving a review, I live hearing back on this stuff!

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I love that you've literally dropped us in the middle. Why doesn't anyone talk about the other constable? What's Roy's deal? And then you had the sheer fall to add more questions in the chapter end notes- hahaha!! This is going to be great. Keep going! So many paths this could take. As a former EMT and firewife, I have a special affinity for this fic d84;a039;

Well done!

Author's Response:

Replying with mobile because power is out, forgive any fat fingered words please.

I'm glad you're finding yourself immersed, I wanted to get right into the meat of it instead of the awkward tiptoeing around the cameras etc. Roy's deal should be in the next chapter, the rest are in the outline but not assigned to a chapter yet. I'm happy to hear that the additional questions piqued your interest!

Thank you for taking the time to review, it means a lot to me!

Very much the feel of a small town Public Safety department. Nice slow not much to do kind of place. Though there is the age old First Responder superstition that if one utters one of the two dreaded words, the First Responder Gods will smite thee with a busy shift. The two dreaded words being "slow" and "quiet." Otherwise known as the "s" word or the "q" word. So that was good.

Yeah, lots of questions about the character drama part of all this. Really looking forward to seeing where you go with that part of everything.

Author's Response:

I'm glad you liked the feel/pace there, that's definitely what I was going for. It feels like the s and q jinx is something that transcends professions, in IT we generally associate that jinx with having a server fail spontaneously, having a client open a malware email and spreading it, or the internet going down at a location.

I'm glad the character drama has some hooks, as much as I dislike it in the television I watch. We should get some answers to the Roy questions next chapter there, so hopefully not a long wait there.

Thanks for reviewing, I really appreciate your help and feedback! 

I'm intrigued, DoomGoose! I have no idea how any of this works, so I'm no help there, but I'll certainly read along and review.
Looking forward to seeing what you do with this story!
Thanks for writing!

Author's Response: Thanks for reviewing! It's a little bit of a different story, I know, but I'm excited to see where it takes me.

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Oh boy this is right up my alley isn't it? Ok, first off how in depth do you want me to get when reviewing the emergency response aspects of this? The reason I say that is if you're basing a lot of the radio call-outs and procedures based on books, TV, and movies, well they're usually always wrong. Sometimes they get kind of close but not quite 100% accurate. The closest I've ever seen a fictional TV show get to real life was an old show called "Third Watch," that was set in New York City. Here's an example of what I mean.

Many times when a 911 call taker receives a 911 call their first question is not, "what" is your emergency, it's "where" is your emergency. Regardless of what's going on, if we don't know where said emergency is happening, we can't respond to it. Calls like "Unknown problem" come in all the time. So that's the kind of thing I mean.

So for me, this very much felt like many of the Cop, Firefighter, or EMS type show one sees on TV all the time. That kind of vibe rather than what I see when I head into work.

Okay, all that being said, I did enjoy this. Pam does sound convincing as a dispatcher. It's an excellent introductory chapter to get us set in time and place. Really kind of looking forward to seeing how this all pans out.

Author's Response:

This is indeed up your alley, thank you for your insights!

I will take anything you can give me under advisement, I'm not going for hyper-realism here but things like radio traffic have always intrigued me and anything you can tell me to help that feel more authentic would be appreciated. The 911 call was based on the only two times I've ever had to call in my life, so admittedly a very small sample size and it could also vary by region and authority. I probably won't be following Oscar and Angela too closely as I don't think I have the background to do them justice as EMT/paramedics, but we'll see. Unknown trouble is known to me, I just wasn't sure what sort of dialogue would lead up to that, so maybe we'll see it later when I don't have to do a play-by-play from Pam's perspective.

I'm glad I've at least managed to match the tone of my source material though, that's encouraging! I'll look up the show you mentioned and see if I can take any inspiration from there.

Really glad you liked Pam as a dispatcher, she is of course our protagonist and I love seeing her in different-yet-samey situations. 

Thanks for the constructive feedback, I really appreciate your insight here!