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Oh, DJC. This was truly something special.

Bits I loved:

*It’s not really the point, but she kinda loves that he’s defending the little things in their little world.*

*She tries to keep her face impassive, no reaction, no signal that “yup, ya got me!” The problem is, the world’s gotten very familiar with what she looks like trying not to react to things.*

I was called out here: People were using her husband’s face to reply to tweets

I really love the way this unfolded, trying to nail down the timeframe in space. You created a realistic portrayal of how their world would have been while their relationship was still in a very volatile state.

*They’re trying to make a point of talking to each other about the important stuff, even when it’s hard. They know they both screwed up, they both failed to communicate, they both put their life together at risk. (Sometimes she feels like they’ve almost switched sides, gone from only blaming each other to mostly blaming themselves.)*

This feels so, so real. It's stuff like this that makes me appreciate the S9 arc more than ever before.

*There had been times it seemed to her their story and their memories were what was keeping them going. Because the guy in the expensive suit walking away from her wasn’t always someone she wanted to beg to stay. But the guy who knew her favorite flavor of yogurt and got her Dundie changed? The guy who watched “fireworks” with her on the roof? The guy who gave up a great job for a yogurt lid and a note and proposed to her at a gas station in the rain because he just couldn’t wait anymore and held her like the most precious thing in the world when she found out she was pregnant? The guy who bought her that teapot? The guy she knew would always look for her even when everyone else made her feel invisible? She wasn’t going to let him go without a fight.*

STOP, MY HEART

*There’s pre-prepped ham and cheese and tuna sandwiches in plastic triangle boxes, a Diet Coke and a grape Fanta. Behind them, a framed copy of a receipt for those same items from a rest stop gas station in New Jersey. Total: $0.00, and “congratulations you two!” in pen below it.*

This one was my favorite of all the little keepsakes. I gasped.

*There’s a single daisy labeled 2005. In a world where her fiancée doesn’t get a good deal on waverunners, this would be her wedding day. Instead she’s lying in a field of flowers with her best friend, desperately afraid he’s about to kiss her and desperately afraid he won’t.*

Please tell me you write a fic about this moment and if you didn't, I'm officially begging you to.

*She feels reassured and cherished and loved and seen, in this space that’s just his and hers.

And she thinks to herself, I have a lot to make up for, too.*

Bravo, my friend. This all feels very authentic and it's officially gone into my headcanon. Well done!

Author's Response: I'm really glad you liked this one - I feel like there's a lot to say about this period in their history, feels like a very rich area, and somewhere I really enjoyed digging into.

It really is fascinating to place the documentary running right after AARM, right? Like, that's such a specific, challenging time for them to revisit their early days, doing so while they're trying to heal from a new challenge.

Ah, yes. Early seasons Jim made a lot of deposits I think Season 9 Jim was counting on to pay the bills, if you know what I mean.

I just love imagining the clerk at that gas station, watching these two nutjobs pull off the highway in separate cars and then get engaged.

There IS in fact a story behind Pam and Jim in the daisy field in the summer of 2005. Maybe it'll get finished one day.

I'm glad this worked for you, and thank you so much for taking the time to read and review!

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I was having a moment of “omg, should I stop being so invested in The Office and Jim and Pam? I’m making Pam feel bad.” This writing felt so real and true to their voices if we had been able to see the more away from the cameras, which obv we couldn’t have because then how would we see them? Your prompts were blended in seamlessly and your premise and the resolution and everything else was just so lovely. Truly a great job!

Author's Response: Okay, I really appreciate this review and I’ll tell you why: that reaction of "how is my fandom impacting Jim and Pam, these real people?" was the exact reaction I was hoping to provoke (mostly because it’s the exact reaction I always had to GodInThisChilis. Then of course you get that moment of relief when you remember that no, they're NOT real people, which is always fun). Seriously, I mentioned this elsewhere, but I'd *hate* to think what this Pam would've thought of MTT. And I’m really glad this read as true to Pam, because I spent a lot of time worried this was going to sound like a think piece and/or just like me. I’m so glad you liked this! Thanks for taking the time to read and review!

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You did those prompts *justice* with this fic. I legitimately don't have the words to express how much I loved this. I think you captured Pam perfectly in how she would feel about the documentary. And then you made me laugh quite a few times, with Cece quoting Dwight, her asking if they actually need to bring the telescope outside, and then just the references to what we all do when it comes to Jam (freak out, obsess, overanalyze), I loved it. And then Jim's "stocking stuffers" and how they both feel like they have so much to make up for. Ugh. My heart melted, but I couldn't have asked for anything more. This was fantastic.

Author's Response: Seriously, thank you so much. Far too kind, and I’m really pumped this read as canon Pam for you – I was worried she was going to come off like an author surrogate rattling off commentary on celebrity culture rather than the actual character. Also thank for clocking the joke about bringing the telescope outside, which was one of my faves to write. I definitely felt a little hypocritical writing a fic with Pam complaining about Jam fans, too – I’d hate to see what she would think of MTT. I’m really glad you liked it! Thanks for taking the time to review!

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I think this was written with my prompts and I couldn’t be happier with what you came up with. This concept of living life out in the “wild” after the doc is not explored nearly enough and the way you did it was perfect perfect perfect.

There were so many parts that I loved and I can’t name them all, but I love how you included hot sauce packets and how Cece quotes Dwight. And Jim’s “grand Jim gesture” here is amazing and soo sweet. I enjoyed this so much! Thank you! :)

Author's Response: You know what's funny? I sorta thought those might be your prompts for no specific reason I could identify. Either way, I'm really glad you liked this one (and hope you will like the half-finished version of my initial take on them when I eventually post it)! I couldn't agree more that the post-doc life is a really rich area to mine - I rewatched Promos, AARM and the finale writing this and honestly, there's plot bunnies everywhere you turn in those episodes. You are far too kind about this, too - I definitely would not have brought in the hot sauce packets or Cece quoting Dwight like this without the prompt. Thanks for taking the time to review!

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How perfectly meta this was. I mean as this is a piece of fan fiction that goes on to have Pam ranting about many of the things we fic authors write about I feel like I was caught in a loop of art imitating life imitating art.

Of course the teapots are now the hot romantic item of the season and of course they are a mass produced knock-off of the real thing and what happened to those little stores like Hippos. How come there are so few of the little knock knack shops that I loved to shop when I was younger.

But yeah i can't even imagine what it's like to have your whole life under the microscope like that.

Have to mention that those magnatiles were an absolute favorite of my kids (and very expensive back then) and though they are now 15 and 17, I still have them and won't even think of giving them away (they come in handy when we have visits from families with little people)

The way you got the hot sauce packets in here was laugh out loud funny and the mentions of memes and buzzfeed lists and Jam hashtags again perfect in the way it is so dead on accurate.

I'm sure it's what Jenna and John felt to some degree as people idolized their "character's" love story but to think about it happening to a real life couple especially as they were going through the most challenging year since they'd gotten together.

I loved the tables full of "just their own" memories and the mix of what we saw and what we didn't as the surprise but it was the segment that talked about getting her Dundie changed that tugged at my heart. But got me thinking, how the doc while broadcasted her love life and made them a walking target also allowed her to see the little things that showed just how much he loved her and made their love worth fighting for.

The receipt from the gas station and the note from the doctor. Those tickled me but all the things here were great.

This was a holiday fic worth waiting for. Thanks for giving it to us.

Oh and as always the disclaimer and end notes brilliant too.

Ps I haven't read a real book in ages either but I have written 123 reviews (now 124) since September and have read even more than that.

Author's Response: Thank you for the thoughtful and detailed review here! I had kind of a similar feeling writing it about how meta it was – like, this is definitely commentary on a pop culture phenomenon that the fic itself is literally a part of, except re-imagined, it’s a little odd. (I was very tempted to make some snarky remarks about fanfic in here, but I figured people might draw the line at real-person fic even in this universe.) And it was certainly influenced by some of the interviews that Jenna gave about people being thrown that she and John aren’t together in real life and how pushy they can be about reading more into her relationship with him than there is – there are elements of this that manage to happen even with a fictional relationship. I don’t know if this is exactly how Pam would’ve responded, but I feel very confident she would have despised that and despised being so scrutinized. Yeah, the idea of this documentary coming out after THAT year feels like a really rich area, and you can justify her reacting to that a lot of ways. I feel like I barely touched the surface of what’s happening there. I’m glad the details of Jam pop culture felt right, because I definitely felt a little less immersed in that world that I needed to be for this to work. And I’m pumped the humor hit in the middle of all this, along with the details of the ending. The chain stores killed the knick-knack shops, and we’re worse off for it. Little known trivia: Hippo’s was actually approaching bankruptcy before Christmas Party premiered. Oceans rise and fall, empires retreat and advance, the world progresses and regresses, but magnatiles will always be an amazing toy. Fact. P.S. It’s a serious problem. Everyone needs to stop writing for a while. Fic, books, everything. Let us catch up.

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This is such an office story. I could easily see this being written into the office as an extra episode or something of that sorts. I can’t imagine how invasive and hostile it is to be a celebrity, even a well-liked one, because everyone wants to know everything about you.

And of course Jim would give her a gift like this, just to remind her how much he loves her despite everything they went through. My stone-cold heart is a little warmer after reading this.

BlindManCassidy

Author's Response: That's a perfectly lovely thing to say, because I was definitely working hard to preserve the tone of canon here. And yeah, it must be absolutely crushing to lose your privacy like that, and of course it's ramped up to 11 for Pam here because it's very specifically her story being told and she did not really choose to tell it. I am very glad to be of service to your stone-cold heart! Thanks for taking the time to read and review.

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I’m not even done reading this but I had to take a moment to let you know that #CoverMeinJAM has made it into the top 10 random fic moments of 2020 for me. It’s so good.

Okay, I’m going to go finish reading now.

Author's Response: Yay! Coming up with hashtags/Twitter handles that sounded real but that I hadn't seen used somewhere was definitely the most fun I had writing this. Thanks for taking the time to read/review!