I truly love reading stage direction. Really. And your direction and script notes were the highlight of this for me. It was great characterization without having them say a whole lot outside of a Destiny’s Child song and that is impressive. And I think season six Pam is exactly the Pam that would have jumped into this prank without a second thought. Great job!

Author's Response: Well, if you love reading stage direction, you have very much come to the right place. And I appreciate you saying that - I worry with these cold opens that it's not going to translate, and especially with this one where most of the dialogue is entirely someone else's. Glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing!

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These are so good! I love Five Things stories and you’ve chosen ones I haven’t seen or thought of before and done them really well. I love seeing the progression of Pam’s character and their relationship in such nice snapshots. I’m super curious about what the fifth will be, can’t wait to read!

Author's Response: Thank you, BT!! I’m so glad you’ve been liking it! :)

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THIS. IS. SO. CUTE!

I just have such a big smile on my face after reading these three chapters. I love college AUs and I love basketball Jim and art school Pam and you have put all of my favorite things together in this fic and I could just hug you. I love the progression of their relationship so far and how sweetly they’re getting to know each other and express their feelings. And I like the perspective shifts too. All in all this is great so far and I can’t wait to read more. Thank you so much for sharing it with us!

Author's Response: Aw, BT! Thank you so much! :') I'm so so glad you like it.

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I’m dying at the sweetness of this all! I just got caught up on this chapter and the previous. Lady, don’t you ever come into chat and bat your eyelashes and pretend to not be able to throw down some smut EVER AGAIN. You killed it! You made it sweet and hot and very in character. And in this chapter when they had to part ways for a little while, it gave me the fluttery feeling that having to separate yourself from your first real love gives you. You’re capturing all those feelings so well! Great job, lady. Can’t wait for more!

Author's Response: Okay, I can tell you guys are never going to let that go... lol. I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

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So cute! I love the discussion of their future. And I’m looking forward to them meeting each other’s families! And getting more comfortable with each other and finding out what they like and how they work best as a couple. Looking forward to the next chapter!

Is it bad that I want them to qualify for March Madness solely so people on the internet can thirst for Jim and we can get that reaction from Pam? Probably, lol. But I would die to see her as a supportive March Madness girlfriend!

Loved the double date with Angela and Dwight. Dwight is one of my favorites to write dialogue for because he’s so ridiculous. You did a great job with him, I laughed out loud. Great job as usual!

Okay fluff queen, these last two chapters were sweet and adorable. I laughed out loud at the Justice Beaver nod in the last chapter, thought the birthday was so cute, loved how he helped her out with her assignment. And the photo book! Adorable. Great job, lady, looking forward to the next one!

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This was just lovely. I read it all in a sitting and while I’ve read many CN fix-it fics, I don’t think I’ve read one quite like this. The way you completely delved into Pam’s emotions was completely unique. You did a great job of stretching those moments out into the time-stopping, heart-wrenching stretches that they are in real life. And in Jim’s chapter, while I was at first thrown off by the change in perspective I think it really really works. It fits their characters so well—Pam has kind of seemed like an outsider, observing herself from a distance and not really connecting with what’s happening because she’s scared or comfortable, while Jim has taken each moment for what it means to him and likely dissected it and explained it away or asked Pam what it meant in his mind for years. I really enjoyed this a lot, and I can’t wait to see what you do next. Amazing start at MTT!

Author's Response: I know exactly what you mean by the change of perspective - and I guess it threw you off just like it threw ME off at the beginning - but I had to get a grip at that point because as soon as I started writing the second chapter in 3rd person I realized I was sounding like Pam. Or rather, I was writing in the same tone and sense that I was before, when in reality Jim has no idea what Pam's is thinking right now, he has no idea that she's gone through this whole journey of realization in the ten minutes that they've been apart. And I had to make a drastic change in order to put myself in the right mindset to portray that. And what you said makes perfect sense - It felt more real to Jim that this pivotal moment of his life, a moment that he's been waiting for years now, was written in the most personal way possible, sort of like a love letter to this girl who doesn't even know that the only fingerprints on his heart are her own. And on the other hand, Pam's out of her head at that moment, she's panicking, the carpet is pulled from under her feet and she feels like she's sort of in an alternate reality, that this cannot possibly be happening to her, this is not how it goes in her safe, boring and comfort-zone-limited life. But in reality... well, I didn't give it that much thought at all, to be honest :P  It just felt right this way, and it helped me get into Jim's characters, which was pivotal for the 2nd chapter of this. And it's something I generally do when acting, thinking as the chracter in first person, so it was my safe-place, something I was familiar with. Well! In any case I'm so glad that it seems to have worked for you eventually, because I know that the switch of perspective was pretty random, but I couldn't bring myself to change it after it was written, so I tried to play with it instead :P. Thank you so much for this lovely, lovely review, it was so eye-opening for me!!

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Oscars monologue is perfect. He’s one of the hardest characters for me to write so I am really impressed. I would have loved for Karen to get a bit more of the picture of “Jim and Pam” within the office, and this would have been a great way to do that. I can see the point about rabid fans attacking the writing staff though, so maybe it’s best it’s left here as part of your series. Again, great job!

Author's Response: I find Oscar really interesting and surprisingly useful fic-wise - he's got some distinct tics, but he's one of the few non-Jam characters who can come off as a kind of everyman observer to the craziness. (To my great shame I am also 100% a "well, actually" person, so it may be that he just sounds like me. Whoops.) Thanks for saying that, though - this was my first deep dive into him. Yeah, Karen never had much opportunity to see for herself what she was walking into, did she? What a lousy hand of cards she got dealt. Yeah, I absolutely would've been one of the people sending stuffed animals to the writing staff, so. Thank you - I'm glad you liked it, and I appreciate you taking the time to review!

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Okay sis! This was excellent! I feel like a proud mom. I feel like you definitely captured the emotions that a first time with someone you love can bring, as well as that euphoria of floating through those early days where it all kind of runs together because you’re just enjoying being with each other. I think you did a great job! And if you wanted to expand any of those times Pam didn’t remember a detail or two, I mean, you’ve got your audience right here!

Author's Response:

Thank you so much! :') I'd love to build on this idea more, maybe when I have more than just one other idea, lol. I welcome any input on other experiences Pam doesn't remember!

And girl, if you want to be my fanfic mom you totally can <3

We love a Kamala stan! I watched this live with my stepdaughter and it was such a powerful moment, so it was fun to see characters I love discussing current events and educating the next generation, because that’s so important. And I love the Kamala/Kelly comparison, but let’s give Kelly her due! That girl is smart AF! She is the business bitch, after all, lol! It’s my head canon that she went on to really write all those books and become a self-made woman while dragging Ryan along the entire time.

Anyway, this was cute! It’s fun to see them in present day and having real life conversations with their kids. They’re great parents and I wish we’d been able to see more of that on the show! And I loved the little Kamala call back at the end. Thank god Jim is nothing like Pence, huh? 😉

Author's Response: Awww thank you so much BT! I’ve had this idea in my head since the news broke, and I needed to share it, and I definitely wanted to bring it to life with Jim and Pam and Cece. I agree! I wish we saw more of them being parents on the show, but I definitely needed more of this cuteness now! I loved bringing it back around at the end to JAM, and thank GOD Jim isn’t like Pence lol but hey Pam’s gotta jab him every once in a while ;). Thank you for the read and the lovely review!!

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All caught up and am loving the tension you’re building. How everything is not what it seems for Jim and how even though it’s been so long all the feelings are still there and that it’s more meaningful than just sex, it’s the real deal and he doesn’t hesitate to make it permanent. I think Pam’s characterization is really good, with her mini-breakdown and her anxiety but little bursts of confidence.

But you did Danny Cordray dirty and we’re fighting about it.

Just kidding. It actually makes sense for him to be exactly how you’ve described him, as much as it hurt my heart!

I think you did a great job in this chapter! The way you wrote how Pam felt at having to go through this away from home and without the comforting presence of her mother was spot on and exactly how I think many in her situation would react. Even if an appendectomy is super simple, I would be nervous too. And I even worked for a few years as a surgical tech and I *know* that there’s nothing to it, but it’s scary to go under anesthesia and to have something happen emergently and add to that being away from home.

Anyway I am terrible at reviewing consistently but I wanted to say I thought you wrote this experience in a realistic way and I liked that Jim was there as the caretaker! I love him in that role, he fits it so perfectly!

Author's Response: Oh my gosh I love that you’re here and reading! I always wonder who is when they haven’t reviewed so thank you so much for leaving kind messages! Surgery is really scary no matter how many times you’ve done it, so I truly appreciate how understanding the people around Pam are. She’s not going to have an easy time with anesthesia and it’s a good thing Jim will be there for that too.