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This is deeply charming, and quite a nice use of Dwight.

Author's Response: At first I thought this review was for my latest chapter which, when you get there would be odd. Then I saw what chapter this is for. Thank you for taking the time to review the old chapters as well. I remember having a lot of fun writing them. Glad you're enjoying everything so far. Looking forward to hearing what else you have to say about this story.

You had better not make Pam go back on this I can't the way she did on her canon one.

I really enjoyed this. Good baseball play by play, very fun with William as always, and good work keeping us on our toes with Jim/Pam/Roy and the discovery.

Author's Response:

Great to hear from you again. I wish I could let you know where we're going but what fun is that? There is a plan, don't worry. 

I'm really glad you liked this chapter. Thanks for the review. 

Damn, I did not expect this chapter to end that way! I am anxious to see what happens with Helene and the rest of the family. Hopefully she comes to her senses. Another great chapter, warrior!

Author's Response: Thanks BT. I hesitated to end the chapter like this. But it's in canon that Pam's parents split up, so that's part of it. Honestly I'm not sure how it's going to pan out myself. Thanks as always for the review. 

Pam is a sweetheart. I like how she changes up her greeting and then sets about justifying why.
Her hospital visit definitely drives home the harsh realities of war...

Haha, oh I do like Michael pulling out his Booze Cruise leadership repertoire.

William! He’s got to be one of my favorite characters, although, his presence has just reminded me that you teased Helene drama in this chapter. Hmm...

Jim’s baseball code really works well for retelling his adventures. The mention of his crew chief was a little awkward considering the truth of it all...

Oooooh. Hello Helene drama. Penny fiercely speaking her mind is a Penny I can get behind. She’s not wrong... Wow, that’s definitely a very different - but, still emotive - version of “I can’t”
Poor William. I feel like Helene could have conflict with the children and yet still stick to her marriage. Although, she must struggle with the girls and William always being on the same page.

I have no clue what the Morse code says, but I love the idea of them learning it...

Author's Response: Thanks Jenna,

Pam is much more often than not a very kind soul. It's fun to bring that out.

I keep coming back to lines from Booze Cruise in this story. It's not even one of my favorite episodes, just lots of good lines from it though. Michael's always fun though.

Glad you're still enjoying how I'm portraying William. Jim too is fun to write through the letters. If you think everything awkward now with Roy, just imagine when the truth comes out.

I was struggling about the whole Helene gives her ring back thing. William has tried to be supportive of both his wife and daughters. However Helene is once more feeling ganged up on, especially after fierce Penny there. It's also in keeping with canon to have a rift with Pam's parents. So we'll see where we go from here with all that.

The Morse code translates to 'I love you'

Thanks as always for your insights.

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Just read these most recent three chapters and there’s no way I’m going to remember everything I loved because there was SO MUCH! But I will try!
-you captured and kept my attention during the ball game, which is not easily accomplished when describing sports!
-the way everyone worked together to get Angela to fall asleep made me laugh out loud
-the letter! Their code!
-the way you write the dog fights is SO GOOD! I can picture it all so clearly in my head, like a documentary or movie
-everyone’s voice is spot on
-yeah, TAKE THAT RYAN number one how dare you
-Tim! Gareth! Omg! So perfect!

Just excellent writing all around. This story is absolutely one of my favorites and I’ll read it over and over. Great job (but let’s be real you knew that already!)

Author's Response: BT thank you for this review. I first read it during a VERY long night at work, so it helped decrease some of the stress of the night. I'm so very glad you've been enjoying everything.

The baseball's been fun to write for me too. Sounds like watching tons of sports movies has paid off.

The team causing Angela to fall asleep was a favorite part too. There's no way she would let them out to the bar so they needed to get creative. Likewise with the code in the letters. Just because Jim and Pam aren't face to face doesn't mean I'm going to let them stop bantering to each other.

I'm really glad the dog fights have come across well. I don't know how many times I've read the Star Wars X-Wing books. Lots of dogfights in there which is what I'm using as inspiration for writing out dog fights. Also like sports movies, I've watched a ton of WWII and fighter pilot movies and documentaries. So I'm really glad it's coming across well.

Glad the characters are still staying true as well. Considering the wide cast to work with, at times it can get tricky.

Yeah, Ryan may get a few jabs in, but like in canon, Jim always comes out on top.

They're in the UK, how could I not include the UK Office cast? It was just to good an opportunity to let slip by.

Thank you so very much of the continued support for this story. It really does make me glad to hear you're enjoying it so much. I hope I continue to keep the standards up.

Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi!

A nice filler chapter. Glad to see Gareth and Dwight face off, and nice that we got to meet one of Jim's brothers.

Author's Response: Yes a filler chapter, but a fun one. Glad you liked it.

Oh boy, Andy’s reaction to Tim not “knowing” Cornell is priceless.
Although, it’s nothing compared to Dwight and Gareth... I love Dwight coming in with the correction - a perfect way for them to cross paths.
Gareth is fun, but let’s face it, I have a soft spot for Dwight so I kind of love him getting the upper hand with that salute.
Tim and Jim are lovely, of course they’re content to sit back and let it play out.
“aggressively singing” now that’s a twist on a bar fight!

Of course it’s Andy to lead the retaliation.
It’s nice to break up the tension of war this way, with friendly rivalry and patriotic songs.

Another Halpert! That’s exciting! Jim outranking his older brother makes me smile (especially considering how unlikeable Jim’s brothers are when they try to “prank” Jim in Season 5).

Jim pulling out a guitar is a nice nod to canon and that guitar we never really find out more about from his barbecue.

Oh Warrior, that’s so lovely! Thank you. Funnily enough, my Ben is currently engrossed in a documentary about Spitfires. He keeps pausing it tell me how majestic they are. He actually has a pilot’s license and had he been around at that time, I’m sure he would have been exactly like this. It’s very fitting to see him immortalized in this fic!

There was so much to love in this chapter - the crossover with the UK Office was wonderfully done. As I touched on earlier, I think it’s great to break up the war/angst with snippets of their down time. It’s important that they have down time. It was sweet that Jim got a moment with his brother too, that was unexpected.
I wish I still had jellybeans to give!

Author's Response:

I was really looking forward to this review. I came up with the idea for this chapter a long time ago, so it was fun to finally bring it to life. 

Glad you liked how I had the American and British Office characters interacting. I feel the same way about Dwight vs. Gareth. 

Having Andy lead the charge with the singing was just to good an opportunity.

Most importantly, I'm very glad you liked the bits with Ben. That's really fun to hear about him liking Spitfire's. Like I said thank you so much for your support and great reviews.  

This chapter was a delight, I could almost hear the stomping and clapping in my head while reading this. Now I have to go listen to all the songs. The rivalry turning to song was a fun twist, I half expected an all out brawl.

Author's Response: Thanks DG. That was exactly what I was going for. A lead up to possibly a bar brawl, but then they break out in song. Glad you liked it. Hope all those songs get stuck in your head like they have been in mine for months now.

Interesting to see that Ryan promotion/dislike of Jim coming to life in this world too. How very Season 4 of you.
“without any crosses on the kill board” is Ryan not making a sale all over again. Very fitting.

It’s hard to review as I go once we get into the thick of battle, because reading on far outweighs pausing to write anything down...

No, no, no. I don’t like that. Out of ammo and planning to ram the incoming Germans. Nope. No thank you.

Aww, Dwight complimenting Jim fills me with joy. That’s definitely the kind of thing that Dwight would view as honorable. So very lovely to have him acknowledge it.

Roy calling Jim sir non-ironically kind of makes me chuckle. I like that Jim has a little bit of status in this world. Although, I suppose it’s not all that dissimilar from warehouse worker v. office worker...

Oooh, it’s nice to see Ryan get his comeuppance! He certainly turns from smug to feeble under the truth. And to top it off with the introduction of Andy... This ought to be interesting.

Well, there’s a nice crossover twist! It’s UK Jim!

Author's Response:

I always look forward to hearing from you. Mainly because you quite often pick up exactly what I'm going for. Yes, no kills is supposed to equal Ryan not making any sales. My way of translating the show into this AU. 

Dwight has been a lot of fun to write with this one. Despite all his oddness, Dwight is a good and honorable guy at heart, so it's fun to bring that out. Even if it means using a line he said to Pam and having him say it to Jim this time around.

It's also military protocol for an enlisted man to refer to any officer as "sir," but it's also another way to translate the show to the military. Warehouse/enlisted vs Office/officer. That being said it's also fun to make sure Jim is on a higher standing than Roy.

Same with taking Ryan down a peg or two. Why rewrite some of the best bits from the show?

Yup UK Jim making an appearance. We'll have some fun with him next chapter. I have a feeling you'll really like it.

Thanks as always. 

Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough
It isn't fit for humans now.
--John Betjeman

Lovely to see the British Office represented. Hope Tim and Dawn are a little happier in this one. I really enjoyed the Dwight/Jim interaction and honestly also Ryan being a coward. Good chapter.

Author's Response: Bringing in some of the UK Office cast was something I'd been looking forward to for a while. Glad you liked the chapter.

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As someone who has never really played or watched baseball, you do a great job of painting the picture of the game and making the reader care.

Your characterizations and dialogue are great as ever, I look forward to reading more. 

Good on Jim and good on Dwight. I'm still waiting for the shoe to drop (or should I say the Penny) with Roy... Or for Jim to recognize the signs himself. Good chapter.

Oh, and good trauma/shock but that is not a surprise from you.

Author's Response: I've got something special in mind for that, don't worry. Glad everything came across well. The flight or fight response can have interesting effects so it makes me feel good that my descriptions came across well.