1

Couple things I really liked about this:

You correctly identifying a BIG part of Pam's thinking about the wedding which I think goes unrecognized, which is that she believes the wedding will change things with her and Roy and hasn't really thought through how.

And I love the idea of Jim sticking around for one final shot before leaving.

1

HE BOUGHT HER THE DRESS. Awesome. This scene in the dressing room is magnificent.

1

These are lovely little vignettes.

1

I'm not sure which one of these I like best - Kevin as a Teddy Ruxpin (and "should have been cute and cuddly but are instead oddly creepy" is incredibly apt description for both Kevin and Teddy Ruxpin) and Kelly as Chatty Cathy are fighting it out in a battle royale.

Author's Response:

I vote Teddy Ruxpin. 😁 It was fun to try to see the office folks through the eyes of a bright little kid.

thank you, again!! 

1

Oooooof. This is brutal and lovely.

1

Gawd. I love this, and I love the idea of a Season 3 playing out in which Jim and Pam are actually together and are playing cat and mouse with the cameras.

Author's Response: I liked that idea, too. I wasn't 100% happy with this one-- too wordy, not Pam enough. But I still like the thought behind it, especially the idea that Jim was filling so many holes in Pam's life that she didn't fully realize her relationship with Roy was swiss cheese. 

1

LEGENDARY.

1

Man, the transition between #1 and #2 would be life-giving if it weren't also so ridiculously painful.

1

A CHRISTMAS STORY AU. Yes. Here for it - and the choice for Michael to be the one carrying the heavy weight of regret is perfect. As is his insistence, even as a manifestation, to be mildly inappropriate.

Author's Response:

I loved writing this. I had so much fun with it, and I remember really having to think about how to balance which characters played which part, and how much they needed to stay in-character.  I think a lot of them were dragging around regret (I mean, they worked full-time at a paper company in Pennsylvania...) but Michael was my first choice for Marley. 

 I'm so pleased you've arrived at this one. 'Tis the season! 

1

This actually feels like a pretty fair glimpse of Jim's future with Karen - probably fine (provided he isn't forced to build it while Pam sits six feet from them), but definitely not the love of his life.

Author's Response: Yes, I think the show did a good job of showing that Karen was pretty great. Roy was a disaster, there was no good future there, but there was nothing wrong with Karen. She just...wasn't Pam. I'd have to look at the dates to see when I wrote this vs. what was going on in the show at the time (did I write this before season 3 started? Had we seen Karen promos yet?). I don't remember how much I knew or suspected about Karen at this point, but regardless, Jim would have found someone and been happy. But nobody would have eclipsed Pam. 

1

This manages to be both adorable and hilarious.

Author's Response: Aww, thanks! I remember having a lot of fun writing this one. I'm so pleased that you came across it! Thank you for taking the time to comment, it made my day. 

1

Yikes. Rough day for Karen - although admittedly here one she brought on herself by being wildly judgmental. (Although for the most part not necessarily unfairly so, which is interesting - with the exception of Pam, this does feel a lot like how a normal person suddenly dropped into Dunder Mifflin Scranton might react.)

It is nice to see even S3 Jim at one of his less pro-Pam moments still being willing to stand up for her. *sigh* This would've saved us all a lot of pain.

Author's Response:

I obviously wrote this one before the branches merged, and I really didn't have a sense of Karen at all (I think I did her justice in subsequent fics). I think you've picked up on what my intention was, though-- that someone coming in cold to the Scranton branch might really have been put off by all of the shenanigans. Also, Jim was never as aloof from all of it as he tried to pretend.

 It would have been nice to dispatch Karen so easily, but in hindsight I guess

I am content with what we really got.  

1

Ooooof. This feels like a pretty good snapshot of Pam's Beach Games mindset, actually - I'm sure glad she got to the point of taking her risk sooner than she did in this piece!

Author's Response: The fans would have rioted had they strung us along much more. I remember thinking a lot about how they were just as distant in the same office as they had been when he was away. And how Pam needed to say something!