"All Roads Lead to You" by CyPanache (T)
Fandom: Parks and Recreation
Pairing: Leslie Knope/Ben Wyatt
Length: 6723 words
Author on LJ: CyPanache
Author Website: Tumblr
Why this must be read: Funny and sweet and sad all at once, this chronological fic follows the twists and turns and character-building moments that make Leslie and Ben who they are by the time they finally meet (or re-meet, depending on how you look at things). The prose is gorgeous and perfectly bittersweet, and the author's keen grasp of the characters' histories is unforgettable.
1981
When Benjamin Wyatt is six he plays George Washington in the school President's Day play.
His mother makes cherry pie the night before, and his father spends the evening telling him all about the great accomplishments of the "Father of Our Country."
Fourteen years from now he'll sit down with the biographies of Adams and Jefferson. Read about the protests of Rutledge and Dickinson. The conniving of Franklin and the originality of Madison, and understand America's birth was far more complicated, tumbling into being like a bastard child, half improvised, half compromised, and no less wonderful for its ignoble roots. But for now he sits curled up on the corner of the couch and dreams his father's dream of a simple, noble land, led by great men who always knew the right thing to do.
The next day his whole family sits in the front row to watch and clap and tell him how great he did.
When it comes time to say "I cannot tell a lie," he forgets his lines.
Everyone still tells him he was wonderful.
Twelve years from now he will wish that someone had pulled him aside and said "you should have practiced more."
&
When Leslie Knope is seven she protests the lack of female representation in the town Fourth of July Pageant (because Lady Liberty does not properly represent the true contribution of women to the development of the nation). Everyone smiles and pats her on the head and offers to let her play Betsy Ross (which is of course only moderately better).
She comes as Susan B. Anthony, gives a three minute improvised speech on her contribution to women's suffrage and gets a half-hearted round of applause.
Alexander Pinkel messes up the opening to the Gettysburg Address and the crowd goes wild.
Her mother takes her to JJ's afterwards for waffles to cheer her up. "Don't worry about all those other people. It was a lovely job dear. Though you should have spent some time on the controversy surrounding Anthony's opposition to the 15th amendment."
She will be thirty six before she stops measuring her success by her mother's approval.
All Roads Lead to You
Pairing: Leslie Knope/Ben Wyatt
Length: 6723 words
Author on LJ: CyPanache
Author Website: Tumblr
Why this must be read: Funny and sweet and sad all at once, this chronological fic follows the twists and turns and character-building moments that make Leslie and Ben who they are by the time they finally meet (or re-meet, depending on how you look at things). The prose is gorgeous and perfectly bittersweet, and the author's keen grasp of the characters' histories is unforgettable.
1981
When Benjamin Wyatt is six he plays George Washington in the school President's Day play.
His mother makes cherry pie the night before, and his father spends the evening telling him all about the great accomplishments of the "Father of Our Country."
Fourteen years from now he'll sit down with the biographies of Adams and Jefferson. Read about the protests of Rutledge and Dickinson. The conniving of Franklin and the originality of Madison, and understand America's birth was far more complicated, tumbling into being like a bastard child, half improvised, half compromised, and no less wonderful for its ignoble roots. But for now he sits curled up on the corner of the couch and dreams his father's dream of a simple, noble land, led by great men who always knew the right thing to do.
The next day his whole family sits in the front row to watch and clap and tell him how great he did.
When it comes time to say "I cannot tell a lie," he forgets his lines.
Everyone still tells him he was wonderful.
Twelve years from now he will wish that someone had pulled him aside and said "you should have practiced more."
&
When Leslie Knope is seven she protests the lack of female representation in the town Fourth of July Pageant (because Lady Liberty does not properly represent the true contribution of women to the development of the nation). Everyone smiles and pats her on the head and offers to let her play Betsy Ross (which is of course only moderately better).
She comes as Susan B. Anthony, gives a three minute improvised speech on her contribution to women's suffrage and gets a half-hearted round of applause.
Alexander Pinkel messes up the opening to the Gettysburg Address and the crowd goes wild.
Her mother takes her to JJ's afterwards for waffles to cheer her up. "Don't worry about all those other people. It was a lovely job dear. Though you should have spent some time on the controversy surrounding Anthony's opposition to the 15th amendment."
She will be thirty six before she stops measuring her success by her mother's approval.
All Roads Lead to You