Fic: Good Intentions

[rikyl]

 

Comments

[sullen_aquarian]

Oh my God, I loved this. Possibly the best Chris characterization I've ever read, I wish we could see him like this on the show. This was literally brilliant.

[rikyl]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it!

[halo_221]

This was fantastic! And you know what? I didn't even feel like I had to suspend my disbelief! You really made it fit plausibly! Really cool idea and wonderfully executed!

[rikyl]

Oh, that's really good to hear, because there were some parts of it that were harder to make work. Thank you!

[fickery]

I loooooved this. My head-canon is that Chris is nowhere near as oblivious as he seems, it's just that he compartmentalizes a lot and ignores things that don't fit into his worldview or agenda because he doesn't want to deal with it or let any negativity in. This was entirely believable.

Loved the side bit about how he lost interest in Ann when she tried too hard to be like him, and his recognition that he needed someone to complement him, not mirror him. And how his interest returned when she started acting like her awesome self again.

Amazing job with this. :)

[rikyl]

I like your head cannon! I think he's shown glimmers of perceptive behavior, like when he was trying to talk April into working for him, but then he turns around and mismanages everyone in The Bubble. It seems like to have the job he's had all these years, where he's been the good cop/diplomat, he would have had to have had some people skills/insight. So I don't know what I think exactly. But thank you, I'm really glad you liked this!

[spunkyar]

I know a lot of people hate Chris and while I don't share their disdain, he isn't my favorite Pawnee citizen. But this story really made me understand some parts of him much better. For example in the show his breakup with Ann seemed totally out of the blue and out of character for him. And while the reasons you presented in this story make him an even bigger ass, it does fill a gap in his character that was never addressed on the show.

Also I loved his encouragement of Ben and Leslie towards the end. It made it much easier to root for him and get teary eyed with him at the end. I'm so happy Ben has found his happiness.

This whole story was perfect and a great addition to this weeks topic!! Thanks for sharing!! :)

[rikyl]

He's definitely not my favorite character either, and at moments I've had strong anti-Chris feelings, so I don't even know how this story happened. :) Did I make him a bigger ass? That's not exactly what I intended. I didn't much care for the way Ann acted when she was dating him, so I just assumed that he might have grown tired of her for the same reasons I did. But it's never really explained, so I have no idea.

Thank you for reading!

[saucydiva]

This is so utterly fantastic. I was entirely tickled reading it. I may have even squeed. I think you get the Ben-Chris friendship, or at least how it is in my headcanon. I refuse to believe Chris is an idiot or that Ben would work with someone who was for so long when he probably would have had numerous opportunities to stop doing so if he wanted. I think of Chris as generally a little misguided, but not cruel and not entirely clueless (And his rule about coworkers not dating is hardly unique!). It is generally my take on the Ann/Chris relationship that no one was wrong, per se, but that Ann was not being herself, and that was not a relationship worthy of moving to Indianapolis. It is my hope that if the show does decide to revive their relationship, that gets addressed.

That's not to say that the writers of the show have necessarily shown any of this. But I think (with the full season order and a little more room for storytelling) that we are going to see a more interesting side of Chris next season, and he will look closer to

[rikyl]

I agree, I hope we see a more consistent, more likable take on Chris next season. At times in season 3, he seemed like the one character they were willing to sell out for laughs, doing whatever was funniest for the plot instead of what made sense for his character development. I don't know. I don't actually ship Chris/Ann at all but I thought as long as I was inside Chris Traeger's head, I might as well have him tell (what I guessed to be) his side of the story. :)

Thank you for reading and reviewing! It's actually so interesting to read these reviews and hear everyone's views on Chris.

[saucydiva]

Yes, I think you hit the nail on the head. He has been really inconsistent. I think part of that was that no one was sure if Rob Lowe was going to be a guest star or a member of the cast; it couldn't have helped the writers create a character that made sense