Fic: Starvation (Leslie POV)

[stiffleaves]

Title: Starvation (Leslie POV)
Fandom: Parks and Recreation
Pairing: Leslie/Ben
Rating: NC-17
Word count: ~10,100
Summary: My answer to the question: "How do we get from the breakup in I'm Leslie Knope to 'I miss you like crazy, I think about you all the time, so let's just say screw it' in Smallest Park?"
Notes: Written for the Behind Closed

Comments

[edeainfj]

Thank goodness for that last little coda - this was so sad!

Persistencia = genius. (Ron voice) Boom! Head-canon.

[stiffleaves]

Thanks!

[stiffleaves]

Thank you so much! Glad to hear the first person worked. I think comparing herself to Shauna is basically canon? She does say, in the extended cut of the episode, that she'll kick Ann if Ann says Shauna is more charming than her. I imagine it wasn't just about her personality in her head, either, but would have spiralled into all kinds of other, physical insecurities.

[emilyla]

This was absolutely wonderful. So sad, and then the last paragraph is incredibly beautiful. I loved everything about this.

Also, I'm glad I'm not the only person who has lots of feelings that scene where Ben drops the microphone.

[stiffleaves]

Thanks so much! I absolutely love cocky, assertive Ben. Yum.

[stiffleaves]

Thank you! So glad to hear this rings true and manages to fill some gaps. Yay!

And as I said above, I think the comparison is basically there in the episode itself. It also seems like a knee-jerk female reaction to me, instilled by this media culture where looks (on women) anyway are often regarded as more important than anything else. Leslie, who is a feminist and pretty aware of this stuff (cf. Beauty Pageant, for example), would probably try not to think this way, but I think this is such a moment of weakness and such a punch in the gut that she just can't help herself.

[sullen_aquarian]

I love this so much. And that new scene you added, in the City Treasure's office, is just wrenching. We didn't get to see a lot of Leslie's feelings until End of the World, so getting this glimpse into her thoughts is just fantastic. Nice work, partner : ).

[stiffleaves]

Thanks so much, partner! ;)