Behind Closed Doors - A Leslie/Ben Collaboration Challenge
Hosted by stiffleaves, and princess_george. The gorgeous llustration is, of course, courtesy of the increasingly bawdy and ever-fabulous craponaspatula.
The idea for this came about when we noticed that Leslie's sexual evolution has been quite a sight to see. She used to say things like, "Don't make it last very long, the ladies don't like that." And: "How does taking risks make me feel? Amazing. Tingling sensations throughout my whole body. I feel flushed. My muscles are relaxed, yet I feel awake. Just waves of pleasure. I wish there was something physical that could make me feel this way."
But from there she's developed into someone who says things such as, "But I really like sleeping with my boss." Someone who spent a period of time spanning several episodes feeling obviously very frisky and completely comfortable with it -- just think of those moments in the second half of season 4 when she'd tell Ben things like, "You are a man genius with a taut, narrow frame like a sexy elf king."
So, the idea behind this is that that evolution could and should be explored via fic by everyone and in great detail and from both Ben's and Leslie's perspective. Our plan is to do just that in a collaborative fashion.
THE PLAN:
We have split the canon from Ben's arrival in Pawnee in The Master Plan until the end of season 4 into 6 sections, or chunks.
There are three aspects to each chunk:
- Each chunk has a broad theme, or headline, that we think pinpoints what Leslie/Ben is about at that time. That's Leslie/Ben "behind closed doors", of course, rather than other aspects of their relationship, like work.
- Each chunk also has a question attached to it. We think answering that question via fic will shed some light on the development of Leslie and Ben's intimate relationship during that time.
- And finally, each chunk has two sides -- Ben's and Leslie's.
THE DETAILS:
How will the pieces fit together?
We don't know. But we think because each piece explores a chunk of canon from one character's perspective with a view to answering a specific question, they will fit together more or less like patchwork. If everything is not completely consistent from one piece to the next, that's fine. The end result may be less of a continuous, chaptered story and more like a patchwork quilt that combines very different views and styles into a--more or less--cohesive whole.
Is there a restriction on length for each piece?
No. If we had to put a rough frame on it, we might say that 500 words may be a little short, and 20,000 a little long. But basically anything goes. Just have fun with it.
Do I have to stick with canon?:
This is an important one. This is NOT an AU challenge. All fics should be canon-compliant or at least canon-consistent. This means that, obviously, writing about what Leslie and Ben do after hours in the privacy of their own homes is GREAT. This challenge is all about what goes in their heads and what the cameras can't see and, yes, what happens behind closed doors when that documentary crew has left. Fill in those gaps! BUT - whatever you write to fill in the gaps has to plausibly fit in with what actually happened - in canon - both before and after.
Can we collaborate? Do we have to collaborate?:
Two people will be working on each chunk, one writing it from Ben's, the other from Leslie's POV. Because this is a collaboration challenge, you are all encouraged to collaborate in any way you can think of with the person writing your chunk from the other perspective. You can do so in any way you like -- by commenting here or private messaging or email or IM or whatever else. Google docs can be a great way to share works in progress. Of course, you don't have to collaborate in this way. If you want to work together, that's great. If you prefer to work alone and be surprised by the other perspective on your chunk, that's also great. If you do connect with each other, but you then want to go in a different direction from each other, that’s OK too. Spark off each other - but feel free to agree to disagree.
We would also encourage you to take advantage of offers to beta (i.e. read and provide comments on) your fiction, even if you aren’t collaborating with that individual. There are lots of great people who can give you ideas, point you in new directions, and help you get closer to what you’re trying to achieve.
Here's the beta post where people have volunteered. If you wish, you can send your piece to either stiffleaves or me princess_georgeand we will beta it. Also feel free to send it to us if you’re feeling stuck. We’ll try to help you figure it out. Don’t be shy--sometimes a different perspective on it is all you need, and we’re here to help!
What do you expect in terms of ratings/explicitness of the sexytimes?:
We can imagine ratings from PG-13 right through to NC-17. We’re talking about sex here, but the explicitness is entirely up to you. Note that we are hoping these will not be anonymously filled.
How do I sign up?:
Below we have comments for each section and for each POV. First come, first served, only one per customer. The first person to claim each of the 12 will be the one to write it - only one person per story. Please only sign up for one story each, at least initially, to give more people a chance to participate.
When is the deadline, and what do I do with my story when I'm done?:
We would like to publish all the stories together during the week of August 30th of Government Shutdown. We will repost in the same way, with a comment for each section and for each POV. This time, instead of signing up for the story, you will post the link to the story. That way people can go through the timeline from story to story as they like. We’re suggesting that you hold off publishing until then, as we think a reveal all at once will be a really interesting way to go through it all. And then we can discuss where the stories are the same, different, same-but-different, etc. It’ll be great fun!
THE PROMPTS:
1. Fantasies: How do we get from early antagonism to obvious crush? From The Master Plan → Road Trip (but NOT including the night after Road Trip, so, just what we see in the episode itself).
2. Exploration: How do we get from the first kiss to Leslie's statement, "But I really like sleeping with my boss."? From just after Road Trip ends → I'm Leslie Knope.
3. Starvation: How do we get from the breakup to "I miss you like crazy, I think about you all the time, so let's just say screw it."? From Ron and Tammys → Smallest Park (but NOT including the night after Smallest Park, so, again, just what we see in the episode itself).
4. Consolidation: How do we get from the high drama of their reunion to them working together as a team again? What was that like in private? From the night after Smallest Park and The Trial of Leslie Knope → The Comeback Kid.
5. Relish: How do we get from "You need to get tougher." to "I'm just really into you/Give me a spin, baby/He's like a sexy little hummingbird" etc., i.e. Leslie's obvious horniness and Ben's equally obvious confusion about it? (Or is he just confused about the public display of it? And does she really want him to be taller? Basically, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?) From Campaign Ad → Live Ammo.
6. The Team: They were clearly very in sync (and very busy) during the last few episodes. And they had some extremely intense experiences together. And Leslie wanted to live on the bus. And then Ben left for DC. How did all of that play out when it was just the two of them? From The Debate → Ben’s departure for Washington (this time you can go slightly beyond the episode itself!).
The race is on! Go for it!