Anything But the Good Guy, nc-17

[scullyseviltwin]

Anything But the Good Guy, nc-17
Ann/Ben, Parks and Recreation
3,000 words

FOR fairytiger's birthday!!! SHE'S THE BEST!

Thanks to Sara and Dennis for the beta.

Ben wants to be the nice guy, but he just can’t, hasn’t even bothered trying in ages.

Comments

[fairytiger]

I FINALLY HAVE A COMPUTER AGAIN SO NOW I CAN TELL ALL THE THINGS THAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS (spoiler alert: it's everything)

Ben wants to be the nice guy, but he just can’t, hasn’t even bothered trying in ages.

like, i love this characterization of Ben. LOVE IT. it reads very real and plausible, that underneath the dork and human disaster is an asshole and idk but i love that.

she’s still going to let him fuck her in his tiny motel room with the television droning the eleven o’clock news in the background. She’s taking what she wants for once (really, just for once) and it’s going to be just fine.

why is fucking to the news so hot to me idek.

“We don’t need to have the talk, right?” Ann asks, her voice loud, clear, no fear, no turning back.

“No,” Ben agrees and Ann just nods, lets herself out.

UGH KILL ME THIS HURTS.

you are the best and i love you and i love this and i am unworthy the end. BEST BIRTHDAY EVAR.

[scullyseviltwin]

I should reply to this. But yes, the feels. I am tres glad that you feel them.

I AM SO GLAD YOU ENJOYED THIS LADYPANTS!

[liebfraumi]

First of all, I loved the realness of the characters along with the motivations behind their actions:
"Ben doesn’t think she’s perfect and Ann doesn’t think he’s anything close to what she needs but everything right now is about what they want."

The truth is, people are seldom always sugar-coated perfect moral creatures.

I think this exploration of darker human truths is beautifully written. You also manage to lure the reader into the story with a lovely lightness of language:
"One might be able to say something about the lighting - mood lighting, electricians would call it, sexytimes lighting a certain Ms. Leslie Knope might say, too dark to see any-damn-thing Ron Swanson would curse" and the sexy times are superb.

Having said that WHY WHY WHY did I read a Ben/Ann story?!? It felt like getting stabbed with a blunt butter knife.

* I should have known better, but sometimes Non-OTP stories are like corn sirup. You know it´s not good for you (your heart), but you can´t resist (once in a while).

Thanks for writing!

[scullyseviltwin]

Hahaha, having read your comment, WHY WHY WHY did I write a Ben/Ann story!? We all do crazy things, eh?!

Thank you so, so much for the kind words, I really appreciate it and I'm so glad that you liked this!

[courtknees1]

Woah. That was intense, and sad, and very well done. I love seeing the darker, selfish sides of these characters that we often view as close to perfect. Great job lady.

[scullyseviltwin]

Oh thank you, friend!

[nazwaz]

What everyone else said. I'm so not into Ben and Ann, but you wrote it and I was curious.

I love how you bring out the ambiguity of the characters. No one really is all good or all bad, not in reality.

The thing is, the big secret, what no one knows is that Ben Wyatt really isn’t a good person. He’s not the worst person in the world, but he’s not the best

That's so perfect -- not the Ben we all know and love in L/B fic, but somehow soooo compelling. We all know how "Let's just say screw it and do this thing for real" works for our OTP in canon & fic, but this is the fascinating dark side of that.

Thank you so much for writing.

[scullyseviltwin]

It's kind of... darkly appealing, I think.

I still feel super weird about writing this but whatever! IT WAS CRAZY FUN!

Thanks so much for reading and for taking the time to let me know what you thought!

[calc_u_later]

I'm afraid that because a few of these Ben/Ann stories I've read I might be a closet Ben/Ann shipper. Can I admit that? This is so, so good. And so, so wrong, but that's what makes it hot I guess. I definitely think in an alternate universe Ben and Ann could have worked really well. This is dark and I love that about it!

[scullyseviltwin]

You probably are; that's probably what that means. You're kicked out of the club, so sorry. :D

It really is so wrong but it's SO FUN!

Super glad you liked this!