Ben Wyatt (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
calculators) wrote2018-07-29 03:56 pm
calculators) wrote2018-07-29 03:56 pm
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Name: Duckie
DW username:ilovesatellites
E-Mail: thelightofduskATgmailDOTcom
Discord: intracosmic#9676
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ilovesatellites
Other Characters: N/A
Character Name: Ben Wyatt
Series: Parks and Recreation
Timeline: Right before episode 5x15, upon returning from his honeymoon. He walks off the plane but never makes it to the airport.
Canon Resource Link: Character Page @ Wikia & Season Summaries @ Wikia
Character History:
Benjamin Wyatt was born on November 14, 1974, in Partridge, Minnesota. While he'd love to say he had two doting parents who adored each other until old age, nothing could be further from the truth. Steve and Julia Wyatt had a tumultuous marriage that ended in bitter divorce and, to this day, cannot stand the mere mention of the other much less the sight. It was perhaps for this reason, why there was no one to intervene when Ben torpedoed a successful high school career with good grades and membership in the model United Nations, to run for mayor of his city before he'd even attended his senior prom. He won too, propelled by a spirit of "anti-establishment voter rebellion" and took office to the very tasteful choice of 'Whoomp! (There It Is)' by Tag Team.
Ultimately, this stunt culminated in failure that would haunt Ben for decades. His first major effort as mayor was to blow the entire city budget on a winter sports complex he titled "Ice Town" and two months later he would find himself having bankrupted the city and impeached. Not great. Ben was banned from his own hometown and left for college in disgrace.
In an effort to reinvent himself, Ben attend the small, private institution of Carleton College in the northern reaches of Minnesota. Aside from a gig as a radio DJ on the college music station - a swing show with the excellent pun name of Zoot Suit Wyatt - Ben kept his head down and focused hard on his studies. He went into accounting and, after graduating, takes a job as a state auditor in hopes of proving that he can manage public finances and is fit for public office. During this time, he and fellow accountant Chris Traeger were partnered up as a dynamic duo for the state of Indiana to help cities avoid bankruptcy or, in extreme cases, recover from it.
Upon arriving in Pawnee, Indiana, it's made clear that Chris and Ben take on the roles of good cop/bad cop (ignoring the fact that Ben is terrified of cops and likely would not appreciate such an analogy). Ben, with his straight-forward, no nonsense disposition where matters of work are concerned, is, predictably, the one who is forced into being the enforcer. When he and Leslie Knope first meet, she is not a fan of his as a result, seeing Ben as all the worst things about government. Though they manage to bond over a beer and his revealing his embarrassing past, much of Leslie's good will is rescinded when the finances of the City of Pawnee at large make it clear that the government will have to be shut down for an indeterminate length of time. Ben is aware of the fact that the Parks Department has done their fair share of trimming the fat, so to speak, but the budget problems of the city run far deeper than one department with a half dozen employees.
Leslie, meanwhile, doesn't care what Ben is or isn't aware of, nor do the rest of her team. The Parks Department bands together to throw a children's concert that had been previously scheduled. They move it to an abandoned lot behind Ann's house (Leslie's best friend). Ron pitches in to build the stage. Pretty much it's all hands on deck, though on the down low. Well, right up until Ron slips up in a budget task force meeting and Chris and Ben are compelled to come and shut the event down. Upon arrival though, Ben is moved by how much everyone put into the effort, especially that Leslie motivated them all and the hard work she did on her own. He ultimately lets her have the show and even goes so far as to pay the original performer to rebook. For the kids, but for Leslie too, and they ultimately manage to see past their differences.
When the government shutdown ends, the Parks Department is allowed to reopen but much like the rest of the various departments they're held to a shoestring budget. This is unsatisfactory for one Leslie Knope and, as such, she proposes relaunching a lapsed Pawnee tradition: the Harvest Festival. Ben is skeptical but he's willing to make a deal with her. She can try to do so and if she's successful, use the money and fund the department how she likes. If she fails? She abides by the budget he and Chris set. Unsurprisingly, Leslie can pull off most anything she wants between terrifying sheer will and the amount of favors she's built up across town thanks to her thoughtful nature. Through the course of her work, Ben gains a new respect for her beyond just being a thorn in his side and even starts to fall for her. (Look, the offering of soup to a delirious sick person who just completed an incredible speech before being hospitalized is like a dozen roses in Wyatt speak.)
As the date for the Harvest Festival draws closer, all seems to be going well. Ben's been growing his friendships with Tom and Andy. He's getting closer to Leslie. It's all swell until he's brought along on an interview and singled out for his past days as the failed Partridge Mayor. Ben panics on the radio. Then he panics on television. Finally he ends up going on a rant that nearly costs the festival its fundraising. Things only get worse when, during the week of festival prep, a series of unexpected events sends things awry. Angry indigenous folk, a lost mini-horse, power outages, the combination leaves Ben feeling as though he might be the curse on the Parks Department's event. An event that he does genuinely want to see succeed. In the end, his typical worrying (and overwrought worrying) ended up being for naught. Leslie works most of the issues out. Ron finds Lil' Sebastian. And the local Wamapoke Chief even does a nonsense ritual to convince Pawneeans that there is no "curse" from their people, as well as doing the same for Ben (out of symbolism, nothing more).
With the festival a success, and resounding statewide praise, Chris is given the job of City Manager and assigned Ben to be his Assistant City Manager. This is great, in theory. Except for the part where Chris strictly enforces a no dating policy between all employees and superiors. In it's not enough to keep Ben honest. He's fallen for Leslie Knope hard and all the advice the tries to get from his friends only makes him fail at keeping away from her. After moving in with April and Andy (and teaching them, miraculously, how to be semi-functional adults), Ben realizes he wants to stay in Pawnee. That he has a reason to stop moving from town to town and staying disconnected. Best of all, he has people that accept him no matter how weird, awkward, and completely nerdy he is. And best of all, there's a woman he's passionately attracted to, mentally and physically.
So begins sneaking around and what Leslie calls "The Bubble." They keep their relationship secret for as long as possible but eventually, all secrets must come out. Too bad theirs is in the form of Ron confronting them in Ann's office during a rendezvous with a recording of a particularly embarrassing butt dial during more intimate times. Ben realizes that they've got to stop meeting at work, cut back on risks, and potentially come clean all-together. In the end, he doesn't have to come clean because when Leslie decides to run for County Council, they break up so the potential scandal won't ruin her chances of a win. He's known for months that she was considering running and shows his happiness for her by giving her a pre-made Knope 2012 button he's had for some time.
In the end though, the break-up doesn't last because they both miss each other far too much. They decide to get back together and tell Chris as much. When Chris launches an internal investigation, one with ramifications that could ruin Leslie's political career, Ben ends up quitting his job with the City of Pawnee before anything too damaging can go on record. He's content with his decision, taking some time for himself (that goes disastrously, as claymation is NOT an acceptable way to spend a month and a half - especially if you're both depressed and terrible at it). When he finally does get back on the professional horse it's to help Leslie run her campaign. They win, by a margin of just 21 votes, but it seals the deal on a recount. And his skills catch the eye of a campaign management firm in Washington, DC, where he takes a temporary job for six months.
He's invited to continue on more campaign efforts after his first gig is up, but Ben knows his heart lies back in Pawnee. Returning early, he surprises Leslie at a viewing of the house they were planning to buy and proposes to her. House is bought, wedding date set, and all is according to plan. Right up until Ben remembers how much of a nightmare his family is. The thought of pulling of a successful wedding seems almost unbearable, although he does feel a modicum better about it with Leslie involved. Fate has better things planned for them both though. After a black tie event for raising funds for a new park, the pair realize that it just feels right to get married that night. Although things almost come crashing down around them, serendipity intervenes. Ben manages to stage candles, lights, flowers, the whole shebang, back at the Parks Department offices in City Hall while Leslie is taking care of bailing out Ron who defended her honor during the first attempted ceremony at the gala. All the most important people are there, their friends. But better than that, is Ben's wife; Leslie soon shows up, a vision in a gown made from both her own dress and law bills, newspaper releases, and fliers, that her best friend Ann put together. Their vows are exchanged and they end the night on their favorite second floor City Hall bench in front of the wildflower mural.
Shortly after, the pair head off to Hawaii for their honeymoon. Despite Leslie's propensity to schedule every hour of every day with activities, Ben does manage to get some time in reading the newest Game of Thrones book. He even convinces her to go on a LOST filming locations tour. There's waffles in bed and days spent on the water. Heading back on to the plane leaving for Indianopolis, Ben's brain is actually low-key relaxed for once. He's none-the-wiser as he steps off the plane with all their carry-ons that they aren't going to be heading home to Pawnee any time soon.
Abilities/Special Powers: He's a normal guy who's just really good at math and knows an astounding amount of geeky trivia.
Third-Person Sample:
The first hours in Wonderland were spent determining if he was hallucinating, suffering from some kind of brain damage, or had possibly died. Later, this last possibility would come back as an option, but ultimately Ben Wyatt ruled out all three. Through process of elimination: things were far too real while still simultaneously bizarre, for any type of hallucination via psychotropic drugs; if he'd suffered brain damage, this was not the kind of reality his own brain would conjure up, presence of superheroes not withstanding; if he were dead, this was patently the most unexpected afterlife any human could've encountered in the history of the human race. Also? Ben just really didn't want the last one to be true.
So, against his better gut instincts, he took things at face value. This was made easier when he realized his wife was there too and they'd both had the exact same experience of leaving their plane in Indianapolis only to arrive at the Wonderland Mansion. As of yet, Leslie had been just smart enough not to mention parallels to LOST. Still, taking things at face value doesn't mean determining the worth of that value. Ben's best skills may not usually count for much in extreme circumstances but in this instance? He was going to audit the heck out of their new "home."
It starts with requesting a laptop from the wardrobe. Only Ben either wasn't specific enough or the fact he was thinking about the probability of being given a IBM ThinkPad 300 meant that what came out was... Not great. Weighing a million pounds and still reliant on the equivalent of MS-DOS not great. His second attempt was better though, and it gave him something roughly equivalent to his own idea of modern. More importantly, the laptop could produce quality spreadsheets, macros for crunching numbers, the works. From there, it took just a few hours to make up the base of the files Ben wanted. Lists of the things he and Leslie arrived with, along what he'd barter if necessity ever demanded it (all columns from Leslie had a resounding NO). A wardrobe request tracker, along with preciseness calculations for the pair of them (something Ben predicted would favor Leslie).
Finally, he made one last file. He waited until he was sure Leslie was otherwise occupied making her first public "address" of sorts to the various unwilling denizens of Wonderland. The file name was, what appeared to be, a nonsense scramble of letters and numbers, and ultimately marked as hidden. In it, Ben had calculated his probability of death. Each probability had different variables based on the scant facts he'd gathered so far about events, the kinds of other people brought to the land (vampires?!), and ability to defend oneself. There was a second tab on the sheet marked "Leslie" but even just looking at it caused Ben to feel an unwelcome rush of anxiety. No. No, he wasn't going to fill that out, even if he could probably start working some of the numbers in his head. He had five deaths to spare, that ought to do for now.
Closing the file and then the lid to the laptop, he turned to where Leslie was just finishing her post. She was always the optimist. He took that, used it to summon a smile, and let her start telling him about the million and one ideas she had to improve what he, frankly, considered to be a complete death trap.
First-Person Sample:
[Ben looks directly into the camera, which is actually at a flattering angle believe it or not, and sighs.]
Look, I know most of you probably don't care, but the fact that the "magical wardrobe" [yeah, those are airquotes] isn't always precise? Is kind of a problem.
Take for instance, this calculator.
[He holds up something akin to the TI-83+, for those who took any kind of math in the 90s to 00s in modern, normal America.]
If you're from my time? This? This is an inferior piece of technology. No one wants this. What they want is the TI-89. Or, even better, a brand new Casio. But I would've happily settled for the TI-84. Doesn't even need to be the plus edition. [Oh boy, he's getting fired up now. Nerd alert.] Look everyone says that Texas Instruments were just scamming everyone when the 84s came out but that's not true. They did impressive coding upgrades. I mean, all you have to do is toss a polynomial function with asymptotes in there to see the difference.
[A long pause, as if he can hear his many friends back home and their iterations of how boring he is.]
Look, all I'm saying is that sometimes it matters what kinds of things you need. Some jobs need certain tools and specifics matter. And not just with calculators either.
DW username:
ilovesatellitesE-Mail: thelightofduskATgmailDOTcom
Discord: intracosmic#9676
Plurk:
Other Characters: N/A
Character Name: Ben Wyatt
Series: Parks and Recreation
Timeline: Right before episode 5x15, upon returning from his honeymoon. He walks off the plane but never makes it to the airport.
Canon Resource Link: Character Page @ Wikia & Season Summaries @ Wikia
Character History:
Benjamin Wyatt was born on November 14, 1974, in Partridge, Minnesota. While he'd love to say he had two doting parents who adored each other until old age, nothing could be further from the truth. Steve and Julia Wyatt had a tumultuous marriage that ended in bitter divorce and, to this day, cannot stand the mere mention of the other much less the sight. It was perhaps for this reason, why there was no one to intervene when Ben torpedoed a successful high school career with good grades and membership in the model United Nations, to run for mayor of his city before he'd even attended his senior prom. He won too, propelled by a spirit of "anti-establishment voter rebellion" and took office to the very tasteful choice of 'Whoomp! (There It Is)' by Tag Team.
Ultimately, this stunt culminated in failure that would haunt Ben for decades. His first major effort as mayor was to blow the entire city budget on a winter sports complex he titled "Ice Town" and two months later he would find himself having bankrupted the city and impeached. Not great. Ben was banned from his own hometown and left for college in disgrace.
In an effort to reinvent himself, Ben attend the small, private institution of Carleton College in the northern reaches of Minnesota. Aside from a gig as a radio DJ on the college music station - a swing show with the excellent pun name of Zoot Suit Wyatt - Ben kept his head down and focused hard on his studies. He went into accounting and, after graduating, takes a job as a state auditor in hopes of proving that he can manage public finances and is fit for public office. During this time, he and fellow accountant Chris Traeger were partnered up as a dynamic duo for the state of Indiana to help cities avoid bankruptcy or, in extreme cases, recover from it.
Upon arriving in Pawnee, Indiana, it's made clear that Chris and Ben take on the roles of good cop/bad cop (ignoring the fact that Ben is terrified of cops and likely would not appreciate such an analogy). Ben, with his straight-forward, no nonsense disposition where matters of work are concerned, is, predictably, the one who is forced into being the enforcer. When he and Leslie Knope first meet, she is not a fan of his as a result, seeing Ben as all the worst things about government. Though they manage to bond over a beer and his revealing his embarrassing past, much of Leslie's good will is rescinded when the finances of the City of Pawnee at large make it clear that the government will have to be shut down for an indeterminate length of time. Ben is aware of the fact that the Parks Department has done their fair share of trimming the fat, so to speak, but the budget problems of the city run far deeper than one department with a half dozen employees.
Leslie, meanwhile, doesn't care what Ben is or isn't aware of, nor do the rest of her team. The Parks Department bands together to throw a children's concert that had been previously scheduled. They move it to an abandoned lot behind Ann's house (Leslie's best friend). Ron pitches in to build the stage. Pretty much it's all hands on deck, though on the down low. Well, right up until Ron slips up in a budget task force meeting and Chris and Ben are compelled to come and shut the event down. Upon arrival though, Ben is moved by how much everyone put into the effort, especially that Leslie motivated them all and the hard work she did on her own. He ultimately lets her have the show and even goes so far as to pay the original performer to rebook. For the kids, but for Leslie too, and they ultimately manage to see past their differences.
When the government shutdown ends, the Parks Department is allowed to reopen but much like the rest of the various departments they're held to a shoestring budget. This is unsatisfactory for one Leslie Knope and, as such, she proposes relaunching a lapsed Pawnee tradition: the Harvest Festival. Ben is skeptical but he's willing to make a deal with her. She can try to do so and if she's successful, use the money and fund the department how she likes. If she fails? She abides by the budget he and Chris set. Unsurprisingly, Leslie can pull off most anything she wants between terrifying sheer will and the amount of favors she's built up across town thanks to her thoughtful nature. Through the course of her work, Ben gains a new respect for her beyond just being a thorn in his side and even starts to fall for her. (Look, the offering of soup to a delirious sick person who just completed an incredible speech before being hospitalized is like a dozen roses in Wyatt speak.)
As the date for the Harvest Festival draws closer, all seems to be going well. Ben's been growing his friendships with Tom and Andy. He's getting closer to Leslie. It's all swell until he's brought along on an interview and singled out for his past days as the failed Partridge Mayor. Ben panics on the radio. Then he panics on television. Finally he ends up going on a rant that nearly costs the festival its fundraising. Things only get worse when, during the week of festival prep, a series of unexpected events sends things awry. Angry indigenous folk, a lost mini-horse, power outages, the combination leaves Ben feeling as though he might be the curse on the Parks Department's event. An event that he does genuinely want to see succeed. In the end, his typical worrying (and overwrought worrying) ended up being for naught. Leslie works most of the issues out. Ron finds Lil' Sebastian. And the local Wamapoke Chief even does a nonsense ritual to convince Pawneeans that there is no "curse" from their people, as well as doing the same for Ben (out of symbolism, nothing more).
With the festival a success, and resounding statewide praise, Chris is given the job of City Manager and assigned Ben to be his Assistant City Manager. This is great, in theory. Except for the part where Chris strictly enforces a no dating policy between all employees and superiors. In it's not enough to keep Ben honest. He's fallen for Leslie Knope hard and all the advice the tries to get from his friends only makes him fail at keeping away from her. After moving in with April and Andy (and teaching them, miraculously, how to be semi-functional adults), Ben realizes he wants to stay in Pawnee. That he has a reason to stop moving from town to town and staying disconnected. Best of all, he has people that accept him no matter how weird, awkward, and completely nerdy he is. And best of all, there's a woman he's passionately attracted to, mentally and physically.
So begins sneaking around and what Leslie calls "The Bubble." They keep their relationship secret for as long as possible but eventually, all secrets must come out. Too bad theirs is in the form of Ron confronting them in Ann's office during a rendezvous with a recording of a particularly embarrassing butt dial during more intimate times. Ben realizes that they've got to stop meeting at work, cut back on risks, and potentially come clean all-together. In the end, he doesn't have to come clean because when Leslie decides to run for County Council, they break up so the potential scandal won't ruin her chances of a win. He's known for months that she was considering running and shows his happiness for her by giving her a pre-made Knope 2012 button he's had for some time.
In the end though, the break-up doesn't last because they both miss each other far too much. They decide to get back together and tell Chris as much. When Chris launches an internal investigation, one with ramifications that could ruin Leslie's political career, Ben ends up quitting his job with the City of Pawnee before anything too damaging can go on record. He's content with his decision, taking some time for himself (that goes disastrously, as claymation is NOT an acceptable way to spend a month and a half - especially if you're both depressed and terrible at it). When he finally does get back on the professional horse it's to help Leslie run her campaign. They win, by a margin of just 21 votes, but it seals the deal on a recount. And his skills catch the eye of a campaign management firm in Washington, DC, where he takes a temporary job for six months.
He's invited to continue on more campaign efforts after his first gig is up, but Ben knows his heart lies back in Pawnee. Returning early, he surprises Leslie at a viewing of the house they were planning to buy and proposes to her. House is bought, wedding date set, and all is according to plan. Right up until Ben remembers how much of a nightmare his family is. The thought of pulling of a successful wedding seems almost unbearable, although he does feel a modicum better about it with Leslie involved. Fate has better things planned for them both though. After a black tie event for raising funds for a new park, the pair realize that it just feels right to get married that night. Although things almost come crashing down around them, serendipity intervenes. Ben manages to stage candles, lights, flowers, the whole shebang, back at the Parks Department offices in City Hall while Leslie is taking care of bailing out Ron who defended her honor during the first attempted ceremony at the gala. All the most important people are there, their friends. But better than that, is Ben's wife; Leslie soon shows up, a vision in a gown made from both her own dress and law bills, newspaper releases, and fliers, that her best friend Ann put together. Their vows are exchanged and they end the night on their favorite second floor City Hall bench in front of the wildflower mural.
Shortly after, the pair head off to Hawaii for their honeymoon. Despite Leslie's propensity to schedule every hour of every day with activities, Ben does manage to get some time in reading the newest Game of Thrones book. He even convinces her to go on a LOST filming locations tour. There's waffles in bed and days spent on the water. Heading back on to the plane leaving for Indianopolis, Ben's brain is actually low-key relaxed for once. He's none-the-wiser as he steps off the plane with all their carry-ons that they aren't going to be heading home to Pawnee any time soon.
Abilities/Special Powers: He's a normal guy who's just really good at math and knows an astounding amount of geeky trivia.
Third-Person Sample:
The first hours in Wonderland were spent determining if he was hallucinating, suffering from some kind of brain damage, or had possibly died. Later, this last possibility would come back as an option, but ultimately Ben Wyatt ruled out all three. Through process of elimination: things were far too real while still simultaneously bizarre, for any type of hallucination via psychotropic drugs; if he'd suffered brain damage, this was not the kind of reality his own brain would conjure up, presence of superheroes not withstanding; if he were dead, this was patently the most unexpected afterlife any human could've encountered in the history of the human race. Also? Ben just really didn't want the last one to be true.
So, against his better gut instincts, he took things at face value. This was made easier when he realized his wife was there too and they'd both had the exact same experience of leaving their plane in Indianapolis only to arrive at the Wonderland Mansion. As of yet, Leslie had been just smart enough not to mention parallels to LOST. Still, taking things at face value doesn't mean determining the worth of that value. Ben's best skills may not usually count for much in extreme circumstances but in this instance? He was going to audit the heck out of their new "home."
It starts with requesting a laptop from the wardrobe. Only Ben either wasn't specific enough or the fact he was thinking about the probability of being given a IBM ThinkPad 300 meant that what came out was... Not great. Weighing a million pounds and still reliant on the equivalent of MS-DOS not great. His second attempt was better though, and it gave him something roughly equivalent to his own idea of modern. More importantly, the laptop could produce quality spreadsheets, macros for crunching numbers, the works. From there, it took just a few hours to make up the base of the files Ben wanted. Lists of the things he and Leslie arrived with, along what he'd barter if necessity ever demanded it (all columns from Leslie had a resounding NO). A wardrobe request tracker, along with preciseness calculations for the pair of them (something Ben predicted would favor Leslie).
Finally, he made one last file. He waited until he was sure Leslie was otherwise occupied making her first public "address" of sorts to the various unwilling denizens of Wonderland. The file name was, what appeared to be, a nonsense scramble of letters and numbers, and ultimately marked as hidden. In it, Ben had calculated his probability of death. Each probability had different variables based on the scant facts he'd gathered so far about events, the kinds of other people brought to the land (vampires?!), and ability to defend oneself. There was a second tab on the sheet marked "Leslie" but even just looking at it caused Ben to feel an unwelcome rush of anxiety. No. No, he wasn't going to fill that out, even if he could probably start working some of the numbers in his head. He had five deaths to spare, that ought to do for now.
Closing the file and then the lid to the laptop, he turned to where Leslie was just finishing her post. She was always the optimist. He took that, used it to summon a smile, and let her start telling him about the million and one ideas she had to improve what he, frankly, considered to be a complete death trap.
First-Person Sample:
[Ben looks directly into the camera, which is actually at a flattering angle believe it or not, and sighs.]
Look, I know most of you probably don't care, but the fact that the "magical wardrobe" [yeah, those are airquotes] isn't always precise? Is kind of a problem.
Take for instance, this calculator.
[He holds up something akin to the TI-83+, for those who took any kind of math in the 90s to 00s in modern, normal America.]
If you're from my time? This? This is an inferior piece of technology. No one wants this. What they want is the TI-89. Or, even better, a brand new Casio. But I would've happily settled for the TI-84. Doesn't even need to be the plus edition. [Oh boy, he's getting fired up now. Nerd alert.] Look everyone says that Texas Instruments were just scamming everyone when the 84s came out but that's not true. They did impressive coding upgrades. I mean, all you have to do is toss a polynomial function with asymptotes in there to see the difference.
[A long pause, as if he can hear his many friends back home and their iterations of how boring he is.]
Look, all I'm saying is that sometimes it matters what kinds of things you need. Some jobs need certain tools and specifics matter. And not just with calculators either.