Finch/Reese
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Harold Finch/John Reese |
| Alternative name(s): | Rinch |
| Gender category: | slash |
| Fandom: | Person of Interest |
| Canonical?: | non-canon |
| Prevalence: | fandom OTP, common |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Finch/Reese is the main pairing in Person of Interest fandom. It's not uncommon for people to refer to the two characters as two halves of Batman: the billionaire genius who figures things out in his lair, and the vigilante roaming the streets kneecapping bad guys as he goes.[1] [2] [3] Much like Batman, both Harold Finch and John Reese are clams.
Canonically, they're in almost constant communication via earbud, and Reese's husky low voice seems to be flirting with Finch more often than not. Reese regularly brings Finch tea and doughnuts, and brought him a dog to protect him when Reese isn't around. Finch has given Reese his life back, along with a job and an apartment. They spend at least some of their free time together.
Both our guys are essentially 'dead' to the world at large. They are the only two who know about Finch's 'numbers' and how to deal with them. They are a society of two. For this reason it seems logical that over time they would become closer. -AKMars on "Why Rinch is a Ship of Choice" at the Person of Interest Discussion Forum.[4]
History
Finch/Reese has been the juggernaut pairing since the start of the show.[5] The first Finch/Reese fic on the AO3 was x_art's The Man He Was Meant To Be, an episode tag to episode 1x3, "Mission Creep," and the first POI fic on FFN, Hope2spy's Trust, reads as at least pre-slash. However, the show's fandom (and consequently the pairing) was fairly small overall through season one.
Season 2 saw a significant increase in fannish interest, and some BNFs who got into the pairing at that time gave it an additional boost. astolat, already a popular writer in medium-to-large fandoms like American Idol RPF and Supernatural, wrote her first Finch/Reese story mid-season 2;[6] leupagus, popular in the Hawaii Five-0 and Star Trek AOS fandoms, wrote their first Finch/Reese story two months later.[7]
Despite the lack of crack or magic in the canon, the fandom has embraced both, producing transformation, mpreg, tentacles, omega verse, sex pollen, and more. It also produces works more in-line with canon, casefic and episode tags and canon-divergent AUs.
Common Tropes in Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Example Fanworks
Fanfic
- Detritus by Speranza, a touching relationship story told through the cast off objects of everyday life. (2012)
- Hamartia (the hero's fatal flaw) by astolat, a fake married casefic with kidfic elements.
- Dangerous if Unbound and Fealty by astolat
- Losing Control by Neery, a sex pollen fic.
- i'll pretend my heart's not on fire if you steal my true love's name by queenklu, an A/B/O fic.
- Point of a Pistol by Giddygeek, a hurt/comfort fic written for Yuletide 2012.
- Derde Naam is De Charme by Jedi Buttercup; Bear's POV.
Fanart
Loosen Up by Artmetica, realistic portrait, great use of light, expression, and body language to convey emotion.
Fanvids
Podfic
Archives and Communities
Archives
Communities
- POI-Rinch Finch/Reese community on deviantArt
- Reese/Finch section at the Person of Interest Discussion Forum
Fannish Resources
Rec Lists
- Finch/Reese fic recs Part 1 and Part 2 by giandujakiss
Links
- Finch/Reese tag on Delicious
- Finch/Reese tag on Pinboard
- Rinch tag on tumblr
References
- ^ rose_griffes on DW, "Reese is the unrealistic badass in the duo; Finch is the brains. They're sort of an amalgam of Batman."
- ^ Jane Connor on tumblr, "If Reese is Batman does that make Finch Oracle? It makes Finch Batman as well, because they both are functional parts of one comic superhero."
- ^ the_suit on DW, "John Reese is the other half of Batman in the show next to Harold Finch"
- ^ Why Rinch is a Ship of Choice, accessed 17 September 2014.
- ^ On the AO3, Finch/Reese works have consistently made up just under half of all works -- between Sept. 2011 and Sept. 2012 (season 1) they were 112 out of 265 works (42.3%); between Sept. 2012 and Sept. 2013 (season 2) they were 532 out of 1,130 works (47.1%); between Sept. 2013 and Sept. 2014 (season 3) they were 468 out of 1,112 works (42.1%).
- ^ For Tomorrow, published 3 January 2013.
- ^ why don't we get together and call ourselves an institute, published 3 March 2013.