Struggles, Humanity, and Everything That Sucks

[scifishipper.livejournal.com]

Hello shippers! Sorry for the delay in posting today - I have been caught up in a flurry of fic writing for the Lee Adama Ficathon and have barely remembered to even eat. But thanks to taragel's gentle nudge, I am here now, so please come out and play.

Today's Topic: Struggles, Humanity, and Everything that Sucks

Battlestar Galactica is one of the darkest shows that has ever aired on television (source: me) and it tackled themes of nuclear holocaust, racial annihilation, child trafficking, cancer, war, death, injury, post-traumatic stress, depression, suicide, hopelessness and much more. But it did it often with a storytelling technique that was compelling and engendered hope and love for the characters in the show (or at least most of them, bc we all have those we don't like).

Today, my questions are about the difficult themes of the show, the struggles, and the things that suck and how they relate to pilots. (What?)

To clarify, I want to know how you connected to Kara and Lee and their individual and/or relationship struggles in the show. I want to know what aspects of each of those characters, separately and together, drew you in and never let go? And I don't mean the things you love, because those are many, but instead the difficult and painful struggles that each of them faced. How did and do you relate to those themes?

You can be as personal or as vague as you like, and you can post anonymously if you like, too.

If you don't want to share personally, that's totally fine of course, but maybe you can talk about the individual and/or relationship struggles that you find particularly compelling to read or write in fic. What attracts you to them?

What challenges do you love to see them struggle with and overcome (in fic or in canon)? Or maybe you like the idea that they don't tie everything in a neat little bow and like the messiness of their lives.

Also, what challenges did they have that you saw them actually overcome in canon? Any? None? You tell me. What do you think?

Tell us everything, shippers. Everyone else, please chime in and begin a conversation. I'm excited to peel the onion!

Comments

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

One of my favorite Kara quotes is: "So, Life's a bitch. What do you wanna do, cry about it?" And she never does. She keeps going, she moves on, even when it hurts, even when she's down, even when people (especially the people she cares about most) behave horribly and insult her and knock her down. <3 <3 <3 Kara is seldom given to outward displays of self pity.

The fact that she is so functional on the outside, while being so incredibly dysfunctional inside--and not just merely functioning, but living with a vibrancy that no one else seems to come close to--that captivates me. She hides her brokenness so incredibly well.

It doesn't compare to anything in my life, really, so I'm not sure why I relate to her so much. Mainly because I think I'd like to have her strength were similar circumstances to befall me. Sure she drinks too much and solves her problems with violence a bit too often, but her everyday authority, command, competency, and even her playful spirit in the aftermath of the abuse and grief she's suffered, is very admirable to me.

Lee mostly appealed to me in canon when he remembered to care about people, rather than ideals or concepts. When he was standing by Kara or his dad, or even standing up for himself, on his own two feet like those shining five minutes when he becomes president, or when he gives the wings back to his father and quits the fleet. There are other aspects of his personality that appeal more to me now and did over time as I wrote him into stories again and again (and read him in others'). But I'm not sure I responded to canon!Lee in those other ways, if that makes sense.

And I agree with everything Deborah said about how they were together. The braveness, the being there, the "I'm on your six". They're just essential to each other's well-being.

And I think the show, for all its faults, gave them growth. They learned how to be sweet and supportive and less combative with each other in S4. It wasn't as gradual and didn't happen as early as I would've liked, nor did it happen for the reasons I would've preferred (instead of Kara's death), but I think the way they are with each other in S4 is the way I always wanted them to be. I would've liked to imagine that continuing...sigh.