Bring Them Together

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone, happy Tuesday!  I'm awake, so I'll go ahead and post this now.

One of the wonderful things about BSG is that it has such a great ensemble cast, but as with any show, inevitably you wind up liking some characters more than others.  Today I'd like to do a small thought experiment:  Everyone pick a character that you are not fond of (can be a main character, secondary character, super minor character, they're all open.)  Then, think of how you could do a scene, episode, or fic between that character and Kara or Lee.  Lock the two of them in a room together, send them on a dangerous mission, get them drunk, whatever you want.  But the goal here is to see if you can use Kara and/or Lee to "raise the game" of the character who normally doesn't work for you.  How could throwing them in with Kara or Lee help develop an underdeveloped side of the character, make them interesting where they usually bore you, or create conflict that shows their deeper side?  How would you handle them to make them shine brighter than they did on the show?  What storyline would make you want this character around?

Obviously you can change canon around all you want, or go totally AU.  Also, even though this is asking about people's least favorite characters, it's not meant to be about character bashing so much as character salvaging :)

Comments

[embolalia.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I'll have time to write fic today, but I wanted to say this: as bored as I get with Tyrol's plotlines sometimes, he's redeemed by his reactions to pilots :)

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

I also totally love his reaction faces to Lee and Kara's USTing on deck! I especially love his classic reaction to their spat in 33. And I've always liked that quiet little moment in Maelstrom where Lee says, "Have you talked to her?" and Tyrol just looks at him and says quietly: "You talk to her."

[scifishipper.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see Gaius, Kara, and Lee trapped together (as a result of some kind of crisis), preferably in a smallish room or a ship. I would LOVE to see those sparks fly. I think the insults would be EPIC and hilarious. TOTAL REDEMPTION. ;)

[word-vomity.livejournal.com]

Oh that would be awesome! Someone should totally write it. :D

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Ha ha! Baltar is also one of my problem characters, so I would love to see him and his no-filter-between-brain-and-mouth attitude trapped with Kara and Lee for a day. Their problem is that they never communicate with each other, and I have a feeling that Baltar would have a talent for FORCING communication :)

[damao2010.livejournal.com]

You read my mind. That is exactly what I was going to say. LOL.

[word-vomity.livejournal.com]

I've always struggled with the Sharon's. Both Boomer & Athena drove me a little nuts. They both came off as one trick ponies with repetitive plot-lines that dragged on and on and uninspired dialogue that left me cringing. Very little character consistency. I could totally see Kara ripping into Athena at some point for not badassing as hard as her. Especially since she turned her best bud into a whipped, saintly little oaf of sorts (I mean that in the kindest way possible. I love Helo!). There could have been a little jealousy conflict over how he'd changed between Kara and Athena that may have interested me.

She could have been a pretty cool character but she just wasn't ever used for anything that grabbed my attention and when she was used, it was always for something that left me going, 'Gods damn it, Sharon!' Ok, now she'll shoot a Six as thanks for finding her lost child. Ok now she'll sleep with a Cavil. Ok now she'll be unreasonable and overreact.

I feel like she needed a reality check at some point and it never came. And also maybe a friend of her own to reign her in a bit. Lee? Idk. Maybe Lee/Athena & Kara/Helo as BFF's would've worked. Lee totally needed a buddy too.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Very interesting thoughts on the two Sharons! I would have loved to see some tension between Athena and Kara over how Helo's relationship with her was changing him, that could be a complicated relationship and character angle to play. And I think Athena and Lee could have been really interesting if thrown together more often, especially given Lee's hatred of Cylons.

For me, personally, I always thought that they made an incoherent mess of Boomer's motivations and storyline, for all the reasons you mentioned, but I always found Athena potentially really interesting. The main reason was that she was so incredibly frakked up, and I think there is a case to be made that she exhibits serious signs of Stockholm Syndrome. I mean, think about how she's treated by the Colonials: she is routinely threatened with summary execution, she gets throttled almost to death by the fleet commander while her lover stands by ineffectually, she is imprisoned, raped, drugged and strapped to a gurney and threatened with forcible abortion while she screams and beats her head into the wall with despair, she has her child kidnapped from her and suspects that the baby was murdered on orders from the fleet leaders, and yet despite all this she joins the fleet and serves it faithfully even when she gets conclusive proof that her baby *was* stolen from her on their orders.

Throughout the latter half of the series she is so broken, I think, that she completely absorbs the Colonials' hatred of the Cylons: she signs on to their plan about committing genocide against with the virus, she shuns Kara when it seems she might be a Cylon, she lashes out at Cylons violently with very little provocation while at the same time never lashing out at the humans who are most responsible for her abuse. It really does look like Stockholm Syndrome to me, and the fact that Helo thinks she's totally fine and doesn't see anything bizarre about her behavior is frankly disturbing. In short, I think there's a potentially really interesting story playing out there that no one seemed to notice or take responsibility for. But maybe that's just me :)

[word-vomity.livejournal.com]

Certainly I agree Athena had more potential and was the more interesting of the two as things progressed. I never thought of her situation in quite that way re:stockholm but that's very interesting. She certainly went through serious identity issues that are something that would be of interest to me. I guess it wasn't so much the story but it's execution that put me off there.

They were both very much alienated from the majority regardless of whichever group they were with so that's an interesting dynamic.

Not exactly sure how pilots could have upped my interest level, but I know they could have. Pilots make everyone around them more interesting to me. It's how I grew to enjoy half the other characters! ;)

[thegreenkitty.livejournal.com]

All I have to say is that I love that pic...

This is what I see:

RDM: This chair is too small to fit my ego.
EJO: I could be saving humanity, the water supply, and EVERYthing but instead I'm stuck at this press shoot.
JB and JC: Both trying to be British and polite when they really want to take a nap. JC has given in to the nap idea. JB is trying to stay awake pondering if he managed to match socks w suit and suddenly aghast bc he thinks maybe not.
Grace and Tricia: Both really bored but 'we're models, we can handle this!'
Hogan to Aaron: When do you think we can break for beer?
Aaron to Hogan: Dude, what do you think I have in my water bottle?!
Katee: I'm torn...should I do the model thing or turn around and shoot the shit w Aaron. I know he has beer. Why didn't I think of that?
And Mary...obviously telling someone to 'bless their little heart'.

And that, my friends, is why I love our cast!!

[onlyariana.livejournal.com]

You have made my morning with several hearty laughs!!

[word-vomity.livejournal.com]

You win the internets. :D

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

LOL! You are brilliant! *giggles*

[mserrada.livejournal.com]

Yes! I can definitely see all this!