DPP: The Little Questions

[winegums.livejournal.com]

Today's DPP is all about the minor details - is there anything you've wondered about when it came to either Lee or Kara or both of them together, that the show didn't quite end up answering? Anything that surprised you?

(it could be anything at all - the one thing I've always been surprised by is that child!Kara had long hair, I used to wonder when she cut it all off to become recognisable as the Kara we know and love). Put your own answers in the comments - nothing is too trivial to be mused on!

Comments

[kdbleu.livejournal.com]

I still wonder why/how Lee ended up in the military? It's just a given despite his issues with his father and the fact that he leave the military for politics during S4.

Strangely, I rarely question why Kara's in the military despite the fact that when thinking of Kara and Lee in AU-ish settings I find it easier to keep Lee's tied to the military than Kara, who I tend to instantly move towards art and teaching.

[winegums.livejournal.com]

Oddly, I never really questioned why either of them ended up in the military - knowing that they had parents in it and serious issues associated with the parents in question makes it somehow make sense to me. It's like, if they have a score to settle, they take it out on that playing field, y'know?

[anamarya.livejournal.com]

I still wonder why/how Lee ended up in the military?

I have half theories about this. First one has to do with the fact that it was expected of him and at some point it's easier to do what people expect of you, especially if it's something that you end up being good at.

The second part has to do with something that he says in one of those flashbacks from Daybreak when he speak with Kara and says something about the military giving him 4 (I think) years of college so he will put his years in service. or something to that effect. I have to go and find the scene and clarify my own thoughts.

and then the last part is about proving to his father that he can be at least as good as he was.

[winegums.livejournal.com]

First one has to do with the fact that it was expected of him and at some point it's easier to do what people expect of you, especially if it's something that you end up being good at.

This makes the most sense, actually. And Final Cut tells us he'd been accepted to test pilot school too, so I think he was done with his mandatory service and thinking about what to do next when the attacks happened...and after that, of course his job options were drastically cut down. (and yes, I think he did want to prove something to his dad too)

[kdbleu.livejournal.com]

I alwasy forget about Lee mentioning getting money for college from the military. That makes a lot of sense for him. As does staying with something that works, that he's successful at. :D

[bristow1941.livejournal.com]

*nods* Plus my fanon has also been that his father wouldn't pay for college since he wanted him to join the military anyway. I always thought of it as Lee realized he couldn't get financial aid or scholarships due to his father's income and hated his father for making the military his only choice. There were definite issues between Lee and Bill way before Zak's death and I think Lee had been half-planning to beat his father's records, be promoted to Major below the zone (aka WAY early) and become the youngest CAG ever, then resign as a gesture to his dad. Only thing he never planned was how much he loved flying... and couldn't imagine life without it.

I've always thought that Lee never would have left the military if he hadn't been flying and failed to bring Kara back from the storm. After that, Lee couldn't trust himself out there and lost his enjoyment and freedom of flying.

[kdbleu.livejournal.com]

What's funny is that I forget that Lee mentions in canon that he's using the military to pay for college because I have similar fanon theories about Bill not wanting to pay for Lee to go to college. hee.

I've always thought that Lee never would have left the military if he hadn't been flying and failed to bring Kara back from the storm. After that, Lee couldn't trust himself out there and lost his enjoyment and freedom of flying.

There's something very sad and very sweet about this idea.

[winegums.livejournal.com]

I always assumed that Lee took Kara's death even harder because he'd encouraged her to go on that last flight when she herself didn't want to - knowing him, he felt responsible for it and the guilt meant he lost his own moorings as CAG afterwards, a bit like Kara losing it when the nuggets kept dying in Scar (even though she recovered from that one, and he....didn't).

I can absolutely believe that flying held no joy for him anymore once Kara was gone, and imo it doesn't need to be stated for us to know that her death was the catalyst for him quitting the military.

[kdbleu.livejournal.com]

I have a theory about Kara and her long hair as a child. I could very much see Socrata wanting it to be long, which Kara grew to hate. The first time she cut it was in high school. She cut it herself, ala Torn. Her mother pushed her down the stairs in retaliation, and Kara twisted her knee. This minor injury eventually led the injury that forced Kara out of pyramid and into flying.

[winegums.livejournal.com]

yeah, hair that long on children can be high-maintenance when they're as young as Kara was in those Socrata flashbacks, I'd find it plausible that Socrata used to help maintain/comb her daughter's hair.

I also subscribe to the theory that Kara cut her hair short herself, though I think maybe she did it a little earlier than high school - like circa puberty.

[onlyariana.livejournal.com]

Ohhh, when I was about that age I was *sure* my mom brushed and washed my hair just to be cruel to me. It hurt like hell. All those tangles and shampoo/conditioner in my eyes was a horror. Maybe Socrata liked to roughly do things to Kara's hair so kept it long on purpose.

[im-ridiculous.livejournal.com]

Hi! ...hope you don't mind my butting in...
That is a great theory, actually. Works for me. And also reminds me of my little detail thing that I could never work out:

How did a knee injury force Kara out of professional pyramid but not preclude her from flying? Particularly given we know from canon just how tip-top shape her knees have to be in in order to fly. G-forces harder on body than sports, no?

[kdbleu.livejournal.com]

My theory on Kara's knee - because I do have one based on my knowledge of knees form dancing ballet - is that for activities like sports or dance knees need strength but also and almost more importantly range of motion in all direction. Not just the ability to bend but to twist, while what I gathered from the gym scene in canon is what Kara's knee needed for flying was strength, resistance to a certain number of Gs. It might not be perfect but it works for me.

This does bring up one of the odd things for me about the pilots though. How could size be so irrelevant? Kara and Kara are tiny while many of the guys must have been bent to fit into their vipers. Thoughts from the group.

[bristow1941.livejournal.com]

I know the USAF actually looks for guys with Lee's build and height for fighter jets as (a) that's what physiological research has shown to be the body type that can resist G forces the best and (b) they build fighters for a pilot with a height max of 6 ft.

What other pilots were super tall other than Helo? My fanon has always been that Helo was a ECO because he was simply too tall for raptors same as the US military that shifts taller guys into the bomber, AWACs, helicopter, and other tracks. The military sends you where they want to send you based on a lot of research and testing and I assume the BSG universe was the same.

[kdbleu.livejournal.com]

A preferred body type makes total sense as does assigning roles based on that. Thanks.

[im-ridiculous.livejournal.com]

That's really interesting! Thanks for that - your fanon is my fanon now :)

[im-ridiculous.livejournal.com]

That is an excellent point - thankyou for that. I do so like a rational explanation for things!
And as soon as you mentioned it, I really wondered about the pilot size/shape issue too, so thanks for posing that so we could get ^^ answer! Thanks all round, really!

[ninety6tears.livejournal.com]

I can actually see Kara liking (maybe not necessarily preferring) her hair long but keeping it short so that she wouldn't have to worry about tying it back for regulations. But of course the show wasn't very consistent with the women keeping their hair up...It kind of bothers me that Cain of all people would let it hang down when it seems like all the other women at least would put it back in a ponytail.

I wanted to know more of the nuances of Lee's relationship with his brother. They obviously cared a lot about each other but we were never sure how much they really had in common and how often they ever talked.

With Kara, I really want to know how she navigated her teenage years. It's easy to see her being very rebellious at that age but at the same time she had enough fearful respect of her mother that she might have reined it in.

[winegums.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Cain's hair is a bit odd, but then I suppose it worked with her lifestyle since she spent most of her time in the CIC/doing admiral stuff instead of flying Vipers or working on the deck.

And yes, I am very curious about Lee and Zak's relationship, as well as Kara's teenage years - you KNOW they must have been turbulent.

[anamarya.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Cain's hair is a bit odd, but then I suppose it worked with her lifestyle since she spent most of her time in the CIC/doing admiral stuff instead of flying Vipers or working on the deck.

this actually makes sense. And since we know practically nothing about their regulation is consistent with other stuff - like Dee's hair when she was on Pegasus at the beginning of S3.