DPP: Canon v. Fanon

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

Canon \ˈka-nən\-- n.  The authentic works of a writer; a sanctioned or accepted group or body of related works.

Fanon \ˈfa-nən\-- n.  A term used in fanfiction to describe commonly accepted ideas among authors even if they are not actually expressed in the canon work.

So today I'm curious about fanon.  Is it supported by the source material?  How the hell did we come up with it?  Does it enrich our experience of the text and other stories?  Help or hindrance?

YOUR MISSION:
A.  Help me come up with a list of commonly accepted fanon ideas in the K/l-verse.  Here's a few to get us started:

1.  Kara and Lee are like the best pilots ever OMG.
2.  Lee and Zak's family had money.
3.  Zak was brilliant in another area other then vipers, such a raptor piloting or communications.
4.  Kara was a high-school pyramid champion.
5.  Starbuck and Apollo and famous throughout the Academy, and later after the show starts, throughout the Fleet.
6.  That there is such a thing as a D-CAG (deputy CAG).

I'm sure I've left out a bunch-- that's where I need your help.

B.  Discuss.  Are these ideas supported/not supported by canon?  How does it enrich the development of the characters as you see them?


Good luck.  : )

Comments

[damao2010.livejournal.com]

I think that what Kara meant when she told Dee that Lee wouldn't cheat was that they hadn't had sex. But I don't think "Lee was just deluding himself that he was a better man to just play tonsil hockey instead of actually frak Kara". I believe he was very aware that the was cheating on his wife (even if he didn't sleep with Kara). That's why he said he couldn't live like that, feeling guilty like that. But again, as in New Caprica, he wanted for both of them to break up with their spouses so they could finally be together without cheating.

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

I think there was at least a hint of self-delusion going on. Drawing imaginary lines of treachery and all... Once they kissed they were already cheating. How long had they been doing it for? How many makeout sessions? We just finally got to see the last one, but there had been previous ones, a la his "every time."

[damao2010.livejournal.com]

I think that Kara is the one who is trying to delude herself that making out/having sex , whatever, was not such a big deal, it was just "bending the rules". I believe Lee was very aware of what they were doing but, deep down, he is a noble guy and he felt really bad about it, but just couln't help it. That is why he wanted to come clean no matter how hard it might be to face Dee, Sam and everybody else for a while. I believe they didn't actually have sex for lack of opportunity rather than moral reasons and that if they had actually done it it wouldn't have drastically changed how they felt about the whole situation - he would still feel guilty and she would still think it was just "bending the rules". However, since they hadn't done the deed before the conversation in which Kara made it clear she wouldn't divorce Sam, he decided to put an end to it. In his mind it was "OK" (for lack of a better word) to cheat if it is leading to something more, if they are going to come clean about their relationship and their feelings and face the consequences, but to do it, to make it a routine for them , for them to have to hide and go on lying... that he couldn't live with. At least that's how I see it.

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I wish as always the show had given us better timelines so we knew when things were happening and how long they were taking.

I believe Kara when she says it's not a big deal to her. I don't think she's suffering any kind of delusion. She compartmentalizes and doesn't equate physical actions with emotional feelings (maybe that's a defense mechanism stemming from her mother's abuse? like if her mom could hurt her it was an action divorced from an emotion, so she could still believe her mom loved her?). Kara could have sex without needing a huge commitment or thinking it equals some sort of emotional breakthrough.

I agree that Lee OTOH thinks having sex equals an emotional signifier, that it solves something, or equals a possession of sorts. In Scar, in UB, it's not just sex to him. He wants it to mean more and take the relationship to another level. I think that's why he assigns these faux levels to it. Like if we kiss, it hasn't gone too far and doesn't interfere with my vows as much as if we have sex. For him it's all jumbled together and impossible to separate. If he hadn't created those distinctions, he probably never would have been able to make it okay in his head to even kiss her, I would think.

[damao2010.livejournal.com]

I believe Kara when she says it's not a big deal to her. ... She compartmentalizes and doesn't equate physical actions with emotional feelings

As a rule I agree with you on this. However, I don't think that's quite true when it comes to Lee. I mean, yes she is good at separating the physical from the the emotional (and sometimes she is pretty cold about it - she did it with Sam more than once). She isn't quite able to do it with Lee, though. At least not when he insists on bringing the emotional issues to the table. Then, since she can't really ignore that there are strong feelings there, she tends to run away (Scar,New Capricra). I think there is a level of self-delusion there because just because you try to run away from something, it doesn't mean it really is going to go away.

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's the key: "when he insists on bringing emotional issues to the table."

I think she only tries to run away once he wants to talk/force a point and turn it into something more. If Lee was content to just frak her and go on their merry ways... Kara might be okay with that because she wants to protect herself (and I'd argue she wants to protect him too.)

Oh kids, they're so frakked up.

[damao2010.livejournal.com]

I think she only tries to run away once he wants to talk/force a point and turn it into something more.

Well, considering he wanted to "turn it into something more" pretty much all the time... no wonder they had problems ;)

But don't you think, deep down, she wanted the same thing but just couldn't give in to her own feelings - probably for fear of getting hurt?

Quoting you again: "Oh kids, they're so frakked up." :P

And I miss them so much. :(

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Yes of course! I think she was afraid of her own desire for him.

But I also don't think Kara believed Lee always wanted to turn it into something more. I think Kara believed he never fought hard enough for her and wasn't sure he really could or did want her. She implies that in UB a few times: "What choice did you make huh?" and "The old man's got chops. He knows when to make his moves, when to hold back. I wish I could say the same for his son." and to Sharon about him making the same mistake since she first met him (although daybreak flashbacks again don't make senes in that light.) And then in Taking a Break she goes to him and says "I thought we wanted the same thing" and he denies it, says he can't take the chance/risk his marriage again.

Sigh. They were always at cross-purposes. Never on the same page at the same time until s4/4.5 when they were in synch in all their (limited) scenes. And the writers just blew it in the end anyway. **grumble**

[damao2010.livejournal.com]

He "says he can't take the chance/risk his marriage again."

That is the only moment in the whole show I really, really hated him. I couldn't believe my own ears. That was so not the moment to chicken out.

Off topic: I read your "Lee Adama's top 25 defining moments". It is a really great selection. :D

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Aw. I didn't hate him, it was baffling and maddening and made no sense, but the writers failed to be consistent with Lee so often I just chalked it up to writerFail. Heh.

Oh thanks! Glad you liked them! :)

[(Anonymous)]

I totally agree. Also I thought he told her he doesn't want to go on like this, which basically says he does think that outmaking is cheating too. That's the way I understood it anyway, I don't think he was saying kissing is okay but he couldn't sleep with her morally. I think he ment he couldn't do this full stop.

I will say this though: personally I was okay with the plot point of them cheating but that whole convo they had after that was weird. Kara's whole line about she won't divorce because marriage is a sacrament but cheating is fine... Okay so she is kidding herself, but I can't picture Kara deluding herself to the point where that statement made sense to her.

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

Ah! I had the same problem with that conversation. It felt kinda OOC for Kara, in my opinion. I mean, yes, she had faith and her faith was important to her, but her comment was not necessarily supportive of her faith and it was almost a clumsy, sloppy way to get her out of committing to Lee. Then, if that's the case, the whole point and conclusion of the dance and her trying to get Lee to engage with her became moot. It was obvious that she was looking to have Lee back, and after their history at that point, it would've been pretty unrealistic to think they could just go back to being friends and I think Kara was smart enough to know that. Also, she knows Lee pretty well and would've known that Lee wouldn't settle for some nookie on the side with her and would've wanted more, so for her to bring up the Gods as an excuse not to get in to it was OOC.

Yes, I rambled there a bit ... but I think y'all get where I'm going with this :-)

[thrace-adama.livejournal.com]

Um, WORD to this. Well said.

[http://users.livejournal.com/wisteria_/]

For what it's worth, I once tried to write a fic set around that time period in which we see the wedding vows she recited, and it was damn near impossible to frame them in such a way that cheating was permissible. Nearly every version I came up with included some type of vow of fidelity.