Daily Pilots Post: Animal Version

[ecstaticdance.livejournal.com]

Right.  So.  I get to follow the Marvelous Ms. Bee.  I am jeneviverose  (aka Jen), and I will be your hostess this week for the Daily Pilot Posts.  Kudos to all the previous hostesses, and thank you so much!  Thinky thoughts!  Squee!  General Fun!  I'm gonna add some randomness to the mix.

So, pets are kind of on my mind at the moment.  Pets lead to animals in general.  When you consider that Pilots are pretty much always there, that leads to several questions.  First, the obvious.

1) What kinds of pets do you think Kara and Lee might have had (if their lives had allowed them) before the end of the worlds?

Second, I'm fascinated by the idea of totem animals.  Not in a "let's all pretend we're Native American and figure out which animals have lessons to teach us" way (although that does intrigue me, too, on an academic level), but more on a "which animals do we self-identify with and/or feel a special affinity for or connection to" kind of way.

2) So, which animals do you think Kara and Lee might have identified with most?  And which animals might they have liked most?

And finally, we all know that other often see us very differently than we see ourselves.

3) What kinds of animals do you think others might have identified with Kara and Lee? (And if you think different people saw them differently, who saw them as what?)

Comments

[dramaturgca.livejournal.com]

In my personal canon, Kara is a cat person, orange tabbies specifically. In actual canon, I think she's very likely a bigass dog person. Like... huskies or St. Bernards.

[lyras.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can imagine Kara with a St Bernard! Big and imposing, but also fluffy, a bit like her. :)

In my personal canon, everyone is a cat person.

[dramaturgca.livejournal.com]

Lee strikes me as likely to either have a very sleek cat or a goofy retriever, don't know why. I also think, for no real reason, that Lee got used to his mother's rules about not having pets growing up and never sought out a pet, whereas Kara took her mother's rules about not having pets and went out and got a pet as soon as she had her own place.

[lyras.livejournal.com]

Aw, those interpretations make perfect sense for me, given Kara and Lee's personalities.

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

Kara would have a dog. A big one. One that likes to run around and bark at things.

But others might consider Kara to be cat-like. She's all independent. And has sharp claws.

[cattm.livejournal.com]

In my mind, Kara would have a very excentric cat, one who lets almost noone close and comes and goes as it likes and is a bit unpredictable in both temper and habits, but will be very steadfast to the ones it does let close.

But then again, I'm very much a cat person myself, so that might influence me. :-)

[muddlingalong.livejournal.com]

I think Lee would have a goldfish if he had a pet, but more likely just plants. Aside from the whole military-could-be-away-for-long-periods thing (you can get someone to feed the fish or water the plants a whole lot easier than trying to convince a cat or dog its moved house for a while), I think there's something the orderliness that would appeal to Lee's sense of control. I can imagine him feeding the fish a very precise amount of food at the same time every day, and the same with watering the plants, and enjoying the structure and routine of it.

As for Kara, I'm not sure what kind of animal, but whatever it is it would have attitude. I think probably a rescue animal or a stray that she picked up somewhere. Ooooh, and it doesn't like most people (including Zak) but warms to Lee straight away.

[owldark.livejournal.com]

1) I kinda see Lee as being a cat person, and Kara as being a dog person. Like others have mentioned I can see her with a massive dog, like a St Bernard. (cute!)

2) As for animals... hmmm.... I guess I associate them both strongly with flight... so I see Kara as a bird of prey - a hawk or something similar? Lee, not so hawkish... something smaller, swifter perhaps...

3) I think others might have seen Kara as a predator of some sort, slinky though... like a panther? *giggle* Lee... a bunny rabbit. No, just kidding.

[scifishipper.livejournal.com]

Kara's Pet: I agree with most others, Kara would have a big-ass dog that looked tough on the outside, but was actually a sweetheart (a female pit maybe?).

Lee's Pet: I like the version of Lee in a fic I recently read, Dark Days of Apollo, where as a child he would find injured pets and bring them back to health. I imagine his awful mother disallowing pets because they're dirty and messy and "I won't have those things in my house" kind of vibe. As an adult, I don't think he'd have a pet b/c he'd be concerned about them spending too much time alone while he was on duty. He would volunteer at an animal shelter, I bet. (Hmmm...how'd this get to be so detailed? Muse?)

Pet Like Kara: I don't see Kara as a cat because she's not really graceful (except when flying), she's in your face but has a great sense of humor -- maybe a big black lab, one that's slightly too rambunctious and tends to drag her along because it's so excited to play.

Pet Like Lee: I see Lee more like a cat, maybe a siamese, one that's not too friendly, kind of a loner, but enjoys affection. I think there's probably a better animal for Lee, but I'll have to think about it.

Other's Pet for Kara: I'd say a lion, king(queen) of the jungle, someone you don't necessarily like but do respect because of their skill (and you want her on your team). But don't get too close...

Other's Pet for Lee: Probably a prissy cat with good hunting skills. Hee.

What a fun question!!

[ninjamonkey73.livejournal.com]

1) What kinds of pets do you think Kara and Lee might have had (if their lives had allowed them) before the end of the worlds?

I agree with muddlingalong that Kara probably would have fed a stray cat she considered hers. One of those fiercely independent, may not even show up some nights kind of strays that would sometimes curl up in her lap on the fire escape and allow Kara to "own" it briefly.

For Lee, I agree with dramaturgca and the goofy retriever. While I can see the whole fish/orderly thing, I like to think that Lee has this suppressed playful streak that he would only allow out while playing with his goofy dog.

2) So, which animals do you think Kara and Lee might have identified with most? And which animals might they have liked most?

For Kara, I have to go with wolf. A predator in and out of a pack, strong, fearsome, all the things Kara wants Starbuck to represent. Lee, on the other hand, is harder for me to nail down. I think he would consider Apollo to be a Doberman- loyal, with the ability to be fierce. In both cases, though, I think they identify with animals for just their call sign personas. In my fanon, neither of them really likes their non-callsign selves enough to think about it, but they would have put a lot of thought into who Starbuck and Apollo are.

3) What kinds of animals do you think others might have identified with Kara and Lee? (And if you think different people saw them differently, who saw them as what?)

This is interesting to consider. For Kara, Sam might go praying mantis, since she had a tendency to... wait for it... bite his head off after sex! (I amuse myself.) In general, Galactica probably saw her as a lioness, a natural leader, slightly maternal (whether she thought it of herself or not), and dangerous.

For Lee, I think the other might consider him a bear- a strong and cunning fighter that dominates the room.

More importantly, though, I think Kara would consider Lee a hawk- a loner, soaring above everyone. And Lee associates Kara with a panther- attacking from a well-guarded position, violent and beautiful.

This was FUN!

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

WOMBAT.

My answer to everything. *g*


kidding! I'll be back later with some proper guesses. ; )

[ninjamonkey73.livejournal.com]

Good generic answer! I see your wombat and raise you one capybara:



There is nothing quite like a dog-sized, guinea pig-looking bit of fur to make me smile.

[coffeesuperhero.livejournal.com]

I see your wombat and your capybara and raise you one BINTURONG, BABY!



Oh, bearcats. *hearts;

[coffeesuperhero.livejournal.com]

Echoing a large portion of the comments above, if Kara's got a dog, I see her having a bigass German shepherd or something-- a big dog that would make a good running buddy, that's protective but still social, and secretly thinks he's a lapdog. (I love it when big dogs do that. It's so adorable. "I'm totally the size of your lap! All million pounds of me! Move over!")

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

I see you all of the above and I'm going all in with two javelinas and a three-toed sloth.

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

Hee. Sounds like our new baby puppy. 86 pounds-- all lapdog. *g*

[owldark.livejournal.com]

CUTE. <3

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

I can see fish for Lee. I don't think he really had any other pets growing up.

[ecstaticdance.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of everyone being a cat person, but yeah. If we're going with traditional pets, she had a big dog.

[ecstaticdance.livejournal.com]

One that likes to run around and bark at things

Hee! Yup. Her playful side out for show. It would create a good excuse for her to be silly without losing the badass Starbuck image.

[ecstaticdance.livejournal.com]

Hee! I'm sure our own preferences are going to color the answers here. I'd love for Kara to be a cat person. And if she did have a cat, I agree that it would be an aloof and distant one.

[ecstaticdance.livejournal.com]

As for Kara, I'm not sure what kind of animal, but whatever it is it would have attitude. I think probably a rescue animal or a stray that she picked up somewhere. Ooooh, and it doesn't like most people (including Zak) but warms to Lee straight away.

Definitely a shelter animal, and hee! To the detail about who it liked and who it didn't. :)

[ecstaticdance.livejournal.com]

1) I kinda see Lee as being a cat person, and Kara as being a dog person. Like others have mentioned I can see her with a massive dog, like a St Bernard. (cute!)

Yeah, that's how I see them, too.

2) As for animals... hmmm.... I guess I associate them both strongly with flight... so I see Kara as a bird of prey - a hawk or something similar? Lee, not so hawkish... something smaller, swifter perhaps...

Maybe an osprey or... Oooh... A Heron. Dignified, graceful in flight or on the ground, but a little awkward in between.

3) Lee... a bunny rabbit. No, just kidding.

Hee!

[ecstaticdance.livejournal.com]

Ha! Now I'm picturing Kara with a Great Dane in her lap. **snickers** Awesome.

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Hee. That's such a romance novel/rom-com trope too. You know the right partner is the one that the dog likes. Hehe.