Daily Pilots Post: Kara or Lee?

[cosetteferaud.livejournal.com]

I’ve been pondering that when I became familiar with K/L fandom, one of the first things I noticed is that tendency among fellow shippers to define themselves as “Kara people” or “Lee people”, depending on the character we identify with more. And it occurred to me that it’s a fascinating phenomenon, since most of us seem to perceive the relationship through a certain POV --Lee’s or Kara’s—, even if we love their dynamic as friends/colleagues/lovers/siblings/soulmates to tiny bits.

So I find it interesting to dwell on how our special connection to one of them colors the perception of the whole relationship and all their interaction, since it really seems there are a lot of shades in the way the K/L shipperdom members approach the characters. That’s why today I’d like to talk about “classifications of shippers” and discuss how our perception of the ‘ship is different depending on our main focus of interest. And here there are some questions to ponder (and a poll!).

1. Being a shameless K/L shipper, you consider yourself...

*A Lee fan
*A Kara fan
*I can't choose, I love them both.

ETA. Damn LJ won't let me post the poll here. Answer in the comments, please!

2. Has your perception of “the other side” of the pairing changed since you fell for them as a couple? How?

3. In case that your favorite character is Kara,

a) Has there been a moment when you felt utterly disappointed/frustrated/angry with Lee because of his behavior towards her?

b) And a moment when you had your particular Lee!epiphany?

4. In case that your favorite character is Lee,

a) Has there been a moment when you felt utterly disappointed/frustrated/angry with Kara because of her behavior towards him?

b) And a moment when you had your particular Kara!epiphany?

Personally, I think I’ve reached a point where I can consider myself a “pure” shipper. I mean, I love both equally: Kara as my object of identification/admiration/sympathy –I am always drawn to strong female characters and can't watch a show without one--, and Lee as my object of desire and lust (although I also lust after Kara, but that’s another matter entirely ;P). But my crazy love for Lee has come as a result of a long process. Kara Thrace has always been my girl. She was the reason I started watching BSG in the first place and I fell head over heels with her and her charisma from the start. I always liked Lee –I loved his passion, his restrain and his smarts, and my love for him was fuelled in S1 by episodes like “Bastille Day” and “Hand of God”—, but I always found him more difficult to read and I certainly noticed him more when he was with Kara.

And yet, in S4, something changed. I still adored Kara but couldn’t connect with her the way I did before the Demetrius story arc. And there was Lee, becoming his own man and the President of the Twelve Colonies and taking charge of everything and holding Papadama while he drooled and fell apart and loving Kara no matter what she was… and something just clicked right then. I think that was my particular Lee!epiphany :). So right now, if I had to choose, I’d still choose Kara, but I honestly can't tell who I love more. I love them both.

And having said that, I love them even more as that beautiful, complex and tortured young couple we met --and their chemistry just blows me away. Their feelings and interaction with each other are my favorite aspects of them as characters, and I firmly believe that their bond was so deep that they were defined in many ways by their connection –personally, I can't conceive the one without the other. Together, they always were more than the sum of their parts. My favorite fictional couple ever, whithout any shade of doubt :).

Comments

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

I adore them both, and think they are at their best together, no question. But I do tend to approach their relationship through Lee - he's the one I identify with, and he's my favorite character. It's funny, because I think that objectively Kara is the *best* character on the show - she has such depth, variety, charisma, and Katee is in my opinion the first among equals in a great ensemble cast. But I feel like I *get* Lee, while Kara is often a mystery, and when I watched new BSG episodes he was the one I was following and looking for first. He's the one I make the most excuses for, trying to give him the benefit of the doubt :) Plus, as others have said, Kara is so easy to love that I hardly have to think about why, whereas my connection with Lee feels more personal, and I have to articulate more clearly the reasons behind it.

I'm not sure my perception of Kara's side of their relationship has changed drastically - I always cared about her a lot and was willing to interpret her hurtful actions as manifestations of her own pain and self-loathing. The one thing I wasn't really always sure about was whether she wanted to be with Lee as much as he wanted to be with her; she seemed more divided in her affections than he did at various points in the series. I think the observations of Kara-oriented shippers, and especially the extraordinary fanfiction stories written from her perspective, have given me a greater appreciation of her love for Lee. Which is totally awesome.

As for moments of frustration, I think oddly enough that her refusal to divorce but willingness to cheat in the EoJ/R episodes were most difficult for me to take seriously. I have always loved the fact that she is religious - it's really rare to find strong, intelligent characters who draw part of their strength from a spiritual tradition, and I identified with her on that score. But the way she used her religion there felt like the way she used her marriage in the first place, as an excuse to keep Lee at bay when he asked and offered too much. I identified with Lee's frustration in that moment, and then I watched him take her beliefs seriously and, rather than calling her on forging another excuse, he assumed her religious perspective was ethically serious and was a fundamental part of her that he couldn't understand but had to respect. I think that's why I understand Lee's retreat from her in TABFAYW when she offers the divorce he asked her for before - I think he hears her declaration that she "said some words to the wrong guy" not as a declaration of cosmos-defying love but as proof that her religious protestations from before *were* just an excuse to put him off. So I understand why he reacts with anger and fear - he feels like, once again, she hasn't been playing straight with him. But I think I understand emotionally where Kara was coming from, too, and how desperate she felt.

In short, I love them both, but tend to approach things first from Lee's persepective and then unravel Kara's. And then want to punch and hug them both :)

[cosetteferaud.livejournal.com]

The one thing I wasn't really always sure about was whether she wanted to be with Lee as much as he wanted to be with her;

You know, something that frustrates the hell out of me is that so-called "ambiguity" surrounding Kara's love for Lee. I sincerely believe that Kara loved him so deeply and with such raw passion, she was utterly terrified of those feelings and what her love might do to him... Lee never was so afraid to give himself over to her as she was, and we saw her running away from him over and over, so I can see where this perception about Kara's divided feelings come from. But frankly, even though I do believe she loved Sam, her feelings for him were from a very different nature imo. Sam was uncomplicated, fun and comfortable, and Lee was everything she craved but never would dare to actually own (leda13's ”Fearful Symmetry” (http://leda13.livejournal.com/26457.html) is possibly one of the most awesome portraits of hers I've read).

I think oddly enough that her refusal to divorce but willingness to cheat in the EoJ/R episodes were most difficult for me to take seriously.

Yeah, for me too (I can't even bring myself to find a consistent explanation for her shifts because I can't help but attribute them to bad, very bad writting! Sometimes it's kinda frustrating when you realize that fans give more thought to certain things than professional writers do (jeneviverose made some good points on ”this post” (http://sci-fi-shipper.livejournal.com/28849.html), if you are interested :)). But I pretty much agree with your take.

And then want to punch and hug them both

:))))

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

"she was utterly terrified of those feelings and what her love might do to him... Lee never was so afraid to give himself over to her as she was..."

I think that insight, which you have phrased beautifully here, is so true and explains so much of her behavior and interior life that I found ambiguous on first viewing. That's why I count 'understanding the depth of Kara's love for Lee' as the best gift I got from hearing the reflections and reading the fanfiction of fellow shippers and fans. I love "Fearful Symmetry" and so many other stories that really show how intertwined her love and fear are when it comes to the people most precious to her. I love it when authors show me Lee through her eyes, and her through his :)