DDP: Guilty Pleasure

[jeebs83.livejournal.com]

I'm not having the best of weeks so I thought we'd talk about something that normally cheers me up. Love it or hate it, everyone seems to have an option about...


BABYFIC!

When it's done right (sometimes even if it's done wrong), there's no denying there's some great fic out there to read. What is your opinion on it? Is it a love/love, or love/hate? So let me have your best recommendations.

Here's my list:

Unexpected Consequences by CrysWimmer on ff.net.
Now, this probably isn't the best written fic out there, but it was one of the first fics I read where Kara and Lee had a child. I still like to go back for a re-read every now and then.

Fic by njborba
'All Is Not Loss'
'The Long Way Home'
'Wing and a Prayer'
Fic Master List Here

Insanity Underrated by amidala_thrace
In case you're living under a rock, this fic is still a WIP but there's usually a chapter or two a week. One of the best representations I've seen of Kara and Lee having a child together.

Without by ez_as_pi
This is one of my all-time favorite fics. Stop what you're doing and go read. I can't wait for her to post the sequel.

Lies I Not Need To Tell by ez_as_pi
Sort-of AU - What if the move to New Caprica took and everyone settled down. Now what happens when Kara wants a child and Sam can't have any because of his time spent on Caprica. Who does she turn to?

Also, does anyone have any good recommendations where either Kacey ends up staying with Kara or is really her daughter? I really don't see enough of those fics anywhere!


Kacey and Kara thank you for your time.

Comments

[amidala-thrace.livejournal.com]

Why yes, I am blushing redder than a fire engine right now, thanks for asking! ;D Seriously ... warm fuzzies all around, guys! I'm just pleased that my humble little fic is being enjoyed by so many people. :)

As for babyfic itself, I'm mixed - which may come as a surprise, but hear me out. It's possible to do babyfic very well in this fandom (hence why I don't believe the entire genre should be dismissed or tarred with the same brush) and it's also possible to do it very poorly. As someone else said above, the best kind is usually the kind that doesn't focus only on pregnancy, or the baby, or the "cute" aspects. Fluff is okay. I have nothing against fluff, believe me! But if, for example, I had set out to write something like Insanity Underrated as purely a piece of fluff, I can tell you right now I would have failed. Kara and Lee have a baby, yes, but the core of the story is still about them as people. I'm also far more interested in exploring the effects of the relationship on the characters themselves, and how each would react to an unexpected child, than I am in writing scenes that feature Kara and Lee fawning over her stomach and exclaiming each time the baby kicks (which I don't think are terribly in-character anyway).

Then again, all of that might also be my own personal biases talking - I have a boatload of real life-related Hangups and Issues when it comes to baby- and kidfic - but it is what it is, and overall I enjoy writing Kara/Lee interaction far more than I do Kara & Baby or Lee & Baby. ;)

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to say that I think my favorite thing about the baby stuff in IU is the way you flipped a common fandom trope on its head. How many baby stories involve Kara freaking out and Lee reassuring her? (Answer: a lot, and I would know because I've read all of them). So I think it was really clever the way you turned that around. And it made me all 'wow, how did I never notice that before? Of course Lee would have issues!'

[amidala-thrace.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :) To be honest, I am really quite stunned that more fic doesn't focus on Lee's side of the equation. Perhaps I shouldn't be - Kara is the so-called "logical" focus given her childhood - but writers don't seem to realize there's a tremendous amount of potential issues to mine in Lee's past as well, even just using what we saw in canon. I'll admit I go a bit beyond that, bringing in material from an article written by Jamie Bamber because it suits my purposes and because I'm intrigued by it. But the fact remains that we're told he did leave his pregnant girlfriend prior to the attacks (however questionable that whole plotline might be) and that his relationship with his own father is definitely not the best. Given all of that, I couldn't picture him being all excited about Kara conceiving, and they would therefore both have a lot of stuff to work through. I tried to portray that as accurately as I could, and I'm glad I appear to have succeeded. :)

Of course, other writers will in turn have other interpretations, and I'm not saying mine is the only valid one. ;) But it's the one I felt worked best for the particular fic I was writing, and it's one a lot of readers seemed to respond very positively to.

[rayruz.livejournal.com]

But if you don't focus on the fact that there is a baby, then it kind of defeats the purpose of the fact that it's babyfic. A third member to the party changes the dynamic, otherwise the baby might as well just be another object in the room--i.e. a potted plant.

[amidala-thrace.livejournal.com]

True enough. :) I guess what I'm partially saying is that I don't consider something like Insanity Underrated to be babyfic, strictly speaking. Maybe my definition is just more specific than others'? *shrug* There's a baby in it, yes, but to me it's more about the characters and how they deal with a situation that is inherently foreign to them, as opposed to the day-to-day pregnancy and baby care concerns (though those do come into play occasionally - you're quite correct when you say that no fic with a baby in it can avoid the day-to-day stuff entirely!). In IU, Will was the catalyst that brought Kara and Lee together, and he reminds them just by his presence of how much they may have to lose if they can't see beyond their own disagreements. But the story isn't completely about him, either - it's a bit of a fine line to walk, I must admit. :)

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

Heh, potted plant! I'm easily amused. :)

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

Lee stormed on to the hangar deck screaming at the top of his lungs.

"STARBUCK! STOP. RIGHT. THERE."

Kara looked over her shoulder at the obviously fuming CAG wondering what the heck she had done now. Raising her eyebrows, she smirked, "Sir, yes sir. What seems to be the problem?"

"What seems to be the problem? THIS Kara. THIS is the problem" Lee yelled as he shook an overgrown potted fern in front of Kara's face. The veins in his neck were throbbing and he was beet red. Kara could've sworn that steam was actually coming out of his ears.

"Calm down Lee. What's the big deal? It's just a plant."

"Just a plant? JUST A PLANT? I can't believe you would do this to me Kara. Of all the insane stunts you have pulled before, this takes the prize."

*g*

I'm not much of a fic writer (obviously), but I just pictured this in my head and well, there you go.

[jeebs83.livejournal.com]

I go back and forth with how I think Kara and Lee (mostly Kara) would act. If I hadn't seen the whole Kacey arc and just how quickly she fell for that little girl, and how bad things got for her mentally when she was taken away, I would agree that she wouldn't be very lovey dovey. But just the fact that it only took a short time for her to build such a strong connection with Kacey makes me wonder if Kara wouldn't be more motherly/affectionate than most people take her to be.

[stripes13.livejournal.com]

<------ (Enthralled)

I think my stalker-ness is telling enough of how much I love your fic.

But, yes, I think it's all about how the baby/pregnancy is integrated into the story and how it affects the characters. Yours hits all the right spots :D

The overly fluffy ones tend to annoy me (and yet I still read them....huh...odd)