DPP: In the End

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

I thought maybe today we could talk about the evolution of things. From start to finish, what do you think of these characters and this relationship now that you've digested the whole show? Have your views of the characters both individually and together changed from when you first started watching/first entered fandom?

A lot of fans from the early days of the show stopped watching because they were let down too many times by the narrative. But those who stuck it out tend to try to define the places where things changed definitively for them. Some people say their personal canon stops after a certain episode (maybe Maelstrom, maybe Unfinished Business, maybe Lay Down Your Burdens, maybe even sooner)? I think, for me, I adored their relationship in S1 and early S2, but I love their journey in Season 4.0/4.5 the best. They didn't have nearly as many moments as they should have, but what they did share was beautiful--every moment was about growing and supporting each other both emotionally and physically. (My one exception is Daybreak Part 2, so I guess my personal canon ends their journey at Islanded... or maybe Daybreak Part 1, since that has the scene where they are revealing the mission to everyone together, finishing each others' sentences.) 

The words in the banner above are from the song "All We Are" by Matt Nathanson. The lyrics talk about love wasted, believing that the simple must be hard, and dreams that scatter and fall like (nothing but the) rain in the end. It is my end-of-story song for pilots and was even before I saw the finale. That resolution was not what I wanted for them (I still and will always believe their story required a happy ending to come properly full circle) and I can't fathom fanwanking it or pretending they meant the hollow words they spoke to each other or ignoring the painful expressions on their faces. But I can believe in this song which says in the end, all the mistakes and missteps didn't matter, because from start to finish, the brig to the memory wall, the love was always there.

I think I've strayed from the point in all this, which was to ask how our feelings about this ship changed or didn't with the conclusion of their story. My answer is that I love them possibly more because I will always feel the injustice of that ending. Maybe if I loved the ending I wouldn't be as interested in them still. I don't know.  I've always loved Kara and that has never changed. I didn't always love Lee and that has totally changed (s4.0 is my favorite Lee in fact). I love them together more now, as I have this overwhelming protective instinct towards this relationship that makes me want to write fic and natter on and just attempt to fix the ingregious injustice any way I can.

So what's your answers?

Comments

[apollosspear.livejournal.com]

i have thought about the show as a whole and in terms of the question at hand i think the i began to watch the ship with a sense of mounting dread and despair from the fall out of the algae planet on. and my despair began with the episodes where anders was brought back on. everyone knows that i hate that character and with respect to those that like him i will not disparage him. however i will say this in terms of Kara's choice of a shield between her feelings for Lee and her fear, anders? really? really? REALLY?

i loved K/L as a ship from the beginning. as i watched the final season i was filled with sadness as i knew that they wouldn't end how i wanted. i liked how they grew as people, but hated how their base characteristics where deformed from how i saw them in the beginning. (mainly how easy i thought it was for them to accept the final five and to make deals with the renegade cylons, consisting of those models that tortured, injured there friends and family, and betrayed them.

but i am still hurt and angry over the ending. for some reason, probably a testament to how much i felt for this ship, i truly felt betrayed by how their relationship was portrayed as on long continuous mistake on a table. i truly am offended by that. so i try and sooth the ache by believing in fanfiction. desperation it truly is.