DPP: Favorite Fanfic Catalyst

[ninjamonkey73.livejournal.com]

Greetings and salutations, 'shipper nation! This is Amy, known on your internets as ninjamonkey73, and I'm driving the DPP bus this week. Sit back and enjoy the ride...

Today being "hump" day, the topic for discussion is: what is your favorite reason that Kara and Lee hook up in a story?

The funny thing to me about K/L (and their slow motion trainwreck of inevitableness) is that a lot of the time in fanfic, there isn't a specific catalyst. They have a few drinks and find a wall somewhere. But that can't always be the case, so tell us - what is your favorite reason they stop fighting the attraction?

As a writer, I'm always looking for an angle, a reason for their behavior to change. In my old fandom, I've snowed characters down on a planet overnight with one room left to stay in. I've had one knock down the other, jogging blindly through their ship (trying to stop thinking about him), and land on him. But sometimes, sure, one just confronts the other.

In other fandoms, ships crash. People get stranded. Doors inadvertantly slam shut and lock from the outside. Strangers misunderstand the relationship and say something and after the initial protests, conversations start. Somebody has to have written a good hurt/comfort fic for our pilots, or one where they are trapped somewhere (provide links to the fic(s) if possible). Or supply your own ideas and maybe someone will write it!

Comments

[somethingusual.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I'm going to be a little vague in my response as it is 11:30pm and I've been up since 6. Forgive me.

What I really enjoy is just when they get together/admit their feelings after a seemingly trivial incident. 'The straw that broke the camels back' but in a good way.

I also really like AU fics where it turns out they're really been together all along, they were just being sneaky. I've read some good ones but I can't think of any right now.

On a not really very related note I just read this fic: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4889450/1/Where_Soul_Meets_Body

I very much enjoyed it.

[baciami2.livejournal.com]

I just went off to read this. Thank you! It's by the author of Aerilon Girls are Easy, which is another wonderful fic. Wow, wouldn't this revelation of Charbuck to Lee been an incredible plot resolution point as opposed to Lee's finding out in public from Baltar? Definitely would have upped the angst quotient of the mutiny.

[baciami2.livejournal.com]

Near-death experiences do it for me! Kara told Lee in the mini about her role in Zak's death because "it's the end of the world, Lee, and I thought I should confess my sins." I kept waiting for one of them to extrapolate this thought into a relationship, but we just got the almost-frak of Scar. I adore when fanfic fixes this, and the looming loss of one of them gets them to commit. Latte's "Memories of You" (I think that's the title) was an exceptional version of this, with a superb plot twist! Ah, Latte, we do miss that fic of yours!

[thrace-adama.livejournal.com]

Good question! I'll have to think about this--there are so many favorites...

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

I love it when Lee actually stops holding his emotions in and tells Kara how he feels. In fic world, that's usually a great catalyst because it seems that's what Kara needs to stop running. And I don't mean the way Lee tells her in canon (in UB) in a backhanded reassuring way ("of course you're what I want. I didn't know it until JUST now, but yeah."), but in a real, "hey Kara, I know this scares the crap out of you, but I love you and am not going anywhere" kinda way. Basically, I love it when Lee mans up :-)

I always felt that Lee was the one who didn't move things along in canon. He blew a lot of opp's IMO. The example you used above, in the mini: if we are to believe that Lee had an instant gobsmacked reaction to Kara the first time he met her (at her place with Zak), the logical thing maybe would've been that when he pulls her out from under the viper, he at least hugs her. For the best resolution to this, I urge everyone who hasn't read this to rush immediately to workerbee73's magnificent fic, Borrowed Time, found Here (http://workerbee73.livejournal.com/85612.html). This will forever be my version of their relationship prior to the mini.

I also love any fic where they're already together and are either hiding it or not, but basically, have resolved their individual personal crap way before the mini :-)

[baciami2.livejournal.com]

This! That ridiculous handshake in the mini was sooooo "stay tuned for UST if we get picked up for series" because everyone else was hugging. Hey even Boxey got a cookie, but no sugar for pilots :(

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I don't really have a favorite way. I like every way they get together except when it's to hurt themselves/out of dire angst. I'm really not a fan of hate sex at all.

I do tend to write a lot of "revelation moments" usually where Lee has to persuade Kara that this is it, this is what he wants, etc. etc.

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

I do tend to write a lot of "revelation moments" usually where Lee has to persuade Kara that this is it, this is what he wants, etc. etc.

YES!!! And your fics are always fav's of mine exactly because of that. Again, I've always felt that Lee was more of a culprit for them not getting together in canon than Kara. He just didn't know how to ... let go.

[ecstaticdance.livejournal.com]

I think Lee is the one whose personality is better suited to accepting those revelations. Kara sees herself as so toxic, and Lee underestimates his own abilities and strengths, but he's more able to believe in his strength and ability to stay with/survive her than she is able to let go of that self-image that makes her seek isolation.

But yeah, no particular favorite way.

Expand button for our comments

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

Hey guys ...

Not related, but since I brought this up yesterday, I wanted to update everyone. I sent a service request to LJ, and this is what they came back with:

"It is possible that the community's Paid time expired."

They also directed me to an FAQ which says this about expanding comments:

"Expanding Collapsed Comments: LiveJournal offers a feature to expand collapsed comments and comment threads without having to load a separate page to view the collapsed comments. This feature is available to anyone viewing any Paid or Permanent journal, and to all logged-in Paid or Permanent account holders viewing any other journal. To expand a collapsed comment or comment thread, click on the "Expand" link by the comment you wish to expand."

So stripes13 was right yesterday. It has something to do with the account level.

Any way. Thought I'd share. Cheers.

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say he was more of a culprit exactly. They both do some really stupid things, with Kara walking away post-New Caprica being especially derailing.

But I do feel that it would take a declaration from Lee to change things. They're both very afraid, but somehow her fear seems bigger and less surmountable.

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

That's a really good way of putting it! I think it really goes back to rachelindeed's analysis of how their childhoods' shaped them differently.

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

See but I love that they don't hug there. Because everyone else in the clip up to it and maybe even after is hugging and kissing, and right away you see that these two frakups who have a closer bond than anyone else possibly on the ship, can't even hug each other!

Maybe at heart I am a bit of an angst whore but I thought that said so much. The endless handshake! Swooooon!

Re: Expand button for our comments

[ninjamonkey73.livejournal.com]

Huh. I'm a paid user, so I guess the best I get is thread level. I want one big top button to expand everything, especially when I come late to an entry, but I guess I don't get that. Thanks for the update!

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

Aha! See? This is where I have a serious problem with Lee. I honestly feel that he can't get out of his own way. Yes, he is definitely more able, but he's too afraid to trust in that ability, especially when it comes to Kara, IMHO. I mean, what does he think is gonna happen if he just mans up and says "yes, dammit, I love you and I'm not going anywhere so feel free to run away as far as you want, but know that I'm always going to love you and will always be here for you."

To me, Lee came to his own the minute he handed his wings to Papadama and really, truly, picked a side. The hallway scene with him and Kara? THAT's the Lee that I would've loved to have seen throughout the series. Confident in himself and his feelings.

*end of rant*

[ninjamonkey73.livejournal.com]

I'm totally with you on the endless handshake. It made more of a statement of how even the end of the world and a return from the dead weren't enough to set them straight.

Although, I will admit to imagining a scene where she stands there a beat after he goes, then follows him to the ready room for... hugs. ;)

Re: Expand button for our comments

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

It used to be there when I first joined our community. Don't know what happened to it, and I'm not a paid user. Very annoying esp on re-watch posts.

*Prissy Princess moment continues*

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Read the epilogue to Borrowed Time. *sigh*

[ninjamonkey73.livejournal.com]

Read the epilogue to Borrowed Time. *sigh*

Oh, believe me, I have. More than once. :)

[coffeesuperhero.livejournal.com]

I have no coherent thoughts to contribute, because I was up until 3am baking a cake for a party tonight (too bad it's not a costume party or I could go as a zombie, since I'm pretttttty sure I look like one). But! All of this is reminding me of the sexy fun on my flist these days, what with Kink Bingo and bsg_kink's latest round of drabble challenges and bsg_pornbattle, which WILL BE REAPPEARING ON YOUR INTERNET AT SOME POINT THIS SUMMER OMG and which always presents a multitude of opportunities for Kara and Lee to get down to business. It's like, a summer of smut on my flist, here. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

/sleep-deprived ramblings

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Heh somewhereapart wrote that fic. Yum. The Better Part of 33 minutes (http://community.livejournal.com/somewhere_fic/2760.html)

But I'm glad they didn't get it together that early. Even with the crappy ending.

Re: Expand button for our comments

[ninety6tears.livejournal.com]

I think the comm itself needs paid time, and when it has it it works for everybody. Sometimes members will gift paid accounts to comms; maybe we had that before without realizing it?

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I have a 'favorite,' but I really appreciate when there isn't a catalyst. When they just wake up one morning and are like "oh, hello, why aren't we kissing?" It plays into an aspect of their relationship that was very understated in the first two seasons, and the idea that they had this unspoken understanding that, you know, it could happen at any time. For example, here's an old favorite fic of mine: This Transparency (http://moodfic.livejournal.com/76079.html).

Re: Expand button for our comments

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

Really? I never noticed an 'expand all' button. Of course, it's possible I just wasn't looking ('cause, uh, I'm pretty okay with picking and choosing which threads to expand).

[damao2010.livejournal.com]

I couldn't agree more. Nowadays, almost everything about them makes me think about that analysis. lol.

[rdave1.livejournal.com]

I don't have a favorite per se but to me normally it is Lee that goes and tells Kara he loves and keeps after her till she believes that she is worth and he really does love her. I think I've read one or two fics when Kara comes clean first right after Lee's spacewalk but of course Lee being Lee comes out of his fog and tells Kara that it can't just to make him feel better. She has to be in it for good and stick it out even when they both want to run.

[ninjamonkey73.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec! I hadn't read that one. So good!

Re: Expand button for our comments

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't have any expand options any more. Not even for, er, select comments. *sigh*

[somethingusual.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, near death experiences are wonderful catalysts. Very them.

[somethingusual.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I really like that idea as well. *wanders off to read your fic rec*

Re: Expand button for our comments

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see. I misunderstood the comments. And I hadn't even noticed that the expand buttons were gone until now.

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

Everything from moodfic is a must!

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

Oooooo ... I totally forgot about that piece of yumminess. Thanks for the reminder!

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

Oh wow. What a great fic! Just bookmarked her journal. Thanks for the rec!

[ecstaticdance.livejournal.com]

I agree with you, but I also feel like Kara could have done some work to get the hell over herself. (Sorry Kara, bb, I love you but really -- the ego was too much sometimes). No one human being can possibly be the cause of so much death and destruction. I 100% get the guilt. Really I do. But even if Lee had manned up and said something along the lines of what you suggested, Kara would still have had to muster the balls to accept that she deserved that happiness. Otherwise she would have run off and married someone else. No matter how earnestly or tactfully or skillfully Lee had phrased it.

But then there's Echoes. Where the Lords of Kobol did it. :-D

[bellaaurora.livejournal.com]

I also really like AU fics where it turns out they're really been together all along, they were just being sneaky. I've read some good ones but I can't think of any right now.

I LOVE this, especially secret wedding fics, maybe because it seems so unlike them. I've loved one in particular, but I can't seem to find it among my gazillion Kara/Lee bookmarks. Perhaps the fangirl army can come to the rescue: Bill finds out about the marriage because of the information on their paperwork during a medical emergency, but I can't remember much else.

[rayruz.livejournal.com]

But if it had been that way the entire time, what would've been the payoff?

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

Well, for one thing, a multi-dimensional Lee. I think if we had seen him really, truly commit to something (someone) and be more in touch with his own feelings, his character arc would've been more defined. Even RDM admitted that they didn't know what to do with Lee until they took him out of uniform and made him a civvie. I also think that if Kara could see/feel Lee's unwavering love for her, she would've made different choices. And, there would've been no need to mutilate Dee's character arc with that stupid Quad of Doom scenario. Same with Sammy. Yes, it would've been a different series, but maybe a bit richer as far as character development esp for Lee, IMHO.

[christ-chexx-4u.livejournal.com]

Contrecoup (http://mercurial-wit.livejournal.com/29199.html)?