Famous Last (and First) Words // Naming Our Baby, Part Two

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Good morning!  I will soon post the promised poll so that we can give Kara the middle name she deserves, but at the moment it seems to be having formatting problems.  So let me just throw out a question for discussion until I can work out the kinks in the poll.  It seems that many of us were disappointed in the first meeting and/or last parting of Kara and Lee as portrayed in the series.  If it were completely up to you, what would their first words to each other have been?  Their last words to each other?  Or if you don't want to focus on dialogue, just describe the ideal scenario or scene you'd like them to play together at the opening and the closing of their story.  And if you have recommendations for fics that portray really great first or last meetings between them, please share them!

Comments

[damao2010.livejournal.com]

If it were completely up to me, Kara would never have died in the first place. This is the plot that I struggle with the most in the whole series. I have no big qualms about the flashbacks that show how they first met and I could accept a tragic ending to their epic tale, not the poof, per se but I could accept Kara's death in the end, for example. I'd be terribly sad, but I could accept that. However, if it were up to me, she would never have died and they would have got a chance at a life together in the end. Second best scenario, she died and became an angel (or whatever) but she would be rewarded in the end and would get to stay with him. One fic that I absolutely adore and that plays with this second scenario is Wisteria (http://users.livejournal.com/wisteria_/)'s "The Reality and Immortality of Things."

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

I love "The Reality and Immortality of Things," too, it's so *real* and so incredible. A beautiful end for them, I agree.

(There is an Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem, Sonnet 22 of her Sonnets from the Portuguese, that I always associate with Wisteria's "Reality and Immortality":

When our two souls stand up erect and strong,
Face to face, silent, drawing nigh and nigher,
Until the lengthening wings break into fire
At either curved point,— what bitter wrong
Can the earth do to us, that we should not long
Be here contented? Think. In mounting higher,
The angels would press on us and aspire
To drop some golden orb of perfect song
Into our deep, dear silence. Let us stay
Rather on earth, Beloved,— where the unfit
Contrarious moods of men recoil away
And isolate pure spirits, and permit
A place to stand and love in for a day,
With darkness and the death-hour rounding it.

~~

I think one of the most remarkable things about Wisteria's story is that she captures that sense of "deep, dear silence," and that death, when it comes, does feel like a rounding out and completion of their story rather than an end of it.)

For first meetings, there have been some wonderful ones in fanfics - I think one of my favorites is in Mercurial_wit's "Our Pataphysical Divigation": punching, cussing, and awkward handshaking are all involved. And the dialogue: "Surprised?" / "A little." / "Get used to it." That sets the proper tone, I'd say.

Maybe I just watch too much Doctor Who, but if it were totally up to me I think Kara's first words to Lee would be something along the lines of: "DUCK!"

:)

[damao2010.livejournal.com]

"death, when it comes, does feel like a rounding out and completion of their story rather than an end of it"

That is exactly what makes that one of my all time faves. I never thought I could be almost "happy" reading about Kara's or Lee's death. But that story managed to make me feel not exactly happy, but at peace. It was just so beautiful, so natural, and it didn't feel like the end at all. Simply perfect.

Wonderful poem. Really fitting.

I don't think I've read the fic you mentioned. It is now on my list. Thanks for the rec.

I have never seen Doctor Who (it seems that is something to be rectified) but I liked the "DUCK" idea. So funny. :D