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Good morning! It's 4:45am here in beautiful British Columbia and I am AWAKE! (I really wish I knew why) Due to unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances, the scheduled DPP driver for this week will not be able to take up the mantle of pilot love, which means... you're stuck with me again!

For today, a question that seems simple on the surface, but is probably actually more complex than that: What is your favourite thing about pilots? Whether that's what drew you to the pairing or why you're still here after the series is over, what makes Kara and Lee so important?

For me, I fell into the pilot love pretty quickly and it's always been about the chemistry, the way that the characters fill each other's weak spots and cover each other's blind spots. Together, they're complete in a way that they aren't individually. And the sizzle when they lock eyes is palpable.

Also,

pilotsbigbang is starting to go up so go have a look at some long stories about our favourite pilots!

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This might seem like a cheat, but the thing that I love most about pilots is how they're everything to each other: lover, enemy, sibling, rival, friend, coworker, confidante (occasionally), partner, equal, opposites...soulmates. ♥

I don't think I've ever read/seen a relationship quite like it before where it just has so many different levels to explore and that's without even getting into the delicious backstory much.

I've seen them described as co-dependent and unhealthy, but....I kind of love that about them most! That kind of need, where your life is just so much less when that other person is not in it, is really hard to make truly convincing, and they've managed to do it so well with these two, whether that's down to the writing or the acting or the directiong or some phenomenal combination of all of the above.

Edited 2010-07-20 13:22 (UTC)

Oh, pilots, why do I ship you so frakking hard??

I guess it's the dance, the push-pull of two people who are desperately connected but so intensely flawed and encumbered by circumstance that they can never make it work. I ship them so hard, sometimes I can't even remember when I didn't obsess about pilots the way I do. They piss me off, break my heart, and fill me with joy all at the same time. I want to knock their heads together, separate them for time-outs and give them giant squishy huggles every other minute.

They are a roller coaster. Up and down and around and around they send me, never predictable, never boring, and always really frakking hot. They are gorgeous to behold, heartbreaking in their angst, and utterly devoted to each other - until of course, they are not. And then it's even more attractive to me. Angstwhore. Crybaby. Desperate romantic. They bring it all out in me. Damn you, pilots. I love you so much.

I think that fundamentally I like them because they're always going to make a difference to each other. Maybe it's not always a positive difference, but they've each got somebody who will always matter, and I think that would have been true if they'd never seen other again after the Daybreak flashbacks. They each have a profound impact on the life of the other person. They make their mark, for better or worse. Every so often people come along that just get you. Maybe they don't know everything about you, but they know what matters. Those people are rare, and they're special. So the two of them are precious to me, I think, because on some level they remind me of those people in my own life.

And then, of course, there's the chemistry. Hellloooooo.

Hmmm... why do I love them. (I'm writing fic now, so be warned, I'm going to ramble.)

The relationship with Lee and Kara is one of those epic romances that truly changes the way we, as a culture, think of the perfect relationship. Let's start with some basics. They are NOT the stereotypical couple. She's definitely tougher, and Lee has a fair bit of self-doubt in his actions and emotions. In fact, they're not a couple at all throughout the show... except that, at some profound level, they ALWAYS are. They've avoided, destroyed, manipulated and played with each other. (I play no favourites; both of them display equally bad behaviour at different times.) They've pushed each other away and still been drawn back. They can be completely damaging to one another, but at their core, they are fundamentally broken unless together. Their flaws make them human, and together they make each other more.

This, for me, is key to who they are. Though they may want to avoid it for a million different reasons, there is some fundamental part of one another which they complete. If the insane chemistry wasn't there, then perhaps a truly amazing friendship would ensue... but the connection is so powerful, so raw and real, that it, alone, could carry the show. I love how the tiny moments (because frankly, they had very few BIG moments) are the ones that really demonstrate that in some truly profound way they are capable of caring for one another. Their treatment of others (awful, horrible, catty, mean) is more a reflection of how much they need the balance that only one other person can provide. They might hurt one another, but they still return. Their blindness to their callous actions with others tends to be collateral damage of Lee and Kara's impermanence.

They were meant to be together. I thought that from the mini on, and I think it still. The fact that it only has happened in fic, makes it no less important for me, than if it did in canon. (And frankly, it was because of the ending that I got the fabulous experience of meeting all of YOU too.) And THAT is why I'm still here.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I do have to (controversially?) admit that it is galling to me and always will be that they didn't get the "right ending" in canon. That forever, their last moments will just be wrong. But that's probably also the thing that will keep me writing fic to fix it, and that's more fun than watching the show was...

Is that a controversial thing to admit? Really??? Cause if there was a rant parade, I'd be at the front.

Controversially probably wasn't the right word. I think I meant to say "contrarily," because you were saying how it didn't matter to you what canon ending they got. I'm sort of ridiculous and still surprised from time to time to realize how much it really did matter to me and galls me still that their ending will never be made *right.* Sniff.

Mmmm, nope. I didn't say it didn't matter, I said that the fact that it happened only in fic makes it no less important for me than if it did in canon. What I meant is that it is SO integral to their relationship that they end up together, that no matter what Mr. Moore decided, I can choose to say "No way. That just WASN'T the right ending. You. Are. Frakking. WRONG." And to be honest, if I actually met the man, I'd probably say it to his face.

OMG, that sounds like a stalker.

*Makes mental note to tone down Leoben in current fic*

Ah okay. It's more important for me that canon got it right and I'm bitter that it didn't. Because no matter how much fic I read or write, the official record on pilots and their relationship will always be wrong and hurty. I hate that so much.

If I had a genie like in innibis's Aladdin spoof, one of my wishes might even be to fix it.

I actually mentioned to sci_fi_shipper the other day that one of the ways I coped with that ending was to write my extended ending fic in a format that started EXACTLY at the end of the series at *poof*, that forced every god-damned random and awful bit of canon into it (A.K.A. "double dog dare"), and STILL gave me the closure on the Lee / Kara storyline. It took... four months of notes, I think (?) before I even started writing the actual story. Seriously, my notebook looked like some kind of serial killer ranting. (Thank god my hubby is a sci fi nerd too because that's ALL we gtalked about for months.)

It's funny how awesome it was to complete it. I guess because nothing from the original changes I actually find it pretty easy to just say "and THAT'S the last post-finale episode that never aired". LOL. Yes, I have denial in spades. But frankly that fic was a bitch to write - because there were loose threads ALL over the place - and it still happened. So, Mr. Moore - if he is out there - could have wrapped it up in a much kinder way, if he'd wanted.

Okay, I'm just wasting time. 'Night!

I'm sort of ridiculous and still surprised from time to time to realize how much it really did matter to me and galls me still that their ending will never be made *right.*

I am also shocked at how much outrage I still carry around about their "ending" - makes me spit fire on and off the page. :(

I love them because they've been through so much together...and they keep coming back.

They've seen each other through some horrible things, and they've understood each other through all of it. They get each other--even if the other one is doing something awful. And for better or for worse, they keep coming back.

It's certainly a strain on their relationships with others (I wish someone would just knock their heads together and make them realize that's because they shouldn't be in relationships with other people). But they always have each other.

Why do I love pilots?

It is so difficult to explain love.

I think I love their relationship because I love them as individuals first. I love many things about each one of them. And I love that they are so different and yet they have so much in common. I love their character and I love how human they are. Yes, they are terribly flawed, they make huge mistakes, at times they are really mean and obnoxious (especially to each other), but their hearts are in the right place. They have integrity, principles , they are loyal and honest (their worst lies are the ones they tell themselves). They have so many amazing qualities but they also have deep hidden scars. They created a public persona they use to protect themselves. I admire the strength they have, strength they relied on to survive the difficulties life threw at them. And I admire that despite everything have caring souls.

As a couple, I love how they complement each other and how they support each other in such small, yet powerful, ways and how the way they look at each other says more about their true feelings than their words (and sometimes, their actions). I love that they fight, they draw blood, they do their best to stay apart but they just can't. I love that they bring out the best and the worst in each other. I love their banter. I love their teasing. In short, I love everything about them.

Thank God for fic writers!!!

I love them because they are us. There is not a single person that can't relate to both of them. They weren't glossed over like many of the other couples, we got the see roughest side. And in the end, no matter how much they tried and what they put each other through, they never lost faith in each other. You can't ask for much more, that kind of devotion it just lures you in.

Of course, all the angst and their love/hate drama just made me love them just a little bit more. I mean there were no two people ever on television as screwed up as those two but gods there were never ever two people who belonged together more than Lee and Kara or ever will be.

What I love most about them is how it always comes back to just the two of them. "I'm lee. You're Kara. The rest of it isn't worth a damn." <3
I love how they compliment each other and are the perfect team when they're together.
In a way I have to thank RDM for the horrid ending he gave our pilots because I'll always feel that they were cheated out of a real ending and they deserved to be together at the very end and part of those feelings finds me here wanting more pilot love.
Ive never seen a more dynamic, complicated, emotionally charged relationship on tv that compares to the chemistry or epicness lee and Kara had.

I think my favorite thing about Kara/Lee is that they feel real, and that they combine angst and anger and romance and forgiveness and professionalism with an underlying *comfortable* feeling that is hard to resist. No matter what they're doing, something feels right about the two of them standing together in the same room. They just work; on some unspoken level,they fit. It's like their relationship has so many levels that it's impossible to ever mess up all of them at once -- something is always still working between them, some thread (professionalism or friendship or anger or forgiveness) continues to connect them no matter how much else gets broken. And I believe that they see and love in each other the same things that I see and love in them individually -- I feel like I understand why each is worthy of love, and I see why they would be drawn to each other.

Plus, I love the moments when they've been fighting and one of them takes a breath and decides to put their ego aside for a minute and reach out to the other. Or the moments when they've been joking around and then one of them quietly gets serious. Or the moments when they're caught up doing other things and just fall into the rhythm of working together without having to think about it.

They're good together. That's what it boils down to for me. And a lot of the time they don't feel particularly epic, they just feel very genuine -- and sometimes it feels like they are the most normal, human part of each other's lives. It's as if they are the most completely themselves around each other.

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