BSG: Why I am not a shipper
Aug. 18th, 2005 03:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieI have realized something today.
I am not a BSG shipper. At least not a Kara/Lee shipper (the jury is out on Helo/Boomer). I love the show, enjoy each episode (yes, even Litmus and the Farm), and find the characters interesting, but sometime between the end of first season and now, I've lost my shippy tendencies when it comes to BSG.
I was a mild Kara/Lee shipper by the end of Season 1. It had all the potential for trademark angst and conflict I prefer in my ships. But somehow, it's now gone. Maybe it's because they haven't been together for 6 episodes, and I am fickle (that wasn't true for Farscape, however). Or maybe because I don't really get to be a frothing-at-the-mouth, write and read fic obsessively shipper unless the TBTB spend a lot of time on development of the ship, showing it's the one. I am not much on extra-canon shipping. Farscape? So John and Aeryn story. My newest obsession Roswell? The whole thing is a star-crossed lovers tale masquerading as scifi. Even Firefly got a regular work out on the Mal-Inara front including a couple of episodes that focused on it. But I would have to be deluded to think BSG is a Kara/Lee show. Or that we will get whole episodes dedicated to their pining and how love is so angsty!pure. That is fine by me, but it certainly impedes rabid shipping.
Or maybe it's the compatibility issue. All the couples I have ever shipped (be it TV, movies, or books) convince me that they are each other's soulmates (whatever the nebulous term means), that they are the best for each other, that they are ready, or that dysfunctional or not, they can't live without each other. It is not a coincidence that with most of my ships, I enjoy the couples in RST mode as much as I do when they burn with UST.
Lee Adama? Probably my favorite character in the series. Kara Thrace? A character I adore and admire (and I don't fear the Mary Suefication of, not yet). But no, I don't think they can't live without each other: Kara fell for Anders quickly enough. Nor do I think they are ready for a relationship, nor do I think "I can't not touch you" (TM Roswell) applies to them. Yes, there is something there, and they are certainly physically attracted to each other (Lee's reaction to Kara in a dress, Kara's little fantasy), and are very good friends, but there is a huge step from that to True Love 4Eva.
Apollo has been functioning just fine without Kara. He does not do a Crichton and go psychotic. Kara had a romantic and sexually satisfying relationship with Anders, with no "You do know I am not her" (TM Firefly) type of comment from Anders.
Could a relationship betweeen them work in the future? Possibly. But do I think they are one soul in two bodies? Not really.
And that brings me to another couple on the show. The one that is closest to OTP for me than any other one. That is, Helo/Boomer. They certainly have a star-crossed lovers thing going. At least Lee and Kara are the same species. He loves her and protects her despite the fact that her "people" murdered his world, and she gives up everything she's ever known, betrays the Cylons, agrees to go to Galactica where she will be in dire trouble, for his sake. There is desperation, and urgency, and proof of love, and the TBTB confirmation that yes, they do love each other. So, why am I not frothing at the mouth? I belong to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
hidden_elysium, I enjoy H/B fics immensely, but I don't think I am a major H/B shipper. Maybe because there hasn't been enough screentime devoted to them. Or maybe that whole storyline is so full of twists and who knows what, I am just waiting for the writers to pull the rug from under me. Or maybe because I always prefer the main characters.
I think in the final analysis it's because I enjoy BSG on an intellectual level more than the emotional one. I have yet to be emotionally involved (which is fine by me) in any different way than appreciation for the great job Moore and Co. are doing. Aeryn walking away from John at the end of S3 of Farscape tore out my heart. I cried like a baby after seeing Roswell's "The End of the World." I wanted to jump into the TV and shake Inara until her teeth rattled during the tag of "Heart of Gold." Buffy killing Angel in "Becoming" is still not something I can rewatch without peeking through my fingers and requiring ice cream. Kara and Lee fight in KLG1? My reaction was a gleeful appreciation of how many fun directions you could go with this. It's not better or worse. Just different.
Of course, Helo/Boomer is teetering on the brink of becoming a real ship of mine (even if not in the best OTP list), so we will see.
I am not a BSG shipper. At least not a Kara/Lee shipper (the jury is out on Helo/Boomer). I love the show, enjoy each episode (yes, even Litmus and the Farm), and find the characters interesting, but sometime between the end of first season and now, I've lost my shippy tendencies when it comes to BSG.
I was a mild Kara/Lee shipper by the end of Season 1. It had all the potential for trademark angst and conflict I prefer in my ships. But somehow, it's now gone. Maybe it's because they haven't been together for 6 episodes, and I am fickle (that wasn't true for Farscape, however). Or maybe because I don't really get to be a frothing-at-the-mouth, write and read fic obsessively shipper unless the TBTB spend a lot of time on development of the ship, showing it's the one. I am not much on extra-canon shipping. Farscape? So John and Aeryn story. My newest obsession Roswell? The whole thing is a star-crossed lovers tale masquerading as scifi. Even Firefly got a regular work out on the Mal-Inara front including a couple of episodes that focused on it. But I would have to be deluded to think BSG is a Kara/Lee show. Or that we will get whole episodes dedicated to their pining and how love is so angsty!pure. That is fine by me, but it certainly impedes rabid shipping.
Or maybe it's the compatibility issue. All the couples I have ever shipped (be it TV, movies, or books) convince me that they are each other's soulmates (whatever the nebulous term means), that they are the best for each other, that they are ready, or that dysfunctional or not, they can't live without each other. It is not a coincidence that with most of my ships, I enjoy the couples in RST mode as much as I do when they burn with UST.
Lee Adama? Probably my favorite character in the series. Kara Thrace? A character I adore and admire (and I don't fear the Mary Suefication of, not yet). But no, I don't think they can't live without each other: Kara fell for Anders quickly enough. Nor do I think they are ready for a relationship, nor do I think "I can't not touch you" (TM Roswell) applies to them. Yes, there is something there, and they are certainly physically attracted to each other (Lee's reaction to Kara in a dress, Kara's little fantasy), and are very good friends, but there is a huge step from that to True Love 4Eva.
Apollo has been functioning just fine without Kara. He does not do a Crichton and go psychotic. Kara had a romantic and sexually satisfying relationship with Anders, with no "You do know I am not her" (TM Firefly) type of comment from Anders.
Could a relationship betweeen them work in the future? Possibly. But do I think they are one soul in two bodies? Not really.
And that brings me to another couple on the show. The one that is closest to OTP for me than any other one. That is, Helo/Boomer. They certainly have a star-crossed lovers thing going. At least Lee and Kara are the same species. He loves her and protects her despite the fact that her "people" murdered his world, and she gives up everything she's ever known, betrays the Cylons, agrees to go to Galactica where she will be in dire trouble, for his sake. There is desperation, and urgency, and proof of love, and the TBTB confirmation that yes, they do love each other. So, why am I not frothing at the mouth? I belong to
hidden_elysium, I enjoy H/B fics immensely, but I don't think I am a major H/B shipper. Maybe because there hasn't been enough screentime devoted to them. Or maybe that whole storyline is so full of twists and who knows what, I am just waiting for the writers to pull the rug from under me. Or maybe because I always prefer the main characters. I think in the final analysis it's because I enjoy BSG on an intellectual level more than the emotional one. I have yet to be emotionally involved (which is fine by me) in any different way than appreciation for the great job Moore and Co. are doing. Aeryn walking away from John at the end of S3 of Farscape tore out my heart. I cried like a baby after seeing Roswell's "The End of the World." I wanted to jump into the TV and shake Inara until her teeth rattled during the tag of "Heart of Gold." Buffy killing Angel in "Becoming" is still not something I can rewatch without peeking through my fingers and requiring ice cream. Kara and Lee fight in KLG1? My reaction was a gleeful appreciation of how many fun directions you could go with this. It's not better or worse. Just different.
Of course, Helo/Boomer is teetering on the brink of becoming a real ship of mine (even if not in the best OTP list), so we will see.
