more Kara/Sam fic recs & meta (2/2)

[rose_griffes]

Part one of my Kara/Sam fic rec post is here. Same rules apply to this one: this isn't a comprehensive list, but you're invited to put links for other stories you liked in the comments.

I meant to mention in my previous post that I do think Kara loves both Lee and Sam. They have a pull on her for different reasons. And I do enjoy some Kara/Lee fic, because away from what we see on the show, I can root for them. That's the great thing about fanfic--you can write in the times we don't see what's happening onscreen and create all kinds of plausible interactions.

I asked the question once that if Kara and Sam were gender-flipped, should female-Sam stay with male-Kara? ivanolix helpfully gave some useful insight into that. I'd also add that if we're talking about the potential for physical abuse, (non-gender-flipped) Sam is bigger than Kara, and generally calm no matter how volatile her reactions. On the show he didn't let her keeping flailing (sort of hitting but not really) when they were aboard Demetrius. (That's the only time I can think of where Kara lashed out at Sam physically.)

But back to that central question of Kara and Sam. Is she an emotionally abusive spouse, and should Sam put up with it? As for Kara being emotionally abusive... well, she certainly isn't the model of emotional stability. She never is, no matter who she's with. Something broke in Kara on New Caprica that never got fixed, but even before that, she was a bundle of insecurity and fragility covered up with bravado and confidence. I think Sam has the patience to let her be herself and figure out how to work past some of that, without being steamrollered by her.
eta: Or you can just go read lyssie's thoughts about it, because she's a lot more coherent about it than I've been.

It's interesting that someone who looks like an action hero (and played that role), ended up in the supportive spouse role for an extended period of time. I often like the characters who play the role of supportive spouse, in part because I'm a fan of married couples, but also because it's most often women playing those roles on TV, and I like female characters. I understand why some viewers find that role problematic, since women onscreen are too often given only that aspect to their character. But I don't hate the archetype and I don't think that Sam was ever 'reduced' to only the supportive spouse.

So yes, Sam as supportive spouse made some choices that could be viewed as self-sacrificing. The thing is, Kara didn't make him into the supportive spouse. He chose to be, and apparently gets something from that choice. And Sam can't make Kara into a less-broken person, he can only support her as she tries to figure things out on her own.

Which brings me back to fanfic recommendations. ivanolix wrote an AU in which Kara tries to raise Kacey after returning from New Caprica. I used to say that I wasn't a fan of (deliberately) AU fics, but slowly I've come to realize that if the premise is interesting and the story is well-written, I can be hooked. I love this story because Kara isn't instantly the mother-of-the-year just because she decided to keep Kacey in Meet Your Storm. Though Sam tries to be supportive, he can't 'mend' Kara or make their situation easy.

Back to the Kara/Sam summary now! Kara dies, Sammy is broken-hearted. He finally signs up to be a pilot and starts his training... and then he realizes he's a cylon. And Kara comes back at the same time. THEN THERE'S NO MORE BATTLESTAR GALACTICA FOR OVER A YEAR.

During that year I had lots of time to think and write fic and realized that now that Sam has as much angst as Kara, and now that there's a HUGE stumbling block to their relationship (cylon = enemy) I totally want them to succeed together. Oh, brain.

It wasn't just me thinking and writing fic. Here are two speculation fics about season 4.0.

Double-Talk by frolicndetour.
Some way out of here by lizardbeth_j, who has a knack for thinking of the WORST possibilities, and then writing them. At least this one didn't come true.

Season 4.0 nearly broke my heart, with Kara's return NOT heralding a quick trip to paradisiacal Earth. Instead we have a Cylon civil war, an unstable Kara leading the Demetrius, the return? arrival? of a Two and a visit to a Cylon ship hybrid, a mutinous crew back aboard the Demetrius... The episode "Ties that Bind" was a personal shipper low at first. I was upset at the fighting and (apparently) angry sex, and then I wrote fic and made myself feel much better. (And writing that fic is all the fault of the paint cans that were NOT strewn around their quarters, but instead carefully placed where they wouldn't be knocked over during the "angry" sex.)

Devil Never Met by lyssie is about Kara and Sam during the Demetrius arc, and it breaks my heart again.
Lack of... by lyssie. Sam and Kara after Jean's death.

This is like a soap opera! These two are never allowed to be happy unless it's offscreen! So in episode 4.10 Kara finds out that Sam is a Cylon, and she finds the way to Earth, and Earth is a wasteland. My brain hurts, y'all.

Five Times Kara Misses Sam by butterfly_kate

And of course, with yet another hiatus ("only" six months) in the middle of season four, people wrote more spec-fic.

All the People We Need to Love and Hate by cynthia_arrow. "Did we ever work?" "That's not the question. The question is, did anything else ever work better?"
In a gray and hollow place, the ashes of our dreams by lizardbeth_j. Leoben the marriage counselor (who wants to hit on his clients). (It's not actually a funny story, but the premise does amuse me.)

palmetto wrote my favorite season 4.5 spec-fic, Daybreak. (She chose the title well before the final episode was given the same name.) It's a wonderful ensemble piece with a Kara/Sam focus that feels plausible for how it isn't obvious and easy to reconcile when one of you is a cylon.

Heh, I'm amused to note that in the hiatus between 4.0 and 4.5, I watched a promo that showed Kara kissing Lee and got upset. I didn't want to be invested in any particular couple, and this is why: heartbreak and ridiculous over-reactions! As we start season 4.5, Kara finds her own dead body on Earth (creeeeeeepy), Leoben gets freaked out (really?! over a dead identical body?!), Admiral Adama overacts, Dee commits suicide (I'm still not over that, show!), and Ellen Tigh is revealed to be the final cylon. All of that in the first episode.

Then Gaeta and Zarek orchestrate an insurrection, which eventually leads to Sam getting shot in the back of the neck. It was TRAUMATIC! Kara/Sam fans wrote not one, not two, but three episode insert fics in the week between episodes.

Sam's injury opens a part of his memories that he wasn't able to access before. He talks about life on Earth before going in for surgery. He's never the same afterward. I remember lizardbeth_j worrying that the show was going to make Sam into something like a ship hybrid and I said something like, "No way, they'll never do that." This illustrates why it's a good thing that I don't gamble. I only have two stories bookmarked for this time period, mostly because this piece of plot just broke my heart.

The Pieces That You Broke Me Into by ivanolix goes AU from about the end of "No Exit," although it incorporates pieces from "Someone to Watch Over Me" as well.
Parallels (End of Line remix) by me. Not-exactly-comatose Sam in the hospital bed, listening to Kara and Ellen talk.

So, yeah. My soap-opera show is still a sci-fi soap opera. Sam the Earth-born (rockstar) scientist who became a Pyramid player/Resistance fighter/husband of the Hero with a Destiny ends up as a ship hybrid, piloting the remainder of the Colonial fleet into the sun. I had to write fic to reconcile myself to this. I still feel achy for Sammy.

Five Things That Didn't Surprise Sam about Being a Cylon, by beatrice_otter.

And Kara is an unstable, confused angel who, after saving humanity, leaves her people behind. But then we get post-show finale fics! Kara and Sam and afterlife stuff!

End of Line; New Command by lyssie. Kara and Sam check on everyone on Earth and fly with imaginary vipers. It's cool.
untitled by lyssie. Aaaaaannnd... they sparkle, too. Hah!
again and again by yeahrobots. From the beginning to the end (to the beginning).

I need to bookmark more post-finale fics. Or maybe write more post-finale fic.

Comments

[karate0kat.livejournal.com]

I remember [info]lizardbeth_j worrying that the show was going to make Sam into something like a ship hybrid and I said something like, "No way, they'll never do that." This illustrates why it's a good thing that I don't gamble.

You are me. Of course, the other predominant theory was that Sam was then going to pilot the Galactica into the Colony or a Basestar or something during the final battle, saving the day but sacrificing himself. Oddly I'm more satisfied that he survived the battle. We got more closure that way. Plus I firmly believe he chose to drive himself into the sun because he knew Kara was going to be moving on soon too and he wanted to be with her.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

I WAS IN SO MUCH DENIAL about the whole hybrid thing. OMG.

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

Of course, the other predominant theory was that Sam was then going to pilot the Galactica into the Colony or a Basestar or something during the final battle, saving the day but sacrificing himself.

Once they did go ahead and 'wire' Sam into Galactica, that wouldn't have been all that surprising for a plot choice.

Plus I firmly believe he chose to drive himself into the sun because he knew Kara was going to be moving on soon too and he wanted to be with her.

I... gah. I'm really conflicted about that. I want to believe he was able to have free will and make that choice, but I'm not sure I can quite do it. But maybe that has more to do with how I keep imagining him all alone on the ship, and all he can do is experience the movement of the fleet toward the sun and gradually the ships fall apart around him and...

*cries*

I just need to finish writing my BSG/Doctor Who crossover so I can give Sam some comfort and company in his final moments. That's all there is to it.

[frolicndetour.livejournal.com]

It's a good thing a lot of us don't gamble! I remember scoffing at the idea. The show's crazy, but not that kind of crazy, I said. Ahem.

But back to that central question of Kara and Sam. Is she an emotionally abusive spouse, and should Sam put up with it? As for Kara being emotionally abusive... well, she certainly isn't the model of emotional stability. She never is, no matter who she's with. Something broke in Kara on New Caprica that never got fixed, but even before that, she was a bundle of insecurity and fragility covered up with bravado and confidence. I think Sam has the patience to let her be herself and figure out how to work past some of that, without being steamrollered by her.

*nodnodnod* It's also hard for me to mentally reverse the genders while keeping everything else the same. I tend to think if I could keep everything about the characters the same except their gender, including size and strength, I would still 'ship them - but it's so hard to do that thought experiment. (Though at one point I discovered that Kara/Sam gender flipped was Baltar/Six. o.O At least I can say I was rooting for them too!)

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

It's a good thing a lot of us don't gamble! I remember scoffing at the idea. The show's crazy, but not that kind of crazy, I said. Ahem.

Haha! Yeah, it's funny when it doesn't make me want to cry.

It's also hard for me to mentally reverse the genders while keeping everything else the same. I tend to think if I could keep everything about the characters the same except their gender, including size and strength, I would still 'ship them - but it's so hard to do that thought experiment.

Yeah, I'm glad ivanolix made those points, because it's too easy to slip into our world while doing the thought experiment. And since we haven't had the robot apocalypse yet... ;-P

(Though at one point I discovered that Kara/Sam gender flipped was Baltar/Six. o.O At least I can say I was rooting for them too!)

*snickers* I'm not sure what to think of that!

I like the It's a Wonderful Life experiment I stole from a bunch of TV shows and movies just made up. Because I don't think Sam would go for the no-marriage-to-Kara world, if given a view of what his life would have been like in those circumstances. (Again trying to keep most other things the same--this assumes that he couldn't have prevented the robot apocalypse, for example.)