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het_reccers2010-04-30 06:25 pm
ivanolix.livejournal.com) wrote in het_reccers2010-04-30 06:25 pm
Shipper Manifesto: Kara/Sam [Battlestar Galactica]
Fandom: Battlestar Galactica
Pairing: Kara Thrace/Sam Anders
Blurb: (by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ivanolix ) So...this ship. There's Kara Thrace - she's a hotshot spaceship pilot, who drinks hard, hits authority figures harder, and lives life out of the box and on the edge. There's Sam Anders - he's a sports-superstar-turned-resistance-leader, who adapts to anything, cares deeply about everything, and lives life day-to-day with whatever he has. And they're married, with enormous tattoos on their arms instead of wedding rings. If that doesn't hook you right there...well, let me give you some more.
Kara's not the most well-adjusted person, and her defense-mechanisms don't make her easy to deal with either, so her relationships are all tumultuous. But Sam, ever since the first moment they met, has loved every bit of her, dealing with her quirks and problems with an ease and understanding that makes him "safe and easy", something that Kara (in her frighteningly chaotic life) has to cherish. And in his turn, Kara is the bright star that he navigates by, glorious in her perfect imperfection; he loves her exactly the way she is. And together, they live life loudly, with snarky banter and antics and lots (and lots, and lots) of sex. Did I mention that they were hot?
They have their problems—big ones—and it even turns out that their identities aren't anything like they thought they were when they got married. But through all the problems, they come back to each other. They angst, and they withdraw, and they say hasty words and do hasty things, but they don't give up on each other. They stay married. And in the end, their loyalty to each other survives beyond death. If that's not worth shipping, I don't know what is.
Fic recs (byfrolicndetour ):
Fic Rec #1: Jealous Gods
Author:rose_griffes
Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): PG-13 for sexuality and violence (nothing you wouldn't see on the show)
Why This Must Be Read It's a gorgeous and painful, yet not entirely bleak depiction of what the year on New Caprica might have been like for Kara. Her constant, apparently doomed struggle for self-reinvention is insightfully portrayed. It's also a wonderful portrait of Sam.
Sometimes she felt like she was made of exposed nerve endings, pieces of herself cut away. Other times her happiness was so sharp; she was alive and loved and that’s when she remembered what she gave up for this. She’s ripped herself in two and the halves don’t fit together any more.
Fic Rec #2 In the Sight of the Gods
Author:leiascully
Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): R
Why This Must Be Read: I'm not sure whether this is best described as smut or poetry. *g* Either way, it's a spare but gorgeous look at Kara and Sam in one of their all-too-rare moments of peace. I especially adore the lovely characterization of Sam and of Kara through his eyes.
She smelled like beer and sunshine and sweat and river water and he loved her, every beat-up inch of her. He touched the scar she had from the Cylons, when they'd taken her on Caprica. He made the outline of the fresh ink on her arm; when the tattoos healed, when he held her, they'd fly together.
Fic Rec #3: Devil Never Met
Author:lyssie
Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): R. ish. talk of sex, references, etc.
Why This Must Be Read: This takes place on the Demetrius, and Lyssie does a wonderful job of capturing the tensions in Kara and Sam's relationship - neither really knowing who they are and both using each other to cling to their former sense of identity, while at the same time portraying hints of the tenderness and connection between them. It's also pretty hot, in that painful way.
Fic Rec #4: Meet Your Storm
Author:ivanolix
Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): PG-15 (language, violence, occasional sexual references, brief sexuality)
Why This Must Be Read: "Babyfic" doesn't always have the best reputation, but every rule has exceptions and this is one of them. The same reasons that Kara Thrace isn't the easiest character to imagine in a maternal role - her career, her confrontational personality, and especially her own dysfunctional past - can make it a fascinating conflict to explore with her. What I like about this fic is that it doesn't gloss over any of these issues in the service of a too-quick happy ending, nor does it force Kara to stop being Starbuck because she's a mother. It goes AU at the end of Exodus II, when Julia Prynne isn't there to claim her daughter. Kara is left believing that Kacey is her half-cylon child, whose identity she must hide from the fleet.
Fic Rec #5: All the People We Need to Love and Hate
Author:cynthia_arrow
Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): PG-13
Why This Must Be Read: This story follows Sam from "Faith" to the end of "Revelations," as he struggles to come to terms with his new identity. It's quiet, understated, and gorgeously written; I think my heart broke once per paragraph. His thoughts and dreams about Cylons he's dealt with in the past and is learning to interact with now are particularly well-done. And of course there's his ever-tumultuous relationship with Kara Thrace.
Even on the day he knew he was a Cylon, when the truth cut suddenly against his life, it was like a sweet, smooth blade. He didn't feel it; he only felt everything drain out.
Fic Rec #6: Gotta Jump
Author:sabaceanbabe
Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): PG-13
Why This Must Be Read: A glance inside Kara's head on the day she married Sam, this is endearing and poignant, while not neglecting her internal conflict over that decision.
As she says the words, the heavy weight of every mistake she’s ever made, every fight she’s ever started just so she could feel like she was really there, like people really saw her, seems to fall away. Sam Anders – her husband – sees things in her that no one else does, and she kinda likes that.
Fic Rec #7: The Fine Art of Dishwasher Repair
Author:lizardbeth_j
Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): ADULT
Why This Must Be Read: In this alternate universe, Kara and Sam have always lived on Earth—Air Force pilots instead of Viper ones—and the author weaves a superbly hot story that highlights this couple's playful lust for each other. It's PWP at its finest.
Fic Rec #8: I Will Find You
Author:nicole_anell
Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): PG-13
Why This Must Be Read: This is a BSG/Dollhouse crossover that combines the creepiness of Dollhouse's premise, the future glimpsed in Epitaph One and the epic nature of Kara/Sam and Victor/Sierra. It toys effectively with both show's themes of identity, without losing the characters.
There was the Colony, when John stole his first life from him. There was the ship, when his mind was too full of data and stars to speak I love you and stay. There is something else now, on the tip of his tongue and hidden from him. It's a very familiar feeling.
Fic Rec #9: Chasing Athena
Author:vegawriters
Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): R
Why This Must Be Read: Despite the title, this has nothing to do with the Cylon Eight, and has everything to do with Kara. It's a lyrical look at Sam's mind, how he sees the world and Kara in it, with this awareness of the underlying importance to their struggles. It's hard-hitting and gorgeous all at once, and really brings to light the way that Sam's "simple" love has deep understanding in it.
Fic Rec #10:The Other Sides
Author:ninamazing
Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): PG-13
Why This Must Be Read: This fic takes the phrase "See you on the other side" and blows any conceptions of the meaning out the window. It's exactly what you think, and exactly 100 times more than that. The characters really shine through the epic quality of this fic, to the point where it feels spine-shiveringly possible.
Pairing: Kara Thrace/Sam Anders
Blurb: (by
ivanolix ) So...this ship. There's Kara Thrace - she's a hotshot spaceship pilot, who drinks hard, hits authority figures harder, and lives life out of the box and on the edge. There's Sam Anders - he's a sports-superstar-turned-resistance-leader, who adapts to anything, cares deeply about everything, and lives life day-to-day with whatever he has. And they're married, with enormous tattoos on their arms instead of wedding rings. If that doesn't hook you right there...well, let me give you some more.Kara's not the most well-adjusted person, and her defense-mechanisms don't make her easy to deal with either, so her relationships are all tumultuous. But Sam, ever since the first moment they met, has loved every bit of her, dealing with her quirks and problems with an ease and understanding that makes him "safe and easy", something that Kara (in her frighteningly chaotic life) has to cherish. And in his turn, Kara is the bright star that he navigates by, glorious in her perfect imperfection; he loves her exactly the way she is. And together, they live life loudly, with snarky banter and antics and lots (and lots, and lots) of sex. Did I mention that they were hot?
They have their problems—big ones—and it even turns out that their identities aren't anything like they thought they were when they got married. But through all the problems, they come back to each other. They angst, and they withdraw, and they say hasty words and do hasty things, but they don't give up on each other. They stay married. And in the end, their loyalty to each other survives beyond death. If that's not worth shipping, I don't know what is.
Fic recs (by
frolicndetour ):Fic Rec #1: Jealous Gods
Author:
rose_griffes Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): PG-13 for sexuality and violence (nothing you wouldn't see on the show)
Why This Must Be Read It's a gorgeous and painful, yet not entirely bleak depiction of what the year on New Caprica might have been like for Kara. Her constant, apparently doomed struggle for self-reinvention is insightfully portrayed. It's also a wonderful portrait of Sam.
Sometimes she felt like she was made of exposed nerve endings, pieces of herself cut away. Other times her happiness was so sharp; she was alive and loved and that’s when she remembered what she gave up for this. She’s ripped herself in two and the halves don’t fit together any more.
Fic Rec #2 In the Sight of the Gods
Author:
leiascully Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): R
Why This Must Be Read: I'm not sure whether this is best described as smut or poetry. *g* Either way, it's a spare but gorgeous look at Kara and Sam in one of their all-too-rare moments of peace. I especially adore the lovely characterization of Sam and of Kara through his eyes.
She smelled like beer and sunshine and sweat and river water and he loved her, every beat-up inch of her. He touched the scar she had from the Cylons, when they'd taken her on Caprica. He made the outline of the fresh ink on her arm; when the tattoos healed, when he held her, they'd fly together.
Fic Rec #3: Devil Never Met
Author:
lyssie Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): R. ish. talk of sex, references, etc.
Why This Must Be Read: This takes place on the Demetrius, and Lyssie does a wonderful job of capturing the tensions in Kara and Sam's relationship - neither really knowing who they are and both using each other to cling to their former sense of identity, while at the same time portraying hints of the tenderness and connection between them. It's also pretty hot, in that painful way.
Fic Rec #4: Meet Your Storm
Author:
ivanolix Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): PG-15 (language, violence, occasional sexual references, brief sexuality)
Why This Must Be Read: "Babyfic" doesn't always have the best reputation, but every rule has exceptions and this is one of them. The same reasons that Kara Thrace isn't the easiest character to imagine in a maternal role - her career, her confrontational personality, and especially her own dysfunctional past - can make it a fascinating conflict to explore with her. What I like about this fic is that it doesn't gloss over any of these issues in the service of a too-quick happy ending, nor does it force Kara to stop being Starbuck because she's a mother. It goes AU at the end of Exodus II, when Julia Prynne isn't there to claim her daughter. Kara is left believing that Kacey is her half-cylon child, whose identity she must hide from the fleet.
Fic Rec #5: All the People We Need to Love and Hate
Author:
cynthia_arrow Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): PG-13
Why This Must Be Read: This story follows Sam from "Faith" to the end of "Revelations," as he struggles to come to terms with his new identity. It's quiet, understated, and gorgeously written; I think my heart broke once per paragraph. His thoughts and dreams about Cylons he's dealt with in the past and is learning to interact with now are particularly well-done. And of course there's his ever-tumultuous relationship with Kara Thrace.
Even on the day he knew he was a Cylon, when the truth cut suddenly against his life, it was like a sweet, smooth blade. He didn't feel it; he only felt everything drain out.
Fic Rec #6: Gotta Jump
Author:
sabaceanbabe Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): PG-13
Why This Must Be Read: A glance inside Kara's head on the day she married Sam, this is endearing and poignant, while not neglecting her internal conflict over that decision.
As she says the words, the heavy weight of every mistake she’s ever made, every fight she’s ever started just so she could feel like she was really there, like people really saw her, seems to fall away. Sam Anders – her husband – sees things in her that no one else does, and she kinda likes that.
Fic Rec #7: The Fine Art of Dishwasher Repair
Author:
lizardbeth_j Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): ADULT
Why This Must Be Read: In this alternate universe, Kara and Sam have always lived on Earth—Air Force pilots instead of Viper ones—and the author weaves a superbly hot story that highlights this couple's playful lust for each other. It's PWP at its finest.
Fic Rec #8: I Will Find You
Author:
nicole_anell Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): PG-13
Why This Must Be Read: This is a BSG/Dollhouse crossover that combines the creepiness of Dollhouse's premise, the future glimpsed in Epitaph One and the epic nature of Kara/Sam and Victor/Sierra. It toys effectively with both show's themes of identity, without losing the characters.
There was the Colony, when John stole his first life from him. There was the ship, when his mind was too full of data and stars to speak I love you and stay. There is something else now, on the tip of his tongue and hidden from him. It's a very familiar feeling.
Fic Rec #9: Chasing Athena
Author:
vegawriters Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): R
Why This Must Be Read: Despite the title, this has nothing to do with the Cylon Eight, and has everything to do with Kara. It's a lyrical look at Sam's mind, how he sees the world and Kara in it, with this awareness of the underlying importance to their struggles. It's hard-hitting and gorgeous all at once, and really brings to light the way that Sam's "simple" love has deep understanding in it.
Fic Rec #10:The Other Sides
Author:
ninamazing Link: Here
Rating/Warning(s): PG-13
Why This Must Be Read: This fic takes the phrase "See you on the other side" and blows any conceptions of the meaning out the window. It's exactly what you think, and exactly 100 times more than that. The characters really shine through the epic quality of this fic, to the point where it feels spine-shiveringly possible.