TV: power-flipping and that cylon I like

[rose_griffes]

So this bsg_epics post about writing what squicks you (member-locked) in combination with deborah_judge's latest post-finale Kara/Leoben story The Two Magicians reminded me of a conclusion I reached a while ago but never mentioned here. (And then I forgot about it. But then I remembered again

Comments

[lls_mutant]

That's interesting! And you're right- your Twos don't make me run screaming for the hills.

I've always assumed I've just got an issue with the Two that likes tormenting Kara, and that it's one specific Two that does that. I always liked goateed!Two from your icon :) I have a tough time with Kara/Two, but make it clear it's not the Two obsessed with Kara and I'm okay.

[rose_griffes]

...make it clear it's not the Two obsessed with Kara and I'm okay.

I really disliked it when the show made it canon that all the Twos had some kind of thing about Kara Thrace. But it's easy enough to say that only Leoben took it too far. (And since she really was that important to the plan, it would only make sense that a cylon copy with some sort of gift for prophecy/visions would find Kara interesting.)

I'm sort of amused at my brain for doing all this power-stripping subconsciously. Thanks, brain, for finding me safe ways to feel sort of shippy about Two/a human! ;-)

Re: And...

[rose_griffes]

I think 'Written in the Bone' is an interesting example of this...Leoben seems to be the one in power in that story, but really he's powerless in the face of both their histories.

Powerless but not defanged, maybe? Because although he acts like he has to be that way, he was still taking away Kara's agency. Hmmmm...

[rose_griffes]

Do you think you make him less powerful for his benefit (because you think it does him good to be less powerful) or for his partner's benefit (because you think he's a better partner/friend/whatever that way)? I can definitely see both.

Yes to both. Though with Prophecy-Leoben, it wasn't as much of a choice as with post-finale Mark, who deliberately chose a path that led away from who/what he had been in the past. So he has more agency than sleeper Leoben. (I do think that taking away the memories of that history--the cylon enslavement, among other things--would be freeing in a sense, although I wonder if he would voluntarily give that up?)

[daybreak777]

Hmm. I like Leoben in your fics, but I never thought of him as defanged. I don't mind if he's fanged. Canon demystified him and I was disappointed in that. I've written him very little. Sometimes in one of my stories, he has the power, sometimes not. That was the interesting thing for me about Kara and Leoben. The constant powerplay. I always wanted Kara to win, of course, but for a while there, I was never quite sure. That was interesting to me.

lls_mutant defanged Narcho for me in her fics. I was afraid of most of the Pegasus crew except for Hoshi, Laird and Showboat. Not so much Kendra later though she was scary before we met her. I needed the Pegasus crew defanged to have any sympathy for them and who they became. I totally root for Hoshi and Narch in LLS' fics. I takes a skilled writer to inspire a reaction like that in me.

[rose_griffes]

That was the interesting thing for me about Kara and Leoben. The constant powerplay.

*nods* That's part of why it amuses me to realize how much I took that power away from Leoben when I was feeling the most shippy about him and Kara. Because even though the dynamic was interesting on the show, I couldn't invest in the pair without some confidence that (sleeper) Two was... not the one to keep the control that time.

I needed the Pegasus crew defanged to have any sympathy for them and who they became. I totally root for Hoshi and Narch in LLS' fics. I takes a skilled writer to inspire a reaction like that in me.

Yeah. I don't know that I was scared of the Pegasus crew as a whole; just certain ones. Maybe because I didn't really want to think about the implications of who/what they had become under Caine's rule, except when I was forced to--like with those Sunshine boys. *spits*

But I do love it when a small character gets drawn in finer detail in fic: both to read and to write.

Deleted scene from "The Two Magicians"

[pingback_bot]

User deborah_judge referenced to your post from Deleted scene from "The Two Magicians" saying: [...] the fic was getting too long. Also it's relevant 's comments the other day about Leoben and power [...]