Thoughts on the Ship-Swap

[embolalia]

Well, this process definitely got me to write something I wouldn’t have written otherwise. I wasn’t set against the pairing or I wouldn’t have accepted the swap in the first place, but I probably never would have come up with this. I spent a lot of time discussing how to write these characters (mostly with Deborah, my swapper!) in a way that I don’t really with Kara/Lee because I already know how I write K/L. There have also been some good conversations about the process in general on Epics. In the end, I wrote Kara/Leoben in a very different way than anything I ever wrote for Kara/Lee--formatting, tone, all of it isn’t something I would think to do for Lee. I suppose what I’m saying is that Leoben as a character influenced the way I wrote him. Maybe my jokes this week about Leoben taking over my brain aren’t really jokes :)

Prayer was not at all what I set out to write, though in my initial notes there was actually a kernel of an idea about “five times Kara prays for Leoben” that I nixed because it wasn’t enough of a plot. I tried to write a piece with a plot instead, and did a draft, and may yet post it when I have time to make it work a little better. And the whole time, I guess, this was percolating in the back of my brain. Working on bsg kink bingo helped too, got me comfortable writing drabbles. (One of the creepier Leoben drabbles I typed start to finish and it was exactly 100 words. Gave me shivers myself!)

Writing for me has always been a way of exploring how I feel about characters or even about real life if that’s my topic. It’s sometimes easier for me to see my own perspective once I get it all out on paper. This story is like that to almost an eerie degree. In Leoben VIII, when he realizes the Kara in his visions was always reincarnated Kara--I didn’t know that until it was sitting on the screen in front of me. I’ve also found in rereading this piece how much their arcs are the same: Kara prays for strength and eventually gets it from Leoben; he prays for guidance and eventually gets it from her. It’s weird to have these things come out of your own brain and only realize it later. Really weird. I’m really happy with how it came out though--even before I reread it enough to understand how it all worked, I could feel it and was super excited as I finished the last lines of XX. I know there’s not a huge fanbase for this pairing, but people seem to like it, and that feels good, too.

Alright, enough rambling for now. Thoughts? Do you all find you’re writing in a different tone/format/style since you’re not using your usual pairing? How’s it going?

(ALSO apparently there’s a con going on 25 minutes from my house this weekend and Tricia Helfer is doing a session in a few hours. I’m trying to decide how awkward I’d feel going alone...or if it’s worth the money since I’m going to be unemployed after this week.)

Comments

[wishflsinfl.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm one of a handful of people who doesn't have a problem with Kara/Leoben. Seriously, I just don't find it that weird or triggery or squicky. *shrug* I liked the abstract aspect of your story and the way it managed to blend some really nice details with some grand sweeping ideas.

re: ship swap story, mine has also turned out to be a big departure for me in terms of style and format. I usually tend to write straight forward, orderly, close 3rd person narratives, but my ship swap is a mix of close 3rd and omniscient (or maybe even meta, depending on how you read it) POV that jumps all over the place in time.

It's also the first time I've written Laura in depth and I really enjoyed that. Like you mentioned, it took me places I hadn't considered for her character until I was writing them. And Gaius is just plain fun to write.

[embolalia.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you liked Prayer! I can see how people are squicked by Leoben--I went to work the morning after I first saw Precipice completely overtaken with worry for Kara. That said, the way they interact in season 4 is different enough that I don't feel as weird about it. And any story puts the author's spin on the characters; the way I wrote them, they work for me at least :)

Your comment about POV is interesting--the other story I wrote was limited POV-Kara, which I'm used to from writing K/L, but somehow it wasn't nearly the same with Leoben.

And Gaius is just plain fun to write.
Oh, Gaius! He's more delightful to me since I've dabbled in writing him than he ever was in the show :)

[wishflsinfl.livejournal.com]

I get why K/L bothers a lot of people but I think I tend to envision them either in S1 or in S4 and not so much in S3 which I found disturbing, although not to an unbearable degree. I think I found Cavil/Ellen way more squicky. Maybe part of it is that I see Kara as a pretty tough person and a survivor? Or I'm weird. :D

[embolalia.livejournal.com]

No, I see what you're saying--during the periods when Kara has the upper-hand (Flesh and Blood/Demetrius) her power balances out his weirdness, and they feel equal enough not to be squicky.

And Cavil/Ellen is absolutely icky, especially after the season 4 revelations. I really hope no one ships them :(