New Fic: Battlestar Galactica

[grav_ity]

And The Sea With Its Deepness (Laura)
And The Earth With Its Starkness (Adama)
And The Rocks With Their Steepness (Caprica Six)
And The Lightning With Its Rapid Wrath (Six: Caprica, Gina, Natalie and Chip)
And The Sun With Its Brightness (Apollo)

AN: Okay, I think I'm done. I've had enough of snow and wind.

Spoilers: All Aired Episodes.

Rating: Kid Friendly.

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

Summary: There are three kinds of love, and they all of them burn. (Kara)

And The Fire With All The Strength It Hath

There are three kinds of love, and they all of them burn.

There is the love of a thing. The love of running in the race. The love of flying better than anyone else, ever. The love of drink and cards and paint and cigars. The love of insubordination. The love of being given the right order.

For a time, she thinks that will be enough to quiet the song of Destiny.

There is the love of a family. Not her family, of course, because it was broken long before she entered it, but of the family she made. In flight school, in combat and in the gym. She has worked hard for her place in the world, and not even the end of it was enough to bring her down.

But it was not enough to lead her home.

There is the love of a soul. And hers lies adrift between the worlds, cloven down the middle by the bullet she couldn’t protect him from. She doesn’t know very much anymore that isn’t fear and doubt, but she knows that she will grow old with him, if only he will wake up so that she can tell him.

This is the strength of the fire in her brain, lighting the way for all to follow her.

fin

Gravity_Not_Included, February 27, 2009.

Comments

[emmiere.livejournal.com]

I think these are all just gorgeous, but you had me from the beginning with the L'Engle quotes as titles. I'm so easy like that, I can't help it.

The love of insubordination. The love of being given the right order

And this is so perfectly Kara in her contradictions. Simply lovely with a killer final sentence.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I was a bit worried about this one (it was the only one of the whole lot that I had to construct...the rest just sort of appeared on the screen), and I wasn't sure about it, so I am REALLY glad you liked it!

[brennanspeaks.livejournal.com]

Forgive me for grouping my reviews for all of these chaps into one big one at the end. You had me spell bound, and I literally couldn't stop reading for long enough to review.

This fic is exquisitely done from beginning to end. It's the type that haunts readers long after we've finished consciously thinking about it. The rune that you used was just beautiful. I loved its application in "The Swiftly Tilting Planet" and I loved it just as much here.

Now for individual reviews:

Sea: Oh. My. God. So perfect, so painful in so many ways. The references were well chosen, and the way they were phrased you forced the reader to take a closer look. At first glance I didn't get it, (Huh? Ship? Paper?) But then on the rereading it was all so obvious and tragic. The reader's mindset mirrors that of Roslin herself as she struggles to reconcile with such a long chain of painful events.

Earth: The Old Man is one of my favorites, and this is so perfectly him. I love the reference to the sons and daughters he pretends he has. He's lying even to himself, but there is a powerful truth to be found in the untruth. The theme of dishonesty is shown just as subtly and powerfully as that of forgetfulness in the previous vignette. I wanted to weep for him.

Rocks: Wow, Caprica-Six. The story here was transformation and how sins always come back to haunt you. It was so insightful that I've dubbed it "personal canon." The beginning with the flower flowed so flawlessly into the baby. Then the two scenes where she saves lives and she grows right before our eyes. Anders as deity? Wow. One of those connections I never would have made on my own but it fits so perfectly. And then with the miscarriage my heart just broke.

Lightning: Excellent insights on each incarnation of Six. I don't know why, but I found Natalie's part particularly affecting. And then with Head!Six you quantified chaos and left us troubled, confused, and enthralled just like Head!Six herself always does. And the last sentence? I'm speechless. It's that good.

Sun: God, are there any characters you don't get better than they get themselves? This part with Lee is so tightly written and darkly ominous. We see him rushing forward, blind to his eventual fate, and we want so badly to believe in him, but the little voice in the background keeps warning of a fall. You never say it, but the Phaethon reference (at least I think it was Phaethon) puts the perfect exclamation point on this. He's lighting himself on fire and we're watching him burn.

Fire: Wow. Kara through and through. You mentioned that you listened to the soundtrack while writing this. Did that include Gaeta's Lament? Because if not, the similarities are downright eerie. Three kinds of love and all of them burn . . . this phrase literally haunts my sleep. And yet, despite the dark and tragic arc of both her vignette and the character in general, this is the most hopeful of the stories. Her love is enough to keep her going and maybe help others keep going with her.

All in all, I'm utterly in awe of this fic. It hurts and it haunts and it left me wanting more.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Sea: I recently started rewatching season one, and was rather surprised at all the things I had forgotten (The Olympic Carrier, the death of all the pilots, Baltar being fixated on Starbuck...). That is where this fic started. But then the soundtrack got into my head, and the others just came on to the screen.

Earth: Oh, Adama. He tries so hard and there is NO ONE to replace him. I mean, at least Laura got Lee, but Adama's got Tigh (Cylon), Helo (married to a Cylon), Starbuck (who knows) and then...Hot Dog?

Rocks/Lightning: This one was the weirdest because when I started writing it, I was writing Caprica, and then I realized that I loved the others too much to leave them out, so I wrote the second. And I enjoyed the Anders double-standard of Pyramid Hero and Creator (and future hybrid?). Natalie was a lot of fun as well. :)

Sun: Oh, Lee. (And it was actually Icarus, but almost everything works with this show, which is why it is so great.)

Fire: I don't have the season four soundtrack yet, so no Gaeta. I thought this one was going to be a disaster, and it turned out to be one of my favourites!

Thanks so much!

[brennanspeaks.livejournal.com]

The song Gaeta sings after his leg is amputated in "Guess What's Coming to Dinner.":

"Alone she sleeps in the shirt of man
With my three wishes clutched in her hand.

The first that she be spared the pain
That comes from a dark and laughing rain.

When she finds love may it ever be true
This I beg for the second wish I made too.

But wish no more.
My life you can take
To have her please just one day wake."

I thought the three wishes tied in really well with Kara's three kinds of love. It's a really beautiful song and it has the same tragic yet hopeful feel as your last vignette.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Right.

Yeah, that's not on it.