Six of One...and then some...

[marguerite_krux]

 

 Disclaimer: I have seen none of the season four episodes, nor the final few season three episodes, so most of my knowledge is gleaned from picking through other people’s journals and forum posts.

Also? This is nitpicking in the extreme. I will squee for ship's sake over the tiniest of gestures, a hand on the back, a shared glance...but I will mentally squish the witers for failing to elaborate on important developments in A/R.

Subject: Roslin staying in Adama’s quarters.

 

My reaction? Not thrilled.

 

Okay, okay, I cave- I am more than the tiniest bit thrilled. For one thing, this confirms the degree of intimacy and familiarity and support between them, and makes up some of the ground lost during previous conflicts like the Kobol incident and election unpleasantness, etc. If I had my way, for every step back in their relationship, they’d go on to take two steps forward, Gods damn it. So I have to admit that this closeness between them is really nice because it’s rectifying some of the crap that went down before.

 

But what really pisses me off is that the writers are copping out yet again. All the other storylines I hear- especially with Gaius frakking Baltar- could easily have lost a few minutes in order to back up and explain exactly how this situation between A/R came to be. How come MY ship is always the first to be sacrificed for time? I mean, this is a significant development in their relationship- sure, it’s not like he’s throwing her in the brig or she’s hijacking his people [before and after said brig incident], it’s not a professional development but a *personal* one and that’s why it’s more important to me than everything that happened before.

 

Why is it that they always have time to show the relationship being broken to pieces- frak, they even go to all the effort of inserting the symbolic moment where she shoots and accidentally hits the picture of her and Bill when it was totally not even RELEVANT to the scene between her and Kara- yet when the episode calls for a bit of a more personal connection being developed, why do they then skip over all the groundwork and head straight to the conclusion? I’m not a big fan of established relationship fics, although I’ve read quite a few well-written ones [‘Sliver of Light’- by larsfarm77, most definitely], because I want to see how the relationship has progressed, not the end result, I want to enjoy the journey…so you can imagine the disappointment at seeing this momentous step being taken OFF SCREEN.

 

Quoting

just_reading_u

, who perfectly sums up my feelings on the matter:

‘…I feel that I was robbed from watching them getting to this closeness! I mean two grown up adults, leaders of the highest level, friends, support each other and do some occasional flirty-talking - snap - she's sleeping in his bed without causing any rumours and they argue like an old married couple. Illogical…’

 

I just find it’s so hard to persevere with the show after all the angst and heartbreak and misery that’s heaped on their heads, especially Roslin’s, and just a nice squeeful moment where we see her accepting his offer to move in with him for whatever reason, under whatever pretext, would have made me such a happy little shipper. Given the dismaying way that events are unfolding, it’s clear there’s going to be no end of tears and pain for the rest of the season [even though I’m blocking my ears and insisting she’s not going to die] and I just wonder how hard it would’ve been for them to toss us a bone? A few crumbs, at least…couldn’t they have found it in their hearts to give us a warm happy moment to cling to when times get rough? WHICH THEY DO IN THE VERY SAME EP. Yes, yes, I bow before their superior talent of evoking heart-rending angst, but could they branch out and show a few more tender moments too? Balance, for crying out loud. 

 

I read this wonderful fic ‘Only Stars’ by ‘misscam’, and there was one line there that summed up the main reason I stick by BSG:

 

‘Love doesn't come without hurt, never has. It just offers an incentive to work through it…’

 

Truer words were never spoken. So whenever I whinge about how overly sensitive I am and how brutal BSG is on my tender heart, I think about that line and it makes me realize it’s worth it in the end, because of A/R. All I want is for the writers to respect it a little more. They’re not afraid to extract every last drop of angst and pain from it, but they need that whole ‘light-and-shade’ thing going on, you know? 

In between the jabs about Roslin’s death being meaningless [ouch] and her hurt at him being so quick to believe in Kara and her visions when in all this time, she herself has never fully had his faith [ouch again]…and the fact that he’s now secretly sending Kara off on a some religious mission despite Roslin saying she disagreed with it, when this was grounds to strip Roslin of the Presidency before yet she’s now forced to swallow her feelings about it and help him cover it up because the GODS FORBID he be responsible for splitting up the fleet and bringing chaos where there was unity…he gets off way too easily, and everyone’s beating up on her and I just want him to be in her corner for once and irrationally, I feel that seeing how they got to the point where she can live with him and no one raises an eyebrow would’ve made all the rest of the this crap easier to bear.

 

In the end, I know it’s not the ‘Roslin and Adama’ show, there are other characters, other plotlines that need to be advanced…I’m just tired of feeling like these two characters’ interactions are constantly being cut for time to go into detail on other things that I really don’t give a frak about. They spent so much time on Lee and Kara’s messed up relationship, give me a break. There was even a whole arc on LEE GETTING FAT, OMFG. *bashes head against wall*

 

I’m on my hundredth fic that deals with the characters struggling to figure out how to keep their relationship under wraps and obscure her presence in his quarters and how to deal with the rumors and innuendo and justify it to the press even when there is nothing going on at all and it’s perfectly innocent [omg, love the twist on this trend in Deception, by csiAngel!].

 

I’m getting a little tired of it now, but it goes to show that fic writers, shippers, people who have no vested interest in logical character development [heh, I’ve written awful fics, and I’ve waded through my share of crap on the badfic community, I know what I’m talking about], who don’t get paid to work out meaningful character interactions and relationship growth- these people do a better job of justifying and clarifying Roslin and Adama’s position in a mature and reasoned way than the writers have done. It’s like TPTB thought ‘oooh, all the shippers will be so happy that Roslin’s living with him, we’ll score major bonus points for this’ without even considering that we’d like a little consistency and continuity mixed in with our ship. For goodness sake, didn’t they just have it out with each other over Baltar’s trial? Was there not anger and resentment simmering there? Should there not be some sort of explanation for how things progressed from that point to her being cozily ensconced in his quarters? No…?

 

It’s the X-files in All Things all over again. *sighs*

 

I wouldn’t be so downhearted about this if it weren’t for the major fight between them, and Roslin’s hair coming out and her crying all alone. What’s the point of her being with him if he’s not actually *there* with her when she needs him? They seemingly make a step forward in their personal relationship and it results in fracturing it further. In the end, it’s just another in a long line of agonizing plot devices to try and break her.