lanalucy | Meta on Kara/Zak and Helo (Reply)

millari asked, "What do you think Kara's life would have been like if Zak had never died and she had married him? Do you think she would have still served on the Galactica, for example?"

If Zak hadn’t died, Kara might still have been teaching two years later. I’m not convinced that her relationship with Zak would have lasted, though. I think at least part of the attraction for him was the fact that he was in a relationship with a “forbidden” person, and part of it for her was that Zak was so very easygoing, she didn’t have to worry about him poking his nose into her wounded psyche. She held all the power in the relationship.

If they’d stayed together long enough, Zak would have wanted to help her heal her wounds, and I think she would have pushed back and maybe even broken up with him over what she would likely see as meddling in what was none of his business. Her relationship with Zak was good because it didn’t last long, in my opinion. It wouldn’t have stayed that way. Kara had too many secrets that were out of bounds, and Zak was immature and spoiled to some degree. She wouldn't have adjusted well to a more balanced power dynamic, I don't think.

Totally aside from that, they wouldn’t necessarily have been stationed together unless they came out to the military once he was graduated and no longer her student.

If by some miracle they were still together two years later, Zak and Lee would probably have been on Galactica for the decommissioning, but I doubt Kara would have gone, unless she somehow developed a relationship with Bill like she does in canon. I don’t see that happening, though, because their canon relationship was based in large part on their shared sense of loss over a man who could by his death remain unimpeachably perfect.

So if Kara were still with Zak two years later, I think she’d have died in the initial attacks on the colonies.

plaid_slytherin said, "Sell me on Helo? ;) I'd love to read some general thoughts on the character, since I may be writing him soon.

Oh, Helo. Karl is genuinely a good guy in my opinion. He’s not perfect, but he’s a rare bird in BSGverse, in that he rarely reacts out of anger or hatred, and he doesn’t seem to hold grudges for long. He does tend to go a little too far toward the good guy side, though - he’s too gullible, in my opinion, and tends to believe what people tell him, take them at face value.

Karl is a lover AND a fighter. He cares about the people around him, and will go out of his way to help keep the peace. He’s also fiercely protective of those closest to him. In canon, this trait was most often shown with Sharon/Athena, then later with Hera. When he has to fight, he’s cool and calm under pressure.

His tendency to take people at face value is at the heart of his long friendship with Kara, I think. He doesn’t push her too far, or too often, so she lets him inside her personal bubble and genuinely lets him close emotionally (sometimes). I think he values the friendship he has with Kara, because he knows how hard-won it was - he knows that she’s not truly friends with very many people.

He lets people assume he’s less bright than he is because it serves his purposes. His tendency to listen and wait and weigh make it seem like he’s a little on the slow side, but if I were in a position of command, I’d probably rely heavily on someone like Karl, because he takes everything in and doesn’t make snap decisions. He did serve as XO of Galactica for a time, but the way he considers things before deciding would hamper his ability to command a battlestar under fire, and I doubt he’d have ever gotten command under ordinary circumstances.

He’s loyal to a fault - once he’s given his friendship, he doesn’t take it back, and he doesn’t seem to take sides. He’d have been an ideal mediator, as he seems able to distance himself from his personal stake in something and attempt to see both sides of a fight. As an example, he stays friends with both Lee and Kara during and after New Caprica.

He’s content with what he has, not the kind to be given an inch and try to take a mile. The one thing he seems willing to really fight for, put himself at risk for, push beyond his comfort zone to keep, is Sharon/Athena and her health and well-being (and by extension, Hera’s).

In my head, he had a loving family, with both parents mostly present, and several sisters, all older than he is. This foundation is at the heart of his even-tempered personality and his live-and-let-live attitude toward others.