I Haven’t Taken Anything Seriously Since 1915

Okay so if you’ve been around on my blog a while, you may know I have a cat named Starbuck

She

Starbuck is named after one of my favourite characters from my childhood/early teen years, Captain Kara “Starbuck” Thrace from Battlestar Galactica

Katee Sackhoff as Kara Thrace. Is this character the reason I am bisexual? Sources say “its a strong possibility but tbh the entire cast of BSG may be responsible”

Now [SPOILERS, for a show that ended in 2009] Starbuck was a fighter pilot in humanity’s search for earth and a new homeworld after the cylon attack wiped out the twelve colonies of Kobol and she had an on again, off again, never quite, almost once upon a time romance with Captain (later Major) Lee “Apollo” Adama, who was their CAG and also their commanding officer’s once-estranged son, an absolute dick like 70% of the time, and also Starbuck’s late fiancé’s older brother (and, unfortunately, I love him).

Their already unstable relationship was challenged when Starbuck followed a ghost ship into a space-maelstrom set to the best cover of All Along the Watchtower that’s been done (shout out to my man Bear McCreary who also did the scores for Black Sails and other things including I think Outlander but I haven’t watched that). She was then assumed (rightly) to be dead until some time later when she turns back up claiming to know the way to earth (the goal of the entire series).

At the 4A finale, they find a planet that may be earth (It isn’t really but I’m not gonna get super into the mythology of Battlestar Galactica, you don’t care that much) and on that planet they find…Starbuck’s plane and her body. Even though she’s been there with them and led them to this place??

Anyway, they then go on to find actual!earth and its looking like Starbuck and Apollo are finally gonna get to be together, and they’re going to be okay, there are no more barriers left in their way after four seasons of this, and then he turns to look at her and she’s fucking gone. And it broke me at the tender age of 15 or however old I was in 2009.

However, I have now rewatched the show quite a few times because I like to Suffer™️ and am better now at recognising their relationship for the destructive mess it is and them as the broken people they are and i do still love them both and I do still ship it but it doesn’t quite hit Right anymore, you know?

The OTHER ship that is now my favourite from this otherwise deeply upsetting show that basically invented desaturated sci-fi for the modern era (Also you want to talk gritty reboots? Holy shit) is Them:

Grace Park as Lieutenant Sharon “Athena” Agathon and Tahmoh Penikett as Lieutenant Karl “Helo” Agathon

They are quite literally The Future in the show, because she is one of the cylon robots and he is human. He was in love with a sleeper agent copy of her who had no idea she wasn’t human and he sacrificed himself to save her (and a bunch of civilians) and ended up stranded on an irradiated wasteland that used to be their home planet and the only reason he was able to survive is because this copy of her, Athena, was given all of Boomer’s memories but without the questionable boyfriend and Athena absolutely fell in love with Helo, knowing full well what she was and like. Kind of technically baby trapped him? But they didn’t know that was possible (since she is a robot) and their daughter is like the key to the future of the human race and sapient life in general and when he finds out what Athena is he takes a minute to readjust (and frankly wouldn’t you?) and then decides “yeah no still in love with her.” Also in retrospect he is a bit of a himbo/malewife energy despite being very competent and badass when called upon to be and is also one of my favourite male characters in anything so I am slightly biased (fun fact when he guest starred in supernatural and died that’s about when I stopped following the show).

Anyway, they go through a LOT of shit because of their kid, various speciesism from both the human fleet and the cylon fleet, all while being entirely devoted to each other even when they’re led to believe their daughter is dead (she’s fine) and at the series finale, the three of them get to be happy together (even though there’s a heart stopping moment when you think he’s dead for a bit during the finale and I hate that moment).

Also my enduring crush on Grace Kim is probably the only thing that would ever convince me to watch Hawaii 5-0 in case I needed another troubling procedural to fall into but that’s neither here nor there.

Aren’t you glad you asked, Anon?

ETA: Starbuck and Helo are also implied to have been friends for a very long time and their moments of friendship spark so much joy for me