Starbuck's mom and her career

[woodface]

lyssie and I used Starbuck's mom in a roleplay yesterday. Although we probably took her character a bit over the top because Sam ended up hitting her, I realised that I do have a sort of semi fanon view on the woman based on small remark in the first season, Kara's behaviour and things being said by Katee Sackhoff about Kara's past.

We decided to call her Laura Thrace. According to Katee Sackhoff it is semi agreed on (but not confirmed in the series) that Kara's mother was a viper pilot. A piece of important information that probably says a lot about Kara as well. In the old series, Starbuck used to be an orphan. As Kara seems to know her mother, and a lot of remarks suggest that she knows a lot about her, it seems reasonable to judge that this is another thing where the old and the new series differs. We know nothing about Kara's father, though, and I'm tending to deciding that Kara doesn't either. Here's how I see Kara's parents and her childhood.

I believe that "Laura" got pregnant unwanted. Her lover knocked her up and then made it clear he wanted nothing to do with the child. Laura couldn't bring herself to abort and ended up having to leave her career as viper pilot behind for the sake of her child. Only, she never was able to let go of this. She ended up blaming the child for her own mistakes and the loss of her life. It's suggested in the series that Kara's mother was tough on her daughter, she raised her child to believe that you don't show weakness, that you suck things up and move on. "What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger." A lesson I think Kara learned well.

Some people in fandom seem to believe that Kara was physically abused by her mother, I think this is taking a step too far. I don't think Laura ever consciously went out to hurt her child. I can imagine her being subtle about it. Let's face it, a child like Kara must have been hell to raise. She's loud, obnoxious and probably had way too much energy. I can imagine Kara getting into trouble a whole lot, probably nothing very serious but she was and still is full of mischief. Laura probably grew weary of this, and I can see her complaining loudly about it after having to get her kid out of trouble yet again and pointing out what a pain in the ass the kid is, how she'll never fit in if she keeps behaving like that. See what I'm getting at? I think Laura probably loved her child, despite everything she had to give up and the hassle Kara caused on a regular basis, only she forgot to tell her so. She doesn't believe in showing emotions, she probably grew up having to suck things up as well and so she taught her kid the same thing. Only, you can tell your child only so many times it's a screw up before it starts to truly believe it is one. This makes sense to me when you look at Kara. She is very tough, but she has very little faith in herself. Look at KLG and how easily she accepts that she is nothing more than a screw up. Or how Leoben pointed out to her that she believes she is the problem and not society, how Kara can hear her mother's voice constantly repeating how much of a failure that she is.

I think that in a way, Zak was the first time for Kara that someone actually believed in her. Someone who looked at her and admired her for her flying skills, who somehow was able to love her despite her imperfections. So when she screws it up and causes his death in a way, it just drives home once again how much her mother was right about her. I know this isn't canon, and the whole "omg poor Kara had a bad childhood" is probably cliché. I still think it fits, though. I also don't think her mother realised how much she was undermining her child and how much of an impact her words had on Kara. A bit sad, but Kara's attitude seems to coincide with this. It's just too strange to assume that Kara suddenly changed after Zak's death. While Zak probably was a catalyst in Kara's life, I also think that the destructive behaviour was already present and she fell into it again and probably more vigoriously than before.

Also, I wonder about her career. While browsing online, I found someone had written a profile of Kara for a roleplay. In it, they said that Kara lied about her age to get into the Academy and when they found out her real age, they allowed her to stay because so was sucha good pilot. It sounds very Mary Sueish, but I have to admit that this makes sense to me. Kara is very young, especially to be an instructor. Katee Sackhoff said that being a pilot wasn't even Kara's first choice and she used to be a pyramid player until she got injured. While the latter might become canon, it strikes me as a bit far fetched and it doesn't coincide with Kara being an instructor at such a young age. Add to that, that I think Kara lives for flying.

Maybe her mother fits into this picture as well. Maybe she told Kara she didn't have what it takes to become a pilot so Kara settled for something else instead. When that was taken from her, she said "frak it" and did go to the academy. Only, the age thing comes up here again. Although, imagine having a student that is that much of a terror. No one wants that on their battlestar, so the academy takes a risk and gives kara a job as instructor because they don't know what else to do with her and they don't want to waste her talent. Of course, one can wonder if you want to expose your future pilots to the terror that is Kara Thrace. But maybe Kara surprised even herself and she ended up liking teaching. She might have fell into the job, but ended up loving it and enjoying it.

Well maybe. I guess we'll have to wait for canon to tell us more.

ETA: I will not watch the S2 trailer so all shut up about it now because it's tempting. I want Kara!prettiness! Shutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutup.