LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!!

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

OKAY FOLKS, HERE WE GO!

Get your Kara Thrace Gen Fic Battle Gear On (helmets and flight suits optional) and Let's Get this Party Started!


This is a prompt-driven GENERAL fanfiction battle (much in the vein of the porn battles, but hold the smut).

General fanfiction may include allusions to romantic relationships, maybe even employ romance as an element to illustrate a larger theme, but, romance, or the lack of it, should not be the point of focus for the story.

Action-Adventure, Friendship, Humor, Angst, Comfort, all of these are good categories to explore. Kara could lead a mission, make a sacrifice, exact revenge, solve a mystery, confess a secret, come to a decision, teach a student, go on a quest, reflect on a mistake, celebrate a victory, learn a lesson, question an order, save a life, or roll the hard six (just to name a few options). The possibilities are endless.

The Fic Battle closes July 31 at 11:59 PM EST.

Please title your entries as such: Title, Prompt(s). (i.e. Shining from the Ashes, Dogtags, Regrets)

Fic can be posted in the comments in their entirety up to about 850 words (LJ’s limit is 4300 characters) or can link back to your own journal for longer fics.

Please be sure to “reply to this” for each ficlet when leaving feedback. Do not comment with anything but entries and feedback please.

A masterlist will be posted on or around August 1.


A night out in Caprica City (w/ Lee or Zak)
"Agathon's just slow, sir"
air force
alcohol and bad choices
all the time in the world
ambrosia with a chaser
art classes
bad cover band
barefoot
battlestars I have known
becoming a flight instructor
being the CAG
best friend
bet me
birthday
birthday blues
bloodsucking fiends
blue skies
born a lion
borrowing clothes
boss
bounty hunter
breaking down the wall
buildings and bridges
bum knee
by the book
Cadet Zak Adama
canvas
careful planner
Catullus
caught singing on film during "Final Cut"
chasing the sun
cigar
circle of light
clenched jaw
coffee
coffee deficit
cold shower
compartments
cookie cutters
cooking for the old man (bonus points if Dee gets jealous)
Cool Aunt Kara
cornflakes
counting pushups
cradle and all
crossing the line
"Death becomes a learning experience"
destiny is overrated
detention
devout
"Did you just say 'please'?"
disorderly conduct/drunk and disorderly
divorce
"Do you always get what you want?"
"Do they call you 'Helo' 'cause that's all you're good enough to fly?"
doomed to repeat
dreams
dress uniform
drummed out of how many schools?
drunken stupor
escalation of trouble-making
eternal life
every action has an equal and opposite reaction
everything's grey here
faith in things unseen
falling into the deep blue ocean
falling slowly
falsely accused
fast cars
fate and free will
father figures
father's day
fear of the gods
festival of Aphrodite
fierce flawless
fighter
finding her faith
finding the arrow
fingers and thumbs
firecracker
first day on the Galactica
first flight
first frak, first fight (but not with the same person)
first kiss
first love
first tattoo
first time drinking
first time in a viper
first week on Galactica
fists
five careers Kara thought about besides the military
five times Kara's apologized and the one time she really meant it
five times Kara landed in the brig
fleet's magic luck charm
flight training
flying
foodfight
freezie pops
girls night out
girly bonding
giving up Kacey
going to the rifle range
going to the temple (either by choice or because she was made to go by a parent)
good at math
good bad ugly
good with people
goodbye
graphic novels
gun camera footage
halfway 'round the world
hands clasped 'til midnight
happy
Helo
her 1000th landing
hide and seek
hiding from the truth
high heels
"holding on when you need to let go"
hollowed out
home
honor thy mother
household pets
how she got her call-sign
how she got the idols
how to disarm (literally or figuratively) the hall monitor
"I can hear you, you know"
"I don't need directions"
"I don't want to be forgotten"
"I need a whole Cylon armada!"
Icarus
"I'd like to have a copy, just so I can watch me kick your ass."
identity crisis
if he tries anything
"If I'd known you were comin', I'd've baked a cake"
I'm no heroine
in pieces
in spite of it all
jackboots
jealous of someone else's mother
jealous of the moon
joyful girl
Kara inadvertently discovers silly putty
Kara takes ballet as part of her Pyramid training (bonus points if she likes it, EXTRA bonus points if the
pictures/film end up on Galactica)
Kara Thrace and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day
Kara's one and only experience babysitting
kicked out of the bar
"kicking ass and taking numerical designations"
killing
knuckle down
landing gear
last meal
laughing so hard
laughing when you want to cry
laundry day
Laura Palmer
learning to ride a bike
Leoben
let the warm rain wash the blood away
let's be war buddies
letters never sent
linger
liquid latex
listen up
listening to her father's music
"Live Together, Die Alone"
living with other pilots
long day
losing faith
losing hope/faith
lost in space
lost in the woods
lost woman song
loudmouth
loyalty
lucky charm
lying to herself
Madame President
"Maybe I'll get one of those talking bird things. Teach it to tell you off for me. Save my voice that way."
medal of valor (how did she get it?)
mentor
minerva
mobster
"Momma always said…"
monotony
morning routine
most embarassing moment ever
most popular
motorcycle
murder of crows
my IQ
names and dates and times
near-death experiences
needful things
never felt more alive
nightmare
"No fate but what we make"
Not a morning person
not a pretty girl
not ready to make nice
not supposed to like it
nothing but the rain
nuggets
numbing the pain
ocean
oil paints
old photographs
oneupmanship
Ophelia's flowers
orders she doesn't follow
painting the mandala
peace
people she wants to hate but can't
personal bubble
personal possessions
plaster/metal gods versus real ones
Playing the piano with Dad
playing with asteroids
PMS
prayer
prayers that never got answered
promised land
pulled the covers back up over her head and prayed to the gods that no one noticed her there
punch-happy
pyramid
pyramid cards/triad cards
rage
rank
razor
reading poetry
realizing Tigh is a Cylon
reasons to stay
reckoning
recycled air
red to black
rejoice
remembering the dead
risk v. reward
rockstar
role models
rotgut
rules are meant to be bent (not broken)
running
safe
salty sweat
scars and souveniers
scars, outside and in
second time around
shaky hands
Sharon Valerii
Sharon's bachelorette party
she never could stand a psychic
she refused to touch the piano, but she couldn't keep her hands off the paintbrush
she'd be damned if anyone was going to outshoot her
"She's in command."
shot glasses
showoff
sibling rivalry
silk sheets
sins of the father
sirens
situational ethics
skinnydipping
smell my feet
so much shouting, so much laughter
"So what'd I miss while I was gone?"
sometimes in the middle of the night
somewhere a clock is ticking
space between life and death
spies among the ruins
sports bra
star matter
stars
staying sane on New Caprica
stealing glances
streak of blonde
superhero
superior assholes
survivors
sweat, blood and tears
sympathy for the devil
tactics
"Tag, you're it!"
talking to myself
teacher's pet
temple
temple of faith
"That's not what your wife said."
the color black
the first time she tried to give herself a haircut in the ship's head was right before the worlds ended
the good points of…
the hills are alive
the lies she doesn't tell
the next life
the one night w/ the Major from (?)
the one time Kara lost her voice
the other tattoos
the tears she won't let fall
the true story of what was
the walls are coming down
things she doesn't regret
thinking outside the box
this feels like home
"This is me walking away"
thunder and lightening
to the teeth
top gun
train wreck
trying not to screw up too badly in class
two bottles down, one to go
two little girls
under her bird
unusual
up for the pros
up, up, up, up, up, up
vaulted over the low wall
veins in the back of her hand
washed away
watching Kacey sleep
wearing sunglasses indoors
what if she never came back
what ifs
what is and what never should be
what other postings did Kara have?
what really happened on the day when the Adama boys picture(in her locker)was taken and/or how/why Dee got it
"What the frak are you staring at, Adama?"
wheels
when Kara met Helo
when she's on the ground
whoops
"Why can't I keep my mouth shut?"
why she prays to Artemis and Aphrodite
why she sometimes wishes she were more girly
why she thinks the Picon Panthers are a bad team
willing to fight
winning Baltar's cash
wish upon a star
wishing for a sibling (or NOT wishing for one)
work your way out
wrestle
writing and illustrating a novel or comic book/strip to entertain the Fleet
"Your father's idea of pressure is nothing like my mother's."
zero G

BUNDLES...or feel free to use the words separately
(watercolors, slippery, nuance, leather jacket)
(waiting, umbrella, sunshower, pity)
(bruised knuckles, the great outdoors, compass, peace)

Comments

Re: The Buddy System, Agathon's just slow, sir, vaulted over the low wall, alcohol and bad choices

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Boot camp! Been wanting to write something there since I saw the deleted Sharon scene from 4.0 DVDs.

Re: Haircuts, Lollipops and Letting Go

[amaliak.livejournal.com]

Because we're SOULMATES and I was writin this already, I present:
RE-MIX (http://amaliak.livejournal.com/51170.html).


(OMG OMG my first BSG fic!)
cheers.
--Lex

Re: Haircuts, Lollipops and Letting Go

[mintenergy.livejournal.com]

Left you feedback on your LJ but just had to say here as well:

Loved it. I totally should have done the funny. You had some reflective moments in there but over all the humor was WIN. I reject my fanon and insert your own.

For A Little of Your Light, all the time in the world, father figures, what if she never came back

[crazedcrusader.livejournal.com]

My last offering for this ficathon - I was going to wait and post it a little later, but we might be getting a thunderstorm so I figured I'd go ahead and do it before the weather made me miss the deadline. I hope you guys enjoy it, and that you don't decide to come after me for it. It's been an awesome ficathon - my first! - and I can't wait for the next one.

PS - if anyone can identify where I got the title, that'd be awesome.


"Hello, Sir."

Bill Adama smiles at the sound of that familiar voice, looking up to bestow that smile on the voice's owner. "Hello, Kara. I hoped I might be seeing you soon."

"What can I say, Sir? I can't get enough of the men in your family." Kara moves to sit next to the Admiral, smiling as he reaches up and strokes her hair back. "It's good to see you, Sir. Despite the circumstances."

"Likewise. I've missed you, Kara." Adama puts his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his side. "We could have used you around here."

"I know, Sir. I've been watching. I wanted to come back sooner...I'm sorry I couldn't prevent this."

"It was probably inevitable." Adama looks around the room, taking in the wreckage that was once Galactica's CIC. "No matter how much Athena's been rambling lately about treaties and cheated destinies...she hasn't been the same since Helo and Hera..."

"I know." Kara folds his hand in hers. "I was with them, too."

"Laura thought you might be." Adama glances over at Roslin, who's sprawled out on the floor of the CIC, next to his own body. It's strange to see her, knelt over him, stroking his hair and crying. It's strange to see himself lying unresponsive, to know that he used to be contained in that pile of skin, blood and bone. Stranger still is to watch his son, also grieving for him; Lee's hands are bound behind him, so he can't hold his father, but he's kneeling, pressing their temples together and whispering into an ear that can no longer hear him, and Adama feels a mild, dull pang at the sight of his son in pain. "It should hurt more than this."

"No, Sir. You've hurt enough. We all have. The hurting is over now." Kara stands up, taking his hand. "Come with me."

Adama looks at her, getting to his feet, then looks back. "Shouldn't we wait for them?"

"They'll be along." Kara looks at the door of CIC as a swarm of Centurions, led by Cavil, flood into the room. "Sooner than either of us would like. Please, Sir...Lee wouldn't want you to see this."

Adama turns with her, just in time; as Kara pulls him into an embrace, he can hear gunshots behind him, and he closes his eyes, accepting his daughter's presence, the comfort and peace she represents.

Kara's right. He doesn't have to stay here. The rest of his family will be along, and now he has all the time in the world to wait for them.

[crazedcrusader.livejournal.com]

Awwwww. That totally should have been their fate....Kara and Karl in the old folk's home, probably ganging up on Lee. *hugs them* Poor babies.

I really love this. Karl forcing his friendship on Kara sounds very much like them, and I love Kara verbally hoisting the CO on his own pertard.

cooking for the old man

[amaliak.livejournal.com]

Let them eat cake (http://amaliak.livejournal.com/51455.html)


hee.
cheers.
--Lex

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Thanks my dear! Aw young pilots! Sniff.

I would think it would take a Helo to slip through Kara's guard. :)

Re: For A Little of Your Light, all the time in the world, father figures, what if she never came ba

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Aw. So bittersweet. Everyone dies! (And yet, I still prefer this to the ending we got! Funny, that!)

Love Kara as the guide, and their interaction feels so right and natural.

[crazedcrusader.livejournal.com]

I'm so relieved to hear you say that. I'm a little wary of writing Adama - he reminds me of my own (military) father in a lot of ways, not all of them good, so I have to be very careful not to let that color what I do with him. I'm glad you think it felt right.

And I'm glad you prefer it to the canon ending too. For what it's worth, in my world, this scene goes from 'gen' to 'pilot-shippy' about thirty seconds after Lee enters the picture, so. >.> :D?

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

You've said that about all the drabbles you wrote. :) I sense a pattern.

Re: To Call Your Own, battlestars I have known

[amaliak.livejournal.com]

Second person POV is always the best.
And I love the idea of "cronies not friends." It's so Kara.

thanks so much for this.
cheers.
--Lex

[crazedcrusader.livejournal.com]

>.>

<.<

Is that a bad thing?

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Heh I've never seen that emoticon before!

And no, I just expect to see some shippy fic soon! :)

[crazedcrusader.livejournal.com]

That is my shifty face.

And you will, as soon as I talk myself into it. I actually tend not to think too highly of my own writing, so anytime I write anything, even just a drabble, I have to convince myself to post it.

Also I have to not make everything into epics, which is hard.

Back to Business, survivors, flight training, role models, what ifs

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

“Captain, got a minute?"

Kara stopped in her tracks, checking her watch quickly. She had 20 minutes to eat, shower and report to a briefing. "No, but I can give you about 40 seconds Chief. What's up?"

He nodded. “Diana Seelix wants to be a pilot." Tyrol looked at her questioningly. "Passed the written with flying colors, but I thought maybe I'd get your opinion, you being the flight instructor and all."

Kara tried not to look surprised. It had been a long time since anyone had asked for her opinion on anything. The chief was looking at her seriously, expectantly, actually waiting to hear what she had to say. It was a look she’d been used to once. From her nuggets, the other pilots, Lee, even the Old Man. Back before New Caprica, when Starbuck talked, people would listen. But that was then. And now, well, sometimes she wondered if Starbuck was still down there on that godsforsaken planet, trapped in that dollhouse, and if only Kara, with her broken, vulnerable, raw edges, had made it back to Galactica.

But the Chief was still waiting for an answer and she doesn't have time for what ifs and might have beens. Seelix had been the one to recruit her for the circle. She’d been full of anger and wanting revenge. Kara knew a little about that. It wasn’t a bad attitude for a pilot whose job it was to blow toasters out of the sky. But she didn’t want any careless, trigger-happy freaks in her squadron either.

"How's her instincts? She hold up alright in a crisis?" Kara already knew the woman was tough and could roll the hard six, but you never knew how even the hardest cases could crack when their console started malfunctioning or they blew an engine. Panic was not a pilot's friend.

"She's steady. She helped us a lot on New Caprica with the resistance. Seelix got in some tight scrapes, but she always kept her head. Came up with a great plan to blow up a couple of those frakking detention centers too as a matter of fact." He grinned a little. "Actually, she kinda reminded me of this cocky pilot I used to know."

Kara didn't grin, just stared, and the Chief winced a little. "Hey, Captain, I'm-- I didn't meant to bring up--"

"It's fine," Kara cut him off, not wanting the pity that inevitably followed such reminiscing. But then she surprised herself, speaking again in a voice that was just the slightest bit hoarse. "I just wish I'd been there to see it firsthand."

"Me too, sir." He smiled tentatively and Kara smiled back this time. "If you’d been with us, those toasters wouldn't have known what hit 'em."

There was respect in the even gaze that met her own and that's not something she'd seen a lot of lately either. Touched more than she should be, Kara nodded and turned away before she could make an ass of herself on the hangar deck. Heading off towards the mess and called out. "I start flight training at 0800 sharp, Chief. Tell your new ensign not to be late."

As Kara strode down the hallway, she was surprised to find herself grinning. It'd been a long time since she had a new nugget to play with. She made a mental note to check her locker after lunch. Those old sunglasses had to be in there somewhere.

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

But now you have practice! With posting and with writing shorter pieces. I think you wrote the second-most number of drabbles for the battle! :)

Five Bedtime Stories Told By Kara Thrace While Babysitting Hera Agathon, "stars"

[http://users.livejournal.com/wisteria_/]

(I hoped to do five of these, but I won't make it in before the deadline. I'll go ahead and post the first one here, then the rest on my own LJ once I'm done!)

1.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named … Mera. She had a secret. And do you know what her secret was? She could fly! Nobody else knew about it, not even her parents. She never told anyone because they might get jealous and try to take it away from her.

Every night, she snuck out of bed and climbed through the window, very carefully so that nobody would hear her. She stood there on the grass and looked up at the stars, then she took a deep breath and moved her arms up and down – and suddenly she was flying! Just like that. Mera went up and up, until she was higher than even a bird could go. The fluffy clouds tickled her legs. When she looked down, the city lights were like little specks of sand. The only problem was that she couldn’t figure out how to punch through the atmo and fly among the stars. That made her very sad.

Then one night she landed on her front lawn, only to find a silver-and-black snake waiting for her. It hissed, “I know your secret, and I’m going to tell everyone.”

Mera was very scared. “No! Don’t tell them! I’ll do anything you want me to!”

The snake curled around one of her legs. “I won’t tell them if … you teach me how to fly.”

Even though she was scared, Mera laughed. “Snakes can’t fly!” But she couldn’t take the chance that he might tell, so she grabbed his slimy scales and shot up into the sky. When they reached the clouds, she let go of him, hoping that he would fall down to the planet and die. (Mera wasn’t a very good girl sometimes.) But instead of falling, he flew even higher than she did. Up – and up – and up – until the two of them pushed through the atmosphere and were surrounded by stars. They were the most beautiful things she had ever seen. The snake smiled at her, and they became friends.

After that, they flew together up in the stars every single night, chasing the sun. She realized that she couldn’t see those stars until she believed that the snake could fly too. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, you can still hear the snake hissing as it flies, just like an engine. And that’s why those planes that I fly are called “Vipers”.

No Regrets (The first time she gave herself a haircut...)

[frolicndetour.livejournal.com]

The first time she tried to give herself a haircut in the ship's head was right before the worlds ended, and right in the middle of a particularly unsuccessful round of triad. Not unsuccessful because she was losing, but because no one was especially interested in playing any triad. Galactica was being decommissioned in two days, and soon everyone onboard her would be reporting to base on Caprica to receive their new orders. Not that Kara would be sorry to see the last of this place. The walls had been closing in ever more tightly since the date of decommissioning was announced, 'till she might lose it if she didn't get out in the open air.

The game started out just Starbuck and Helo and Boomer, but then Chief showed up about half an hour in, wedging himself in between her and Karl and carefully acknowledging Sharon with a nod. It was all she could do not to mock them for how careful they were suddenly being, now that there would soon be no need. A few knuckledraggers flocked to their table once Chief was there, and eventually even some of the non-comms joined in, the normal divisions all but meaningless now. Even that tight-ass Lt. Gaeta was there; Kara had always imagined sat in his rack doing calculus to unwind. Or something. He was practically glowing tonight though; anyone could see he was thrilled to be getting off this bucket. Moving on to bigger and better things.

By her third hand of triad, and her lords knew how-manieth class of ambrosia, Kara relaxed, let herself enjoy razzing Chief and Boomer about how sad it was that neither of them could ever seem to find themselves a date, and laughed louder than anyone at the bad jokes about finding another battlestar big enough to house her and her ego.

Finally she stumbled off to the head, pausing on her way back to splash some cold water on her face. She grinned at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was flushed, eyes wild, more hair in her eyes than in what was left of her ponytail. What a frakking mess. She'd racked up more demerits in the last month than she had in the rest of the two years she'd served on Galactica. Pulling bone-headed - yet somehow always successful - maneuvers during drills, mouthing off, staying just-this-side of insubordination with that asshole Tigh, who had clamped down down ever harder as the day of decommission drew near.

The sound of a toilet flushing drew her out of her reverie, and she watched in the mirror as Petty Officer Dualla made her way unsteadily over to the sinks. Suddenly, she had an idea.

"Hey Dee," she said brightly, "you still got that old pocket-knife?"

Dee stared blankly for a moment, then burst into giggles when she twigged to what Kara had in mind.

"Oh Starbuck, you're gonna regret this in the morning."

"Won't be the first time," she informed her, as Dee reluctantly handed over the small blade.

Long hair worked better in the military. It was one of those counter-intuitive things, but anything longer than a buzz-cut but too short to pull back needed firm attention to keep from running afoul of regulation, especially when you were pulling a helmet on and off all day. Kara had gone to the same barber once a month when she was stationed on Caprica, her neat crew-cut an easy way of distinguishing herself from her students, a couple of whom were older than she was. Right now, she wanted to look that way again. How hard could a simple hair-cut be, anyway?

Too hard, as it turned out. Even in her half-drunken state, she could tell it was bad, even it weren't for Dee's shrieks of laughter. "Stop," she begged her, "stop trying to fix it." She pried the knife gently out of Kara's hands and tucked it back into her pocket.

"Tomorrow, when I sober up, I'll get some scissors and see what I can do, okay?"

"Frak this, anyway," Kara muttered as Dee tried to swallow another, when suddenly the absurdity of the situation turned her mood on a dime, and she collapsed against the sink, helpless with laughter.

"C'mon," she said, throwing an arm across the smaller woman's shoulders. "I think I look lovely."

It turned out there were advantages to sending a room full of people into hysterics every time they looked at you, Kara discovered, as she proceeded to win the next five hands.

Re: No Regrets (The first time she gave herself a haircut...)

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Aw cute! Kara and Dee bonding (ahem, and talking about things Starbuck regrets the next morning, heh).

Well done, and right under the wire too!

Re: No Regrets (The first time she gave herself a haircut...)

[frolicndetour.livejournal.com]

I had to get one more in!

Glad you enjoyed. :D

Re: Back to Business, survivors, flight training, role models, what ifs

[frolicndetour.livejournal.com]

Eeeee! This might be my favorite. It's so tough to write Kara in that time period - not cracking up anymore (or yet), not back to her old self either. I'm glad you remembered about Seelix recruiting Kara for the circle - because somehow I never connected that with her being her flight instructor - and that Kara's detached enough now that she can use that information to professionally evaluate her as a solder. You nailed the relationship between Kara and Chief too. Awe.some.

Re: For A Little of Your Light, all the time in the world, father figures, what if she never came ba

[frolicndetour.livejournal.com]

Gah, this is terrific. I don't know why I love Kara as the Angel of Death, but I do! And of course things would have gone to hell if she'd never come back. :)

[crazedcrusader.livejournal.com]

I had a few bits that I edited out of the final version, including one in which he calls her that and she tells him she's not an angel, just a volunteer - she and Zak did the afterlife equivalent of paper-rock-scissors to decide who got to meet the Old Man.

Re: The Buddy System, Agathon's just slow, sir, vaulted over the low wall, alcohol and bad choices

[frolicndetour.livejournal.com]

I'm so happy someone write the Agathon's just slow prompt! Love it, and her imagining them still being friends when they're old and gray is so touching, especially for her. <3

[frolicndetour.livejournal.com]

*snerk* Rock-paper scissors! That works too. :D