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falafel_musings) wrote2008-09-14 09:28 pm
Clawing through the Shadows
Summary: Sam saves Felix's life after the colonial's camp on Earth comes under attack from an unknown enemy. The two men flee into the ruins of the city, relying on one another for survival.
Characters: Anders/Gaeta (mostly friendship with slashy undertones open to interpretation).
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Up to S4x10
Disclaimer: I don't own BSG.
Author's Note: This fic was mostly finished, so I've tidied it up as an early entry for the 'Good Things' challenge at gaeta_squee. For reasons which will become clear I'm dedicating this story to the paralympic games.
Clawing through the Shadows
Felix sat watching as Sam Anders threw his pyramid ball against the walls of the church ruins. Felix had little understanding of the game or how Sam was using the derelict building as a court, but the simple activity seemed to be calming Sam’s nerves, just as watching him play had calmed Felix.
“You know, I was never really into sports,” said Felix, filling the dusty silence that hung between them.
Sam halted his solitary game. “No…I didn’t figure you would be.”
They nodded together, sharing a grimaced smile. Sam turned back to the wall and hurled the ball again, flexing his muscles and bouncing on his heels. Felix sighed. He never thought he would find himself feeling relaxed in the company of Sam Anders. But the man had just saved his life. It had been their third morning down on the surface of Earth. The crew were still accessing the ground, taking soil samples, recording data, trying to make sense of what had destroyed their promised land. Felix had been in his tent, sitting up at his desk, scrawling pictures in charcoal; the arts therapy that Cottle had advised would help him through the twitches of his phantom limb syndrome.
Felix didn’t know who had attacked the camp. Neither did Sam. It could be there were survivors of the apocalypse; earth people who thought that they were an alien threat from the outer limits. Or maybe it was the other cylons – the Cavils, the Dorals and the Simons – who had found them and decided to obliterate them once and for all. Maybe it was just a crazed terrorist group from within the fleet, who wanted revenge on Adama and his crew for bringing them to this end.
The first explosion had knocked Felix off his chair. He had pulled himself up again, panting against the desk, grasping for his crutches. He hadn’t made it far outside his tent before a spray of shrapnel knocked him to the ground again. For a moment he had found himself caught up in the canvas of a fallen tent. Then he had crawled forwards on his elbows, pawing blindly in the dirt, blood trickling from his temples. A wave of dizziness had swept over him. Felix had stilled; waiting for the explosions and gunfire to cease…or just waiting for them to finish him off.
That was when Sam Anders had found him. He had rolled him over, pressed a finger to his pulse and then lifted him up onto his broad shoulders. Felix must have blacked out after that. When he had come around he was propped against a stone altar in the ruined church yard and Sam was holding a water bottle to his lips. The explosions were now just a faraway rumbling…like a thunder storm shifting in the distance.
~*~
“How’s your head?” asked Sam. “You still feeling dizzy, man?”
Sam tucked the pyramid ball under his arm and crouched beside Felix, stretching out a hand and gently turning his head to the side. Felix’s temples were throbbing and his hair was sticky with blood. It was so long and curly now that a bird could have made its nest on his scalp. Not that there were any birds here.
“It’s fine, Anders!” Felix snapped, pushing his hand away. “Quit asking me. I don’t need a nursemaid. Why did you rescue me anyway? I’m only going to slow you down. It’s everyone for themselves now.”
Sam sighed, backing off and resting on his haunches.
“I’ve had some practise at this survival game, Felix…” he said. “This planet’s a lot worse off than Caprica was, but I know I got the strength and endurance to last out here for a while. Still, I’ve never had a good head for strategies and navigating. I figured you could help me with that.”
Felix snorted. “Sure. I’ve nothing better to do.”
“And I saved you because I wanted to save you,” Sam added. “We both know I owe you a favour…”
Felix rolled his eyes, ignoring this last comment. It was over a week now since the amputation. The spectre of his lost leg was still giving him twinges. Oddly enough Felix found that he didn’t hate Sam Anders for the shooting. He had carried so many grudges over the years. He didn’t have the strength for another one. This time, it was easier to just let it go.
“Aren’t you worried about your wife?” Felix asked curtly.
“Sure I am,” Sam answered tightly. “I always worry about Kara. But the fact of the matter is…she hasn’t looked me in the eye since she found out what I was. It’s hard to protect someone when they don’t want you near them.”
Felix looked at him hard, shaking his head.
“Doesn’t it frak you off?!” he asked. “The way she treats you?”
Sam shrugged again. “She saved my life. I've gotta be grateful to her for that. And I know that you had a hand in saving me from that planet too, by the way…
Felix frowned. “How do you work that out?”
“Well, you know…the cylon transponders…” said Sam. “Kara told me it was a guy called
Felix blinked in surprise. “Okay then...”
“I should have bought you a drink or something,” Sam muttered. “And not just for the transponders, but all the information you fed us on New Caprica. I should’ve said thank you. Instead I just blew a frakking hole in your leg…”
“Sam…you can shut up now.”
“I should have said thank you,” he repeated.
Felix scratched his forehead.
“Why bother? It’s not like anybody else does.”
~*~
Sam flinched and dropped his pyramid ball. The explosions had started up again, much closer than they were before. It looked like the storm was on the move.
“Frak!” Sam hissed. He ran across to the church windows, peering out over the waste land. “I can see smoke rising up, Felix. We better not stick around here.”
Sam stooped low and handed Felix his kit bag and his gun. Then he turned on his heels and tapped his shoulders, signalling Felix to grab onto his back. Sam clasped his thighs and lifted him off the ground as if he weighed no more than a rucksack. Felix coiled one arm loosely around his neck. He held the gun ready in his other hand; his fingers tight on the trigger and ready to shoot if they found themselves in line with a direct assault. Sam took a deep breath and then started to run them both away from the ruins, deeper into the ravages of the city.
Felix didn’t feel scared. At first he thought this was simply because he had ceased to care for his own life; he had given into the futility of the human survival effort. But the more ground that the two of them covered, the more Felix began to realise that he was feeling safer because Sam was with him. He didn’t know why he should feel so protected and reassured by the same man who had crippled him. Maybe it was the straining remorse that he caught in Sam’s eyes every time he looked at him. Maybe it was the strength of the arms that carried him along. Sam’s arms were twice the size of Gaius's. Felix felt secure in these arms…in more ways than one.
Felix scanned the skeleton buildings, trying to estimate the best place to take shelter. His eyes settled on a building with a wide doorway and a burnt out van parked near its entrance.
“There…” he said to Sam, indicating with his gun. “That building over there. It looks like it might have been a hospital...”
Sam halted his tracks, squinting at the ruin. “Oh yeah? How would you know what an Earth hospital looks like?”
“Anders, I thought we’d decided this; I’m brains of this operation, you’re the muscle. Let’s go and investigate it at least.”
Sam smiled, shaking his head. "Whatever you say, boss..."
~*~
Felix sat nervously on the brink of the elevator shaft. Sam had climbed down into the basement to explore its corridors and chambers. A moment ago he had yelled up to confirm that the building was a hospital and there were plenty of medical supplies still intact. Felix had been waiting patiently for Sam get busy and fetch them up. He was getting nervous now, wondering what he would do if Sam couldn’t climb back out.
Suddenly a steel ladder clanged against the opening of the shaft.
“Come on down, man!” Sam called. “I've got something to show you.”
“Sam, I can’t climb a ladder. I’ll fall and break my other leg.”
“You’ll be fine. I’ll be ready to catch you. Get your butt down here!”
Felix rolled his eyes, holstering the gun and throwing the kit bag onto his shoulders. He shuffled on his backside to the top of the ladder. The hardest part was swinging his body onto the first rung. He was already wheezing and sweating as his hands slipped slowly down the ladder’s steel frame, his lone foot hopping between the steps. Felix kept his eyes closed through most of the ordeal. He didn’t realise he had reached the basement floor until Sam’s arms looped around his waist and gently lifted him down. Sam sat him upright against the wall of the corridor. Felix saw that he had lit the hallway with a row of upturned torches and emergency candles. The light was golden and smouldering. He would almost call it romantic.
Sam pressed a hand to his cheek. “You doing okay, man?”
“Never better…” Felix groaned, trying not to shake.
Sam reached into his pockets and took out a selection of bottled pills.
“I found these lining the shelves down the hall,” he explained, laying out the drugs. “I thought they might help with your leg. Any idea what each of these is for?”
Felix squinted over the labels. “I never had much training in field medicine...”
“Yeah, but I bet that you know more long words than I do.”
Felix cracked a smile. “Well, I’m pretty sure that these ones are painkillers." He twisted the cap. "I certainly wouldn’t say no to a couple of those right now.”
“Me either!” said Sam, cupping his palm and dry swallowing the meds. “Hey, we better hold on to a few of these bottles. If things get really bad at least we can OD.”
Felix raised his eyebrows. “Oh really? I thought that our suicide plan was that we were keeping back two bullets to shoot ourselves in the head?”
“Well, at least now we’ve got a choice.”
“Yes…how lovely that we still have options.”
Sam coughed out a laugh. He was crazy enough to think that was funny. He slapped Felix on the shoulder and announced that he had found something else in the stock cupboard. Sam sprang to his feet, bounded down the corridor and brought his mystery gift forth into the light. Felix’s heart clenched like a fist.
It was a wheelchair. A frakking wheelchair.
Felix was still struggling with his stump. He couldn’t cope with a chair yet.
“Well, that’s just…perfect, isn't it Anders.”
Felix screwed up his face, tears welling in his eyes. He kicked his heel against the floor as they spilled down over his cheeks. His breath became a whimper. Sam threw up his hands, hissing through his teeth.
“Come on, man. This wasn’t meant to upset you…”
Felix spluttered. “Sam, I don’t want to be in a frakking wheelchair! I want my leg back. I want to walk again. I want to walk over there and kick your ass for making me this way, you idiot!”
“Felix, I can’t do shit about that now!!” Sam yelled back. “I’m doing the best I can here! You think you’re the only one with problems? I’m a frakking skinjob. Just ask yourself, man. Which would you rather lose? Your leg or your humanity? That is what I’m frakking dealing with here. Meanwhile we’ve got the world blowing up around us. Our friends could all be dead by now. We might be the only ones left. And you’re gonna sit there crying?”
Felix sniffed. “What else is there to do?!”
Sam reached down and grasped him under the arms.
“Come on, boy. Get in the chair. I’m sick of carrying you…I got something else I wanted to show you.”
“Oh yeah...what the frak is it this time?”
Sam smirked. “My game.”
Felix shook his head. “What game?!”
“The one I just invented.”
~*~
Sam had cleared a large space in the main room of the hospital basement. He had placed a number of Zimmer frames around the court which represented the goals they would be shooting for. Sam was seated opposite Felix in a wheelchair of his own. They were both holding crutches that Sam was proposing they used as bats. His pyramid ball was placed on the floor in the space between them.
“I haven’t thought of a name for it yet,” said Sam. “Any ideas?”
Felix sighed. “Cripple’s Croquet?”
His smile widened. “Sure! That sounds about right to me.”
“Sam, this is stupid,” Felix muttered.
“I know,” said Sam, taking no offense. “But it’s the end of the Gods damn world, Felix. I’d say we could both use a bit of stupidity right now...”
Sam raised his crutch and batted the ball towards one of the Zimmers. In a reflex motion Felix brought down his own crutch to block the goal. With that, the match was on. Sam and Felix quickly learned to change hands between spinning their wheels and swinging with their crutches, trying to score a point. Sam was the more accomplished sportsman, of course, but Felix was faster at manoeuvring in his chair. He had always had a high accuracy level in target practise so he had no problem keeping his eye on the ball either. He was quietly totalling up the score in his head and after the first few rounds, he was amazed to find that he was beating Sam. He laughed at the realisation.
“Anders, I can’t help noticing that you suck at your own game.”
“Well, you’re a better cripple that me,” he reasoned. “Unfair advantage.”
Felix shook his head. He found himself wondering why the cylons had created a model so goofy and affable as Sam Anders. They were both laughing and hollering as they played. Felix guessed that their painkillers must be stronger than he had estimated. After a few more rounds, he and Sam threw down their crutches and started kicking the ball between them. Even with one less foot, Felix rarely missed. He was good at this. The cynical part of him wondered if Sam was letting him win. He decided even if he was Felix didn’t mind. He would swallow his pride and accept the kindness of such a gesture. He would never have believed he would enjoy sports so much. But then Gaius had never been interested in the pyramid games.
Well, the Doctor’s souring opinions didn’t matter to him these days. He was having fun. He and Sam Anders were having fun and it was insane. But the truth was that there was a place deep in their emotions…a place beyond the shadows of bitterness and despair…a place where they just didn’t give a frak anymore...
It was actually quite a happy place to be in.
~*~
A few hours later Felix and Sam were slumped on neighbouring hospital beds. A torch lay on the small table between them, glowing dully as its batteries ran low. Sam shifted uncomfortably on the papery mattress.
“Can’t sleep?” Felix asked him.
“Nope. I wish I could just switch my brain off.”
Felix raised an eyebrow. “Can’t you?”
Sam frowned, considering. “Well, if I can…I don’t know how to. Man, I could use an instruction manual for myself.”
Felix giggled into his pillow. The hysteria still hadn’t worn off.
“Hey, you wanna know how I found out?” Sam continued. “How I first learned I was a cylon? I had this song stuck in my head. The others could hear it too. It was like we all had the same frakking wireless signal in our brains. It was the music brought us together. That’s how we knew...”
Felix frowned. “Can you hear anything now?”
“No, not the music,” he said. “But it’s not always sounds. Sometimes it’s more like an instinct. Maybe I’ll get those vibes again soon. You know...they keep saying the final five have been to earth. But I don’t recognise anything. I don’t remember! Maybe another switch will go off soon and I’ll make sense of it all. Then I’ll need to find the others - Galen, Tory, the Colonel - if they are still alive that is.” He sighed. “There must be some kinda way out of here…”
Felix said nothing. He felt a lump swelling in his throat. He realised that Sam had been helping him all day with his leg, he had been atoning for his guilt, he had been the strong one for them both…but the truth was Sam had more shock and trauma to deal with than Felix. He was missing a more vital part of his person.
“Hey...what was that song?” Sam asked. “The one you were singing in sickbay?”
The question caught Felix off guard. He flushed with embarrassment.
“Oh, it…it’s nothing,” he murmured. “It’s just an old folk song I know the words to. I think my mother used to sing it to me when I was a kid.”
Sam raised himself on his elbows, his eyes very wide.
“You mean it's a song that reminds you of childhood?” he blurted. “Did…did it just come into your head? Was it repeating over and over?”
Felix sighed, rubbing his temples.
“I’m not a cylon, Sam. Please, that’s the last thing I need.”
“Well, I never knew that I was one either…” he said, defensively. “And we never found out who the fifth one was.”
“True. I…I guess it doesn’t really make a difference.”
Felix wasn’t sure that he believed his own words, but Sam’s smile was so sweet and grateful that he was pleased he had said them. He smiled back at him.
“So you came see me when I was in sickbay?” he asked.
“Yeah. I was feeling guilty like you wouldn’t believe! I was so frakked up, man. I knew I was gonna hurt somebody. I’m sorry it was you. I wish I could take it back. I wished I’d had the guts to say sorry at the time. But I just stood behind the curtain listening to you sing. You…you got a real pretty sounding voice, man. It made me feel something. It was different from the music that played in my head. It made me feel…I don’t know…human again.”
Their eyes met in the shadows. Felix could see a reddish shimmer in Sam’s pupil, but his tears were not the output of any machine. Felix stretched out his hand for Sam to clasp with his own. Their skin was warm to touch. Sweat pooled in both their palms. Pulses throbbed in both their wrists.
There really was no difference. No difference that mattered now.
The End
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I’m brains of this operation, you’re the muscle.
Very true. They do make a great team - two guys that are basically good guys thrown in impossible situations. There interaction here was very nicely done! Great job!
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Yeah, Felix can be happy again! Even if it's brief and insane, it feels like the kind of happy could maybe have. And Sam can be a such sweet puppy. He tries, doesn't he? Makes mistakes, bad, costly ones but then tries again. I never quite know how to feel about him, but in this, I liked him. And he thanked Gaeta!
Thanks for sharing this. :-)
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Thanks for setting up the challenge! I look forward to seeing the rest of the results. Is it okay if I friend you?
(still playing your 'Broken' vid on repeat Btw)
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You can add me if you'd like. Takes me forever to add back. Nothing personal, just slow.
Broken! Thanks. :-) I watch it myself sometimes too. I probably shouldn't say that about my own vid but, oh the boys. I hope they do make up in some way. Again. Before all goes boom. :-)
This challenge is going to be fun!
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"He found himself wondering why the cylons had created a model so goofy and affable as Sam Anders."
Don't we all! But really, this fic is sad and sweet and goofy and definitely a Good Thing for our Felix! Yay!
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Loved it.
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I love this. Agree about the happiness and hysteria and the guilt- it's just lovely and bittersweet. I really like the banter as well- I'm a sucker for banter in general, and Gaeta just lends himself so naturally to it.
Great stuff! :)
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“I’m not a cylon, Sam. Please, that’s the last thing I need.”
LOL. It really is, isn't it.
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I was reading some of your posts on the challenge thread. So you're new to LJ? Welcome to the comm! Can I friend you?
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Can I friend you?
Sure. Thanks for the welcome :).
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I totally loved the last line. So delicately beautiful.
I didn't expect this to be so sweet and funny, and even goofy. Even though Felix is good at holding grudges when he wants to, I can totally see him deciding that he's sick of being angry all the time and just deciding to let this one go. Especially when this is the first person who's actually willing to show some remorse, unlike all the other people who have done poor Felix wrong.
I like how we don't know exactly what the violence in the background is about. It sort of doesn't matter in a way, but not knowing also makes the tone of the piece a bit more surreal and dreamlike, which creates these nice spaces for there to be absurdity and humor. Sam's "Cripple's Croquet" game reminds me a little of Hurley in Lost when he set up that golf course. The lesson there and here is sometimes you just gotta laugh and not take your terrible situation too seriously, so that you don't go insane and then just die. Sam and Felix are sooooo at that point about now.
I loved this line in particular, because it made me laugh like that:
“Anders, I can’t help noticing that you suck at your own game.” 100% bemused, snarky Gaeta right there.
Also, I liked this exchange quite a bit:
“Felix, I can’t do shit about that now!!” Sam yelled back. “I’m doing the best I can here! You think you’re the only one with problems? I’m a frakking skinjob.
LOL, good point, Sam. Someone already mentioned the bond between over having both lost part of their very essence. I'm also struck by how this fic made me see how in some ways, Sam and Felix are rather similar in outlook. I'd never thought about this until I read your story but they're both people who have an uncanny ability to transcend intense adversity, their sense of humor and cheerfulness relatively intact.
They're also people who for a long time on the show have been followers - particularly Gaeta of Baltar and Sam of Kara. How interesting to put them together in a situation where they have to be totally on their own. The camaraderie between them here is just so enjoyable and at times even hilarious. I truly LOL'ed at many parts, especially this one:
“Can’t sleep?” Felix asked him.
“Nope. I wish I could just switch my brain off.”
Felix raised an eyebrow. “Can’t you?”
Sam frowned, considering. “Well, if I can…I don’t know how to. Man, I could use an instruction manual for myself.”
Felix giggled into his pillow. The hysteria still hadn’t worn off.
Lords of Kobol, they sure are cute. I just loved this! Thanks for writing it!
(And, btw, please do send me that other fic when you're ready. And let me know if you want feedback/advice)
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I didn't expect this to turn out so goofy either. But between leg amputations, discovering you're a cylon and finding Earth is an irradiated dirtpile, it seems Sam and Felix just got a little hysterical. If they didn't laugh, they'd cry.
I like how we don't know exactly what the violence in the background is about. It sort of doesn't matter in a way, but not knowing also makes the tone of the piece a bit more surreal and dreamlike, which creates these nice spaces for there to be absurdity and humor
Thanks! I'm pleased that worked. I was wanting to create a 'Waiting for Godot' type space for this story to play out. Also Felix/Sam sounds so similar to Frodo/Sam (my first OTP!) that it made me want a similar wasteland-bonding-experience to happen. Heh! You're right that Cripples Croquet is like something that Hugo Reyes would think up to entertain those crazy islanders.
They're also people who for a long time on the show have been followers - particularly Gaeta of Baltar and Sam of Kara.
What's more they have both loved people who have treated them rather badly. One thing that I'd have loved to include in this fic, but couldn't work in was an appearence from Kara. I'd loved to have her see that Sam is now shifting his affections over to Felix and maybe have Felix pwning Kara with a "I stole your man, bitch" smirk.
Anyway, thanks so much for reading. I'll try and send you the Dee/Felix fic soon. I'm very unsure about it though. It has a very bitter unplesant tone.
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Which would you rather lose? Your leg or your humanity?
Frankly, not something I'd considered about Sam, to be honest. And I think it would've made a big impression on Gaeta to see it that way, too.
I loved the comment about brawns and brains--very funny. And snarky Felix is good to see. Plus the silliness of playing a game in the basement of a hospital while being on the run from an unknown enemy and completely separated from everyone else...excellent scene.
I love that you gave Felix something good while still keeping everything within the innate darkness of the BSG-verse. Just really well done.
I hope you decide to share your Gaeta/Dee story--I'm a huge Gaeta/Dee shipper, but even I recognize the likelihood of why that relationship would probably happen. In fact, I wrote a rather short one-shot that touched on that a bit--showing that Dee was being a user and Gaeta just didn't care because he wanted her so much.
Especially after Revelations (I finally caught up! Watched it last night...)--I got the impression that she was looking at him with pity, not with a sudden realization that she wanted to jump his bones. As much of a shipper as I am, unless the writers do some fantastical work to make it plausible, I think I'll be disappointed if that ends up being Gaeta's "good thing" during 4.5 (unless the point of it is that she's doing it out of pity--then I'll just be mad at Dee again).
So, please share it. I doubt it'll be that upsetting (and you could always include that in your warning)--as long as you don't start bashing Gaeta, I don't care who else you bash ;)
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Thanks for your support over the Dee/Felix story! I think maybe I have the wrong impression that shippers want a cute fluffy relationship between these two. I think their friendship is sweet, but a relationship (while I could see it happening) doesn't strike me as a "good thing" either. But angst is always interesting, right? I mean, I ship Gaius/Felix and I really can't say that relationship is a good thing for Felix either, far from it! I agree that Dee's look was a pitying one, same as Helo, Gaius, Lee and everyone else who is looking at Felix with concern now. It'll be interesting to see if Dee (or any of the others) make an effort to comfort him in 4.5.
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And don't get me wrong, I'd love a cute, fluffy relationship between G/D but cute/fluffy and BSG are mutually exclusive, so I doubt that G/D fans are really expecting anything like that. I do believe it could still work in canon but the writers would really have to come up with some good scenes to make it anything but a pity-based relationship.
To be honest, I think any relationship they give Gaeta at this point will need some awesome writing (and acting, but I have no doubt AJ can pull that off) to avoid it just being pity-based. And, for me, I'm going to have to watch that scene again and probably write it like it's an assessing look on Dee's part, rather than pity--otherwise I won't be able to make it work either.
Baltar--I honestly just don't get the Baltar attraction everyone has. It really makes no sense to me, but I think I'm going to post my "Baltar, Huh?" question on gaeta_squee and see if I can't get some input from people that helps me understand it since Baltar/Gaeta is such a popular ship.
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Baltar--I honestly just don't get the Baltar attraction everyone has. It really makes no sense to me, but I think I'm going to post my "Baltar, Huh?" question on gaeta_squee and see if I can't get some input from people that helps me understand it since Baltar/Gaeta is such a popular ship.
That would make a good discussion topic! I've found the fans at gaeta-squee are very open-minded. We don't need to agree on everything, we can have balanced debates. I think the main reason Baltar/Gaeta is so popular is simply because it's the Gaeta ship that has had the most time/development in canon. So much of Gaeta's arc revolves around Baltar. It's never been a healthy relationship, but it's very emotionally/psychologically charged, which makes it interesting to write. It make take me a whole essay to explain why I love Baltar even though I recognise how thoroughly despicable the man is.
Thanks for friending! I'll have to check out your own fics.
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And I do hope they get back to the whisper of doom--that was one of the most disappointing dropped storylines to me for several reasons, the main one being it meant less screentime for Felix :( but also because it left so many things unresolved for those two characters.
I know so much of Gaeta's story revolves around Baltar but, to be honest, I'm hoping they resolve that and move him onto something else before the end of the show (I know, there's probably not enough time, but a girl can dream, right?). Because, otherwise, Gaeta's whole purpose on the show would have been almost exclusively as a foil to Baltar and I would find that really disappointing. I think his character had so much more potential than that.
Your welcome, thank you (for friending me), and hope you enjoy them. But, Tartarus isn't complete (just warning you)--I got stumped on killing Baltar off, believe it or not.
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I also hope they resolve the Gaeta/Baltar relationship and the whisper issue in the early part of 4:5. I agree they haven't got time left for a decent story with Gaeta and any other new relationship. The Felix in my ficcing brain is gay, but I think however you view his orientation; he's always been a loner. I want Gaeta to stay true to himself and I don't know if getting a boyfriend or girlfriend is really what Gaeta is yearning for. I think his true 'lost love' is his idealism.
Because, otherwise, Gaeta's whole purpose on the show would have been almost exclusively as a foil to Baltar and I would find that really disappointing. I think his character had so much more potential than that.
Even as a Baltar/Gaeta fan, I don't think Gaeta is just a foil. The two most striking episodes for Gaeta are 'Collaborators' and 'Guess Whats Coming to Dinner'. For me those episodes are all about seeing Gaeta for who he really is; in one episode he is shown as a unappreciated hero and in the other he shown as a tortured soul. I think even in a minor role Gaeta has managed to shine. I've heard him described as "the veins" of Galactica. He's very vital in an individual capacity, even though he is so quiet and unassuming about it.
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I don't necessarily dispute the loner tag but he strikes me as someone who needs time to develop a good relationship with someone rather than just jumping into it. That's one reason I like G/D, because the time's already been invested. They were basically best friends and I think that's a great foundation for a lasting, loving relationship. But I agree that he's probably not yearning for that right now.
I think his true 'lost love' is his idealism.
Hmmm, you know, regardless of my preferences on his orientation, I have no doubt that Baltar broke his heart on New Caprica because of this very thing. I've watched my own idealism wane away over the years, slipping into cynicism, but I think it would be so much more of a loss to see it stripped away in such a short period of time. I like this point a lot.
Even as a Baltar/Gaeta fan, I don't think Gaeta is just a foil.
Ok, you're right, I was a bit extreme in that comment. I do think that a rather large of his purpose on the show up to Collaborators and then during all his failed attempts to get Baltar killed was mainly to advance Baltar's storyline. To me it just shows what a phenomenal job AJ's done with the part because Gaeta's character definitely shines on the show.
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I feel that Baltar has advanced Gaeta's story more so than the other way around. His relationship with Baltar has transformed Gaeta, particularly through the New Caprica arc. Without his connection to Baltar I don't think we would have ever seen Felix so changed and so troubled over the course of S3 and S4.
Baltar's story has not been so impacted by Gaeta. I think in S3 Gaeta was a wake up call for Baltar - 'Look, here is someone who used to idolise you. Now he hates your guts' - but even then I think Gaeta only put the smallest of dents in Gaius's ego. I think through S1-3 Baltar was completely self-obsessed and never really considered Gaeta's feelings. But Baltar watching over Felix in sickbay gives me some hope that he is finally feeling remorse over Gaeta's devolution.
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In fact, I read an article about Collaborators and they were originally going to kill Gaeta off in that ep but realized that they really shouldn't go there because it was too dark, even for them. I do agree that Collaborators was pivotal for Gaeta's character because, in a sense, they had to start dealing with him as a standalone character at that time.
It's like with Dee and Lee--for over a full season, her main purpose was to be a way of adding conflict into the Lee/Kara sexual tension thang. As much as I like Dee and I'm glad she got the screen time, it really could've been any other number of single females on the show that provided the same type of conflict for the main characters.
Anyway, I hope you don't think I'm being deliberately argumentative here. I just don't have anyone to discuss the show with. The person that used to watch with me stopped watching because she can't understand half of what they're saying and she was always lost with the storylines :D
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Well, Baltar does have an extraordinary capacity for self-preservation. *winks*
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....damn. Something about that phrase just hit me. Much of a shipper as I am, I could definitely see this happening. (and breaking my heart! in the usual Jossian fashion.)
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And if anything's misspelled here, sorry--I don't have my glasses on right now.
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I'm impressed that you can even type without your glasses! I'm lucky not to run into walls. 8-)
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"He found himself wondering why the cylons had created a model so goofy and affable as Sam Anders."
You totally killed me with that line!!! *lol* It's so true though... Tigh and Tory being Cylons does make sense because they can both be totally cruel and cold (... when you go with the stereotype of all Cylons being emotionless, brutal machines...), but Sam and Tyrol really don't fit with that image at all. The more exciting it'll be to find out what type of person the Fifth Cylon will be. (I'm still hoping it's not Zak Adama.)
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I know what you mean about Chief and Anders. They are two of the least 'robotic' characters on the show. Tigh is very human too, I think, despite being brutal at times. But apparently the Five are quite different from the Seven, so who knows.
I'll eat my hat if the final cylon is Zak Adama!
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Oh, don't worry about pimping the story to me. On the contrary, it was a good move on your part ;) It sometimes takes me ages to catch up with things and without your pimping I might've missed this wonderfulstory. And yes indeed, I enjoyed the Sam/Felix interaction a lot. It was very sweet and great to read!
But apparently the Five are quite different from the Seven, so who knows.
True. I also really liked and appreciated the fact that it was none of the main characters who were revealed as four of the final five. I hate it when the main characters get all the attention.
I'll eat my hat if the final cylon is Zak Adama!
That would suck out loud! I don't like the guy and I don't want the main focus to be on the Adama family.
They should bring Kat back as the Fifth Cylon *lol*
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As for Gaeta, me and my beta lls_mutant have been piecing together a bunch of spoilers and hints about S4.5 and Gaeta's role. Let's just say I think Gaeta is gonna have a big dramatic role without being a cylon (can't wait!). Let me know if you want to hear more...
I don't think the last one will be Zak, purely because a few of the actors have said the last cylon is someone we know and love. Zak's only appeared in a one minute flashback in S1. I'd love it to be Kat!
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Gah, sorry hon, I thought I'd already replied to this. Anyway, I'd love to hear more about 4.5 and Gaeta's role, I'm quite a sucker for spoilers ;)
Man, why can't it be January already?
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Besides, where does that leave Lee? Gah, I hope they aren't pulling off the dying leader-storyline with him *gulp*