my collected wit and wisdom, or something!

[pocochina]

I realized last night that while I've mostly stuck to my designation of Tumblr as being for bookmarking and sassy tagging of graphics while journaling is for thoughts. But sometimes those posts turn into short but substantive discussions, and I'd rather have them here.

one about why I hate the concept and the other about the Dove campaign

"It’s the

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[pocochina]

Baltar is the one and only (?) significant character in BSG who never hates anyone, and I think offhand that's true

I've never thought of it that way, but that's a perfect encapsulation of Gaius. Which I think makes sense, given his personality in context of what we end up finding out about his upbringing? Kara learned survival meant going on the offensive, Lee built those big stone walls around himself, and Gaius learned that he should never, ever fight back. I think he would have ended up being readily gentle and nonconfrontational, because some people just seem to be inclined that way and I think he's one of them. But as it stands, his reaction to any and all interpersonal conflict is just to let things go and accept a huge level of mistreatment as a given. (Like how D'Anna brutally tortures him in one episode, and then in the next one they're literally in bed together and he seems fine with it?)

Laura sometimes *hates* Baltar and Zarek I think

She really does. Particularly Baltar, I think, because she just can't understand him. If he showed any anger, any motivation, any tendency toward cruelty or treacherousness, I think she'd at least be able to deal with him. But he messes with her ability to trust her instincts, and I think she resents him a lot for it.

Lee hates Lee, Bill hates everyone who's not Bill, etc.

*squawks* I've been flooded with more ridiculousness than usual about my prickly little prince, but AH, YUP. Because, at some point, Lee took all Bill's contempt for everyone else and decided it was about him, and it all went downhill from there.

[local_max]

I've never thought of it that way, but that's a perfect encapsulation of Gaius. Which I think makes sense, given his personality in context of what we end up finding out about his upbringing? Kara learned survival meant going on the offensive, Lee built those big stone walls around himself, and Gaius learned that he should never, ever fight back. I think he would have ended up being readily gentle and nonconfrontational, because some people just seem to be inclined that way and I think he's one of them. But as it stands, his reaction to any and all interpersonal conflict is just to let things go and accept a huge level of mistreatment as a given. (Like how D'Anna brutally tortures him in one episode, and then in the next one they're literally in bed together and he seems fine with it?)

Ha, right. And the D'Anna thing makes me think, too -- that makes sense with the man-ho stuff as well, because, to some degree, he actually genuinely has no brakes on certain interpersonal things in part because he has no defenses to other people, maybe? Like, he cheats effortlessly on Caprica [Six] on Caprica [the planet] and some of that is because he's not actually all that monogamous, but some of it is probably that even if he *wanted* to say no to a star-struck woman (or even teenager, most likely) he...wouldn't because the moment it would take some kind of spine or backbone to refuse he would absolutely *not* refuse; and since it's part of his performance to be hitting on every woman around he can't stop *that* either, because it'd require...something difficult like conviction in order to fight his own inertia when his own performance is also a survival mechanism. And how -- I mean, if he wasn't famous Helo wouldn't have given up his seat, though maybe he would have stolen that old lady's ticket, or maybe Athena would have chased *him* around Caprica [the planet] for weeks.

*squawks* I've been flooded with more ridiculousness than usual about my prickly little prince, but AH, YUP. Because, at some point, Lee took all Bill's contempt for everyone else and decided it was about him, and it all went downhill from there.

"Man, I can't believe I was trying to make him take that test and made him go to a strip club and then throw up over himself. I mean I signaled the military to ask dad to take routine proficiency tests, with my eyes."

[pocochina]

to some degree, he actually genuinely has no brakes on certain interpersonal things in part because he has no defenses to other people, maybe?

Oh, completely. I feel like it all adds up to a boundaries thing? If Gaius acknowledges that he gets to say no to anyone at all, then a whole lifetime of violations catches up to him and OH MY GOD he cannot deal with that. But if he keeps on this trajectory where he's okay with everything, it lets him repress. I didn't watch the miniseries first, and so I don't know how much what came later colored my interpretations, but looking back at that first scene when the bombs hit and Caprica's first impulse is to try to convince him that HE TOTALLY WANTED TO BE EXPLOITED. And that just in retrospect strikes me as...very telling. It's as personal a violation as Sharon's Stockholming of Helo, except the result is that instead of being a father he's implicated in genocide. I can...feel if not quite describe how that would support what we see from him throughout the series.

"Man, I can't believe I was trying to make him take that test and made him go to a strip club and then throw up over himself. I mean I signaled the military to ask dad to take routine proficiency tests, with my eyes."

GODS LEE YOU RUIN EVERYTHING, lol.