Meme Ficlet: In Jilted Tongues

[safenthecity]

Title In Jilted Tongues
Characters/Pairing Baltar, Head!Six, mentions of Baltar/Six and Baltar/Gaeta
Rating PG
Summary I doubt very much that he has any desire to speak with me.
Author's Notes For the First Lines meme from tin_o_bicuits (Why yes, it is taking me this long to get around to writing these. Real life and all.) Title from Sarah McLachlan's Ice,

Comments

[lls_mutant]

Ooh, neat! I really like that ominous little beat at the end. And the longing and sadness of this... absolutely beautiful.

Great stuff!!!!

[safenthecity]

Thanks. The way Gaius was standing by Felix's bed... he didn't have to do that. I thought that was really interesting. And I don't know who said it- probably most of the Squeers at some point or another- that Felix's execution was really one of those big turning points for Gaius, and what with the whole finale turning everything into God's Plan and all, that just makes the head!characters extra creepy to me. Glad you liked it. :)

[lorrainemarker]

Wonderful how you show the arc of Baltar's character. His self-centeredness reverberates in this fic, but you foreshadow how he's changing. The story works as an lovely stepping stone from the Baltar who stood by Felix's bed without speaking and the man who shares his last moments.

[safenthecity]

Baltar's head is a fun place to try and explore. He's really much more complex than I originally gave him credit for. I'm glad this feels like it could be a logical in-between place for him, before he works up the courage to face Felix one last time. (I'm really curious whether it was Felix, or Gaius, or both, who asked for that. I really, really am.)

[millari]

Oh, I really enjoyed this. You've captured that wonderful contradiction of Gaius - a self-centered, haughty man who nevertheless has a huge heart. I like how Six is quietly, implacably prodding at Gaius to grow up, to be self-aware and to try something difficult and noble like reconciling with Felix.

You've got these characters' voices down really well here. Very impressive. I could totally hear them talking.

Oh, and this:
You get this look on your face.” She brushes some of his hair away from his forehead, studying him.

He doesn’t like it. Gaius turns his head away. “And what look would that be?”

“Sadness.”Awwwww! Not only do I love the sweetness of this sentiment, I also find oddly endearing the way Six is fussing over him. Oh, and I liked the detail that Gaius deliberately put the annoyance into his voice because it suggests that he was trying to get a rise out of Six just to neutralize her campaign to prove that he misses Felix

[safenthecity]

You've captured that wonderful contradiction of Gaius - a self-centered, haughty man who nevertheless has a huge heart. I like how Six is quietly, implacably prodding at Gaius to grow up, to be self-aware and to try something difficult and noble like reconciling with Felix.

Thank you. While I'm not really a big fan of her being an angel, I really enjoyed getting to play with her from that perspective, an entity trying to push him on that path to redemption.

And of course with the ending. I got the (possibly mistaken) impression that those angels deliberately pushed Gaius and Caprica towards more and more chaos in order to lead them where they ended up, which I find personally obnoxious, but it was fun to think that she might have seen Felix as yet another opportunity to get what she wanted from him, even as she was genuinely concerned for Gaius.

[millari]

Yeah, I thought the whole angel thing was pretty obnoxious too, even though I have to admit she's been saying that's what she is since Season 2, so I can't really call shenanigans on it. :/

Also, I wanted to mention a little detail I forgot but really chuckled over when I read it:
She doesn’t give him a chance to question her meaning before she continues, a smirk playing at her lips. “And anyway, Gaius, he only has one leg. I think you can outrun him.”
Pure comedy gold. :)

[safenthecity]

No, you can't call shenanigans, but it doesn't mean I have to like it.

Heh. Thanks. I was really unsure of that line, but then I figured- hell, this is the person who told Gaius that it was a good idea to frame someone as a Cylon to protect himself, she's not overly PC. :)

[trovia]

Aww I love this. It's cute and sad and creepy at once. I very much like that you had Gaius and Six have an actual, meaningful conversation. That doesn't happen a lot in fic. I like that your Six comes across as a person, not just as a vague apparition.

[safenthecity]

:D Well, re-watching the mini and parts of season 2 (which is what my sister owns) I saw that Six really was guiding Gaius in specific directions. She showed him the Cylon device. She tried to make him save Hera. She told him to shut up and listen to Zarek in order to win the election. She was very active in getting the results she wanted from him. I wanted to have a little of that here, her trying to make him actually think about his own actions, even while she sees in Felix an opportunity to get the desired change.

[prophetkristy]

ooooh! Your Baltar voice is so good--I can hear these in Callis' accent. very nice!

[safenthecity]

Thank you! Sometimes I like to play with Baltar just to try and get his voice. It's really fun, and I'm glad you can hear it. :)