Fic: "With Crime Comes Punishment"

[trovia]

Title: with crime comes punishment
Characters: Hot Dog & Helo, talk of Gaeta, Baltar, Sharon
Pairings: Hot Dog/Gaeta
Wordcount: ~2500 words
Disclaimer: Still not mine.
Rating: Teen.
Spoilers: for "How to live and love..." but not for canon
Beta: ebuchala, thank you very much!
Summary: "Mind telling me what the hell you were thinking? Couldn’t you have

Comments

[millari]

What unexpected fun to go back into the Brendan/Felix 'verse again! I'd always wondered about the details of Brendan punching Baltar and what the consequences had been.

How interesting too to see that old fic from Brendan's point of view! He'd seemed so solid and confident in the fic, which I guess was a front he was presenting for Felix. It was so intriguing to find out that Brendan actually had a lot of doubts and worry about Felix caring about him. I'm reminded again so pleasantly how touching his loyalty to Felix was.

I loved how insightful Helo was and how he saw right through Brendan's deed. And I was impressed at how you had me one moment sympathizing with Helo when he was talking about how Gaeta never shares himself easily and how frustrating he's found that, then a minute later, you had me seeing it from Brendan's point of view - that Helo just wasn't trying hard enough, that none of Felix's friends had been trying hard enough.

It made him nervous not to know what Felix was thinking about the incident, but it was a good kind of nervous, like when you hoped that somebody you loved would like your present. It had been a present, hitting Baltar, in a way.
This was such an unusual perspective on the incident to give Brendan; I really loved it. Next to the contrast of Felix's insistence that he was handling the Baltar acoylyte situation, you see how very different Felix and Brendan are from each other. I really like that. I myself often fall into the trap of writing pairings between characters that may seem different on the surface, but actually aren't. This is a pairing where you've really put together two characters who couldn't be more dissimilar and have a very plausibly difficult time understanding each other. It's very refreshing.

The backstory with Tanya, of whom we got a glimpse in the the original fic, made me smile. It was funny to think of Brendan having done this before with her sister's boyfriend. In fact, Baltar's acolytes' attitudes towards Felix's disability is much like Tanya's boyfriend's attitude was about her - both professed to love Tanya/Felix despite their so-called "frakked-up-ness".

And finally, Brendan's fixation on how many teeth Baltar lost is still hilarious and still a real eyeopener into the way Brendan sees the world so differently than Felix. I still wonder if Felix was actually doing anything to "handle" the acolyte situation, or if he was just saying that to shut Brendan up. :)

Great fic in a great 'verse. Thanks for sharing. And thanks again for the icon. :)

[trovia]

Thank you for that very lovely comment. :)

Brendan, I think, is very solid and confident and patient, but he also knows he doesn't have all the answers, and he's anxious about that. Finding out that Felix wasn't just planning on killing himself, but also lying about it through his teeth, showed Brendan that all isn't what it seems with Felix, and that it's easy to misread him. It also scared him shitless. He didn't just take the pills away because he was trying to prevent the suicide; it was also an expression of helplessness. It's a gesture that wouldn't work for everybody (if I were Felix, it would make me furious). But Brendan and Felix are meant for each other, and so it was exactly what Felix needed. :) Incidentally, I think one reason that Brendan fell for Felix was that he tried so hard to figure Felix out, so he looked real close, and he found all kinds of things he liked. But the first thing he noticed was that Felix is very attractive. ;)

I myself often fall into the trap of writing pairings between characters that may seem different on the surface, but actually aren't.

I don't think that's a trap. It's just two very different ways of writing romance. In writing our fic, I find it fascinating to discover all the similarities between Baltar and Felix, who are such different people on first sight. I don't think we could even write that story if we wouldn't be taking that approach.

In fact, Baltar's acolytes' attitudes towards Felix's disability is much like Tanya's boyfriend's attitude was about her - both professed to love Tanya/Felix despite their so-called "frakked-up-ness".

*snickers* "Despite" is not a part of Brendan's vocabulary. Post-HTLAL, if Felix ever dared say he wishes he'd never lost his leg, Brendan might feel really insulted because the amputation made them hook up, and how can Felix even say something like that?

Seeing you use the icon makes me happy. :) Do you still plan on finishing your Felix/Brendan fic one day? I've been meaning to ask you that for ages.

I read your entry, BTW. I'm sorry to hear that your back is causing you so much trouble. I hope you'll be better soon!