origin of Adria's name

[kehwie]

I thought I'd attempt to spark a wee bit of discussion.  There may be other venues more likely to get a response (discussion forums and the like), but...I don't know of them.  So I thought I'd try here.  We'll see how it goes.

In the episode "Flesh and Blood,"

Comments

[rad1986]

I would like to read the fic!! :) I'm always looking for great D/V fics.

Personally, I haven't noticed that most fans consider Vala's statement to Daniel over her statement to Adria the truth... I haven't paid much attention. Even without reading the fic I would agree with you on your reasoning. Vala, deep down, probably wants to settle down and eventually have a family. She probably would name her daughter after her mother. And I think she would lie to Daniel, to keep her walls strong.

(I think the following fic has been posted on the D_V forum) I read an AU fic where both D and V went to the Ori galaxy after Beachhead and the Ori used D's DNA for V's baby. The writer put some focus on how V had real motherly feelings toward Adria. I heartily agree!

~*~ Rad

[kehwie]

That is a fabulous fic as well. :)

I definitely agree Vala had genuine feelings for Adria, no matter whom she named the girl after. I just think it's fascinating that fandom as a whole (at least in the fanfic writing world) has gone with the assumption that Adria was indeed Vala's stepmother rather than mother. I too had that assumption, until this fic made me stop and wonder why I ever assumed that.

[aeryn_b]

*raises hand* That was me. :) Yep, I figured if Vala and Daniel were happy and expecting the baby then Vala would have good motherly feelings for her. When I was writing it, I wanted Vala to actually name their child after her mother, but since I knew the little girl was gonna look like the Adria we all recognized, I figured I had to have them name her Adria, so we could tell. That and we didn't know Vala's real mother's name and I'm horrible at making up alien-sounding names. (I didn't want to go with disodium bicarbonate or something like that. lol)

Anywho, as to the Adria we know and love from the show, I think Kehwie makes really good points here (and she should link the fic in question. ;) ) I mean, it's almost like a Doh! kind of thing. Little-Adria would know instantly whether Vala was telling the truth; Daniel, so early in season 10, probably wouldn't. Oh great, I see a plot bunny. Sometime, late season 10 or post-Ark of Truth, Vala's somewhere, quietly mourning Adria or her mother or both, and Daniel sees it and it just all

[rad1986]

Yay, plotbunnies of DOOM! XD

OT, sorry... My icon is actually my pony avatar, but thanks! Yup, MLP forever!

~*~ Rad

[kehwie]

I notice the Stargate wikis also assume that Adria was Vala's stepmother, not mother, and that she therefore lied to Adria rather than Daniel. That does raise the question of Adria would not have known it was a lie, since that was such a big plot point in "Dominion." Not that the writers were known for consistency or continuity.

I can't decide which will go into my permanent head canon, but I am having ideas for a fic rattle around in my head. It's at least an idea worth playing with, even if we all end up settling on the "fact" that the original Adria was indeed the wicked stepmother.

[campylobacter]

I think one of the reasons why the accepted fanon/canon that Vala told the truth about Adria being her stepmother and a "witch of a woman" is that in 10x18 "Family Ties" (you know, the one that everyone seems to dismiss) there are these exchanges:

JACEK: Ha ha. You've got your father's wit.
VALA: It's hardly enough time to cover your inadequacies as both a parent and a human being in general.
JACEK: And your mother's uncanny ability to hold a grudge.
- - - -
Jacek could be referring to Vala's stepmother unless -- as some parents do -- he was temporarily disclaiming parenthood and ascribing a negative character trait to Vala's biological mother.
= = = = = = = = = = =
VALA: Well, the accent, like most of my other good qualities I got from my mother. My charm. My wit. My good looks.
DANIEL: What'd you get from your dad?
VALA: Some minor food allergies.Vala's accent is a big clue to her backstory, and indicates that Jacek might not even have been from the same planet as Vala & her mom

[bkwurm1]

Your reasoning isn't bad but the truth that Adria got from Vala could simply have been that Vala wanted Adria to be named Adria after her "mother". If that was the primary genuine feeling that the truth seer picked up on, I don't think she would have any reason to focus on the specifics of where the name came from. Would a half truth be picked up on when everything else was totally true? Would Adria be able to tell exactly what Vala was thinking about every word or would she just be able to recognize if in context Vala was telling the truth or a lie

[lc59]

Totally agree with everything here. I think the only reason Adria didn't sense the actual "truth" from Vala was because the writers didn't write it that way. They mentioned Adria's telepathic abilities only when it was needed in the plotline.

[kehwie]

" I think the only reason Adria didn't sense the actual "truth" from Vala was because the writers didn't write it that way. They mentioned Adria's telepathic abilities only when it was needed in the plotline."

So many things fall into that category, don't they? They really weren't terribly consistent. :-p

[lc59]

Sadly, no they weren't.
It seems to be a fault of TV script writers. Amongst published book writers introducing a character-trait and then only mentioning it again when it's convienent is usually frowned on.
I've been long been intrigued by the differences between TV script writers and book writers. If book writers tried to get away with some of the plot holes that TV writers do, they wouldn't get published...or they would quickly lose readers.

[odette_river]

Honestly, my head canon is basically exactly like this. I've always operated under the belief that Vala gave Adria that name because of emotional connections she had. It never made sense to me that she'd name her daughter after someone who she didn't like when, at the time, she still didn't really know how Adria was going to turn out.

[kehwie]

Also, I think Vala truly believed on some level she could reach Adria. She obviously didn't expect the rapid growth; when the baby was first born, Vala was happy and excited and wanted to see/hold her baby. Later, even as the child is growing at alarmingly fat rates, Vala is still thinking that she can talk her out of being Orici. Adria did glean enough of Vala's thoughts to know that the motivation behind giving her a name was to "make her human.".

You know, if we do go with this interpretation of where Vala's head and emotions were at this moment, it really ratchets up how she must have felt when Daniel said he should have simply shot Adria when he had the chance. Practically, I think she always knew this on some level. But still...ouch.

[rad1986]

Yeah, ouch! Poor Vala; she was 'miraculously' impregnated, carried the child for nine months in a foreign galaxy FAR, FAR AWAY, discovers the baby is THE ENEMY, labor pains, can't hold her, rapid growth; attempted motherly connection despite Walls. Then throw Daniel 'Just shoot her' into the mix and... Yeah, poor Vala.

~*~ Rad

[aeryn_b]

I know! I mean honestly, Daniel, where is your sensitivity training?!? I'm so glad Sam came to Vala's rescue, sorta...well, I guess she wasn't really rescuing Vala so much as chiding Daniel on his "shooting children" nonsense, but still, I like to see it as Sam trying to be sensitive to Vala's pain. And you know, I bet now Vala's even more glad that she didn't tell Daniel that "Adria" was her mother's name. That would make her look even more pathetic, loving a child that has no business being loved. Hmm...what was my point? Oh yeah, really insensitive, Daniel, really. *shakes head at Daniel*

[rad1986]

*Cough* Did I miss something somewhere? Will there be a link to the fic? It sounds very interesting!!

~*~ Rad

[kehwie]

Lol! Sorry, I was kind of waiting on official word that it was okay to link to a fic that I didn't personally write. But perhaps I'll just do the "beg forgiveness rather than ask permission" bit. A moderator can delete it if it's an issue, I guess. http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5605834/2/Through_Blood_and_Tears

[rad1986]

Oh, sorry; didn't realize there might be a rule about posting someone else's stories without any sort of permission! Thanks for posting it!!

~*~ Rad

[bkwurm1]

I can't see how posting the link is a problem. It's publicly posted on FF.net so I don't think you have anything to worrry about.