#I’m probably reading into things waaaay more than is actually merited for this show

[watwudbuffydo]

Earning Nadja’s Trust: A WWDITS Meta

So I realized that Nadja doesn’t get the same treatment of fan analysis as say Nandor and Guillermo and I wanted to make my own contribution. I was driven to write “Earning Nadja’s Trust” because as we heard Laszlo tell baby Colin in 4.03, he learned to trust others again through his relationship with Nadja. I found that statement to be interesting because, of all the Staten Island roommates, she’s the most mistrustful of others, and even seems to still not completely trust Guillermo in the way Nandor and Laszlo have grown to trust him. If 4.03 is any indication, she sure regards familiars as below her at best and duplicitous at worst, has no respect for werewolves and her thoughts on witches need no elaboration. It is still not 100% clear the extent to which she regards the Guide either at this point.

We have seen that even in all her bouts of fury she deeply loves Laszlo and more or less fell in love with him at first sight and that she also cares about Nandor and sees him as part of her makeshift family. Even for all her issues with Colin Robinson, she was also saddened by the first incarnation’s death and was excited to meet the rebirthed one, even in her constant mistaking him for a raccoon.

Guillermo however, continues to be the outlier. Sure she does not talk down to him the way she did in the beginning of the series, but if their interaction where he demands to be the night club accountant is any indication, quite a bit of coldness still remains between them even after a year of being in London. However, I think it’s safe to say that Nadja spent so much time with the WWVC that Guillermo was barely needed.

So why is she still so as frosty as she is with Guillermo where her husband has grown to respect him and Nandor shows more affection?

Based on what we know of the respective backstories of Nadja and Guillermo, I believe that Nadja’s continued mistrust of Guillermo stems from that fact that, subconsciously or otherwise, she sees parts of herself in Guillermo.

But wait wouldn’t she then be more trusting of him?

First let’s break down the broad strokes of what Nadja and Guillermo have in common.

1. While Laszlo and Nandor were both born into lives of social (and to an extent economic) privilege, neither Nadja nor Guillermo were born into lives that would grant them those same social privileges and were outsiders.

We know Nadja was born into abject poverty some time in the sixteenth century in Greece. Not only was she born into poverty, but she’s also Romani, a European ethnic minority group that were (and continue to be) regarded as un-Godly; as more Romani people fell under Ottoman rule, they were considered the bottom of the social pyramid (no wonder her village fell into the path of Nandor the Relentless’s conquests over two centuries before her birth!)

In her interviews she even describes being mistreated because of her background and likely had to try to survive on her own at times with her sixteen other siblings dying and her mother getting eaten by a bear. When she was by the water and was turned by Baron Afanas, she was, for the first time in her existence, not powerless as she had been made to feel. (More will be elaborated on this in point 2)

Guillermo is a Mexican-American queer man who grew up with a single working mom being the most present. While we do not know of his father, he did refer to “parents” in 3.04 so imagine at some point his father was in the picture. Even if he wasn’t living in poverty like Nadja was, the small apartment where his Mom lives and the fact that he had to get a job at Panera Bread at 18-19 indicates that he might have been AT MOST on the cusp of lower-middle or high-lower class (and as anyone in the US knows, the stability of an American middle class has continued shrinking since the eighties.) His Mom, if 2.10 is any indication does not speak English with the same fluency he does (she might understand enough that she was able to express to the camera crew that she was happy to have Memo home; there are plenty of people who can understand other languages better than they can speak in those same languages so it’s completely possible that there’s that discrepancy in her English language skills) which likely indicates that she immigrated to the United States with her at some point in her life and raised Guillermo in the Bronx. As Guillermo reveals in 4.01 he was on his own for quite a bit of his childhood and probably felt some sort of isolation growing up queer and Catholic too. Even in being a familiar he is still kept at a distance and is very much the de facto odd one out in the household for the first ten years. That starts to change when he accidentally kills the Baron and later sees the ancestry report.

2. Both characters seek/use power as a means to command respect from others.

When Nadja joins the VC she ends up being the ruthless one, going so far as to rip out the heart of the leader of a rebellious vampire, forcing the rest of the coven to submit. She is even talked into showing mercy at times by Nandor in the chamber of judgment, while she doles out the more severe consequences. Finally when she returns to Staten Island, she very much approaches the night club as an inevitability despite The Guide’s protests and basically has to march over to get Richie Suck to perform at her club, showing that she has does not take no for an answer. While running a club is very different from bureaucracy, its still a means by which Nadja is able to have control. Her quest for power stems from a desire to give herself control in her afterlife as she was subjected to the whims of others when she was a human. Vampirism, for Nadja is empowerment and liberation; having visible high status in the vampire community strengthens that empowerment and perhaps even feeds her need to have control.

As Guillermo comes into his own as a slayer, his confidence grows and by season three is more willing to step outside the boundaries of being a familiar as he becomes the bodyguard. His full defiance of those boundaries culminates in his fight with Nandor in 3.10 where, for the first time, any of the vampires fully recognize that Guillermo isn’t the same meek nineteen year old who started as a familiar, but a force to be reckoned with. He still uses that power in season four to help Nandor in wish logistics and in putting his foot down to Nadja that he’ll only help if she gives him what he wants (the accountant job).

So with all that in mind, with them having a shared history of coming out higher than their humble origins, why hasn’t Nadja “warmed up to” Guillermo as the others have?

I believe the answer to this question lies partly in 4.03 as revealed by how Nadja saw the relationship between Richie Suck and Dr. Tom.

She already has a low opinion of familiars to begin with, but seeing the abusive dynamic between those guys probably won’t improve that opinion. One can argue that even if Nadja doesn’t see Guillermo as a familiar in name, she still looks down on him all the same. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if she believes the four way hypnosis is the only reason he hasn’t killed any of the coven yet (assuming she knows of neither the fight nor the hypnosis immunity) and that she would trust him less if that hypnosis hadn’t been performed. Given her propensity to use murder in her anger or even threaten it, I think that (at least subconsciously) she knows if she were in Guillermo’s position she would not hesitate to retaliate against the people who hurt her.

This part goes more into speculation territory but I wouldn’t be shocked if one of the first things Nadja did as a vampire was go after the people who wronged her when she was human. And honestly, I don’t blame her.

While Guillermo was lucky to still have a loving mother in his life, Nadja- as far as we know canonically- was mistreated and lost many people close to her when she was a human. Being human for Nadja was all about surviving, making it to the next day. Ironically enough it’s as a vampire that she’s been able to live and enjoy life. And that little familiar her dear friend has grown oddly attached to now has the capacity to kill her and her coven in an instant? My girl will not let anything get in the way of destroying everything she loves again, let alone threaten her power and security. Honestly, I’d say from Nadja’s point of view I can absolutely see how she’ll probably be the last of the coven to fully embrace Guillermo as part of the family.

To fully, finally earn that trust, she would need to be proven that Guillermo is nothing like Dr. Tom and that he actually cares about Nandor beyond wanting to be made into a vampire. In addition, she would need to understand that Guillermo was always going to protect them without the hypnosis. While her finding out about his hypnosis immunity could spell trouble, her having confirmation that Guillermo would never hurt them regardless would also allow her to feel more inclined to fully see him as one of the team.

That is not to say I think Guillermo has to prove himself, he doesn’t have to prove shit to anyone and he clearly doesn’t care about doing that so much anymore.

What I am saying is that they would need to be put in a specific situation/circumstances that would make her reconsider any remaining mistrust she has in him. Clearly being in London didn’t do that. In fact it sounds like they more or less avoided each other in London if she spent the majority of her time in a room with the WWVC, likely leaving Guillermo plenty of chances to go off on his own once it was clear that Nadja wasn’t in any danger.

For what that change might look like, I’m going into some speculation/theorizing territory here for the season so DO NOT TAKE THIS AS SOMETHING THAT WILL HAPPEN. This is just a possible scenario I could see playing out in Nadja and Guillermo’s relationship.

THE ONE TIME NADJA SHOWED GENUINE INTEREST IN GUILLERMO AS A PERSON

There is one notable instance where Nadja seemed to genuinely show interest in Guillermo as a person. In 3.04 when she and Laszlo awkwardly attempt to engage in a conversation with him it starts out feeling forced (which it is) until Laszlo asks if his interests involve the “fairer sex.” While her asking if he has a “chubby little girlfriend” was still rather demeaning, the way in which she asked displayed genuine interest on her end. When Laszlo brought up “maybe a boyfriend” she, along with Laszlo and Colin are genuinely intrigued and actually wants to know about his private life, much to his chagrin.

If the episode titles are anything to go by, it seems like the vampires will meet Freddie at some point, and you can’t tell me Nadja won’t suddenly want to know EVERYTHING that has been going on with that (likely after yelling “You had a boyfriend in London this whole time and never told me?!?! I’ll fucking kill you!!!” for about a few hours). And if the Freddie being a troublemaker metas are anything to go by, I wouldn’t be shocked if somehow Nadja learned Freddie was up to something sleazy and goes after him for it in a “you don’t get to hurt Gizmo, only we get to do that!” sort of way since she would still be reticent about being warm to him. Though that scenario is more based on the fact that if there’s anything Nadja truly despises, it’s men who go out of their way to be horrible.

I welcome any and all feedback and or criticism and do not take my speculations as givens as they are just that- in fact, as I’ve said many times before I’ll be shocked if I’m on point about any of the above.

[glowyjellyfish]

I just started rewatching Battlestar Galactica. Well, when i say just started, I mean i started two nights ago and I just finished season 1, so.

Firstly, at the beginning everyone is a tiny innocent baby and a sweet summer child (yes, even after their civilization gets destroyed. Sweet summer children all.), except Starbuck who is more of a tiny magnificent chaotic asshole.

Secondly, Baltar is one of my favorites and I think he’s among the best characters I have ever seen. His character development is phenomenal; I’d say he’s a stunning example of a redemption arc, but I’m not sure it totally counts when he was never really a villain at all. Arrogant, self-serving, and dickish, yes, but never deliberately evil. I love watching him break down and get built back up again, it’s a highly entertaining and often poignant roller coaster. And of course, he’s also just a delight to watch. I wish something like this had come up on the show, but I am convinced that people in the fleet--especially on Galactica and Colonial One--are well aware that he talks to himself and frequently disassociates, and chalk it up to trauma from being on Caprica during the attack. Sometimes I like to think that he 100% has that trauma and some degree of PTSD and Head Six took advantage of that state to set herself up in his head, but I’m not sure whether to make that headcanon or if it’s just a nice theory.

Thirdly, Gaeta is my favorite and I love him to pieces. The first time I watched when it first aired waaaay back in the day, I was rooting so hard for him to be a cylon, and I’m still slightly bummed that he wasn’t. I can’t complain about what he got as a consolation prize, going out with a bang and loads of juicy character development, with the added bonus that Anders also got some great character development. (Um, I should probably explain real quick that I read somewhere back in the day that when the writers were choosing the Final Five, it was kind of a toss-up between Anders and Gaeta, and they chose Anders. I felt validated that he was at least at the top of the list, and since I also loved cylon!Anders it proved to be a pretty good second choice for me. Believe me though, I wrote so many fanfics about how Gaeta might still be a cylon somehow, most of them super bad.) His whole development arc is less of a roller coaster and more of a long slow painful train wreck, and it’s gonna hurt so much but ugh I love it. Right now, at the end of season one, he is still such a sweet summer child, like my god he still has a crush on Baltar and hasn’t been disillusioned yet! And turns out I still firmly ship it. Gaeta’s got such a crush, poor boy, and it was so sweet and destroyed my little shipper heart at the end of Six Degrees of Separation when after a whole episode of everyone turning on Baltar and telling him they never trusted him and him freaking out, Gaeta came along and exonerated Baltar and told him he always believed in him. Awwww New Caprica’s gonna kill me, I swear. 

Chief and Tigh are also up there in terms of my favorites, and there’s always gonna be something wonderful about a rewatch and all those scenes where they’re talking about people being Cylons and suspecting people of being Cylons and hey guess what you two. Guess what.

On this rewatch, I really enjoyed seeing Lee acting as the compromise between the military and politics. I vaguely recall that that’s a major part of his character going forward, basically everything that isn’t Starbuck, father issues, or Love Quadrangle Of Doom, and am curious how I’m gonna see it now. Originally, I found him good for a hero character and reasonably interesting, and I seem to recall liking such plots as him quitting the military way more than other viewers, but he’s never been one of my favorites.

...I also feel obliged to point out that in these trying times it is very hard not to 100% agree with Tom Zarek. If he was a little less murdery, man. Of course, I should also point out that unlike some other viewers--no, I don’t remember specifics, I probably read opinions on a forum 15 years ago--I felt like the season 4 mutiny was bringing up some extremely valid points that needed to be addressed (even if Zarek was mostly using them as an excuse to coast to power and Gaeta was airing his grievances in the worst possible way when what he probably actually really needed was a lot of intense therapy) so perhaps this is nothing new. 

I’m also excited and scared for the President Baltar plot coming later, but in these times I am fairly certain my feelings will be “you guys are big babies. Oh boo hoo, your legally elected president is genuinely intelligent and charismatic and just happens to be rather self-centered and self-serving and shitty at governing, oh noooo he had to be held at gunpoint to sign death warrants for dissenters… grow up.” I… can’t take most “super evil villain becomes president oh no” stories seriously anymore, literally all the ones I am aware of were better than reality.

I don’t feel like it needs to be said, but Starbuck, Roslin, and Adama? All perfect and amazing, of course. They’re not my favorites, but that’s mainly because they are popular main characters, and I tend to prefer unpopular sideline characters and characters that need defending or merit lengthy essays. Everyone loves those guys for good reason, they don’t need me supporting them.

Also I forgot how precious Dee and Billy were, and how their relationship added interesting layers and angles to loads of plotlines. Makes me bummed about Billy (though I know it wasn’t the show’s fault), and then bummed that Dee got entangled in the Love Quadrangle of Doom, and then… kinda fridged to be honest. I wonder what would have happened with the Final Five if Billy was still around, would it have been Billy there instead of Tory? Or to keep the gender ratio and a touch of diversity, would they have gone with Dee? Would that have made them more or less likely to choose Gaeta over Anders, then? My gut says less, but who knows? It sure would have been rad if Dee got that much character development unrelated to romance, though.

It’s also weird how much I still keep trying to add things to the show’s arc and mythology to make it make more sense to me, personally. Like, logically I know that the whole thing is that god as spoken of by the cylons is 100% real, the head characters are literally communicating with people on his behalf, the opera house is the CIC and all the prophecies and stuff are leading to humans and cylons living together and interbreeding on Earth to make us. But I’m constantly trying to add things like “maybe the lords of kobol were twelve or thirteen original cylons on kobol 2000 years ago, and maybe they’re the head characters, like they ascended their physical bodies or something, and maybe the physical characters who look like the head characters are like the reincarnations of them or of the original humans they were modelled on, and the whole story is very similar and playing out again which is why certain characters have visions and stuff, but there have never been human/cylon hybrids before and that’s what god wants in order to end the cycle and/or because god is love god wants them to love each other and stop killing each other please? Maybe?” Shrug, I know some fans hate how spiritual it went, and I’m not one of them. I just prefer the slightly more humanist angle of reincarnation over literally just “god did it”. 

However, I am really enjoying just taking Head Six 100% at her word and watching her manipulate the fucking shit out of Baltar to get him reliant on her and in the position she needs him to be in. It’s kind of amazing. And also, fascinating to consider Leoben in Flesh and Bone in the context of knowing what happens to Starbuck. He absolutely knows that she’s going to lead them all to Earth and die in the process. I don’t think he knows any details at all, but it’s really interesting to watch assuming that he knows her fate. And I am not sure the show ever really explained why Leoben knows this stuff. Does he have visions? His own head person? Does he just sit and listen real hard to the Hybrids and interpret their sayings? ...I guess I do find it weird that the show chose to go so hard on making him creepy as fuck to her on New Caprica, and then apparently didn’t know a lot else they wanted to do with him, but we’ll see how I feel as it goes along.

Anyway, I think I’ve exhausted my most coherent array of thoughts.