BSG Vid: Dolled-up in Straps (Baltar/HeadSix)

[beccatoria]

I'm not entirely sure whether this one counts as a 'shipper vid... o_O

Title: Dolled-up in Straps
Video: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Audio: All dolled-up in straps // The National
Summary: Gaius Baltar is a love letter to no one. (Baltar/HeadSix, Sixes)
Editor's Notes: As usual, my thanks to my beta cyborganize.

Direct download available here. RightClickSaveAs. 50 megs approx.

Password: vidses

Watch on Vimeo

Cross-posted to galactica_vids and vidding

Other vids available here

(In case you were wondering, yes, this does mark the beginning of my vidding obsession with The National; expect another vid and a vidlet hopefully before 4.5 starts. You know; it'll be nice to have my life back, BSG. :/ Maybe one day I'll even learn to vid things that aren't you...)

Comments

[chaila.livejournal.com]

And for people who haven't reached that point with him, I imagine that the terror, the naivety, the fear of Baltar still shine through. Because...that's the thing; those are part of Baltar too. He's not tidy.

Oh I totally know what you mean. I just lost sympathy for him really early (and to make this All About Laura Roslin and Her Long Inescapable Shadow, he's a perfect foil for her, because I find him rather despicable for all the places he's lacking where she's Really Fucking Awesome, which is maybe not the fairest standard--and is totally colored by my own The National vid HOORAY FOR THEM--but it's totally true). This is the sympathy I haven't had for Baltar since he ran for president. Maybe before that I did, but I can't remember. I mean on one hand, yeah they did a really fantastic job keeping him rather sympathetic (um, well, for others) because he's sad and weak and scared and in so far over his head and they do such a good job of making him PASSIVE in all the atrocities he causes/somewhat unwittingly facilitates, but in such circumstances the polite thing to do for the good of humanity is to, I don't know, go to Cloud Nine and whittle away the days with booze and women. But instead, the selfish fucktard runs for fucking president because Laura hurt his ego, and then attributes that selfish power and status seeking desire to his imaginary angel of god telling him it was god's will and fate (which basically means that if any of that turns out to be true, BSG and I are going to Have Words). Somewhere in the back of my head, I did always kind of want Baltar to step up and just say he was SORRY, for you know the nuclear attacks but also for New Caprica, so what The Hub did for me was make me realize the depth of how weak and kind of awful he actually is and that that was never, ever going to happen. And while I actually think that's kind of awesome from a characterization standpoint--of COURSE Gaius Baltar would create AN ENTIRELY NEW RELIGION to justify his own actions and existence and to avoid taking any responsibility for ANYTHING, EVER--and actually give props to BSG for letting him just wallow in his pathetic human-ness and frailty, and rather expect that's going to be important to the end of the story, I just haven't been able to let that excuse him even a little for a long time. But it's very, very much my subjective reaction to Baltar, just because everything that makes me love Laura beyond all rational thought is everything that Baltar lacks, so obviously I'm not going to find much to like in him.

It's also really, really hard for me to appreciate HeadSix, which I feel kind of guilty admitting, just because she's such a manifestation of everything I find to be actually pretty repulsive about Baltar. It's next to impossible for me to separate her from him, I suppose, which kinda sucks.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. Me and the show are going to have LOTS of Words if Baltar's religion is shown to be right or I'm really supposed be believe he redeemed himself. Like you, I kind of love that he created -

AN ENTIRELY NEW RELIGION to justify his own actions and existence and to avoid taking any responsibility for ANYTHING, EVER

- but if that religion turns out to be true, there is no justice and I will weep.

I can't really explain why I didn't lose it with Baltar around the election like I did with the confession. Because you're right; and even at the time, I hated that he did it. I think partly it's the context surrounding those events. On the one side we have Gina where (before she got to Cloud 9 at least) he was at his most compassionate on a human level. I still think she's the only other person he's ever looked at and wanted to save just because she was hurting. Even if he couldn't tell that he was killing her, not having sex with her, in the season two finale. And on the other side we have Baltar during the Occupation. Where he was at his most broadly ethical. I mean, again, it was miniscule in comparison. But I actually don't think that Baltar made any reprehensible decisions as President under the Occupation. I really don't think he made the wrong decision to surrender, or even to sign those death warrants. Because if he didn't sign them, they'd shoot him and get a new puppet preside who would sign them within the hour and at least this way, everyone can concentrate on still hating him. Sure he didn't understand he was doing it so that all the sins stayed on one target but still...no other alternative was better given his options.

On the flip side I think that the decision to colonise the planet in the first place was treasonous and what he really should have been on trial for (had they evidence) because he knew there were still cylon agents in the Fleet for a fact and didn't tell anyone about them. So he wilfully endangered them all that way.

So again...I don't really have a meaningful response because I thought he was an awful, petulant dangerous child there too. But somehow it seems worse in The Hub. Maybe because even the election was self-aggrandisement but at least he was trying to fight for people's admiration (twistedly). By S4, he's just acting like he already has it. It's what makes that confession so sick; he's stopped actually behaving like a spoiled child throwing a temper tantrum (LOOK AT ME!) and started behaving like a boddhisatva while spouting the most twisted, heartless, thoughtless crap. Maybe I just felt that his selfishness with the election was more honest. Which doesn't make it better but makes it more anger-inducing and less horrific? Bah...I'll stop babbling now.

Finally re: HeadSix. I do understand where you're coming from. I think that I like her in spite of also seeing her as a manifestation of everything repulsive about Baltar as also being a manifestation of contempt for everything repulsive about Baltar. Sure, her goals are sickeningly pro-Baltar but she so often beats him up or treats him like the rotten kid he is. Though I don't think that's so much evidence of Baltar's self-awareness as of Baltar's massive subconscious genius. He's the king of denial, especially about himself, but he's also brilliant; he must know this somewhere.

And the other reason I love her is that I think she's also Baltar's way of subconsciously processing the data he has about the cylon and their goals and ways of thinking. So through her I really felt like we were learning more about the cylon attitude and views and religion and personality. And I still think she represents that even if it's less so now that we have actual cylons to show us this?