annerb: (Vala-Just a Girl)
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posted by [personal profile] annerb at 01:18pm on 04/01/2010 under , ,
Here's my contribution to the Gen Day Alphabet Soup thingy.

S is for Sparkly

Like most things, the barrettes are about distraction, about disarming, because how much threat can a woman stuck in her childhood really be? She sees the way people look at her, one quick sweep up her body, ending at pigtails and glitter, the way the humans on Earth can’t take that seriously.

She wonders if this inability to see children as capable or sneaky or remotely threatening is some heightened genetic impulse bred in their isolation—the tic that keeps them from eating their demanding young like many, many other species would. Do.

The Tau’ri cherish their children, protect them and lavish attention on them, put them on a pedestal she suspects will do them no good when they finally get shoved out of the nest. But it’s not their inevitable fall from grace that matters to her. They’re on their own, just like she’s always been, and it’s the best way to be really. They will see that someday. What really matters as she wanders into offices and pokes through lockers and peruses wallets is that the photos of their young seem a constant among the Tau’ri.

She studies them carefully, building a collection of common characteristics in her mind, because she suspects this may be their greatest weak spot and knows she can use that, the disquiet raised by the juxtaposition of leather-bound cleavage and little girl rosy cheeks—drawing them closer and repulsing them in the same beat. They don’t look closer because they are scared what that might mean about them and their proclivities if they do. The Tau’ri can be so predictable in their morality.

She can use that.

She likes the way their gazes bounce off her, absorbing nothing but the surface she presents them. It’s safe. Protection.

It’s not a pedestal or lavished attention or affection, she knows. But that’s okay, because in her experience greater height is a detriment, extra trouble she doesn’t need when the inevitable shove to the ground comes.

She’s cushioned by their indifference.

Exactly the way she wants it.

She steps into the gate room, one eye on SG-1’s reaction. She tells herself her greatest fear is their lack of offspring blunting the effect of her look. They each glance in her direction and just as quickly away and she tells herself that’s relief she feels pitching in her stomach.

As she approaches, Cam tugs at her pigtail, fingers gentle and face amused. “Okay, Dorothy, you ready to go?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Daniel says, glancing at her again. “It’s possible she could find a more ridiculous outfit to wear.”

Vala dutifully pouts, sticking her tongue out at him.

Daniel rolls his eyes and Cam pushes him towards the wormhole. “Come on, children, we’ve got places to be.”

Teal’c falls into step next to her on the ramp as they follow. Right in front of the event horizon, he pauses, turning to look at her.

“Your hair is luminescent,” he comments.

She laughs, flicking her hair back over her shoulder. “Do you like it?”

“Do you not fear giving away your position?”

She glances sharply at him, feeling a little jolt in her stomach. His expression is mild, but his gaze is not.

She tilts her head to the side, widening her eyes, instinct telling her to go for helpless rather than seductive in this situation. Childlike. “I don’t know what you mean.”

The corner of Teal’c’s mouth lifts. “It is simply an observation, Vala Mal Doran.” With that, he steps into the wormhole, disappearing from sight.

She fights a moment of disorientation—something sharp and dangerous that she tells herself isn’t anything like vertigo.

Checking her barrettes one last time, she steps into the event horizon.
There are 20 comments on this entry. (Reply.)
ext_2131: picture of a fish with lots of green (Vala)
posted by [identity profile] holdouttrout.livejournal.com at 11:15pm on 04/01/2010
Hee! Sparkly hair. Love that she thinks her team is just like everybody else. Teal'c pwns all again, of course. :-D
 
posted by [identity profile] annerbhp.livejournal.com at 05:08pm on 05/01/2010
It's fun to to try and make sense of her early behavior. And for some reason, I just like the thought that Teal'c saw through her from the first.

Thanks!
 
posted by [identity profile] ivanolix.livejournal.com at 12:31am on 05/01/2010
Teal'c FTW! I love your take on Vala's sparkles (funny how we both caught onto that aspect for our fics...)
 
posted by [identity profile] annerbhp.livejournal.com at 05:09pm on 05/01/2010
Hee! Yes, the whole flamboyant dressing thing is certainly one of her most interesting character tics! :D

Thanks.
ext_3557: annerb icon with scenes of all team variations, my OTP (Teal'c transcend)
posted by [identity profile] aurora-novarum.livejournal.com at 01:37am on 05/01/2010
Of course Teal'c sees through it all. I love them together.
 
posted by [identity profile] annerbhp.livejournal.com at 05:09pm on 05/01/2010
Teal'c pwns all. :)

Thanks.
 
posted by [identity profile] amberflyant.livejournal.com at 02:29am on 05/01/2010
Great insight to what makes our Ms Mal Doran tick...she is a complicated character isn't she. Very enjoyable, thanks for posting.
 
posted by [identity profile] annerbhp.livejournal.com at 05:10pm on 05/01/2010
Thanks! I like the thought that everything she does has some ulterior motive. She's tricksy like that. :)
ext_1941: (alphabet soup)
posted by [identity profile] sg-fignewton.livejournal.com at 06:45am on 05/01/2010
What a lovely insight into Vala - and Teal'c sees right through it for SO MANY reasons. Perfect!
 
posted by [identity profile] annerbhp.livejournal.com at 05:11pm on 05/01/2010
Thanks! Yeah, I like the idea that Teal'c is immune to all her tactics, which is sort of doubly strange when you think of who they are, ex-goddess and ex-slave.
 
posted by [identity profile] funkyinfishnet.livejournal.com at 01:36pm on 05/01/2010
Heehee, Teal'c knows all! Nice look into Vala's thoughts, always trying to protect herself. She'll learn soon she doesn't have to protect herself from the team :)
 
posted by [identity profile] annerbhp.livejournal.com at 05:12pm on 05/01/2010
Thanks! Yeah, you have to wonder though, if Vala will ever be able to completely stop manipulating people and situations, no matter how much she becomes part of the team or even trusts them. It's too much a part of her nature, I think. :)
 
posted by [identity profile] vakhdar.livejournal.com at 02:38pm on 05/01/2010
Yes, Teal'c gets her! And so does the team. I admit, at first I didn't care for Vala, but she grew on me- especially in fanfic. Thanks for this, it was fun.
 
posted by [identity profile] annerbhp.livejournal.com at 05:14pm on 05/01/2010
Thanks! Yeah, Vala tends to grow on people, though I have to admit, I loved her from the beginning. Anyone who could annoy Daniel that much (like say...Jack O'Neill?) is alright with me. Lol.
ziparumpazoo: Tree covered in pink frost (supernova_vala)
posted by [personal profile] ziparumpazoo at 06:48pm on 06/01/2010
Oh Vala, how you delude yourself.
I love this snapshot of early Vala still testing the waters with the Tau'ri, hiding behind her (mostly accurate) assumptions.
:)
 
posted by [identity profile] annerbhp.livejournal.com at 07:52pm on 07/01/2010
I'm not sure why, but I love the thought that Vala is way more mercenary on the inside than her playful outside lets on.

Thanks!
 
posted by [identity profile] eilidh17.livejournal.com at 10:30am on 07/01/2010
LOL! Only Vala could carry this look off. Sparkly pigtails! I love Teal'c's reaction :)
 
posted by [identity profile] annerbhp.livejournal.com at 07:55pm on 07/01/2010
Thanks! Her careful study of the Tau'ri isn't going to help her fool Teal'c! Then again, Teal'c knows all. ;)
 
posted by [identity profile] alexa137.livejournal.com at 12:21pm on 22/01/2010
Vala is a lot more complex that she first came across. I love her character. Loved that piece. Simple yet...not. You do that so well A :)
 
posted by [identity profile] samantilles.livejournal.com at 08:45pm on 01/06/2010
She wonders if this inability to see children as capable or sneaky or remotely threatening is some heightened genetic impulse bred in their isolation—the tic that keeps them from eating their demanding young like many, many other species would. Do.

Love this--brilliant deduction on Vala's part--definitely only something an alien would think of naturally! I really like the logic she uses to her distinct dress code. Wonderful fic!

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