a, What prompted me to *like* him? Bra'tac is just awesome like that. I can't remember what prompted me to start writing from his POV as a young man, except that it was a roundabout process: I was going to write about how he and Teal'c became so linked, but it originated from meeting my friend's nephew, now a newly minted teenager, and thinking of Teal'c. The story arose when I realized we knew how Bra'tac taught Teal'c to think for himself, but who taught Bra'tac?
Even then, I still thought the story was going to come around to Teal'c and stay with him for a while, but when I got there, Bra'tac and he just looked at each other and stood taller and had nothing more to say in that moment. They aren't ones to go on about what they feel, after all.
b. His best trait is maybe his romanticism, in an all encompassing way: he can go off to war and see the romance in it and come home and fall for an incredible woman despite the large 'Do Not Go There' sign that culture painted over her; he can lose faith in his leaders but not his people, he can raise a boy not his own and love him completely.
c. Worst trait is the downside of true romantics in their reckless willingness to die for the love of it; that they have this amazing faith in the rightness of the course. Die in battle, die to keep another alive, sacrifice for the good of something else, be a pawn in a great plan only he can see because now would be a good time for the fabled Tau'ri of Earth to rise up and destroy the Gods! Yes! Yes it would! RIGHTNOWKAYTHANKS.
Which just makes me all the happier that he met Jack O'Neill, who looks at him with his 'yeah, you're crazy' face and says "That's a bad plan, today is actually a rotten day to die, crazy person." But Jack is a survivor, luckily he's as fierce about it as Bra'tac is about the cause (whichever cause).
d. I found Bra'tac very easy to write. Unlike Teal'c, he is absolutely willing to tell you a story if you just ask the right questions, and he has a mind like a steel trap, so you will get amazing detail from him. If you ask the wrong questions I suppose you might come right up against his ferocity and cunning, but so far I've been content with talking to him about how he because a father, and he's a big softie when it comes to Teal'c.
e. From Footsoldiers on Uneven Ground: (http://users.livejournal.com/_minxy_/70881.html)
The words fell flat; they both knew that an outcast would find nothing of the sort, were he not there to insist on special treatment. But not for nothing was Bra'tac called the bravest of Apophis’ warriors; he risked the welcome for her. He sat beside her and risked her hollow mocking to offer it again.
He wondered if it was, in fact, foolishness that he continued to invite her into his life, when she so clearly would not come.
“I will send my son, if I may.” He glanced at Mehr'auc to find she was looking at him carefully. “He would also find welcome?”
“Yes.” He found himself inhaling deeply with pride that she had found a way to accept his regard, and his assistance, even if it must be by proxy. He would instruct his servants to expect a young warrior, as he would appear to be, with the black insignia already upon his brow. There would be no mention of his home in the outcast camp, or his lineage. Teal’c of Chulak would suffice.
f. Someday I would like to ask him about the ways he manipulated Gods and giants, but I suspect if I asked him about a battle or something I'd get a Beowulf type epic recitation. That's a bit beyond me at the moment.
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Date: 2007-09-12 08:49 pm (UTC)a, What prompted me to *like* him? Bra'tac is just awesome like that. I can't remember what prompted me to start writing from his POV as a young man, except that it was a roundabout process: I was going to write about how he and Teal'c became so linked, but it originated from meeting my friend's nephew, now a newly minted teenager, and thinking of Teal'c. The story arose when I realized we knew how Bra'tac taught Teal'c to think for himself, but who taught Bra'tac?
Even then, I still thought the story was going to come around to Teal'c and stay with him for a while, but when I got there, Bra'tac and he just looked at each other and stood taller and had nothing more to say in that moment. They aren't ones to go on about what they feel, after all.
b. His best trait is maybe his romanticism, in an all encompassing way: he can go off to war and see the romance in it and come home and fall for an incredible woman despite the large 'Do Not Go There' sign that culture painted over her; he can lose faith in his leaders but not his people, he can raise a boy not his own and love him completely.
c. Worst trait is the downside of true romantics in their reckless willingness to die for the love of it; that they have this amazing faith in the rightness of the course. Die in battle, die to keep another alive, sacrifice for the good of something else, be a pawn in a great plan only he can see because now would be a good time for the fabled Tau'ri of Earth to rise up and destroy the Gods! Yes! Yes it would! RIGHTNOWKAYTHANKS.
Which just makes me all the happier that he met Jack O'Neill, who looks at him with his 'yeah, you're crazy' face and says "That's a bad plan, today is actually a rotten day to die, crazy person." But Jack is a survivor, luckily he's as fierce about it as Bra'tac is about the cause (whichever cause).
d. I found Bra'tac very easy to write. Unlike Teal'c, he is absolutely willing to tell you a story if you just ask the right questions, and he has a mind like a steel trap, so you will get amazing detail from him. If you ask the wrong questions I suppose you might come right up against his ferocity and cunning, but so far I've been content with talking to him about how he because a father, and he's a big softie when it comes to Teal'c.
e. From Footsoldiers on Uneven Ground: (http://users.livejournal.com/_minxy_/70881.html)
The words fell flat; they both knew that an outcast would find nothing of the sort, were he not there to insist on special treatment. But not for nothing was Bra'tac called the bravest of Apophis’ warriors; he risked the welcome for her. He sat beside her and risked her hollow mocking to offer it again.
He wondered if it was, in fact, foolishness that he continued to invite her into his life, when she so clearly would not come.
“I will send my son, if I may.” He glanced at Mehr'auc to find she was looking at him carefully. “He would also find welcome?”
“Yes.” He found himself inhaling deeply with pride that she had found a way to accept his regard, and his assistance, even if it must be by proxy. He would instruct his servants to expect a young warrior, as he would appear to be, with the black insignia already upon his brow. There would be no mention of his home in the outcast camp, or his lineage. Teal’c of Chulak would suffice.
f. Someday I would like to ask him about the ways he manipulated Gods and giants, but I suspect if I asked him about a battle or something I'd get a Beowulf type epic recitation. That's a bit beyond me at the moment.