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[lls_mutant]

So. With the disclaimer out of the way- because it really sucks to be spoiled about something you don't want to know- let's talk Gaeta and Hoshi. I'm probably preaching to the choir in everything I say in this, but we'll go ahead anyway, because I feel like it.

Of course, my f-list has been ecstatic about the idea of Gaeta/Hoshi. Most of my f-list consists of slashers, or at least people amenable to the idea, so come on, this is no shock. But naturally I've been surfing the net checking out reactions, and a few have come up that I just want to talk about, just because hey- this is a LiveJournal and that's what they're for, right? If you can't monologue in your own LJ, something is wrong.

Of course, there have been the really homophobic remarks, like people not wanting the watch the show and the ever mature "ewww, gross!" type of things. I'm not even going there, because it doesn't deserve my attention and most of the people who are saying that aren't going to be convinced by anything I say, and probably didn't click on the link or back-clicked the minute it became apparent that I like Gaeta/Hoshi. But some of the other things I've seen:

"How pointless/Who cares?/Why are they putting it in?"

There are really two trains of thought in that comment, aren't there? One is "who cares? I want to know who the Final Cylon is, damn it!" The other is "why put a gay relationship in? What does it add to the plot?"

The first, well, I agree in a lot of ways. Gaeta/Hoshi is a very minor development in terms of plot, which is probably exactly why it was leaked. It's sensational enough that it gives people something to talk about, but it doesn't give away anything that is a really big deal. It's actually a fairly clever thing to release, I think. Me, I'm delighted, because the one thing I wanted to know going into 4.5 was if they were going to do Gaeta/Dee (and frankly, hoping they weren't), so I got my question answered and can stop clicking on spoiler links before the really big ones come out.

The second, well, what the heck did the Quadrangle of Doom add to the plot? And although I adore them and they're my OTP on the show, what does Adama/Roslin add to the plot? The answer isn't nothing, by the way. The sex adds very little to the plot. Their feelings for each other, however, are very relevant. When someone is in love, that dictates a lot of their actions. Certainly not every one, but definitely some of them. Adama/Roslin is absolute proof of that. Plus, people fall in love. It happens. So media reflects that, and we lap it up. Depending on how they handle it, Gaeta/Hoshi will add as much to those characters as the het relationships do. In Hoshi's case it will add more, because we know pretty much nothing about him ;)

But wait! There's more! Yes, we've found out that Gaeta and Hoshi are together. But that really does something much bigger: it confirms that Gaeta is gay, leading to the thought that they have had a gay storyline all along, and that's the relationship between Gaeta and Baltar.

Did Gaeta and Baltar ever sleep together? Honestly, neither answer would surprise me. I have to agree with falafel_musings that Baltar is a sex addict. The man has sex with people who aren't even there. He's slept with at least five canon characters (Caprica Six, D'Anna, Starbuck, Tory, and Playa), plus a few interns and cult members. He's been caught publicly masturbating (or about to) several times. He has his own harem, for crying out loud. The guy is a total slut. It is not at all unbelievable to me that he might have had some sort of sex with Gaeta, especially on New Caprica. (See Youth's Final Luxury for that one.) It's also not at all unbelievable to me that he didn't. But what I do believe is that Gaeta was in love with Baltar, and Baltar knew that and somehow used that knowledge. And that eventually led to the intense, bitter anger that we see from Gaeta in Season 3. Like I said, it's not so much the sex, but the love- or in this case love betrayed- that influences what a person does and adds to the plot. Unrequited Gaeta/Baltar has already been a plot, if you chose to see it that way. It's there, to the point where Alessandro Juliani has flat out said he played Gaeta as being in love with Baltar. It's just never been confirmed.

Why are they confirming it now/left it off so long?/They should have done it earlier.

I'm going to have a little faith here, and give you my reasoning.

See, the thing about the timing is yeah, they are doing it after they know the show is over. But they're also doing it after something else very important: the reveal of four of the final five.

Gaeta has long been suspected of being two things: gay, and a Cylon. My writer's instinct tells me that you can really do one or the other. Gaeta's too minor of a character to have both heaped on him, and they're already going the Baltar-broke-a-Cylon's-heart route with Caprica Six. Gaeta being in love with Baltar AND a Cylon probably wouldn't add anything to the plot, where as one or the other works fine.

Now, I don't know for sure that Gaeta's not a Cylon. The rest here is pure speculation, but I have now done a complete 180 and am pretty convinced that Gaeta is human. So, onward.

There was a comment somewhere that made it sound like they were debating between Anders and Gaeta as a Cylon- a debate which really makes sense, given that both characters get some interesting reactions for being a Cylon and both have some good implications. But the way I'm reading it, for a long time the writers were leaving themselves some room. Gaeta could have been a Cylon or not. But beyond that, you couldn't confirm it before the end of Season 3 because Gaeta was such a strong contender in the viewer's eyes for Cylonhood. Giving a strong indication of his humanity (and, given the Cylon's obsession with reproduction, Gaeta being gay would be a bright arrow towards the human side) takes Gaeta out of the running. With only so many recognizable characters, you don't want to do that. So, revealing Gaeta as gay before revealing the Final Five wasn't a great idea.

Of course, since they're putting it in the webisodes, they're doing it before the Final Cylon reveal. But D'Anna's statement in Revelations changed a lot, and I think post-Revelations Gaeta lost most of his "I'm a Cylon" steam, and people began shifting to other characters. Plus, it sounds like we're going to find out who the Final Cylon is pretty early in 4.5, which I'd figured because you have to deal with the fall-out from that.

In Season 4, the whole fact that Gaeta was gay really didn't have an opportunity to come up. Again, you want to hold off on any indicators of his humanity as long as possible, especially since the singing in Guess What's Coming to Dinner is a GIANT red herring. (Erm, I assume it's a red herring, anyway. I have to admit I still like my Cavil-is-the-fifth-and-he-created-two-through-eight-and-boxed-the-sevens idea, but I don't think that's going to work.) But they were obviously still wanting you to think that in Season 4. Plus, that loneliness and isolation of GWCTD just doesn't work if you know Gaeta's actually got a boyfriend standing off to the side. (If they were even together at that point.) After GWCTD, we don't see Gaeta again until Revelations, and that IS when we see that hug between him and Hoshi. And I'd like to point out that Hoshi isn't exactly standing near Gaeta to just randomly hug him- he deliberately crosses the CIC to specifically hug Gaeta.

It comes out of nowhere.

Not really. Hoshi it can't- we know nothing about Hoshi. Gaeta, well... I mean, I've seen tons of comments about Gaeta's name, and reasons people think he's gay. But I'd like to think the real reason people think that is because of how Gaeta acted around Baltar. I mean, the character is anything but a stereotype. Okay, maybe he is a little, but that stereotype screams engineer to me more than gay. (Come on. Gaeta is a total dork, and one day I WILL finish the Dork-squad fic I started with him and Billy and Baltar and Cottle and Cavil and Tigh and Ellen. But you know he spent his free time playing the Colonial equivalent of WoW.) But as I said earlier, the idea that Gaeta loved Baltar has been there from the beginning- at least in the actor's portrayal.

Plus, Gaeta has been presented as a very private person, very focused on work. Has he really been "in the closet"? Or just not talking about it? I think it's perfectly in character for the second to be true.

It will be confined to the webisodes.

I'm going to give the writers the benefit of the doubt here.

See, right now, we have what- 10? 11? episodes left. And there's a LOT of story to be told in those few episodes. The relationship between Gaeta and Hoshi... well, it's minor, just like any new het relationship would be at this point. I am guessing we might get the background (if there's any that's relevant- it could just be they hooked up and who cares how, because it's normal and boring- it's not like we got to see Cally and Chief really get together) in the webisodes, and then we'll still get some of the relationship in the series. We might not see them do much, but frankly, BSG steps over the "how much sex I want to see" line sometimes anyway. I adore Adama/Roslin, but I don't need a porno of them, either.

Anyway, Juliani said that Gaeta's headed to a dark place. I have two theories: 1.) either Hoshi's death (because yeah, you hook up with a bigger character and you get background in the webisodes? RED SHIRT!) will push him over the edge, or 2.) Hoshi will be the one to pull him back. I think the first is more likely, but really wouldn't mind either. But I really, really think that's why this is going to matter, and that's how it will be related to the plot (because I think Gaeta's going to consider doing something very dark, like killing someone that's not Baltar or piloting Colonial One into a basestar or something), and therefore the relationship will be seen in the series, even if we don't get much background out of it. After all, I STILL haven't watched the Season 3 webisodes (I know! I know!), and I get what Jammer and Duck were up to just fine, y'know? The webisodes supplement, but they don't replace.

About time Gaeta finally got laid/got happy/had SOMETHING good happen to him!

One of the things that pleases me is that this seems to be the predominant feeling in the places I've happened to look, and all I can say to this one is AMEN. I really like the character (if you couldn't tell), and would really like something nice to happen to him, even if it's just for a few minutes. Plus, more screen time for him is a very good thing.

But it's really nice to see this. I mean, I was okay with the relationship in Razor, because this is BSG, and if you REALLY think any of the het relationships are going to end happy, you and I need to discuss what shows we're talking about. So I don't expect the gay ones not to go up in flames, either. But Cain and Gina were pretty minor characters, and they did pussyfoot around it a bit more. (Although I don't think Baltar "healed" Gina in any way. I mean, she blew herself and Cloud 9 up with a nuke right after sleeping with him. NOT healthy. I think he thought he did.) But the thing is- and this was always why I liked Remus/Sirius- it's nice to see them make a character gay who is important to the story line, isn't a stereotype (because I really don't think Gaeta is), and whose sexuality does not completely define him, but is still important. With Dumbledore, it got regulated to fairly unimportant by the way JKR revealed it, and the fact she made him celibate afterwards. With Gaeta, he's first and foremost Officer of the Watch, ambitious military boy, idealist, scientist/computer geek, and Pretty Boy Not Allowed to Have Nice Things. :) The sexuality is certainly going to be important enough to dictate some of what he does (and I think it has already), but not his entire purpose or personality on the show.

So, yay! Now all I need is for Tom to ruffle Gaeta's curls in a fatherly manner, and I'm over the moon. (Note to self: write Gaeta introducing Tom and Hoshi.) And I've rambled for far too long already. My icon is exceedingly appropriate. :) Does meta count towards my wordcount for NaNoWriMo? :)