Ellynne G. wrote:
Guess I'm just awnry at heart but I got ahold of the Heroes & Heroines book and started reading through it. Although I agree Cally is mostly a Crusader-Nurturer,
Now, I don't see the Nurturer part of Cally as very large. Okay, she occasionally did medical stuff, but the Nurturer is larger than physical care. It's bolstering others, putting their wishes and desires before your own. It's warmth and emotional giving & connecting...and I didn't see much of that from Cally. Take her (non)relationship with Dayna, for example. I think Cally was too self-contained and emotionally distant from the other to be much of a Nurturer. [I don't have the book at hand right now, or I'd try to find quotes to back this up.]
I think she shows definite moments of Waifishness.
Definitely, as the series went on. Poor lost little girl, with only a semi-sentient stone as a soul mate.
about why I see her as a Waif, I'm not sure what can be done to cure her.
In fanfic, you mean? She needs something to stiffen her spine, put the fire back into her. A personal cause -- I think she needs the person-to-person connection rather than Blake's more universal rebellion. Hook her up with a specific group that is fighting on valiantly, or being attacked and in need of defense, something like that. I can see her standing up even to Blake if his overall strategy required sacrificing/not aiding a group that Cally had formed a link to.
Just as herself, she always seemed to take pride in her Auron identity - but the Aurons weren't just wiped out, they were wiped out _easily_ and without a fight by their moral and species opposites in the Federation (and partly because of Crusader choices Cally had made that put her on the LIberator).
Another thought: since the Aurons were into cloning, doesn't it seem reasonable they'd have gene stocks/cloning facilites in reserve? Deep underground, on a moon, on an entirely different planet? What if Cally learned of one of these -- don't you think becoming the warrior/guardian of her reborn species might get her back in Crusader mode?
Interesting idea that Cally got waif-ized to make her more appealing to Avon....how sexist of them. Why alter *her* to fit *him* rather than vice versa?
The problem with this is that I can't seem to come up with a story where Avon is likely to change his interaction with Cally before she has reached a state of near total Waifishness. In other words, when she has been completely beaten and has lost all connection to her Crusader and Nurturer identities.
I don't like this.
Mn. Well, I'm not as sure Avon finds Waifs sexually attractive. He was *kind* to Meegat, but I don't think he salivated over her. ;-)
As for the problem of trusting Cally, I think that that arises from Avon seeing her as being akin to Blake: ready to fight, die, and sacrifice others as necessary in pursuit of the greater good. If Avon could be convinced that his own well-being has become of prime importance to her.... How, I leave as a exercise for the writer. One possible angle: Cally chooses some action that harms the rebellion simply to save Avon. Another: somehow Avon's life becomes crucially important to the success of the rebellion, perhaps he has to do some computer magicking on an on-going basis to allow other things to happen undisturbed by the Feds.
Susan Beth (susanbeth33@mindspring.com)