BSG: The Unforgiven Ones, Part 1: The Genocide Prayer

[grey_sw]

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The Unforgiven Ones

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"If someone does not have a good father, he should acquire one." - Friedrich Nietzsche (trans. Helen Zimmern), Human, All Too Human

"We were so sure / We were so wrong
Now it's over but there's no one left to see / And there's no one left to die
There's only M.E...." - Gary Numan, "M.E

Comments

[grey_sw]

One's relationship with Ellen feels so real here, especially this:
"So what, then?" he asked, suddenly angry. "If you've learned nothing -- if all of this was for nothing -- then why live at all? Why not die forty frakking years ago, and save us all the trouble?"

He seems so badly to want her to love him, in whatever form it takes. It's painful to watch.

Yeah. What if you threw a 12-planet, 20-billion person genocide, and nobody came?

The Plan is very much about the extent to which Cavil loved his parents, how much he longed for them to love him back, and how, in the end, they just weren't that into him. It's very Greek-tragic... plus, epic Cylon lulz. I'm pretty sure those were the bullet points on Jane Espenson's whiteboard, at any rate. ;)

Glad you liked John's backstory! I tried to keep it short and interesting, as nothing kills interest like a bunch of dry, boring minor-character backstory up-front...

[millari]

Wow, this is really fascinating! I can't believe it took me so long to get around to reading this

[grey_sw]

Wow, thanks for the in-depth comment!

This story explains a lot for me about why he became an atheist. Ellen's line about God seeing him and judging him made it clear to me that Cavil's atheism was at its root an attempt at running away from his mother's judgment.

I think that's part of it, yeah. I'm not sure Cavil ever became an atheist so much as he always was one; in my personal head-canon, religion was one (of many!) of his parents' ideas that Cavil Just Never Got, starting from the first moment he became self-aware. Ellen's inability to accept that led to a lot of pain for both of them.

But yes, the fact that he will. not. shut up. about it definitely has a lot to do with getting back at Mom. :P

I've occasionally felt sorry for Cavil, but I never thought you'd make me feel empathy for him. Great start!

Thank you! >:)