I just read this straight through and have to go to bed, so I can get up for work tomorrow. I plan to come back and do a lot more comments. For now, this was a great read & I can't wait to reread when I have time to give proper feedback.
Augh, this is totally not your fault, and actually, it speaks to how well you write them, but AUGH, how much I hate later!Bill and Laura. Hate hate hate. I spent about 75% of this fic wanted to bash their heads in with my baseball bat.
This really was amazing and so well done, but I came out of it angry and unsettled.
I am SO with you on Bill. It really bothered me that he executed Gaeta without a backwards thought, but when he told Helo "I've lost a son, you've lost a daughter"... I just lost all sympathy for him. I really did. And he used to be one of my favorite characters EVER. But his response to Helo just... I can't forget it
( ... )
Yes! I loved Bill at the beginning of the series, and through most of season three, but it went so downhill, so fast with him and I.
I always disliked Laura, and it got worse as the series went on. I don't disagree that what the Actives were wasn't helpful or awesome, or even necessary, but...does having two (sort of) volunteers negate the fact that some of them aren't?. It's definitely a morally gray area, which I definitely enjoyed reading.
The moral gray was most definitely WAY too much fun. :) I honestly don't know what I thought by the end. I think I felt like, in Racetrack's case, you really could make a major argument for it, and then Skulls wanting to follow her. But is being offered their freedom on a planet where they might get it any way really a decent compensation? Noel took it for redemption. Racetrack took it because she just... I can only imagine what it must be like for them to lose so much and just keep waking up every day to lose more. That's what made this premise so interesting to me- the Dollhouse tech in any other verse I'm familiar with never rouses any sympathy in me. In the BSG verse, I can see where it's got its upsides and its pluses.
After a while, it made my head hurt :) Thanks so much!
Thanks so much! I'm so glad you liked this. It's definitely a morally gray story- I couldn't decide myself what I really thought of the issue. Because yeah, while I'm totally Team Mutiny, the violence of what they did was wrong, and Felix deserved punishment. Severe punishment. But at the same time, to take away someone's free will? And then Racetrack definitely volunteered, but was being offered her freedom a coercion? Was it even honest, since Roslin had no idea of what kind of planet they'd find? I mean, keeping prisoners takes resources. If they found an uninhabited planet, would they really be able to keep her prisoner? Was she really getting something out of the deal? This one really, really made my head hurt.
I'm so glad Helo worked for you, and I have to thank my f-list for whoever suggested that. Originally, Sharon was supposed to be Felix's handler, and Helo was supposed to help Zarek escape. But it definitely worked better the other way around.
I cannot tell you how much I adore this story. You took the imprint technology and brought it to BSG and really made a wonderfully thinky story. Also, you wrote a story about freewill and redemption that touched my heart.
I did love Adama's reconciliation with Felix by giving him the Admiral pins and assigning Hoshi as his XO. BTW I don't think I mentioned in my last comment, but Hoshi's resignation was very unexpected and perfectly played.
Thanks so much, both for this and all your comments throughout! I really appreciate it :) I'm so glad you enjoyed it- this was such a complex and difficult issue and a fun story to write because of that, but a very challenging one.
And thanks- I was very fond of Hoshi's resignation. (Plus, he got to grow that scruff ;) )
Very interesting -- I haven't seen Dollhouse, so I can't speak for any of the non-BSG characters, but everyone else was spot-on here. Sharon and Helo were especially well-drawn, but I was also impressed by your Adama. I wanted to smack him now and again, but not nearly as much as in 4.5, and I know that couldn't have been easy for you! :P And you always do a great job with Zarek, but you outdid yourself with his last scene. I really do think that martyrdom was more attractive to him than life, in a lot of ways... I think he was just idealistic enough to understand that the only truly unblemished legacy is the one you're not around to compromise.
I particularly liked the double-double-cross the Dollhouse folks had planned for Laura. That really elevated this story; it adds so many more shades of grey. And the fact that Sierra wasn't willing to let it happen was quite powerful, even though I'm not at all familiar with her character. You did a great job of exploring the idea of free will and forgiveness... almost enough for me to
( ... )
The funny thing was Tom was originally going to live. It wasn't for any good reason- it was just I didn't want to rewrite the whole rescue AGAIN (especially after last year) and killing off a POV character offscreen just seemed wrong. Then it finally hit me "hey, write it from his POV!" I'm very glad it did.
almost enough for me to forgive you for destroying the Colony again, but not quite. (But at least this time it wasn't destroyed by a frakkin' rock!)
LOL. This is true. Although there were a bunch of basestars trolling around the Colony! (And you notice how that naked singularity never gets mentioned in my AUs? Yeah. It doesn't exist.) So there were 1s and 4s and 5s surviving on the basestars and stuff that were around the Colony, but their numbers were low enough that they weren't so bent on destroying humanity.
Then it finally hit me "hey, write it from his POV!" I'm very glad it did.
Yes, it gives the ending a visceral impact it otherwise wouldn't have had. And I just can't see Tom Zarek living in peace alongside the Earth-Themed Bill and Laura Show, anyway; this was a much more fitting end for him.
(And you notice how that naked singularity never gets mentioned in my AUs? Yeah. It doesn't exist.)
Ugh, the singularity was so stupid. It's the ultimate in lazy writing... sort of a metaphor for season 4.5, actually. It's too complicated to keep proper track of, big and showy yet empty at the center, and it sucks!
So there were 1s and 4s and 5s surviving on the basestars and stuff that were around the Colony, but their numbers were low enough that they weren't so bent on destroying humanity.
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This really was amazing and so well done, but I came out of it angry and unsettled.
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I am SO with you on Bill. It really bothered me that he executed Gaeta without a backwards thought, but when he told Helo "I've lost a son, you've lost a daughter"... I just lost all sympathy for him. I really did. And he used to be one of my favorite characters EVER. But his response to Helo just... I can't forget it ( ... )
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I always disliked Laura, and it got worse as the series went on. I don't disagree that what the Actives were wasn't helpful or awesome, or even necessary, but...does having two (sort of) volunteers negate the fact that some of them aren't?. It's definitely a morally gray area, which I definitely enjoyed reading.
BUT LAURA AND BILL AUGH.
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After a while, it made my head hurt :) Thanks so much!
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I'm so glad Helo worked for you, and I have to thank my f-list for whoever suggested that. Originally, Sharon was supposed to be Felix's handler, and Helo was supposed to help Zarek escape. But it definitely worked better the other way around.
Thanks so much, and I'm glad you liked this one!
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I did love Adama's reconciliation with Felix by giving him the Admiral pins and assigning Hoshi as his XO. BTW I don't think I mentioned in my last comment, but Hoshi's resignation was very unexpected and perfectly played.
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And thanks- I was very fond of Hoshi's resignation. (Plus, he got to grow that scruff ;) )
Thanks again!
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I particularly liked the double-double-cross the Dollhouse folks had planned for Laura. That really elevated this story; it adds so many more shades of grey. And the fact that Sierra wasn't willing to let it happen was quite powerful, even though I'm not at all familiar with her character. You did a great job of exploring the idea of free will and forgiveness... almost enough for me to ( ... )
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The funny thing was Tom was originally going to live. It wasn't for any good reason- it was just I didn't want to rewrite the whole rescue AGAIN (especially after last year) and killing off a POV character offscreen just seemed wrong. Then it finally hit me "hey, write it from his POV!" I'm very glad it did.
almost enough for me to forgive you for destroying the Colony again, but not quite. (But at least this time it wasn't destroyed by a frakkin' rock!)
LOL. This is true. Although there were a bunch of basestars trolling around the Colony! (And you notice how that naked singularity never gets mentioned in my AUs? Yeah. It doesn't exist.) So there were 1s and 4s and 5s surviving on the basestars and stuff that were around the Colony, but their numbers were low enough that they weren't so bent on destroying humanity.
Thanks for reading, and glad you enjoyed it!
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Yes, it gives the ending a visceral impact it otherwise wouldn't have had. And I just can't see Tom Zarek living in peace alongside the Earth-Themed Bill and Laura Show, anyway; this was a much more fitting end for him.
(And you notice how that naked singularity never gets mentioned in my AUs? Yeah. It doesn't exist.)
Ugh, the singularity was so stupid. It's the ultimate in lazy writing... sort of a metaphor for season 4.5, actually. It's too complicated to keep proper track of, big and showy yet empty at the center, and it sucks!
So there were 1s and 4s and 5s surviving on the basestars and stuff that were around the Colony, but their numbers were low enough that they weren't so bent on destroying humanity.
<3
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