Fic: Imperfect Parentage (BSG, Gen)

[lizardbeth_j]

Title: Imperfect Parentage
Characters: Sam Anders, Cavil (NOT Anders/Cavil! ew...)
Spoilers: No Exit
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 7500

Summary: The last thing Sam heard was Leoben's voice, asking after Kara.

Note: This story takes place immediately following LDYBII. I've had this mostly done since "No Exit" aired, but certain spoilers spurred

Comments

[grey_sw]

Wow, this is a clever idea! It slots right into canon, and explains more than a few things about New Caprica. I like the double-irony in Anders' creation of the Earth Centurions, and then his creation of the Seven. I also love the irony in his desire to kill the Cavils even as he offers to help them -- in a way, I think Cavil called his bluff, also. Good stuff!

[lizardbeth_j]

Thank you! Oh yes, manipulation and irony and playing god just dripping all over the place, isn't there? The apple really doesn't fall too far from the tree.

[grey_sw]

The apple really doesn't fall too far from the tree.

ha ha, yeah. Deadlock made that really clear, and I appreciate how your fic does as well.

John learned it from you, Dad! He learned it from YOU! :P

[lizardbeth_j]

Can you imagine the dinner table arguments on the Colony in the early days with the Five plus John? EPIC, man. lol.

[lizardbeth_j]

Thank you!

It's a bit difficult to write fully cognizant Sam, since we got so little of him, so I had to make it up. I'm glad it worked.

One of the things that spurred me into this was realizing that the reason Leoben was SO crazy-awful with Kara could be because Cavil encouraged him to punish Sam. He'd know from Caprica that Sam loved her, and he'd know that breaking her would not just take away one of the humans' prime weapons but hurt Sam too. And it worked even better than he could've expected (and also set the seeds for his own demise, but that's why he's not god).

heh. oh honey, you have yet to see the great tangled depths of my Cylon fanon. This is the wee tip of the iceberg of Liz's Grand Unified Theory Of All Things Cylon. *g*

[lizardbeth_j]

I have a feeling we have the same over-thinky obsessed fan thing going on here.

As O'Neill would say:

Y'THINK? lol

[lizardbeth_j]

Thank you! and me too, I feel awful for him... He's a victim, even when he doesn't know it. Makes it all even more tragic. *wibbles*

[emmiere]

Oh wow...this is amazingly epic.

I love Sam. I love most anything written about Sam, but this fills in so many of the things I wanted to see and know about the Five's backstory, the creation of the Seven, and how it all fits into the show's mythology. And you write him very, very well as knowing exactly who he is and what he's done. No Exit Sam only hinted at his earlier personality and I love how this expands that and gives me the same vague uneasiness that I had then. It's such an interesting mix, particularly when he's bluffing Cavil. Nice little bit of callousness and deceit that's mirrored on both sides. Plus the implied religious zeal.

Was it supposed to be some twisted comment on how it was the Five's fault for giving the Cylons the desire but not the ability to procreate?

...hmmm.

And..ouch. Sam watching Leoben here was especially painful to read. As was that final section and he goes back to playing exactly the role he's supposed to.

Was that a little bit of Sam/angel!Six in there? I like. :)

[lizardbeth_j]

thanks! heh, yes, this is my Fanon primer on the Five and their history, trying to fill in the blanks (Before the Plan does! *g*)

"vague uneasiness". hm, that's really interesting. How come? Because he's not "our" Sam? Or something else? But I'm glad he still seems like Sam, even though rather profoundly changed...

"Sam/angel!Six" -- Six or Three, your choice. *g* Not that it matters, since it's actually Angel!Kara in a different face... :)

[emmiere]

How come? Because he's not "our" Sam?

*dons thinky hat*

Mhmm, sort of? One of the things I think the show forgot in 4.5 was Cylons as robots. I kind of missed that, but it was always a little strange, even up to the end, for me to think of the Five as Cylons because nothing really seemed to change until Sam got his memory back. No Exit Sam was hard for me to read, because he was still Sam, but seemed to process everything a little differently. So I think it was more the uncertainty about what had changed and whether his motivations had also shifted at all.

Not that it matters, since it's actually Angel!Kara in a different face... :)

Hee! Well, I like that too. Though I will always choose Six to fufill my crack!shipping needs. :)

[rose_griffes]

Ooh, this was really interesting. Woohoo!

[lizardbeth_j]

thank you! :)