Date: 26 May 2013 17:52 Title: Confession
This is an interesting deduction into what was really going on in Icheb's mind between the Borg ship (he was captured on) being wiped out of all drones and that time when Icheb was freed. I always thought that Icheb and the others didn't have their individualities because they were still connected to each other, albeit cut off from the Borg.
The way I see it, there is ambiguity over whether Icheb was still just a Borg drone or an individual who did not know any better due to being assimilated by the Borg and then cut off from the collective.
But I can see why Icheb believes he is a murderer, though it could be more simply survivor's guilt and Icheb believes he could have done things differently with hindsight whilst overlooking the extent to which he was fully in control of his personality at that time.
Date: 26 May 2013 03:23 Title: Confession
You just keep nailing the big moments, hammering home the raw truth of Icheb's nature. There's no running away from it (and for Maren there's no running away from it now that she has heard his confession), no sweeping it under the rug. Alas VOY did do that and yet the wealth of story material they squandered by not revisiting these matters with Icheb. It's galling really, especailly as they did return and return again to Borg story of the week episodes but the crux of so much character material was not touched upon.
Thrilling though to see you treat it so effectively and of course it is also a pivotal moment for their relationship and a huge, huge, huge step for Icheb to lower his defences to trust Maren with this knowledge knowing that it could drive her away.
Poor Icheb. There's ugly truth to what he is saying and yet he was but a child soldier like those drugged and addicted in our world today to become child soldiers in war and perpetrate horrible acts of violence and brutality. His guilt is his and yet is he not rightfully expunged of those crimes. Yet as he said they had free will. A very amoral grey area, shades that colour our hero.
And yet, Maren despite everything accepts him. Accepts this weapon as a man she loves. Bravery all round here.
VOY totally did that, which is what inspired this entire brain-eating obsession of mine. I could not let such a terrifically conceived character with so much opportunity for great storytelling go to waste. Icheb is totally a gray character. He's so young and unassuming that people forget he's a living weapon with a seriously messed up past. He has almost no good memories. Just betrayal by those who should have loved him most, a sense of failure at having not done the one thing he was created to do the second time he was sent to do it, and yet a sense of guilt at having done it (and survived) the first time. Add that to his memories of murder ... he's a bit of a mess. He's lucked out with Voyager rescuing him and having met and fallen in love with Maren, but still ... he has a whole closet full of skeletons. Like I said in response to another review ... this is the moment Maren realizes she doesn't love him because of what he is (genius, attractive, interesting, kind), but because of WHO he is. She believes in his goodness to her core. Not even this horrible revelation can shake that. Thanks so much for the review. <3
Author's Response:
Date: 25 May 2013 18:59 Title: Confession
Oh, Icheb. I want to hold him, too.
Author's Response:
<3
Date: 25 May 2013 12:19 Title: Confession
Ugh. Damn... I'd forgotten about that. That's not really a conversation a college student's life experience prepares them for.
Author's Response:
Yeah. Poor Icheb's been in well over his head from the moment he was created. Thanks for the review!
Date: 24 May 2013 04:38 Title: Confession
Wow! That blew me away and I'm only peripherally familiar with the Borg. I get Icheb's guilt, and Maren's quiet horror at the confession. However, free will or not, they were essentially children, and as Borg drones--albeit immature ones--they were dealing with the situation they were facing the only way they knew how.
Now, I think even more important than Maren's understanding and forgiveness, will be to see if Icheb can find it within himself to forgive himself; to make up for those past transgressions if you will. He was created as a weapon, one used to combat and annihilate a terrifying threat. Can he be blamed for continuing to think and act like a weapon once the threat had been destroyed? That's the question both he and Maren need to ask themselves, and answer...
Author's Response:
Icheb will spend the rest of his life trying to atone for his various imperfections. It's his nature.
Thanks so much for the review!
Date: 24 May 2013 02:17 Title: Confession
Powerful stuff. Icheb dealing with the horrors of the past. An unwilling apprentice to evil.
Author's Response:
Thank you, Mac!
Date: 23 May 2013 22:46 Title: Confession
My God that must be hard to hear. I've been in the situation before of having to hear a difficult truth from someone you love, and you totally nailed the confused and uncertain feelings. (Obviously I'm not taking on the same level as admitting to mass murder, but still... :) ) I'm not sure if it is planned in this series of stories but I would love to see what happens next!
Author's Response:
Yeah, hard stuff indeed. (I am, however, glad to know that you never fell for a murderer. ;-) ) Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Date: 23 May 2013 20:52 Title: Confession
But Icheb, you were a child, and an assimilated one! You were practically a child soldier! Oi, that poor boy. Maybe they figured out it was wrong, and there's no dismissing that it was horrible, but he sure needs some therapy. To process it and deal with it, and be a bit more fair to himself about it all.
Well done, and quite heartbreaking.
Author's Response:
Therapy would have been helpful, but that wasn't really an option on Voyager. The whole crew of that ship was severely emotionally damaged and there was no one there to help them. It was the blind leading the blind. By this point, Icheb has really internalized and locked down his feelings about the past, and it would be a long slog through therapy ... so instead, he fakes being well-adjusted, and does it very well. It helps that people don't expect much from him emotionally because of his Borg background. There's a lot more going on there than really meets the eye.
Thanks for the review!
Date: 23 May 2013 15:43 Title: Confession
This is the toughest of confessions. Writing a killer, and then writing a serious relationship for that person, inevitably means this sort of talk (unless the paramour is also a killer).
To Maren's credit, she does not freak out, and she lets Icheb finish. Icheb, who was essentially created as a bomb to be detonated in the collective (and he was a successful one at that) and then he went further as they had no other ideas, and felt they had no other options. Good for him for not just saying he was following the First's orders. Hard information all around.
Author's Response:
Thanks for the insightful comment, jes!
Date: 23 May 2013 15:10 Title: Confession
As usual, the interplay between these two is spot on. Maren's need to fix things, the engineers curse, is on display here as well as her clear conflict about what to do. Should she listen to him? Help him? Move towards him, comfort him? She's all a mix of emotions as Icheb, bless his heart, sits there guiltily confessing past sins. It's a tough thing to tell hard truths and I admire Icheb for being willing to do it.
Well done.
Author's Response:
Thanks, TF. Maren was always trying to fix things for Icheb. This, however, is above her pay grade. (Doesn't meant she won't try her hardest, though.)