From: blakes7-d-request@lysator.liu.se Subject: blakes7-d Digest V99 #318 X-Loop: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se X-Mailing-List: archive/volume99/318 Precedence: list MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/digest; boundary="----------------------------" To: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se Reply-To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se ------------------------------ Content-Type: text/plain blakes7-d Digest Volume 99 : Issue 318 Today's Topics: [B7L] Re: Why Dystopia? DS9 (was Re: [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V99 #315) Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium? Re: DS9 (was Re: [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V99 #315) Re: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium? Re: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium? RE: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium? Re: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium? Re: [B7L] Re: Whence Herculanium? Re: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium? Re: [B7L] Re: Why Dystopia? RE: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium? [B7L] Casting the Potter books... [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V99 #317 Re: [B7L] Harry Potter [B7L] last lines [B7L] Re: Why Dystopia? [B7L] Cally-related. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 03:49:50 PST From: "Hellen Paskaleva" To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Re: Why Dystopia? Message-ID: <19991112114951.26891.qmail@hotmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >Neil, The Happy Chappy, wrote: > > Trainspotting is grim and bleak and has a downbeat ending, > >Una: >No it doesn't! I find the end of 'Trainspotting' extremely upbeat and >life-affirming! Seconded here. >You're right about the 'Phantom Menace'. Although I think the pod race is >dull, as well. Heeyyy, nothing _that_ wrong with Phantom Menace! You even got more space left for your own imagination. And there was at least one strong character - Darth Maul's. ;-) Hellen ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 13:29:11 -0500 From: Harriet Monkhouse <101637.2064@compuserve.com> To: "INTERNET:blakes7@lysator.liu.se" Subject: DS9 (was Re: [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V99 #315) Message-ID: <199911121329_MC2-8CCE-AC37@compuserve.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Una wrote in reply to Calle: > >I like the theory that all the Trek shows are really propaganda > >broadcasts by the Federation's Ministry of Truth. > > like deep space nine I am getting more and more embroiled in DS9. It took a while to get into the story arc, but the series currently showing on BBC2 (the penultimate one?) has an awful lot of oh-my-god stuff and has had me cheering a few times as they waved the red herring of a happy and constructive solution in my face and then successfully flung it out of sight. Though I do like the theory briefly suggested early in the final series that it's really the fantasy of a dangerous psychiatric patient. Apparently the final series is so bad I shouldn't be watching, but it's succeeded to the extent that *I want to know what happens next*. (Yes, that's a quote, but not remotely SF-related.) Harriet ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 13:33:24 -0500 From: Harriet Monkhouse <101637.2064@compuserve.com> To: "INTERNET:blakes7@lysator.liu.se" Subject: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium? Message-ID: <199911121333_MC2-8CCE-AC80@compuserve.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Mistral wrote: >it would appear Herculaneum was another town wiped out with Pompeii? Oh, Joanne thinks I should answer. So: Yes. Small town now known as Ercolano. Buried at same time as Pompeii, but in different way, ie not directly by lava. [Consults OCD] "buried deep under volcanic ash; the covering solidified to a form of tufa. As a result the buildings have collapsed more completely than at Pompeii, but having been more completely sealed, their furnishings are better preserved." Think they found loaves of bread and stuff. Apparently a wealthy, residential town, the sort of place whose citizens would think themselves vastly superior to the Pompeians. A lot of people make out it's more interesting than Pompeii, because so well preserved and so small it's easily taken in and comprehended. Not to me - it was so small that ten people in it felt like a crowd, whereas part of Pompeii's impact was its size - out of season, a hundred people in it felt like no one at all, and there was something terribly moving about this enormous ghost city. Or maybe it's just because I like cities. The stadium was really well designed, too - someone had put a lot of thought into how to get large numbers of fans in and out of their seats fairly quickly. Though I've a vague memory it wasn't in use in the years immediately before the eruption, the authorities having banned gladiatorial shows after a crowd riot. Bet Herculaneans wouldn't have been seen dead watching gladiators. To get back to the point, Herculaneum appears to have been settled by Greeks at some point, so I presume that the name derives ultimately from Hercules (Herakles! Herakles! Don't stand for these phony Latinisations!) And the herculanium of the Liberator is presumably named to indicate "stronger than other metals in the way that Hercules was stronger than other men". So the only connection would be that ultimately the names derive from the same source. Harriet ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 19:17:40 -0000 From: "Una McCormack" To: Subject: Re: DS9 (was Re: [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V99 #315) Message-ID: <04b501bf2d42$b85edf60$0d01a8c0@hedge> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Harriet wrote: > Una wrote in reply to Calle: > > >I like the theory that all the Trek shows are really propaganda > > >broadcasts by the Federation's Ministry of Truth. > > > > like deep space nine > > I am getting more and more embroiled in DS9. It took a while to get into > the story arc, but the series currently showing on BBC2 (the penultimate > one?) Yeah, season 6 is on BBC 2 at the moment. Season 7 is currently on Sky. > has an awful lot of oh-my-god stuff and has had me cheering a few > times as they waved the red herring of a happy and constructive solution in > my face and then successfully flung it out of sight. Zigackly! > Though I do like the theory briefly suggested early in the final series > that it's really the fantasy of a dangerous psychiatric patient. Oh, that whacked me in the face. Really powerful. I'm going to avoid saying more for fear of spoiling it for those who haven't seen it yet, as it's worth seeing cold. > Apparently the final series is so bad I shouldn't be watching, No, that isn't fair. It's had more rocky episodes (boring, boring Klingons, bloody holosuites, that sort of stuff), but the quality of the previous two seasons was such that there really wasn't a truly dodgy episode throughout seasons 5 and 6. There has been some astonishing stuff towards the end of season 7 concerning a - whaddya know! - rebellion, and a character who ends up leading this rebellion. (Phew! Ob B7!) Stick with it. Una ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 08:07:01 -0000 From: "Neil Faulkner" To: "b7" Subject: Re: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium? Message-ID: <02e901bf2d4a$65cb10e0$344b8cd4@default> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Joanne wrote: >>From: mistral@ptinet.net >>Unhappily I've lent that volume out this week; but it would appear >>Herculaneum was another town wiped out with Pompeii? Perhaps >>someone else has the volume I'm missing. > > Or you ask Harriet, our resident classical expert. But I do remember >it was the another town wiped out by the same eruption of Vesuvius. And now that you and Mistral have reminded me, I remember too. But I never made the connection with B7, oddly. >> > I thought this was a neologism coined for the series >>Well, it's not listed on my periodic table of elements, although >>admittedly, the copy I have is fifteen years old. > >Simplest explanation, reference to strength of the material the Liberator >was constructed out of, adapted from the name of the town. If any >explanation was ever considered, of course. Maybe the town was expected to >endure and be as strong as the being after it was named, but instead it got >the volcanic version of the nasty little floating space particles. It was specifically stated at one point (in DotG, I think) that herculanium was an alloy rather than an element. More likely the name derived from Hercules (as it did in the case of the city). Should the metal be spelt -eum, like the city, or -ium (cf aluminium, osmium, helium etc - admittedly these are all elements)? I would plump for the latter myself. Neil ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 08:32:42 +0000 (GMT) From: Judith Proctor To: Lysator List Subject: Re: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium? Message-ID: Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Fri 12 Nov, Joanne MacQueen wrote: > Or you ask Harriet, our resident classical expert. But I do remember > it was the another town wiped out by the same eruption of Vesuvius. correct. > > > > I thought this was a neologism coined for the series > >Well, it's not listed on my periodic table of elements, although > >admittedly, the copy I have is fifteen years old. > > Simplest explanation, reference to strength of the material the Liberator > was constructed out of, adapted from the name of the town. If any > explanation was ever considered, of course. Maybe the town was expected to > endure and be as strong as the being after it was named, but instead it got > the volcanic version of the nasty little floating space particles. Err... I think the more likely derivation is from Hercules. Herculaneum is supposed to be as strong as Hercules. Many elements have 'um' at the end so to invent a new strong element you just go for herculaneum. Just as an aside, I hate the way sloppy writers ivenet new elements at will. There are no gaps in the periodic table. The only space for new elements is after the trans-uranics and that means half-life of less than a millisecond. There is a possibility of an 'island of stability' some way beyond the trans-uranics, but stable is a rather relative term and besides, any elements in this area would not occur naturally. Why can't writers invent new alloys, compounds, minerals, composites, etc? JUdith -- http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7 - Fanzines for Blake's 7, B7 Filk songs, pictures, news, Conventions past and present, Blake's 7 fan clubs, Gareth Thomas, etc. (also non-Blake's 7 zines at http://www.nas.com/~lknight ) Redemption '01 23-25 Feb 2001 http://www.smof.com/redemption/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 12:48:23 PST From: "Sally Manton" To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: RE: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium? Message-ID: <19991112204823.23612.qmail@hotmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Jacqueline wrote: Yes, that's the high-tech explanation.... ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 21:11:16 -0000 From: "Una McCormack" To: "Lysator List" Subject: Re: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium? Message-ID: <000a01bf2d52$76c392c0$0d01a8c0@hedge> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Judith wrote: > Just as an aside, I hate the way sloppy writers ivenet new elements at will. The best examples being in 'Sapphire and Steel', presumably? Una ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 18:21:20 +0000 From: Julia Jones To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Cc: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Whence Herculanium? Message-ID: In message <19991112112007.81355.qmail@hotmail.com>, Hellen Paskaleva writes >I've always assumed, that 'herculanium' is some kind of alloy, not by all >means metal-based one, though. May be it is even on sub-atomic level, like >the 'magnetic bottles', used in the cyclotrons and it requires energy source >to function. This would explain how it protects successfully the ship from >enemy's blasters (or whatever). Whereas I've always assumed that herculanium is an allotrope of plotdevicium, dreamed up by someone with no understanding of the periodic table... Yes, I know, write out one hundred times, "I must not be as cynical as my hero..." -- Julia Jones "Don't philosophise with me, you electronic moron!" The Turing test - as interpreted by Kerr Avon. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1999 09:28:35 +1100 From: Kathryn Andersen To: "Blake's 7 list" Subject: Re: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium? Message-ID: <19991113092835.B943@welkin.apana.org.au> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Fri, Nov 12, 1999 at 08:54:14AM +0100, Jacqueline Thijsen wrote: > I always thought it was SF-latin for 'really strong stuff that the bad guys > can pound the hell out of without destroying the ship whenever dramatic > tension required the shields to go down a few scenes ago and we didn't get > around to fixing them yet'. Agreed, with the additional note that it's probably named after *Hercules*, and not the town Herculaneum. -- _--_|\ | Kathryn Andersen / \ | http://home.connexus.net.au/~kat \_.--.*/ | #include "standard/disclaimer.h" v | ------------| Melbourne -> Victoria -> Australia -> Southern Hemisphere Maranatha! | -> Earth -> Sol -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Universe ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1999 09:21:41 +1100 From: Kathryn Andersen To: "Blake's 7 list" Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Why Dystopia? Message-ID: <19991113092141.A943@welkin.apana.org.au> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Thu, Nov 11, 1999 at 03:05:34PM -0700, Ellynne G. wrote: > [stuff about Empire Strikes Back being distopian] > And the ambiguity that slips in about the 'good guys,' not just Luke. A > TNG character would say, "Oh, well, the bad guys arrived right before we > did and had a gun to Lando's head. It's not like there are any hard > feelings." Except Worf, he'd be pissed off - but then he's an alien and never really properly assimilated Good Human Values. > It suddenly hit me that Avon would fit in that universe even if he can't > levitate a lightsaber. And that there's an idea even more earthshaking > than Vader's revelation: Avon and Mara Jade. Um, who is Mara Jade? > >I think any utopian set-up has to carry with it an implicit conformity > >to > >some universal set of values which are accepted and followed without > >question, whether they reflect real world values or not. > > > Good point. And TNG doesn't _have_ core values. Except that they can > accept practically anything including ritual suicide and vendetta murders > if they're done with the right attitude. (Bravo! Well said! Applause.) Except that the "right attitude" *is* their core values. Political correctness and tolerance of anything that isn't personally threatening are their core values. Or maybe I should say, tolerance of anything done by foriegners and aliens. Pakleds can steal all they want from other races and they'll just get a puzzled "Why don't they wait until they evolve into something smarter?". But Pakleds steal their engineer and they actually have to do something about it. Eventually. Remarks like the one above hint that Federation culture is evolutionist (the belief that all races and cultures naturally evolve into something "better" - without actually defining what "better" is). Other remarks hint that atheism is the dominant (if not only) belief within Starfleet, if not the Federation at large. Wheras Blake's 7 culture is probably pretty much atheist (deduced from Blake's remark about the destruction of churches) one can also figure that it isn't atheist from empty-headed tolerance, but by active opression. The Blake's 7 Federation isn't tolerant at all. For those who support the Federation, the order and law of it is probably what appeals. Which is an interesting question about the Trek Federation - what sort of a law system would they have which fairly reflects the excessive tolerance of their culture? -- _--_|\ | Kathryn Andersen / \ | http://home.connexus.net.au/~kat \_.--.*/ | #include "standard/disclaimer.h" v | ------------| Melbourne -> Victoria -> Australia -> Southern Hemisphere Maranatha! | -> Earth -> Sol -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Universe ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1999 01:26:39 +0100 From: Jacqueline Thijsen To: "Blake's 7 list" Subject: RE: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium? Message-ID: <39DCDDFD014ED21185C300104BB3F99F8A06D4@NL-ARN-MAIL01> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Kathryn wrote: > > Agreed, with the additional note that it's probably named after > *Hercules*, and not the town Herculaneum. Well, the town was named after Hercules, so even if it was named after the town, it would still indirectly be named after the guy. Jacqueline ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 20:30:59 -0700 From: Helen Krummenacker To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Casting the Potter books... Message-ID: <382CDB72.6227@jps.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >Lean, large-nosed men with dark > >hair. I would definitely cast Paul to play the Potions master. > > Gareth for Dumbledore? I've got some re-reading to do, haven't I? I agree with Judith, he'd be very good for it. Allan (my husband) has suggested Brian Blessed for Hagrid. Wouldn't Jan make an excellent Sybill Trelawney? (Tripe, Sybill?) Throw a red wig on Jacqueline for Mrs. Weasley. And Steven Pacey, well, there's Lockhart. --Avona ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 20:34:35 -0700 From: Helen Krummenacker To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V99 #317 Message-ID: <382CDC4A.79E6@jps.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > One is the Last Lines game - > think of a suitable line to end a long-running TV show, or in B7's case a > particular episode. > Terminal: Avon: "I don't care if Vila remembered Orac, what about my teddy?!" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1999 20:12:28 -0700 From: "Ellynne G." To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Harry Potter Message-ID: <19991112.215736.9958.0.Rilliara@juno.com> Snape: Avon Albus: Blake McGonagal (I'm sure I spelled it wrong, but I loaned my book out) :Cally Hagrid: Gan Pettigrew: Vila Quisel: Also Vila Sirius Black: Avon Mr. Dursley: Travis I Dudley: Travis II Mrs. Dursley: Problem: Did any unattractive blondes with long, skinny necks ever appear on B7? If not, go with the blondeness and say Jenna Ellynne ___________________________________________________________________ Get the Internet just the way you want it. Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month! Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1999 20:20:36 -0700 From: "Ellynne G." To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] last lines Message-ID: <19991112.215736.9958.1.Rilliara@juno.com> The Way Back: Blake: No, I'm coming back. Guard: Oh, no, you had a chance to buy a two way ticket before you got on. No exchanges. You'll just have to pay the full return fare like the rest of them. Space Drive: Avon: Who? Dayna: Oh, great, I thought you were over the concussion and the memory problems. Avon: If you'd been knocked out as many times as I have . . . . what were we talking about? Blake: "Oopsie," Ellynne ___________________________________________________________________ Get the Internet just the way you want it. Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month! Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 22:37:24 -0700 From: "Ellynne G." To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Re: Why Dystopia? Message-ID: <19991112.223731.9958.2.Rilliara@juno.com> On Sat, 13 Nov 1999 09:21:41 +1100 Kathryn Andersen writes: >On Thu, Nov 11, 1999 at 03:05:34PM -0700, Ellynne G. wrote: >> >[stuff about Empire Strikes Back being distopian] > : Avon and Mara Jade. > >Um, who is Mara Jade? > Mara was a character introduced in the books. Personally, I think only Timothy Zahn did a good job with her. Her history was a bit complex but, although you wouldn't call her evil, she had worked for the Emperor on various missions, including assasinations (she had complex reasons for supporting the status quo). She was sarcastic and cynical in a way Avon might have really appreciated. Overgrown boy scout (if they had such things in Star Wars) would have been the nicest thing she might have said about Luke. I don't know what she would have said about Blake, but it would have pointed enough to make even Avon stand up and take notice. >Except that the "right attitude" *is* their core values. Political >correctness and tolerance of anything that isn't personally >threatening are their core values. And it's such a one way street. When did you ever hear Picard say they couldn't contact an alien race because they were too advanced for the Federation to deal with? And they have such silly ways of showing the 'primitives' fall apart (primitive being anyone who doesn't have toys as nice as theirs--another Star Trek core value: only those with really good toys get to play). One alien wandered into Ten Forward, the Enterprise bar, and his worldview collapsed, leading to suicide. Now, can you honestly see anyone on B7 doing this? Other than Vila, if he found himself trapped in a universe where they don't serve liquor? Ellynne ___________________________________________________________________ Get the Internet just the way you want it. Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month! Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1999 14:39:40 +0200 (EET) From: Kai V Karmanheimo To: Blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Cally-related. Message-ID: Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Hello Prompted by recent posts discussing Cally, I put down a few thoughts more-or-less relating to her : 1. What's Revenge Got to Do with It? I don't see any conflict between Cally's comment about "companions to my death" in "Time Squad" and her morals during the third season. Besides Blake, Cally was the only one of the original crew who was prepared to fight for someone else's freedom from the word go. She risked exile from her own world to fight for another (and "dying for" is usually found in very small print under "fighting for", even if no one who signs the contract ever believes it will really come to that). That should count as some measure of dedication to the cause ("another idealist", I hear someone groan). By the time of "Time Squad", she is alone (something the Auronar are not too happy about) with all her comrades dead, she is stuck in a hostile planet and couldn't go back home even if she had the means to do so. Her only options are to stay clear of Federation security (if they believe that all the fighters are dead), hiding until she starves or dies of old age (a lifetime alone, again not an endearing thought to an Auronar), or failing that, fight them, in which case they will certainly hunt her down and kill her. It is not a question of whether she will die, but rather how and when she will die. If she attacks the complex, she will certainly cause damage, possibly even take out the reactor before she is killed. That way her death will have at least served some purpose by damaging Federation's stronghold on the planet and eliminating some of its enforcers. A small hindrance perhaps, but at least closer to her original brief than what dying alone in the hills would accomplish. Revenge doesn't have to play a major part in her decision (though of course in a situation like that, noble ideals tend to lose their appeal; just think how numerous the people who believed in "thou shalt not kill" and still ended up strewn across the innumerable battlefields with their dead hands clenched around their equally dead enemies' throats), but if it does, at least it wont be "a pointless revenge, it doesn't achieve anything", like she would later accuse Avon of seeking. Death ... but first cheech. In "Seek-Locate-Destroy", she would have had the chance to avenge her torture on Travis (I don't think Blake would have gone out of his way to stop her, just because of someone who "doesn't matter enough to kill"), but first chose not to shoot a (seemingly) helpless man, and when Travis did give her a reason, still failed to kill him. I don't think she is that kill happy here, not wanting to kill anyone in cold blood. That doesn't prevent her from thinking that if you want to share your life with your friends, you might as well share your death with your enemies. 2. The Changing Seasons of Cally Cally's character did undergo change during the three season she was on, from the warrior of "Time Squad" to the kind of moral conscience of the group in some of the third season episodes. It's always nice to see some character development (episodic television is an ideal place to for it, but rarely manages to do it convincingly), even if it doesn't necessarily go the way you want it to go, and I think Cally's change is justifiable. At the beginning of season two, Cally is still very much attached to Blake's freedom-or-bust ideology, as it's with Cally that Blake discusses his strategies and gets most support from ("Weapon"; "Pressure Point"), as opposed to Jenna whose dedication is primarily to Blake himself and not the dream he's fighting for (which is why he discusses more personal things with Jenna). Though she still believes in Blake in "Trial", some doubts have begin to emerge. In "Star One", the epic culmination of the "Blake-era", she is the only one to point out the moral dilemma of risking what could be labelled as genocide by destroying Star One (with a sudden simultaneous breakdown of just about every larger computerised function in over 200 worlds, many which are probably completely dependant of them, could well mean a death toll of millions, with entire civilisations wiped out by flooding, famine, loss of life support etc.). I think this scene nicely represents how not only she, but how the whole series has evolved from the rather simplified beginning. After all, Blake himself has changed from his more idealistic, "power back with the honest man" roots to someone seemingly driven by the raw need to just get the enemy slain, to prove that it was the whole world that had it wrong, not him. The third season Cally has gone through the Intergalactic War, and seen the fight for freedom fail despite all the effort and sacrifices. I think being hot on revenge and other violent action has understandably lost its taste for her. With Avon now in command of the Liberator and not interested in risking his neck to smite any tyrants, there is no room for much rebel rousing, anyway. Stuck on the Liberator with no cause, no home to go back to and probably no other safe place in the galaxy, surrounded by people she might not relate to all that well (excepting possible attraction to Avon), her feelings must be accurately described by her comment in "Sarcophagus" : "Why not? It's something else to chase" (a sentiment that seems to describe the whole confusion of the third season). Having her shout down the Vila, Tarrant and Dayna when they are orbiting Shrinker like buzzards is one of my favourite moments in "Rumours of Death". Again, if you want to enjoy being immoral, someone has to first point out that you are so. Cally handles this task well. 3. Avon & Cally Avon's and Cally's relationship is ambiguous, but I think there was some mutual - but necessarily simultaneous - attraction. There are two interesting pre-third season moments when Avon seems to be showing something : his reaction towards Cally's going down and disappearance in "Horizon" and his sudden "She's more human than I am" in "Shadow", delivered without obvious sarcasm or his usual gusto, almost like he was talking to himself. Her demise in "Rescue" certainly makes Avon colder and contributes the fourth season's increasing sense of hopelessness and cascading violence. 4. The Trouble with Trust Finally, the reason why Cally and Gan seem to be the two members of the original crew that are somewhat apart from the rest has to do with trust. They're much inclined to trust people without questioning (Vila in "Trial" : "[Gan] wasn't always expecting to be cheated and double-crossed, not like us. He trusted people, he trusted Blake completely."; Cally in "Mission to Destiny" : "My people have a saying : a man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken."), which makes their thinking more straight-forward, naive even when compared to Blake's subtle manipulation and awareness of all the Byzantine machinations around him, Avon's paranoid distrust of anything outside himself, Vila's highly refined pessimism and self-delusion and Jenna's betrayal-tempered caution ("I don't trust unless I'm trusted in return"), and their use of language less intricate. Instead of elaborate put-downs or Avon's downright destructive use of language, they seem to focus more on uniting and defusing (though less skilfully than Blake does when he is in the mood), rather than dividing and provocation. All this tends to make them less memorable characters (the lion's share of the most memorable and easily-quotable one-liners goes to Avon and Vila), but I think their presence is vital to the charm the original crew had (and was never matched by the later incarnations). Diversity and contrast make for a much more interesting group interaction. As a final note, if the Federation had fallen, I think I would rather see the task of trying to create something more humane from the ruins of a dictatorship fall to people like Cally and Gan, rather than Avon and Vila. However, in wartime trust doesn't seem to be a survival trait, and it certainly wasn't for either of them. Then again, considering Blake's and Avon's undoing on Gaudea Prime, neither is distrust... And now I've rambled long enough. Kai Karmanheimo -------------------------------- End of blakes7-d Digest V99 Issue #318 **************************************