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5511 discussions

Re: Vila
by Steve Rogerson 20 May '01

20 May '01

Sally said: "His cowardice is IMO genuine, but only one aspect of this; where he thinks it won't work, he doesn't give in to it." This is an interesting aspect of Vila and far more like your average person. Most people's reactions to some of the situations they got themselves in would have been like Vila's reaction, that is not going out of their way to put themselves in unnecessary danger. This isn't cowardice, it is just commonsense. It is only when the reason to put oneself in danger is so compelling or the alternative of not doing so potentially worse, that most people would do so. That is why in times of war, even with conscription, so much time and effort are placed on propaganda to convince the population that the cause is worth fighting for and/or pushing the shame element for those that don't sign up. Otherwise, no-one in their right mind would engage in trench warfare. The alternative tactic used in Norse mythology and others was that you didn't get a good afterlife unless you died in battle. Sally said: "an interesting aspect of his saving Tarrant in Rescue is that there is no one there to *tell him* him do it, in the heat of the moment he just does" Again a trait witnessed often in people. On the spur of the moment, with no time to think, they will put themselves at risk to help others. Remember the bravery of the guy on the Herald of Free Enterprise (a ferry that sank about 15 years ago) who turned himself into a human bridge for people to walk across? This type of behaviour is what i believe makes Vila so appealing. In him more than most characters on the show we can see bits of ourselves or people we know. -- cheers Steve Rogerson http://homepages.poptel.org.uk/steve.rogerson Redemption 03, 21-23 February 2003, Ashford, Kent Celebrating 25 years of Blake's 7 and 10 years of Babylon 5 http://www.smof.com/redemption

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Re: Federation political hierarchies & comparisons
by Steve Rogerson 20 May '01

20 May '01

Dana said: >> Think Vila, Jenna [would vote Labour] > >No way--I'm SURE she's a Tory, Gan might be respectable enough >to be one too Jenna and Gan have to much of a conscience to be Tories, neither like exploiting people. Though Jenna was a free trader, which might have given her some leanings that way. These couldn't have been ingrained or she wouldn't have become such a loyal supporter of Blake's cause. Gan is too nice to be a Tory. I think this is where Una hits me. -- cheers Steve Rogerson http://homepages.poptel.org.uk/steve.rogerson Redemption 03, 21-23 February 2003, Ashford, Kent Celebrating 25 years of Blake's 7 and 10 years of Babylon 5 http://www.smof.com/redemption

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Re: Avon worship
by Steve Rogerson 20 May '01

20 May '01

Dana said: "Maybe canon gives us enough information about Avon's character to be intriguing, but leaves enough gaps to launch a thousand fanfics" This i believe is key. There are so many takes on his character, mental stability and so on, that can come out of canon. Most interpretations can be backed up by what we see, which gives plenty of room for almost any fanfic interpretation. The fact that loads of female fans fancied the pants off him also helps. -- cheers Steve Rogerson http://homepages.poptel.org.uk/steve.rogerson Redemption 03, 21-23 February 2003, Ashford, Kent Celebrating 25 years of Blake's 7 and 10 years of Babylon 5 http://www.smof.com/redemption

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B7L] Re: Orbit
by Ellynne G. 20 May '01

20 May '01

While I have serious doubts about Vila sacrificing himself for Avon, say he did. What I wonder is what it would be like for Avon if Vila _had_ . What would it be like for him to realize he'd been trying to murder someone at the same time that person had been deciding to save his life at the expense of their own? Ellynne ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.

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Re: [B7L] Fans everywhere again
by Pherber＠aol.com 20 May '01

20 May '01

In a message dated 5/19/01 4:11:05 AM Mountain Daylight Time, jennyefisher(a)yahoo.co.uk writes: > And I gave a girlfriend going through a rather nasty > divorce a great line to use to her ex, who often used > to goad her by saying she'd never find anyone else as > she was so ugly/pathetic, etc. "There are worse > things than being alone... being with you is one of > them!" He didn't like it, of course, but it made her > feel a lot better, 'specially as she said it in front > of a group of his friends, who all laughed. LOL - well done! > Has anyone else ever borrowed the devastating wit of > the B7 scriptwriters and editor to good effect? I seem to use "What shall I do with the other hand?" a lot. Nina

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Re: [B7L] Re: Orbit
by Pherber＠aol.com 20 May '01

20 May '01

In a message dated 5/19/01 7:57:49 PM Mountain Daylight Time, smanton(a)hotmail.com writes: > I think Blake would try to leave, and Avon - his *protective* instinct > kicking in - would try and stop him. That seems the most likely scenario to me -- maybe they would come to their senses and figure out the weight problem *logically* for a change! Blake *is* supposed to be an engineer, after all. Nina

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[B7L]Back on topic, methinks?
by Sally Manton 20 May '01

20 May '01

Marian wrote re Cally in Bounty: <We don't know what the wildlife on Lindor is (except that they have squirrels), so maybe that coat did resemble a local species of animal? :-)> Now trying to imagine what sort of species also wears four-inch heels while climbing ;-) _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Re: Orbit
by Sally Manton 20 May '01

20 May '01

Alison wrote: <Michael Keating said Vila was crying because he was trying to get his act together to put *himself* out the airlock. That is, he was going to sacrifice himself, as you think Blake would.> And Claudia: <Hm. I don't buy that at all. If that's what the actor says he had in mind, I'll accept that, but that's not what comes across on screen to me. To me, he's just in terror. Not exactly betrayal, because Avon didn't do anything Vila didn't expect of him. He doesn't have to wait to see Avon's reaction to Orac's comment; he's already hidden before Avon comes down with his gun and his awful soft voice.> Agree with all of this, and I actually really can't see Vila sacrificing himself for anyone *at all*. Not even Blake - though I can believe that he might *want* to for Blake. Vila is, first and foremost, a survivor, even more so IMO than Avon, because there actually *isn't* anyone who Vila would deliberately, cold-bloodedly put ahead of himself. I see this in both Vila and Soolin, and a possible explanation in their backgrounds, similar in that both appear to have been flung onto their own resources at a very young age (Soolin's family were massacred, Vila was in prison at age 14). His cowardice is IMO genuine, but only one aspect of this; where he thinks it won't work, he doesn't give in to it. He does, of course, occasionally take risks for one of the others - an interesting aspect of his saving Tarrant in Rescue is that there is no one there to *tell him* him do it, in the heat of the moment he just does. And almost goes back for Cally, but then when that awful rumble starts, the survival instinct kicks in and he scrambles for safety (I'm not blaming him, of course, there's not a thing he could have done to save her). But to cold-bloodedly face death for someone else ..? No. What I can see is Blake deciding to airlock himself and Vila *wanting* to stop him, but not being able to pull together that amount of selflessness until it was too late. <What would happen between Blake and Avon on the shuttle? I have no idea. Neither of them would hide, so instead there would be some kind of "so this is it after all these years" confrontation. I'm sure Blake wouldn't kill Avon, but I don't think Avon would kill Blake either, _in that circumstance_.> I think Blake would try to leave, and Avon - his *protective* instinct kicking in - would try and stop him. What happens next is anyone's guess, and the stuff of quite a few stories I've read ... _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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New frame captures
by Sally Manton 20 May '01

20 May '01

Lisa wrote: <The set of 196 images from "Gambit" is new to the library.> And wonderful they are too, thank you *again* for all your work. <There are about five minutes of relevant plot and a lot of filler (including scenes of Servalan heroically attempting to explain said plot to Jarriere, with a notable lack of success.) > Yes, well of course, the episode would have been enormously *improved* if these scenes had been expanded to fill, say another twenty minutes or more. Or <deep wistful sigh> we'd been blessed with the scenes of Avon and Jarriere that I dream of ... <And there are plenty of pics of the assorted supporting cast -- including Jarriere, which should make Certain People happy.> :-) Can't *think* who you mean. And they are gorgeous. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Flight deck speculation (was Re: [B7L]Back on topic, methinks?)
by Sally Manton 20 May '01

20 May '01

Annie wrote: <Yes, but I always found it interesting that Vila seemed to *enjoy* that position *and* he seemed to be relatively good at it. It always seemed so "not" Vila.> But he did seem to enjoy it ("I've been looking forward to this", The Web). Maybe because it's more like Space Invaders than real fighting, but still more exciting more exciting than Gan's or Cally's jobs, and Blake was canny enough to realise Vila would work far better at something he enjoyed; put him on communications and he'd probably doze off like in the teleport ... <Then again, didn't we even see Vila pilot the ship a time or two later on? I suppose they all had to learn every position!> It appears they all had a working knowledge; I like the way at the end of Shadow, he and Avon head straight for each others' positions without even thinking about it, as they're the nearest. PS - still don't see why Blake couldn't go and raise the forcewall while doing the command bit, but there *must* have been a good reason, or Avon would have said something rather evil about it very early ... _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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