Thinking of various holiday favorites our heroes could be put in. Some are obviously no goes. Avon in Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer would have to play the Bumble (unless, if Blake was King of the Isle of Misfit Toys, he was one of the characters over there). As for "Its a Wonderful Life," well, yes, the galaxy would have been overrun by Andromedans but, other than that, I can't quite see Avon running through the streets saying "Merry Christmas, Building and Loan!" I can't quite see any of the others doing it either (although Travis as Potter has possibilities).
I toyed with some of the lesser known Christmas stories. There's the old ghost story about the woman who arrives at the church before daybreak on either Christmas or New Year's when all the ghosts are evidently having their yearly service - angry, mean ghosts who don't like the living showing up. She lives because the ghost of a good friend helps her escape.
There's a PGP idea, Avon accidentally stumbles on a gathering of all the people he's gotten killed (directly or indirectly) and is rescued by Blake. Not very yuletide cheer, though.
Or there's Dickens' story, The Haunted Man, about a man (whose description is even a bit like Avon's) who makes a supernatural bargain to be rid of all his bitter memories of the past (he's been betrayed by the woman he loved, by his best friend, etc) only to find he becomes a _real_ without these memories - kind of Avon in S4. Oh, and the conditions contagious. Lots of previously decent people turn mean and rotten once they've been around him, also S4ish. But I can't quite see Avon finding the happy ending hidden in this story's haystack. I don't think the necessary characters would have survived long enough.
Then, I read Linda's comments about being a librarian, and it got me thinking. Avon would make a great Librarian.
Think about, he knows a little about everything because he's read all the books. He's great with computers because he's the one who keeps all the systems in the library online (ancient antiques the government won't replace, state of the art ones given by local corporations, and everything inbetween - none of them designed to be compatible). Not that he ever gets recoginition or appreciation for this.
And, although I've never seen a librarian with hair in a bun or clothes from another century, this stereotype would explain some of Avon's odder fashion choices and any haircuts that might be open to criticism.
Then, he meets Anna. All that deep buried bitterness about how librarians are underpaid and their intelligence underappreciated comes to a head.
I'm sure you see the point. Avon's not George Bailey's avatar, he's Mary's. Someone, off stage, got to see all of seasons 1 through 4 and know that this was happening because she made that dumb wish and hadn't been born.
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/web/.