Nico's Journal

After not finding a Mills & Boon plot summary I liked for a couple of years, I finally did and committed Dayna/Travis. As usual, it's gen - you know me! Romance isn't usually my thing, but unconventionalcourtship  is a fun challenge.

If the age difference squicks, this Travis 2, who looks much closer to Dayna's age, is a whole other mind-wiped person.

His Noble Nature

I've also been writing a series where Vila is aroace. His salacious comments and awful attempts at flirting are so ill-considered and clumsy, they could well be inept attempts at deflection. It's in effect complete but I left it open for them to have adventures together and am halfway through writing one.

Acing It

Del Grant would have been a great recurring character, and I know they've used him a lot in the audios. Having a competent and experienced mercenary along would have been very useful to the crew.

I'd like to have seen more of Jarriere too; he was entertaining, quirky, and had no fear of or deference to Servalan.

When I first watched Aftermath, I assumed Dayna and Lauren would both join the crew and was disappointed. I wish she had, or that they had just left her character out. Seriously, why did they bother to introduce her, only to kill her? Servalan murdering Dayna's father was more than enough tragedy to inflict on her.

All the original questions are on Tumblr.

Inconsistencies
The worst is Cally's backstory. 

• Was she sent from Auron to help on Saurian Major, or was she exiled for wanting to rebel?
• She sees her parents in the Sopron yet is a clone.
• Is telepathy part of her alienness, or is it only among the recent clones, as Orac says?
• I think she's also referred to as human at some point.

Continuity errors
The costume ones in S4 are pretty glaring.

• Vila leaves the dying Liberator in a cream Russian-stye outfit in Terminal, but is wearing brown in the next episode, Rescue.
• In Traitor, Dayna and Tarrant teleport down to Helotrix in one set of outfits, then they're suddenly in other clothes, Tarrant wearing one of Avon's leather outfits earlier seen on an unfortunate Helot shot by a trooper. Either Tarrant's wearing a corpse's clothes, or it's a popular fashion icon.

All the original questions are on Tumblr.

Day 25: Moment when you knew you were caught
Day 25: Moment or episode when you knew you were caught

I wasn't going to watch when they put reruns on here because I knew how it ended, then someone posted a link to a list of witty quotes, most of them Avon and Vila, and I decided to give it a go.

Time Squad was the episode that got me. Cally fascinated me, and Vila was just so funny and likeable, I knew I was caught.

All the original questions are on Tumblr.

Day 23: Favourite cliffhanger

There are three, all at the end of seasons, all good. Maybe Star One, as they make their brave stand against the Andromedans.

All the original questions are on Tumblr.

I'm very glad I flew halfway round the world to the Star One con (report here) and met him, along with lots of B7 fans I'd only talked to online. I had afternoon tea and dinner with him (and others), and he was so friendly; such a genuinely lovely person.

He made Vila into a funny, lovable, relatable character who made me want to write for him when I'd never considered fanfic before. Without him, Blake's 7 would have been just another series I watched once.

Day 20: Favourite outfits

All the original questions are on Tumblr.

Feel free to use my alternative if you prefer it.

The treasure room
Avon said, "Do you know how much is in there? Millions. Millions. And this is just a sample. There must be almost as much wealth in that single room as there is in the entire Federation banking system."
They could have funded planetary revolutions with that vast wealth but the only time I can remember it being used was to tempt Largo with two gems.

The Clonemasters and their clones
Fully sentient humans could be grown in five hours. There could have been so many possibilities: clones of the rebels used for public trial; clones of Servalan, Travis, and other high command as decoys; cloned armies (a la Star Wars)...

Androids
The Avalon one was relatively simple, but Vinni was much more sophisticated and regarded itself as human. There are lots of possibilities there, as with the clones. 

I'm sure there are more I haven't thought of.

[Edit] And yes, there was a major one which julesjones rightly posted: Cally's telepathy which could have been a major asset for the crew.

All the original questions are on Tumblr.

Day 16: Best use of a hoary old trope

It seems that every SF series must have an arena episode, and B7's one is Duel. It's pretty good as arena eps go - we have Jenna and Blake up a tree with vampire bats, Travis with pointy sticks, and there's the intriguing introduction of mutoids, though I wish they had explored them further in later eps.

B7 also has a courtroom ep of sorts, with Trial, though with very little actual courtroom, to my relief - yeah, not a fan - though I'm not sure if the spit planet is an improvement.

I can't answer most of the remaining questions, so I'll see if I can come up with some alternate ones.

All the questions are on Tumblr.

Day 14: Character you relate to the most

There are two for different reasons.

Avon (in S1 and S2) for being introverted, independent, resentful at being ordered around, contemptuous of sheer stupidity (I channel his snark about our local and national government), and a geek somewhat lacking in social skills. Not that I'd want to know him.

Vila for being anxious and sensibly scared. Seriously, I'd have been terrified; he's much braver than I am because he can function despite the fear. I also enjoy wordplay and board games. To me, Vila does react to that life in a much more believable way than the others, and I would want to know him.

All the questions are on Tumblr.

Day 12: Favourite villain

I'd say Servalan, but she outstayed her welcome in S4; I got heartily sick of her.

So it's Travis, and I've grown to like both versions. He was a little more complex in S2, especially Gambit.

All the questions are on Tumblr.

Day 10: Least favourite episode

Again, I can't just pick one, so I'll go by season.

S1: The Web is pretty dire with the Decimas and the head in a jar.
S2: Voice From the Past has mummy Travis with a googly eye, and Le Grand; need I say more?
S3: Harvest of Kairos and Moloch because of the appalling misogyny.
S4: Power because of the same woman-hating writer and Animals for many reasons including Justin and the creepy age difference with Dayna.

Did you think I'd pick Orbit or Blake? They're not among my favourites because of the storyline, but they're well written, Orbit in particular - I do enjoy the Avon and Vila team working so well together for the last time before the shuttle sabotage.

All the questions are on Tumblr.

Day 8: Favourite romance

I am not a romance person (being aromantic) so I don't have one. I've only noticed a few, and none of them grabs me.

Jenna/Blake - probably one-sided, or it's friendship, and I do much prefer the whole friendship thing. As people may have noticed. ;) Besides, Blake puts his cause well before people.

Avon/Servalan - there's a twisted attraction there on both sides. Avon knows it's not going anywhere, and though he's attracted by wealth and power, he's right - he wouldn't live long.

Vila/Kerril - too short to be a romance, and Kerril's playing a part to get Vila to come over all protective. He made the right decision not to stay on that planet: the pioneer life wouldn't exactly suit him, and Kerril would probably drop her act and be as contemptuous as she first was.

Servalan/Tarrant - also a short fling, and I'm glad the crew expressed their opinion of it.

Did I miss any? I'm pretty oblivious in RL.

All the questions are on Tumblr.

Day 6: Least favourite male character

If I have to pick from the regulars, then Tarrant for his bullying, though he did improve. Also, S4 Avon had to be in the running. [ducks for cover]

If it's from the whole series, then Jarvik, no contest.

All the questions are on Tumblr.

Day 4: Least favourite female character

If they mean the regulars, then I don't have one. If I can choose from all characters, then Sara and Piri AKA Cancer equally. I know they were bad people - and there were others like Alta Morag who were - but these two were so annoying, they made me want to slap them silly for their awful helpless-female crying acts. I'm glad that Soolin did the honours for Piri.

All the questions are on Tumblr.