Blake's 7, and more fannish top 5 meme answers
Blake's 7, series 4: This was a much rougher season for me than 2 (still my favorite) or even 3, though it got a lot better in the second half, and certianly ended with a bang. I liked the first episode well enough, as continuation of "Terminal", but the next couple were... not great. I actually got stuck in the middle of "Stardrive" and wandered away to watch 40 episodes of Grace and Frankie, as you saw, but 
thisbluespirit reassured me things were going to get better soon after that, so I pushed through "Stardrive", and indeed, I enjoyed everything thereafter more, because even the weaker eps at least had Servalan in them. "Headhunter" was actively amusing, despite ridiculousness,and "Assassin" was the first I actually liked after the stretch, and then I actually really enjoyed and/or appreciated everything from the final bits of "Gold" through the end (which I was very glad to have watched unspoiled).
I think this time I'll do the episode-by-episode reactions -- SPOILERY, of course, and then general musings. That seems more fitting, given the, uh, trajectory.
"Rescue" -- Vila is the one rescuing people from the wreckage! He drags Tarrant out (who better appreciate it) and then unhesitatingly goes back for Cally -- well, unhesitatingly until the hatch starts closing, at which point it is prudent to NOT also get trapped -- and actually shields Tarrant with his body -- go Vila! (And I like that he acts braver when there's no-one around to watch him and get ideas for later.) And then Avon going in ("We needed Orac"). Dayna and Tarrant as a buddy duo have grown on me -- I enjoyed their banter while skulking about, and then her clinging to him in the scary monster-infested dark -- I guess she is not always unflappable. I also enjoyed Dayna's appreciation for Dorian's multi-purpose guns. As for the episode itself, ehhh. The Dorian Gray (subtle XD) storyline was interesting to see done as sci-fi, but the connection to Our Heroes was pretty tenuous, and Dorian's death-throes were... oy.
New characters: I have no specific thoughts on Soolin yet, except that her hair just looks like something my middle-school classmates were wearing, and so I find her hard to take seriously. And if Slave is meant to be the replacement for Zen and the ship for the Liberator, I'm not particularly impressed. On a shallow note: I'm not sure what's different about Avon this season, physically -- haircut? gained some weight? -- but he looks different in a way I find distracting. Conversely, whatever's different about Tarrant -- shorter hair? tan? -- is contributing to him being a lot less annoying. So a positive, on balance.
And, OK, this is sort of a random thing, but I've been noticing it for a while, and apparently I quite enjoy the, like, procedural call-and-response this show does a lot of (because it creates atmosphere with dialogue over a lack of special effects, just people flipping switches and looking at computer readouts) -- like the pre-flight check that Tarrant and Avon go through here before take-off, but there was the space telegram exchange in "Death-Watch" (I think), and several others like that.
"Power" -- the final Ben Steed! I found it less, uh, memorable than "Harvest of Kairos", but paradoxically also worse, because 'Kairos' was over-the-top WTF + a couple of fun moments, while this is just... bad, in all kinds of ways. Like, did this show really need a second ~Vikings episode? The combat scene was ridiculous, the helium rod (or whatever) special effects were so bad... Well, all of that is just random B7 WTF, but the thing with Avon and the Seska is just so bizarre on so many levels. I can't believe that was the most expedient way to go about getting his hands on a collar, and it's not like overt violence is his preferred method, but also, on a worldbuilding level, if that's all it takes to overcome Seska "power", what is even the point of it? And the worldbuilding is just generally bad, and the Stockholm syndrome thing with the wife character who kept insisting she was not a Seska anymore, she was a woman, and then the banality of Avon's closing pronouncement about the war between the sexes, which appears to be the whole reason for this episode's existence. Oh, and the fact that a bunch of people who've been merrily teleporting places for 3 years can't figure out how someone can get inside a closed door. It's just dumb and unpleasant all around. And, yes, I think I can confidently rank it below 'Kairos' ("Moloch" is definitely my favorite of the Ben Steed episoes, because I actually liked "Moloch".)
Oh, but, new credits! It actually looks like a sci-fi show this time, and the thing that goes bzzt! on the logo is kind of cool.
"Traitor" -- I had high hopes for this one, because I've been noticing that I tend to like the Robert Holmes episodes a lot, but this is the exception that proves the rule. While in his other episodes I found the one-off characters interesting and well fleshed out, here I found them boring, and the principals were hardly *in* this episode, it felt like. I was not interested enough in the proceedings to keep track of who was double-crossing whom and secretly working for whom else, so I just sort of skimmed while people I didn't care about talked to each other. Maybe I would've appreciated the Servalan revelation if I hadn't already known she had survived and would be in series 4; as it was, it was just another box to check. (I did find Avon's reaction to her being alive interesting -- he was very far from his usual controlled self, and "I didn't want her to die like that anyway. I need ... to kill her myself."-- that's, like, a straight-up villain line. And, wait, seriously, another guy with a black eyepatch? Favorite bit of dialogue:
VILA: Blake would have been proud of you, you know.
AVON: I know, but then he never was very bright.
"Stardrive" -- I actually quite liked the beginning of this episode, especially for pretend-drunk Vila coming up with the best idea for how to fix the ship, and having a female brilliant scientist for a change. But then they actually got to the planet and the Space Rats, and ugggh. I was alternately bored and cringing the entire time the action was there; the Space Rats are ridiculous (and not, like, in a fun way). Also, I'm assuming this was not a usage familiar to the intended audience, but every time I heard someone say "gook", that was incredibly jarring (I don't know if that was real slang or made-up space slang, but I only know the word as a racial slur. So that was unfortunate.) Anyway, and then comes the end, with Avon choosing to sacrifice the scientist lady to save the ship (though it's hard to believe there was no other way / that they couldn't wait another couple of seconds for her to get clear) in a particularly callous way. If this is what Avon is like in a world that he believes has no Blake in it... well. (This ended up being the nadir of my affection for Avon in the whole thing, actually, but I think that's the fault of the script rather than a character arc thing, because Avon certainly makes objectively no less morally gray decisions later, and I liked the way those played out.) But from the bit at the beginning when Avon says "There are times when even the most cynical must trust in luck" -- Avon's got a death wish at this point, hasn't he... (although a peculiar sort of death wish, where he only accepts it if it's on his own terms -- he clearly still wants to win.)
"Animals" -- I was braced for this one to be worse than it was, or maybe it was just the "buy a goat" effect of being done with "Stardrive". It was fine? Not a lot to say about this one except it's refreshing to have an episode with quite a lot of Servalan in it. Her black-and-white presidential costumes appear to have morphed into all-black for this commissioner Sleer role, but I'm less of a fan of this season's costumes (in general, but especially on her; did the show run out of wardrobe money?). I even found Og's design fairly nice, because thematically this episode reminded me of the one with the Decimas in s1, an this was SUCH an incredible improvement in special effects.
"Headhunter" -- this was ridiculous, but in a FUN way for a change! (I was surprised this came from the same Roger Parkes who wrote "Children of Auron" and "Voice from the Past", both of which I'd disliked.) Like, the whole premise is so monster-movie silly, but it was fun to watch the headless android shamble around. And that title, lol! Bit on the nose XD But Slave arguing and Orac snapping, "Yes, master" was surprisingly creepy. I enjoyed the character moments, too: Avon is just the best at talking to bereaved loved ones, LOL; at least he had the sense to have Soolin try and comfort the woman. Tarrant and Vila make a surprisingly fun duo, and Vila affornted that Avon was doubting his skills due to the box still remaining a mystery; I liked Vila in this in general -- I feel like he's being underutilized this season, but this was better. Also, dear Avon, maybe doing electrical work in metal-studded gloves is not the best idea, eh? He really does seem to have a death wish these days... he embraced the proposition of playing pin-the-conscience-circuit-on-the-android with a grin. Anyway, like I said -- fun! (Oh, and upgraded teleport graphics this season.)
"Assassin" -- I liked this one! The plot is quite neat, with the layers of bait and switch (the actor guy pretending to be Cancer really does look more like an actor than an assassin, Tarrant in particular being duped by a sob story and a pretty face -- but Soolin isn't really big on compassion, is she XD), but mostly it's an apisode where I had fun watching Avon again. He's continuing to take significant personal risks (since Blake disappeared), which is a good look on him. I really enjoyed the bit at the beginning where he's teasing Vila about going along and says "My hero" with a grin at Vila's usual protestations, and the look on Avon's face when he's informed he's been served a stew made of fungus. And wow, Avon actually got at attack of conscience and decided to keep his promise to the old guy. But most of all, I enjoyed this episode for the Avon/Servalan content. I mean, she actually buys him at the slave market! So, like, there's AU Avon/Servalan fic branching off this episode, right? I mean, the BDSM practically writes itself... (I did go looking and found one story, but not quite in the direction I had in mind.) And then the scene where the scheme is revealed and Avon and Servalan are talking while the assassin has got him strapped down:
Servalan: Avon, you're not sulking, I hope.
Avon: Mmm. I'm full of admiration for your brilliance.
And Servalan being disappointed by the "success" in killing them (though why she should care about Tarrant does not seem clear to me -- has she ever interacted with him really, up to this point?) So, yeah, my first real favorite of the season.
"Games" -- this was pretty fun, though I don't have a ton to say about it. I quite liked Belkov, especially when he was apologizing to Gambit for leaving her and giving the self-destruct order. And everybody on the away team got to be good at something: Soolin got to beat the shooter, Tarrant got the flight sim game, Vila sweet-talked Gambit into helping. And Avon pulls off a kind of anti-matter trick. And everybody loses, ultimately, which seems like a classic B7 resolution.
"Sand" -- Oh hey, it's been a while since we had some bonkers costumes, but this one delivers, for the investigator and especially the dudes flying his ship. I knew this was the other Tanith Lee episode, so was braced for something creepy... but I definitely did not expect vampiric sand XD ~Drunk Orac declaring his love was hilarious but also suitably unnerving. And the Tarrant and Servalan dynamic was quite interesting. Servalan talking about loving (people other than herself) and weeping threw me at first, but based on the last (solo) scene with her, I concluded that she seemed to be, like, method acting, rather than expressing genuine emotion, and things started making a bit more sense. It was very jarring in the moment, though -- and Tarrant seems to fall for it, at least enough (and, hmm, I wonder if she learned about his reaction to sob stories in "Assassin" and acted accordingly...) I do find it interesting that Servalan has had a team-up moment of sorts with Avon, Vila, and Tarrant now (I don't think she and Cally ever actually teamed up, even when they were on the same ship?) -- it occurs to me that even Blake and Servalan sort of teamed up, even if it wasn't face to face or one on one, in "Star One", facing the alien fleet (since it's the two of them making the call to work together, to the skepticism of their followers -- and interesting to see how different she was with each, from exasperatedly bossing Vila around to the flirty mindgames with Avon to this.) There are a lot of great Servalan moments and quotes -- getting the gun away from Tarrant, "Theres something you should realize: There are no women like me." (which reminded me of the Jaime Lannister quote), telling Tarrant ""You are both resourceful and decorative" (I wonder if LMB's line about Raven Durona is an homage, or GRMM's). Also, Tarrant is kind of an ass, but that's two alien races now that have judged his utility to be sex, and I find that delightful.
"Gold" -- so, like, does Avon have any "old friends" who don't try to betray him? Really can't blame the man for wanting to be a loner (or possibly he just needs better taste in associates...) Said "friend" was entertaining to watch, though, at least until he killed the doctor, unarmed and trying to help :( This one did not work for me as a heist episode -- I dunno, maybe the pace was off? -- so other than the parts where Dayna and Tarrant were play-acting a couple, I found the proceedings fairly dull until the chase and the confrontations at the end. Naturally, my favorite part was the Avon/Servalan stuff (Avon: "He doesn't know you as well as I do." S: "Who does?"), and later, negotiating the exchange, when Servalan says that if Avon shoots her, her guards will shoot him first: "Well, now, the sacrifice might be worthwhile." "You're not the sacrificial type.""You're right. We'll do business as arranged." But not-the-sacrificial-type Avon staying behind to cover the retreat in the docking tube -- with a teleport bracelet, but still -- I definitely don't see s1-s2 Avon volunteering for that. And, of course, at the end, Avon in the shower of worthless bank notes, grinning and then laughing. (And of course the crew accuses him of doing the thing he was always on Blake about, not telling them enough for informed consent.) I liked everything from the escape from the Princess until the end very much.
"Orbit" -- this was another one I really liked. First, there's Servalan in it (Avon: "She is never far from my thoughts."), and the scientists were also reasonably amusing, in an over-the-top sort of way (Servalan rolling her eyes at Egrorian on his knees is a mood). But the best part, of course, is all the Vila (like his imperial dreams: "I'll have an imperial palace with solid diamond floors, and a bodyguard of a thousand handpicked virgins in red fur uniforms. Vila's Royal Mounties.") and Vila-and-Avon-ness, which I was missing a lot this season. The cheerful bit it starts off, with Vila saying "You know I like to stick with you, Avon. Where it's safe." -- and the MUCH more sinister echo of this from Avon at the end. I actually glimpsed the reference to "The Cold Equations" on Wikipedia when I glanced at this episode (which is a story I have not read but have read about, in the Jo Walton book), but how the thing unfolded still surprised me, and I really liked the way it did. Like, Vila, I noticed, has a tendency to give up and ostrich (usually in drink, if it's available) when he's in a life-threatening situation, but Avon throws himself into action, unwilling to lose (even if he seems to be in a place where he doesn't seem to mind dying on his own terms). And so Avon's frantic scramble to lighten the shuttle load in the remaining minutes sets up perfectly the scene where he mutters the rhetorical question ("Dammit, what weighs seventy kilos?") -- and Orac answers that Vila does (which I thought was a very neat call-back to the chat with Egrorian about how Orac always offers more or less info than you really want). The silent bit where you can see Avon assimilating this information and deciding what to do about it, before he reaches for the stashed gun, and then knowing that Vila overheard Orac -- and this was enough for him to surmise what Avon would do and hide -- that's some really great stuff! I like that this isn't something Avon comes up with on his own -- jettisoning Vila clearly had not occurred to him-- but then once the idea is out there, it's too logical for himnot to act on it. And the thing is... I do find it a believably rational response -- they've stripped the shuttle bare, and if they don't lighten it further, it does seem likely they will both die -- and having one person die and one person live is preferable to that -- but neither of them is the self-sacrificing type. So I absolutely buy Avon making this choice (much more so than the one in "Stardrive", though it's a similar choice and actually the one in "Stardrive" is more justified, if anything, in terms of 'trolley problem' impact and also Vila being a friend (or as close to one as Avon has). And the following scene, with Avon prowling around, calling for Vila in a wolf-in-Grandmother's-clothing voice, completely different from any of his usual registers, with Vila scrunched up and crying out of sight -- that was also so good! But especially I loved the change in Avon when he sees the neutron star spec and figures out a better route to safety -- the way his "Vila, I really do know how they did it!" sounds completely different, normal -- but also that Vila doesn't trust him enough to come out, and he has to struggle to dump the piece of plastic by himself. I also like that Vila is not in a forgiving mood even after everything worked out (although it did seem to get reset to normal pretty shortly after the episode). This was my favorite episode of the season, because all three of my favorite characters got some very interesting moments. And as I was watching, I was wondering if it was Robert Holmes episode, with the memorable one-off characters and Avon-Villa shenanigans, so I looked it up later, and it was! (Also, her at Avon styling Scorpio a privateer.)
"Warlord" -- I quite liked this one, too, but it was sort of a lull between two big ones, so I have less to say about it. It was interesting to finally get some actual character notes from Soolin, between the orphan backstory and pretending to be Zukan's daughter turning Avon in. I liked Zoekan and his ridiculous profile the combination of that nose and the pink man-bun, and I actually didn't mind his daughter, either, though the end for her seemed rather random. Tarrant continues to be ridiculous. Vila fatalistically facing death while other scrambled to do something is apparently a dynamic I enjoy (and I guess Avon figuring out how to get air to them maybe makes up for "Orbit" a bit). I also enjoyed Servalan in this (of course), and her talking up Avon to anyone who would listen -- though "Send me his corpse." lacks something in terms of personal touch.
And then there was:
"Blake" -- Well. That was certainly an ending. So I knew, before I even started the series, that something majorly bad happened in the finale, so I kind of expected most/all of the principals to die. But definitely not like this. I don't think I have coherent thoughts about it, even after having thought about it for a day. This was... a fitting ending, I suppose -- I mean, a "happily ever after" was certainly unlikely -- and it's got the kind of self-fulfilling prophecy inevitability of a good tragedy, but I don't actually *like* tragedies, so I can't say I liked this, even though I definitely appreciate the choices made here and the effect. So, I guess what follows is just random notes -- just more than usual of them
Avon: "In the end, winning is the only safety" -- this makes a lot of sense for me, as a driver for his actions / how his motivations connect.
I actually liked Tarrant in this! For the first time, and just in time for him to die, but he actually won me over by his choice to go down with the ship to give Avon a chance to get away (now THERE's a self-sacrificing type) AND then he managed to land the thing in a survivable manner. And Slave shutting own while expressing the hope that Tarrant will be OK was the first time I actually liked Slave. (I also noted -- without much surprise -- that Avon doesn't try to find the wreck/find out if Tarrant might be alive -- and that Vila is the only person who asks after Tarrant (whom he has no reason to like too much) -- three times, as Avon continues to ignore the question.) Tarrant and Blake dynamic was also quite interesting.
So, not only does absolutely everyone (except possibly Avon, given the ambiguity of the fade-to-black ending) die in this, but we even learn that Jenna has died offscreen apparently, too? (Blake: "She tried to run the blockade once too often. Happens to all of them eventually. [...] She hit the self-destruct. And when it blew, she took half a squadron of gunships with her.")
Blake... was a surprise. I mean, I knew he was going to be in it, given the title, but the look with the scar over his eye, and after a while I couldn't think of why he would be pretending to be with the bounty hunters, but I also couldn't believe he would be doing this for real -- it was quite disconcerting. It feels tragically fitting that the whole denouement comes about because he trusts the wrong person (because he's lost the ability to know which ones to trust, but still trusts only his own ability to tell the right people from the wrong ones), and also that the reason Blake dies when and how he dies (rather than with the others) because Avon buys the pretense (more on which below).
I'd seen Deva's name in AO3 tags, and then kind of forgot about him and that there wasn't much show left in which to introduce him. But then when he and Blake are speaking freely, I thought, Blake found himself a substitute, more pliable Avon. This bit especially:
DEVA These stupid games you insist on playing, Blake, will get someone killed eventually.
BLAKE I have to test each one myself.
DEVA No, you don't have to! I set up systems for that. I broke the security codes on their central computer. I got us access to official channels, information, everything we could possibly need! You don't need to be involved at all.
BLAKE All right, I find it difficult to trust. It's a failing, I admit--!
DEVA And any one of our people could select the people you've collected. You don't need to do the bounty hunter routine, either!
BLAKE Indulge me.
DEVA Do I have a choice?
BLAKE Oh, there's always a choice, Deva.
So, honestly, I have no idea how to interpret this episode outside of a Blake/Avon context. Like Avon says glibly "Idealism is a wonderful thing. All you really need is someone rational to put it to proper use." -- but then the little smirk he gets when Vila figures out which idealist he's talking about. The look on Avon's face when he sees Blake, the way he sort of freezes, and then, "Have you betrayed us? Have you betrayed me?!" That scene made me want to rewatch the part of Rumours of Death where Avon comes face to face with Anna again, because I think there's a fair bit of similarity in Avon's expression and voice there -- being betrayed by a person he loves (I mean, presumably the show means platonically, but whatever) -- though he acts rather than reacts in this case -- I guess there's only so much betrayal he could take. And Blake's "Avon, I was waiting for YOU.", collapsing slowly while clutching onto him, and Avon's name being the last thing he says -- there's a lot of passion all around in that scene, is what I'm saying. Not to mention Avon straddling Blake's corpse and looking into his face as he raises the gun to face the circle of Federation guards.
Speaking of, the final scene was pretty grand. I usually find death on B7 either ridiculously overplayed or very fake looking, but this was different -- I mean, still stylized, but in a way that worked for me. The most memorable bit before the very end was Vila actually moved to violence (though he apologizes when he knocks the girl out), picking up the gun, before he is shot. And everybody running and falling, the room filling up with guards, while Avon and Blake have their tableau. Avon, untouched, in the eye of the storm, amidst the chaos around me actually reminded me of that scene in PotC where Cutler Beckett walks through the ship as it's being blown apart -- I really like that juxtaposition, apparently. I figured Avon was going to be smiling at the end -- that seems to be his reaction to "well, we're fucked" circumstances (Liberator being destroyed, the money news in "Gold") -- but the rest of it was a surprise, and I liked the ending with the multiple shots ringing out over the credits.
So, that was definitely a bang of an ending, even if I can't say I enjoyed this episode. It was a well-told story, and it kept my attention, to be sure.
Overall, I did like the season, after the slow start, and might actually rank it about even with s3 (s2 is still ahead for me). Episodes this series I liked particularly were "Orbit" and "Assassin", in that order, and "Blake" was, you know, impressive, and I only significantly disliked "Power" and "Stardrive" (and found "Traitor" boring) -- that might be a little better than my stats on s3, even. But the episodes I disliked are all front-loaded, which made it hard to get through them.
Looking over my write-ups, Avon/Servalan was clearly my principal joy this season (until the final episode). Tarrant and Soolin finally grew on me towards the end (if I rewatch, I'll have to pay more attention to them. I wish Vila had been utilized more, but I liked him a lot whenever he got something to do. And Avon... I don't mind Avon falling apart, over the course of the season -- he is unmoored, he's got a death-wish, he does seem to mostly be motivated by spite directed at Servalan while at the same time getting sucked into her games. I found him OOCin the early episodes of the season; possibly if I rewatched, they would make more sense and show character choices rather than meh writing, but I don't think I'll subject myself to that. Avon's still my favorite overall, and the most interesting character.
Favorite characters, as of the end of the whole thing:
1. Avon
2. Servalan
3. Vila
4. There's a sharp drop down here, but I think Jenna?
5. I think Dayna, but it would also not surprise me if, on rewatch, Blake ended up sneaking into the top 5, now that I have a more complete understanding of his character (from both his later episodes and from fic)
I'm still shipping Blake/Avon, but I have to say, at least in the immediate aftermath of the finale, I find myself drawn to it less. I dunno if reading a bunch of PGP fic (which I've been assiduously avoiding on AO3 till now) will change that, or if it's one of those fairly rare cases where the way a character dynamic plays out in canon changes the way I feel about a ship for good -- hopefully not! As of late last season and especially s4, I'm also progressively more intrigued by Avon/Servalan (though I think I'd definitely prefer that in a universe where Blake is around and Avon knows/believes that, because otherwise it would seem to go real dark real fast). And also the dynamic between Avon and Vila is great, and while I don't actively ship it myself, I'd like to read some fic of it and see how people do it, and especially how they deal with something like "Orbit" in the context of that ship.
My top 5 favorite episodes -- not necessarily in order, but more or less
- Pressure Point (s2)
- Terminal (s3)
- Rumours of Death (s3)
- Star One (s2)
- either Orbit (s4) or Killer or Gambit (both s2) -- currently leaning towards "Orbit", but that could also be recency bias...
My 5 least favorite episodes (ditto):
- Children of Auron (s3)
- Power (s4)
- Harvest of Kairos (s3)
- Stardrive (s4)
- Voice from the Past (s2)
(bumping "The Keeper" and "Hostage" off the list, heh)
I've mentioned a couple of times that one of the major reasons I was curious about B7 was that I know my beloved Duv Galeni (of the Vorkosigan Saga) is supposed to be inspired by Avon. I can definitely see the inspiration as far as physical description of the character and, say, the first view of Galeni in the cell in Brothers in Arms, but there's actually less similarity in personality than I'd expected. Like, sure, they are both highly intelligent people with a tendency towards deadpan sarcasm and unexpected flashes of violence at odds with their normally controlled exteriors -- and I *love* those types, so I do also love Avon. But their inner cores feel quite different to me. It's not just, as
oracne said, that Duv is way nicer and more moral than Avon -- although he is definitely both those things. I think also Duv is a Ravenclaw Primary, to use Sorting Hat Chats terms, one of the idealistic houses with a constructed truth. Avon, though, I struggled with. Is he a Ravenclaw Primary who has adopted some very bleak truths -- that sentiment is weakness, that you only look out for #1 or you're a fool -- and that's why he's so weirdly, unwillingly drawn to Blake and Blake's oh-so-Gryffindor Primary, with its unshakeable idealism? Or is he a petrified Slytherin, genuinely ust looking out for himself, with maybe a Ravenclaw model on top to justify why his moral system is the objectively correct one? And after s4, I'm coming down on the side of Slytherin Primary. Petrified when we meet him, probably on account of losing Anna. He's maybe starting to thaw a bit, and then Blake's disappearance, the stuff in "Rumours of Death", losing Blake (and the Liberator, I guess) again in "Terminal" drive him to the point where even he isn't insie his own circle anymore (thus the death-wish behavior), and then thinking that Blake betrayed him is the final straw -- I think s3 and especially s4 are an already on-the-edge Slytherin Primary coming apart.
Oh, and Ravenclaw Secondary for Avon, I'm pretty sure -- he's at his best figuring stuff out with preparation and knowledge, even if the solutions come to him in a crisis in a sort of Eureka moment -- while I think Galeni might actually be a Gryffindor Secondary, with his back to the wall, and just a really strong Ravenclaw model cultivated by academia. But it actually wouldn't surprise me if Avon's Secondary was burned throughout s4 -- because all his careful research and planning just succeeded in leading him into a trap and losing the Liberator in "Terminal" -- and that's why he's flailing over much of the season.
I was going to stop there, but ikel89 asked me if I'd found my Galeni fix in B7 (not really, as you see above), and I told her no, but I did find another character I like a lot, and an additional favorite despot, and a ship or two -- and then I linked her to the fandom wiki write-up on Servalan -- mostly to show off the costumes -- and her response was "Listen, she is basically evil female Miles. What's her name, Cavilo?" -- which I was very impressed by, because I've seen the theory that Cavilo was inspired by Servalan (as Duv was by Avon), and it does seem very plausible -- but to be able to pick that up from a wiki write-up is pretty uncanny! Anyway, this is all a long-winded leadup to, Servalan is definitely a Slytherin Primary (with only herself in the circle, and everybody had better realize it) + Slytherin Secondary -- which, yes, is both Miles and Cavilo.
And poor Vila I think is a Hufflepuff Primary, and, hm... Definitely not Gryff for Secondary, or Hufflepuff (hard work and showing up is, like, the opposite of what Vila does), and he doesn't seem to be very good at improvising at all. I think he is therefore one of those lazy Ravenclaws -- when it comes to his learned skills, he is very good and very clever, but NOT good operating outside of his envelope of preparedness, and a lot of his cleverness and planning goes towards keeping as low a profile as possible (kind of like Ivan, in Vorkosiverse, who I'm pretty sure at this point is another lazy Ravenclaw).
Blake I've already talked about as a Gryffindor Primary that burns between "Star One" and "Blake", and I think I'd need to rewatch the first couple of seasons with an eye on Blake to figure out his Secondary. Not Slyth, given how he shuts down when he sees there's nothing at Control, but at this point I think I could see any of the others.
OK, and now I'll happily take recs for all the spoilery things y'all were telling me not to read/watch earlier :D (in addition to this wonderful trove of things that
thisbluespirit linked me to, which I'm looking forward to exploring :D
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For
sysann:
Favorite quotes by Morrolan:
I'm afraid most of these ended up being from books you haven't read yet -- but I don't think they're particularly spoilery.
1. From Lord of Castle Black: young Morrolan hearing about sorcery for the first time: ""Sorcery. I have learned something of sorcery. I am told it can do amazing things. I don't know. Blast them with fire, or make stones fall on their heads, or create an illusion of giant butterflies with nine-inch teeth. Something."
The thing I love about this is not just the inherent comedy of going "IDK butterflies with nine-inch teeth", which is a totally random thing to say, but the fact that it's Morrolan, of all people, being at once, like, dismissive of sorcery, but also clearly intrigued, even though he understands absolutely nothing of it yet.
2. From Lord of Castle Black: young Morrolan is arguing with his experienced commander about wanting to fight in the vangurard:
M: "Well? If I am killed, will that make you less able to make decisions? On the contrary, I should imagine that you might better be able to make decisions without my interference."
Fentor cleared his throat again, as this was uncomfortably close to his own thinking. He said, "If you believe that, my lord, why not--"
M: "Because it is my army, my fief, and my responsibility. Therefore, as long as I live, the mistakes will be mine."
The thing I like about this one is that it showcases the thing I so love about young Morrolan in the Paarfi books (which you can still see in the Morrolan Vlad knows, too) -- this mixture of hubris and humility, the Slytherin "these people are mine" combined with the "so what if I die so long as it's at the head of an army" attitude I love about Dragonlords. And, of course, the easy realization that he may be a liability, but hey, at least that way he won't be one for long! It's a very endearing combination.
3. From Lord of Castle Black: Morrolan has started playing around with sorcery and isn't being careful enough,and Sethra has to rescue him at one point before he killed himself accidentally. They proceed to have the following conversation:
"Come now," she said. "Suppose it were said of you that you had honorably created and led an army, but then, having done so, destroyed yourself through misadventure with a spell. Is that what you wish history to record?"
Morrolan explained that, insofar as he was concerned, history could record whatever it liked and be damned to it.
"But then, what of your friends? How will they feel if you should come to such an end?"
"Oh, they will, no doubt, find other friends."
"And what of your enemies? What of those you intend to punish, especially in the East? Suppose word should reach their ears that they were now safe from your vengeance, because you had, in toying with powers you could not control, done yourself in?"
Morrolan frowned and considered. "Well, it is true. I should not care for that."
I love this one for similar reasons as the one above -- it's an amusing and endearing look at young Morrolan's priorities (I do think this is a case where older Morrolan has learned that connections of friendship are stronger than that. But I still find the quote very cute.)
4. From Phoenix: M: "Do you wish to become a god?" Vlad: "Not particularly. Do you?" M: "No. I don't care for the responsibility."
This one's just quintessential Morrolan for me -- the cheerful hubris, and the determination to just do his own thing for his own amusement/satisfaction as much as possible.
5. From Hawk: M: "I've vowed that food shall not pass my lips until this matter is ended." Vlad: "What?" M: "I said I've already eaten.")
Vlad gives Morrolan so much crap about being pompous and Extra, which I find very amusing, but I like the examples that show Morrolan is self-aware enough to poke fun at himself occasionally, too.
Favorite Dragaera (Vlad Taltos) quotes:
A few are from later books -- which it turns out
sysann already read all of between when I answered the prompt and when I posted the answers, heh -- but they're non-spoilery. I don't think any of these require or benefit from any additional explanation, so just the quotes for this one:
1. From Dragon: "For one thing," said Sethra, "we don't know any thieves."
2. From Tiassa: a conversation between Vlad and Kragar:
Kragar: "And he could be that sure you'd figure it out?"
Vlad: "Yeah. He studied me enough to know I'm not an idiot."
Kragar: "I guess I should study you more."
3. From Teckla: "Why do you want to see him [Kelly]?" Vlad: "I plan to leave all my worldly wealth to the biggest idiot I can find and I watned to interview him to see if he qualified. But now that I've met you, I can see there's no point in looking any further."
4. From Iorich: ""But we are assassins: when we make mistakes, people live."
5. From Hawk: Vlad: (in response to the question "What are you working on?"): "I'm trying to set up a store to sell baskets of none-of-your-fucking-business at wholesale prices."
And two bonus lines from Jhereg,because that was not nearly enough Morrolan:
"(Be still, my beating stomach.)" (Vlad, when Morrolan is being particularly dramatic.)
Morrolan: "Seriously, though, Vlad; have you ever thought about quitting the Jhereg? [...]"
Vlad: "Ha! I've thought about quitting the Jhereg a great deal, but so far I've always managed to be just a little bit quicker than whoever wanted me out."
Top 5 quotes in general
I struggled for a bit how to narrow it down to just five, and then figured I'd make it easier by picking from among the quotes I have on icons -- that covers a nice span, actually.
1.
(icon by
pegkerr) - part of a longer exchange in LotR which I'll quote in full: “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” -- This was my senior year yearbook quote, actually, and it hasn't become any less meaningful to me or een eclipsed in the last twenty-four years. Sort of like the Serenity Prayer, I find it a grounding sort of thing -- it's useful to be reminded what our choices can't change, but that in any circumstances there is still a choice remaining to us.
2.
(icon by felishy) -- "You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince). I have heard this book has become passe, but it's one of the sure-fire ways to make me weep, so, whatever. But this quote, in particular, is genuinely the primary way I think about love, which this quote crystallized for me.
3.
(icon by iconsbycurtana) -- "Well, after five-space navigational math, how hard could motherhood be?" (Lois McMaster Bujold, Cordelia's Honor) -- the anthem of my early years of parenting (which coincided with the years I discovered the Vorkosigan books. And yes, I absolutely thank my lucky stars I didn't have to parent Miles -- and it was still way harder than anything I'd ever attempted.
4.
(icon by pouringicons) -- "I've given that viewpoint a lot of thought, sir, and reached the following conclusion: arseholes to the lot of 'em, sir." (Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay) - there are a ton of memorable Discworld quotes, but this is the one I reach for most often, because it's a great "fuck it!" quote, and actually pretty congruent with my methods. (And yes, it's friend swith my Nick Fury "stupid-ass decision" icon :D. It's a valuable sentiment, what can I say :P)
5.
(icon by priscellie) -- "The building was on fire, and it wasn't my fault," (Jim Butcher, Blood Rites) -- and this is a just-for-fun one: my faorite first line of any book :D
**
For
madeline_gwydion:
Top 5 character pairings (which I'm assuming to mean romantic ones for the purposes of this question)
So, this one definitely tends to be time-dependent for me, at least to some degree. I do have some long-term forever-OTP pairings, as you'll see below, but a fair chunk of the list changes depending on what I'm in the mood for at the moment.
1. Aral/Cordelia (Vorkosigan Saga) -- This is probably my solidest OTP, in the sense that I've known these characters and shipped them hard for almost 20 years, through a long series of books and several decades of their lives. I love both characters, and the tropes of their relationship, and it hit at the right point in my own life as well -- when I was newly married (to a considerably older man) and just had L (see the "after five-space navigational math" icon above), so we were, you know, in sync. This is the one canonical pairing on my list, curiously enough.
2. Vlad/Morrolan (Dragaera) -- I apparently started shipping this (rather than just OTC-ing Morrolan) 9 years ago, and while my Dragaera fannishness does seem to come in waves -- occasionally it fades to a dull roar, now it's in a flare-up, since I finally got some of my flist to pick up the books :D -- I'd say it's never NOT been in my top 5 in those 9 years. This is the classic example of my ships, featuring the character in the fandom I like best, and the character he (or she, but usually it's "he", especially in the fandoms I'm shippy about) has an interesting relationship with -- usually at least a little rivalry/antagonism or at least Vitriolic Best Buds -- and ideally some interesting foil or mirroring or something, which is the case here.
3. Miles Vorkosigan/River Tam (Vorkosigan Saga/Firefly) -- Yeah, a crossover ship, but I've legit shipped it for years, ever since I watched Firefly, basically. This is an odd example where, quite honestly, the characters themselves are NOT my favorites in their respective canon -- River is actually one of the few principals I don't care about that much (she's in the bottom 3), and Miles probably isn't even in the top 10 of the Vorkosigan Saga for me. But it's one of those rare cases where a ship isn't "character I love and whoever he/she wants" or "two characters I love that make sense together", but where characters from two different canons and even mediums) make so much sense together, it's really something that should exist. I even have their children (and grandchildren) all planned out [ LJ link].
4. Blake/Avon (Blake's 7) -- the "hot new ship" for me (which I realize is, you know, actually about the same age as I am, so the "new" is very relative, but anyway). It's actually been a while since I had a new ship I was seriously into -- the last time I read a lot of fic for a ship was Jack/Bitty for Check, Please!, but that was because there WAS a lot of fic to be read -- I was not all that emotionally involved. So you probably have to go back to Peter/Nightingale (~2012) for my last serious one. Anyway, as you can see from all the stuff above, I'm in the throes of this one, having not only binged the canon, but also concurrently read, like, at least 150k of fic. Which did the neat thing of deepening my appreciation for the character I already liked, and deepening my understanding of the character I didn't like as much on my own. So basically fandom is doing its job excellently on this one. Time will tell how long this one will hang around as a top 5 ship -- sometimes these things burn themselves out fast, even in the presence, but especially in the absence of new canon, and sometimes they last as long as I have fic from a favorite author to read, and sometimes they hang around for ages just on their own. Time will tell, so I'm curious to have this record of it.
5. Peter Grant/Thomas Nightingale (Rivers of London) -- I think this is still my fifth at the moment. I had a couple of other contenders I considered: Jaime/Loras for the ASOIAF books -- I still love the rivals/mirror-ness of this ship, but have lost most of my interest in the series; I still read the occasional Steve/Tony fic, but haven't really been into their canon interactions since the first Avengers movie; I am still super-amused by AOS!Kirk and his off-the-charts chemistry with Bones, but that's basically down to occasionally rereading my favorite fics for the pairing. So I think Peter/Nightingale is still it for me -- I still really like their canon dynamic (though I wish there was more of it in the more recent books), I still enjoy reading fic, and I still love the series as a whole.
**
For
sunlit_stone top five interesting fusions/crossovers
1. Vorkosigan Saga/Firefly: Miles/River as a ship (see above under "top 5 ships", but even besides that, I think the universes cross over in neat ways. Like, a lot of the Firefly crew could use some Beta-style counseling. It would be very amusing to watch Ivan try to flirt with Zoe. And Mark would find something interesting to do with Jayne's skills, I bet!
2. Avatar: the Last Airbender/Discworld: Nanny Ogg and Uncle Iroh sitting down to chat over a pot of tea and/or a bottle of scumble. I'm actually not sure where I got this one -- whether it came up on a Character Roulette meme (mine or someone else's), or if it was a prompt on one of those "give me two characters and I'll answer these questions" memes. Anyway, whichever way it came about, I love it! Nanny and Iroh are both characters I love a lot in their respective canons, and they would get along SPLENDIDLY -- they are both badasses who are fairly happy to be dismissed as buffoons, most of the time, and I think they'd have a lot of fun together. A slightly broader crossover would be a lot of fun, too; I feel like Discworld might be good for Azula. I think someone like Granny Weatherwax would be able to teach her how to be every bit as formidable and powerful as she wants to be without doing evil, or, alternatively (and farther afield) Vetinari might be very interested to harness all that potential and ruthlessness to something more useful than Ozai's plans.
3. Temeraire crossovers/fusions. First of all, anything is better with dragons. Especially talking dragons who are also really funny. And given the travelogue nature of the Temeraire books, and the stories set earlier in history, you can apply this fusion pretty much to any era (though I'm particularly partial to crossing it over with other Napoleonic War canons -- like, imagine Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell + dragons (Mr Norrell accidentally acquiring a dragon and palming him off on Jonathan, for example). I also really enjoy crossing over (as in, the actual Temeraire characters) with non-Earth based sci-fi and fantasy universes, especially ones with a militaristic bend. Barrayar with dragons! Dragaeran Dragonlords with actual dragon companions (Morrolan and Temeraire would I think get along very nicely, for example, and Iskierka with Aliera). And I will never forget when
lunasariel's Random Character Meme introduced us to the perfect and terrifying combination of Feanor + Iskierka (now there's a pair who would go beyond the edge of the world for some shinies!)
4. White Collar Curseworkers AU -- so this originated on Best Chat, when ikel89 and I were watching our way through White Collar. Curseworkers is a YA series by Holly Black which I think deserves to be much better known than it is (book trailer link), but the general premise is a Noir-ish world where some people have magic, of one of several different types, but magic is illegal, so the only people who practice magic are mobsters. The curse types are Physical (can break bones, etc.), Memory (can modify memories), Emotion (can manipulate a person's emotions), Death (kill with a touch), Dream (manipulate dreams), Luck (impart good or bad luck), and the rarest, Transformation (transform anything into anything). Through the general conman protagonist connection (and the prospect of gloves porn), we came up with this whole elaborate AU, where Neal is supposedly an Emotion worker, so people assume his charm an charisma is him using his magic, basically (Peter thinks he is being worked to (take your pick) trust Neal and/or fall in love with him). And then someone starts the rumor that Neal is a Transformation worker, the only one in the world, and that's how he managed to get away with his forgeries (but Neal would NEVER, there's no art to doing it that way, even if he could). In reality, Neal is a Physical worker, but he hates using that power, so he almost never does (like real Neal and guns). Anyway, the Transformation worker rumour spreads, and at some point Neal is blackmailed into doing a job only a Transformation worker could do, and he has no idea how to get out of that one -- no-one will believe that he isn't one at this point -- and someone pulls of the job FOR him and leaves him the goods -- along with an origami flower, because the actual Transformation worker is Alex. And Peter is a Death worker; he had to get tested as part of getting clearance, so he knows he is, but has never used his curse before -- although of course he ends up having to, in order to save Neal's life at some point. My favorite bit of this fusion, though, is Mozzie as a Memory worker, who has all his crazy little rituals, sonnets and secret codes and whatnot, as a way of dealing with the blowback of using this magic, which is memory loss.
LOL, apparently I actually sketched an entire episode of this AU in Best Chat, which I will now capture here, for posterity:
Act 1: sinister voice from Neal's past threatens Neal / Kate / Mozzie / June / Peter if Neal doesnot perform Transformation feat
Act 2: Neal and Mozzie attempt to fake Transformation feat using stolen supplies, bubbling reagents, and Neal's sparkly smile, while: Peter and his team, increasingly convinced something even fishier than usual is going on, try to protect Neal, who denies anything is happening so as not to put Peter in danger.
Act 3: Neal and Mozzie's plan goes pear-shaped and Neal attempts to salvage it via chutzpah, three piece suit, an intense blue-eyed-ness. Peter and the feds race to the rescue. Meanwhile, actual secret Transfomration worker Alex sneaks in, does the thing, and sneaks out.
Act 4: sinister voice from Neal's past is satisfied. Neal and Mozzie are like, whew, guess we're just that good after all :D Peter confronts Neal about how the evidence doesn't add up to him being an emotion worker. "So are you an emotion worker... or are you a Transformation worker, Neal?" Neal,with intense blue-eyed sincerity: "You're right, Peter. You figured it out because you know me so well. I'm not an Emotion worker."
Act 5: Peter to El: "So I confronted Neal about not being an emotion worker, and he admitted he wasn't, but he didnt say anything about being a Transformation worker or not. It's got to be one of the other curses. He couldn't resist showing off his uniqueness otherwise." Neal, pleased with pulling one over on everyone yet again, comes home to discover an origami flower from Alex.
5. Spinning Silver/Vlad Taltos: (from my Yuletide letter) Morrolan's necromantic windows seem like an easy way to mash things up with [...] universes with other ~Elves! -- when reading Spinning Silver last year, I couldn't help but notice that Morrolan and the Staryk Lord seem to have fairly compatible (read: utterly ridiculous) senses of honor and pride, and would be very amused to see what would happen if they had to deal with each other, with their respective mortals facepalming endlessly in the background, or however Vlad and Miryem would react to such proceedings.
**
For giallarhorn: top 5 animated shows you'd recommend
This ended up being a really tough set! I had put together a list of favorite animated shows [DW link] about 2 years ago, a longer list, but many of the shows on that list are nostalgia shows for me. I have no idea how X-Men or Batman: The Animated Series have aged -- probably decently? But I haven't seen the shows in 20+ years and don't feel a particular need to rewatch them. Would Chip'n'Dale's Rescue Rangers or TaleSpin work at all for a grown-up audience? No clue, never watched them as an adult, feel no particular need to do so, either. (I probably *would* rewatch He-Man, given the chance, but would likely be quite disappointed.) And while there are animated shows I watched as an adult, none of them (outside that list) reached "recommend" status. Like, I reasonably enjoyed the first season of Disenchantment, but if you want to watch a SFF comedy Matt Groening show, there are better options than that one! Maybe if I go back and watch s2-s3 of Dragon Prince, it will impress me more, but based on s1, if I were going to recommend a sweeping epic with magic, serious themes, impressive character arcs, and badass characters with disabilities -- well, it wouldn't be that one. I may have watched three seasons of Castlevania but that's just a thing that's K's fault it's not a show I would recommend, really, and certainly not without reservations. And some of the animated shows that I know have been big in fandom, like MLP:FiM and Steven Universe, I've never even attempted, because the art style is a major turn-off for me. Anyway, so with that massive disclaimer:
1. Avatar: the Last Airbender -- it actually took me a long time to watch this show, because the art style an the awkward title made me think it was anime (and anime and I don't get along), and then I watched it with the rodents, and it was AMAZING. It introduced me to my #1 TV villain (as you can see in my previous top 5 fannish post), and a handful of other top-tier sort of characters. It has a great ensemble and one of the most impressive redemption arcs I've encountered anywhere. The story is sweeping and complex and doesn't shy away from dark themes -- but is also really, really funny. I love the magic/bending, and the non-Western setting is really interesting (and carefully done). And there are cute critters! And it's a really quotable show. Since I watched it as an adult, along with my kids, I know it works really well for both demographics. Basically, recommended very highly to anyone who enjoys fantasy and hasn't watched this yet.
2. The Simpsons -- I know, I know. Anyone who is likely to be receptive to the humour of The Simpsons has likely already watched it somewhere in the past three decades, or however longthey'vebeen doing this, so I don't know that anyone needs this recommenation. But it's my favorite animated show, probably my favorite TV show, period. And the episodes from the glory seasons absolutely stand up to multiple rewatches (to the point of knowing the scripts by heart). So, like, consider it a recommendation to RE-watch a couple of episodes or something.
3. Futurama -- Look, there should be more funny sci-fi cartoons, period. And this one has some very fun characters (Bender, Zoiberg, and Zapp Brannigan are particular favorites of mine), fun quotes, and excellent memeability.
4. The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends -- I actually don't know if you can watch this anywhere at the moment (and I haven't seen the Amazon reboot, but doubt it's as good). I watched this on Nickelodeon in the 90s, and was very amused, especially by various bad puns in the Fractured Fairy Tales and Mr Peabody and Sherman segments, and the fourth-wall breaking. While I haven't rewatched it recently, I suspect that kind of humour holds up pretty well.
5. Along similar lines, Animaniacs, maybe? Another "variety show" with a bunch of zany shorts mixed together, it appealed to me for the same reasons as Rocky & Bullwinkle. Predictably, Pinky & the Brain were my favorite bit here, and I also liked the musical numbers.
This entry was originally posted at https://hamsterwoman.dreamwidth.org/1124399.html. Comment wherever you prefer (I prefer LJ).
thisbluespirit reassured me things were going to get better soon after that, so I pushed through "Stardrive", and indeed, I enjoyed everything thereafter more, because even the weaker eps at least had Servalan in them. "Headhunter" was actively amusing, despite ridiculousness,and "Assassin" was the first I actually liked after the stretch, and then I actually really enjoyed and/or appreciated everything from the final bits of "Gold" through the end (which I was very glad to have watched unspoiled).
I think this time I'll do the episode-by-episode reactions -- SPOILERY, of course, and then general musings. That seems more fitting, given the, uh, trajectory.
"Rescue" -- Vila is the one rescuing people from the wreckage! He drags Tarrant out (who better appreciate it) and then unhesitatingly goes back for Cally -- well, unhesitatingly until the hatch starts closing, at which point it is prudent to NOT also get trapped -- and actually shields Tarrant with his body -- go Vila! (And I like that he acts braver when there's no-one around to watch him and get ideas for later.) And then Avon going in ("We needed Orac"). Dayna and Tarrant as a buddy duo have grown on me -- I enjoyed their banter while skulking about, and then her clinging to him in the scary monster-infested dark -- I guess she is not always unflappable. I also enjoyed Dayna's appreciation for Dorian's multi-purpose guns. As for the episode itself, ehhh. The Dorian Gray (subtle XD) storyline was interesting to see done as sci-fi, but the connection to Our Heroes was pretty tenuous, and Dorian's death-throes were... oy.
New characters: I have no specific thoughts on Soolin yet, except that her hair just looks like something my middle-school classmates were wearing, and so I find her hard to take seriously. And if Slave is meant to be the replacement for Zen and the ship for the Liberator, I'm not particularly impressed. On a shallow note: I'm not sure what's different about Avon this season, physically -- haircut? gained some weight? -- but he looks different in a way I find distracting. Conversely, whatever's different about Tarrant -- shorter hair? tan? -- is contributing to him being a lot less annoying. So a positive, on balance.
And, OK, this is sort of a random thing, but I've been noticing it for a while, and apparently I quite enjoy the, like, procedural call-and-response this show does a lot of (because it creates atmosphere with dialogue over a lack of special effects, just people flipping switches and looking at computer readouts) -- like the pre-flight check that Tarrant and Avon go through here before take-off, but there was the space telegram exchange in "Death-Watch" (I think), and several others like that.
"Power" -- the final Ben Steed! I found it less, uh, memorable than "Harvest of Kairos", but paradoxically also worse, because 'Kairos' was over-the-top WTF + a couple of fun moments, while this is just... bad, in all kinds of ways. Like, did this show really need a second ~Vikings episode? The combat scene was ridiculous, the helium rod (or whatever) special effects were so bad... Well, all of that is just random B7 WTF, but the thing with Avon and the Seska is just so bizarre on so many levels. I can't believe that was the most expedient way to go about getting his hands on a collar, and it's not like overt violence is his preferred method, but also, on a worldbuilding level, if that's all it takes to overcome Seska "power", what is even the point of it? And the worldbuilding is just generally bad, and the Stockholm syndrome thing with the wife character who kept insisting she was not a Seska anymore, she was a woman, and then the banality of Avon's closing pronouncement about the war between the sexes, which appears to be the whole reason for this episode's existence. Oh, and the fact that a bunch of people who've been merrily teleporting places for 3 years can't figure out how someone can get inside a closed door. It's just dumb and unpleasant all around. And, yes, I think I can confidently rank it below 'Kairos' ("Moloch" is definitely my favorite of the Ben Steed episoes, because I actually liked "Moloch".)
Oh, but, new credits! It actually looks like a sci-fi show this time, and the thing that goes bzzt! on the logo is kind of cool.
"Traitor" -- I had high hopes for this one, because I've been noticing that I tend to like the Robert Holmes episodes a lot, but this is the exception that proves the rule. While in his other episodes I found the one-off characters interesting and well fleshed out, here I found them boring, and the principals were hardly *in* this episode, it felt like. I was not interested enough in the proceedings to keep track of who was double-crossing whom and secretly working for whom else, so I just sort of skimmed while people I didn't care about talked to each other. Maybe I would've appreciated the Servalan revelation if I hadn't already known she had survived and would be in series 4; as it was, it was just another box to check. (I did find Avon's reaction to her being alive interesting -- he was very far from his usual controlled self, and "I didn't want her to die like that anyway. I need ... to kill her myself."-- that's, like, a straight-up villain line. And, wait, seriously, another guy with a black eyepatch? Favorite bit of dialogue:
VILA: Blake would have been proud of you, you know.
AVON: I know, but then he never was very bright.
"Stardrive" -- I actually quite liked the beginning of this episode, especially for pretend-drunk Vila coming up with the best idea for how to fix the ship, and having a female brilliant scientist for a change. But then they actually got to the planet and the Space Rats, and ugggh. I was alternately bored and cringing the entire time the action was there; the Space Rats are ridiculous (and not, like, in a fun way). Also, I'm assuming this was not a usage familiar to the intended audience, but every time I heard someone say "gook", that was incredibly jarring (I don't know if that was real slang or made-up space slang, but I only know the word as a racial slur. So that was unfortunate.) Anyway, and then comes the end, with Avon choosing to sacrifice the scientist lady to save the ship (though it's hard to believe there was no other way / that they couldn't wait another couple of seconds for her to get clear) in a particularly callous way. If this is what Avon is like in a world that he believes has no Blake in it... well. (This ended up being the nadir of my affection for Avon in the whole thing, actually, but I think that's the fault of the script rather than a character arc thing, because Avon certainly makes objectively no less morally gray decisions later, and I liked the way those played out.) But from the bit at the beginning when Avon says "There are times when even the most cynical must trust in luck" -- Avon's got a death wish at this point, hasn't he... (although a peculiar sort of death wish, where he only accepts it if it's on his own terms -- he clearly still wants to win.)
"Animals" -- I was braced for this one to be worse than it was, or maybe it was just the "buy a goat" effect of being done with "Stardrive". It was fine? Not a lot to say about this one except it's refreshing to have an episode with quite a lot of Servalan in it. Her black-and-white presidential costumes appear to have morphed into all-black for this commissioner Sleer role, but I'm less of a fan of this season's costumes (in general, but especially on her; did the show run out of wardrobe money?). I even found Og's design fairly nice, because thematically this episode reminded me of the one with the Decimas in s1, an this was SUCH an incredible improvement in special effects.
"Headhunter" -- this was ridiculous, but in a FUN way for a change! (I was surprised this came from the same Roger Parkes who wrote "Children of Auron" and "Voice from the Past", both of which I'd disliked.) Like, the whole premise is so monster-movie silly, but it was fun to watch the headless android shamble around. And that title, lol! Bit on the nose XD But Slave arguing and Orac snapping, "Yes, master" was surprisingly creepy. I enjoyed the character moments, too: Avon is just the best at talking to bereaved loved ones, LOL; at least he had the sense to have Soolin try and comfort the woman. Tarrant and Vila make a surprisingly fun duo, and Vila affornted that Avon was doubting his skills due to the box still remaining a mystery; I liked Vila in this in general -- I feel like he's being underutilized this season, but this was better. Also, dear Avon, maybe doing electrical work in metal-studded gloves is not the best idea, eh? He really does seem to have a death wish these days... he embraced the proposition of playing pin-the-conscience-circuit-on-the-android with a grin. Anyway, like I said -- fun! (Oh, and upgraded teleport graphics this season.)
"Assassin" -- I liked this one! The plot is quite neat, with the layers of bait and switch (the actor guy pretending to be Cancer really does look more like an actor than an assassin, Tarrant in particular being duped by a sob story and a pretty face -- but Soolin isn't really big on compassion, is she XD), but mostly it's an apisode where I had fun watching Avon again. He's continuing to take significant personal risks (since Blake disappeared), which is a good look on him. I really enjoyed the bit at the beginning where he's teasing Vila about going along and says "My hero" with a grin at Vila's usual protestations, and the look on Avon's face when he's informed he's been served a stew made of fungus. And wow, Avon actually got at attack of conscience and decided to keep his promise to the old guy. But most of all, I enjoyed this episode for the Avon/Servalan content. I mean, she actually buys him at the slave market! So, like, there's AU Avon/Servalan fic branching off this episode, right? I mean, the BDSM practically writes itself... (I did go looking and found one story, but not quite in the direction I had in mind.) And then the scene where the scheme is revealed and Avon and Servalan are talking while the assassin has got him strapped down:
Servalan: Avon, you're not sulking, I hope.
Avon: Mmm. I'm full of admiration for your brilliance.
And Servalan being disappointed by the "success" in killing them (though why she should care about Tarrant does not seem clear to me -- has she ever interacted with him really, up to this point?) So, yeah, my first real favorite of the season.
"Games" -- this was pretty fun, though I don't have a ton to say about it. I quite liked Belkov, especially when he was apologizing to Gambit for leaving her and giving the self-destruct order. And everybody on the away team got to be good at something: Soolin got to beat the shooter, Tarrant got the flight sim game, Vila sweet-talked Gambit into helping. And Avon pulls off a kind of anti-matter trick. And everybody loses, ultimately, which seems like a classic B7 resolution.
"Sand" -- Oh hey, it's been a while since we had some bonkers costumes, but this one delivers, for the investigator and especially the dudes flying his ship. I knew this was the other Tanith Lee episode, so was braced for something creepy... but I definitely did not expect vampiric sand XD ~Drunk Orac declaring his love was hilarious but also suitably unnerving. And the Tarrant and Servalan dynamic was quite interesting. Servalan talking about loving (people other than herself) and weeping threw me at first, but based on the last (solo) scene with her, I concluded that she seemed to be, like, method acting, rather than expressing genuine emotion, and things started making a bit more sense. It was very jarring in the moment, though -- and Tarrant seems to fall for it, at least enough (and, hmm, I wonder if she learned about his reaction to sob stories in "Assassin" and acted accordingly...) I do find it interesting that Servalan has had a team-up moment of sorts with Avon, Vila, and Tarrant now (I don't think she and Cally ever actually teamed up, even when they were on the same ship?) -- it occurs to me that even Blake and Servalan sort of teamed up, even if it wasn't face to face or one on one, in "Star One", facing the alien fleet (since it's the two of them making the call to work together, to the skepticism of their followers -- and interesting to see how different she was with each, from exasperatedly bossing Vila around to the flirty mindgames with Avon to this.) There are a lot of great Servalan moments and quotes -- getting the gun away from Tarrant, "Theres something you should realize: There are no women like me." (which reminded me of the Jaime Lannister quote), telling Tarrant ""You are both resourceful and decorative" (I wonder if LMB's line about Raven Durona is an homage, or GRMM's). Also, Tarrant is kind of an ass, but that's two alien races now that have judged his utility to be sex, and I find that delightful.
"Gold" -- so, like, does Avon have any "old friends" who don't try to betray him? Really can't blame the man for wanting to be a loner (or possibly he just needs better taste in associates...) Said "friend" was entertaining to watch, though, at least until he killed the doctor, unarmed and trying to help :( This one did not work for me as a heist episode -- I dunno, maybe the pace was off? -- so other than the parts where Dayna and Tarrant were play-acting a couple, I found the proceedings fairly dull until the chase and the confrontations at the end. Naturally, my favorite part was the Avon/Servalan stuff (Avon: "He doesn't know you as well as I do." S: "Who does?"), and later, negotiating the exchange, when Servalan says that if Avon shoots her, her guards will shoot him first: "Well, now, the sacrifice might be worthwhile." "You're not the sacrificial type.""You're right. We'll do business as arranged." But not-the-sacrificial-type Avon staying behind to cover the retreat in the docking tube -- with a teleport bracelet, but still -- I definitely don't see s1-s2 Avon volunteering for that. And, of course, at the end, Avon in the shower of worthless bank notes, grinning and then laughing. (And of course the crew accuses him of doing the thing he was always on Blake about, not telling them enough for informed consent.) I liked everything from the escape from the Princess until the end very much.
"Orbit" -- this was another one I really liked. First, there's Servalan in it (Avon: "She is never far from my thoughts."), and the scientists were also reasonably amusing, in an over-the-top sort of way (Servalan rolling her eyes at Egrorian on his knees is a mood). But the best part, of course, is all the Vila (like his imperial dreams: "I'll have an imperial palace with solid diamond floors, and a bodyguard of a thousand handpicked virgins in red fur uniforms. Vila's Royal Mounties.") and Vila-and-Avon-ness, which I was missing a lot this season. The cheerful bit it starts off, with Vila saying "You know I like to stick with you, Avon. Where it's safe." -- and the MUCH more sinister echo of this from Avon at the end. I actually glimpsed the reference to "The Cold Equations" on Wikipedia when I glanced at this episode (which is a story I have not read but have read about, in the Jo Walton book), but how the thing unfolded still surprised me, and I really liked the way it did. Like, Vila, I noticed, has a tendency to give up and ostrich (usually in drink, if it's available) when he's in a life-threatening situation, but Avon throws himself into action, unwilling to lose (even if he seems to be in a place where he doesn't seem to mind dying on his own terms). And so Avon's frantic scramble to lighten the shuttle load in the remaining minutes sets up perfectly the scene where he mutters the rhetorical question ("Dammit, what weighs seventy kilos?") -- and Orac answers that Vila does (which I thought was a very neat call-back to the chat with Egrorian about how Orac always offers more or less info than you really want). The silent bit where you can see Avon assimilating this information and deciding what to do about it, before he reaches for the stashed gun, and then knowing that Vila overheard Orac -- and this was enough for him to surmise what Avon would do and hide -- that's some really great stuff! I like that this isn't something Avon comes up with on his own -- jettisoning Vila clearly had not occurred to him-- but then once the idea is out there, it's too logical for himnot to act on it. And the thing is... I do find it a believably rational response -- they've stripped the shuttle bare, and if they don't lighten it further, it does seem likely they will both die -- and having one person die and one person live is preferable to that -- but neither of them is the self-sacrificing type. So I absolutely buy Avon making this choice (much more so than the one in "Stardrive", though it's a similar choice and actually the one in "Stardrive" is more justified, if anything, in terms of 'trolley problem' impact and also Vila being a friend (or as close to one as Avon has). And the following scene, with Avon prowling around, calling for Vila in a wolf-in-Grandmother's-clothing voice, completely different from any of his usual registers, with Vila scrunched up and crying out of sight -- that was also so good! But especially I loved the change in Avon when he sees the neutron star spec and figures out a better route to safety -- the way his "Vila, I really do know how they did it!" sounds completely different, normal -- but also that Vila doesn't trust him enough to come out, and he has to struggle to dump the piece of plastic by himself. I also like that Vila is not in a forgiving mood even after everything worked out (although it did seem to get reset to normal pretty shortly after the episode). This was my favorite episode of the season, because all three of my favorite characters got some very interesting moments. And as I was watching, I was wondering if it was Robert Holmes episode, with the memorable one-off characters and Avon-Villa shenanigans, so I looked it up later, and it was! (Also, her at Avon styling Scorpio a privateer.)
"Warlord" -- I quite liked this one, too, but it was sort of a lull between two big ones, so I have less to say about it. It was interesting to finally get some actual character notes from Soolin, between the orphan backstory and pretending to be Zukan's daughter turning Avon in. I liked Zoekan and his ridiculous profile the combination of that nose and the pink man-bun, and I actually didn't mind his daughter, either, though the end for her seemed rather random. Tarrant continues to be ridiculous. Vila fatalistically facing death while other scrambled to do something is apparently a dynamic I enjoy (and I guess Avon figuring out how to get air to them maybe makes up for "Orbit" a bit). I also enjoyed Servalan in this (of course), and her talking up Avon to anyone who would listen -- though "Send me his corpse." lacks something in terms of personal touch.
And then there was:
"Blake" -- Well. That was certainly an ending. So I knew, before I even started the series, that something majorly bad happened in the finale, so I kind of expected most/all of the principals to die. But definitely not like this. I don't think I have coherent thoughts about it, even after having thought about it for a day. This was... a fitting ending, I suppose -- I mean, a "happily ever after" was certainly unlikely -- and it's got the kind of self-fulfilling prophecy inevitability of a good tragedy, but I don't actually *like* tragedies, so I can't say I liked this, even though I definitely appreciate the choices made here and the effect. So, I guess what follows is just random notes -- just more than usual of them
Avon: "In the end, winning is the only safety" -- this makes a lot of sense for me, as a driver for his actions / how his motivations connect.
I actually liked Tarrant in this! For the first time, and just in time for him to die, but he actually won me over by his choice to go down with the ship to give Avon a chance to get away (now THERE's a self-sacrificing type) AND then he managed to land the thing in a survivable manner. And Slave shutting own while expressing the hope that Tarrant will be OK was the first time I actually liked Slave. (I also noted -- without much surprise -- that Avon doesn't try to find the wreck/find out if Tarrant might be alive -- and that Vila is the only person who asks after Tarrant (whom he has no reason to like too much) -- three times, as Avon continues to ignore the question.) Tarrant and Blake dynamic was also quite interesting.
So, not only does absolutely everyone (except possibly Avon, given the ambiguity of the fade-to-black ending) die in this, but we even learn that Jenna has died offscreen apparently, too? (Blake: "She tried to run the blockade once too often. Happens to all of them eventually. [...] She hit the self-destruct. And when it blew, she took half a squadron of gunships with her.")
Blake... was a surprise. I mean, I knew he was going to be in it, given the title, but the look with the scar over his eye, and after a while I couldn't think of why he would be pretending to be with the bounty hunters, but I also couldn't believe he would be doing this for real -- it was quite disconcerting. It feels tragically fitting that the whole denouement comes about because he trusts the wrong person (because he's lost the ability to know which ones to trust, but still trusts only his own ability to tell the right people from the wrong ones), and also that the reason Blake dies when and how he dies (rather than with the others) because Avon buys the pretense (more on which below).
I'd seen Deva's name in AO3 tags, and then kind of forgot about him and that there wasn't much show left in which to introduce him. But then when he and Blake are speaking freely, I thought, Blake found himself a substitute, more pliable Avon. This bit especially:
DEVA These stupid games you insist on playing, Blake, will get someone killed eventually.
BLAKE I have to test each one myself.
DEVA No, you don't have to! I set up systems for that. I broke the security codes on their central computer. I got us access to official channels, information, everything we could possibly need! You don't need to be involved at all.
BLAKE All right, I find it difficult to trust. It's a failing, I admit--!
DEVA And any one of our people could select the people you've collected. You don't need to do the bounty hunter routine, either!
BLAKE Indulge me.
DEVA Do I have a choice?
BLAKE Oh, there's always a choice, Deva.
So, honestly, I have no idea how to interpret this episode outside of a Blake/Avon context. Like Avon says glibly "Idealism is a wonderful thing. All you really need is someone rational to put it to proper use." -- but then the little smirk he gets when Vila figures out which idealist he's talking about. The look on Avon's face when he sees Blake, the way he sort of freezes, and then, "Have you betrayed us? Have you betrayed me?!" That scene made me want to rewatch the part of Rumours of Death where Avon comes face to face with Anna again, because I think there's a fair bit of similarity in Avon's expression and voice there -- being betrayed by a person he loves (I mean, presumably the show means platonically, but whatever) -- though he acts rather than reacts in this case -- I guess there's only so much betrayal he could take. And Blake's "Avon, I was waiting for YOU.", collapsing slowly while clutching onto him, and Avon's name being the last thing he says -- there's a lot of passion all around in that scene, is what I'm saying. Not to mention Avon straddling Blake's corpse and looking into his face as he raises the gun to face the circle of Federation guards.
Speaking of, the final scene was pretty grand. I usually find death on B7 either ridiculously overplayed or very fake looking, but this was different -- I mean, still stylized, but in a way that worked for me. The most memorable bit before the very end was Vila actually moved to violence (though he apologizes when he knocks the girl out), picking up the gun, before he is shot. And everybody running and falling, the room filling up with guards, while Avon and Blake have their tableau. Avon, untouched, in the eye of the storm, amidst the chaos around me actually reminded me of that scene in PotC where Cutler Beckett walks through the ship as it's being blown apart -- I really like that juxtaposition, apparently. I figured Avon was going to be smiling at the end -- that seems to be his reaction to "well, we're fucked" circumstances (Liberator being destroyed, the money news in "Gold") -- but the rest of it was a surprise, and I liked the ending with the multiple shots ringing out over the credits.
So, that was definitely a bang of an ending, even if I can't say I enjoyed this episode. It was a well-told story, and it kept my attention, to be sure.
Overall, I did like the season, after the slow start, and might actually rank it about even with s3 (s2 is still ahead for me). Episodes this series I liked particularly were "Orbit" and "Assassin", in that order, and "Blake" was, you know, impressive, and I only significantly disliked "Power" and "Stardrive" (and found "Traitor" boring) -- that might be a little better than my stats on s3, even. But the episodes I disliked are all front-loaded, which made it hard to get through them.
Looking over my write-ups, Avon/Servalan was clearly my principal joy this season (until the final episode). Tarrant and Soolin finally grew on me towards the end (if I rewatch, I'll have to pay more attention to them. I wish Vila had been utilized more, but I liked him a lot whenever he got something to do. And Avon... I don't mind Avon falling apart, over the course of the season -- he is unmoored, he's got a death-wish, he does seem to mostly be motivated by spite directed at Servalan while at the same time getting sucked into her games. I found him OOCin the early episodes of the season; possibly if I rewatched, they would make more sense and show character choices rather than meh writing, but I don't think I'll subject myself to that. Avon's still my favorite overall, and the most interesting character.
Favorite characters, as of the end of the whole thing:
1. Avon
2. Servalan
3. Vila
4. There's a sharp drop down here, but I think Jenna?
5. I think Dayna, but it would also not surprise me if, on rewatch, Blake ended up sneaking into the top 5, now that I have a more complete understanding of his character (from both his later episodes and from fic)
I'm still shipping Blake/Avon, but I have to say, at least in the immediate aftermath of the finale, I find myself drawn to it less. I dunno if reading a bunch of PGP fic (which I've been assiduously avoiding on AO3 till now) will change that, or if it's one of those fairly rare cases where the way a character dynamic plays out in canon changes the way I feel about a ship for good -- hopefully not! As of late last season and especially s4, I'm also progressively more intrigued by Avon/Servalan (though I think I'd definitely prefer that in a universe where Blake is around and Avon knows/believes that, because otherwise it would seem to go real dark real fast). And also the dynamic between Avon and Vila is great, and while I don't actively ship it myself, I'd like to read some fic of it and see how people do it, and especially how they deal with something like "Orbit" in the context of that ship.
My top 5 favorite episodes -- not necessarily in order, but more or less
- Pressure Point (s2)
- Terminal (s3)
- Rumours of Death (s3)
- Star One (s2)
- either Orbit (s4) or Killer or Gambit (both s2) -- currently leaning towards "Orbit", but that could also be recency bias...
My 5 least favorite episodes (ditto):
- Children of Auron (s3)
- Power (s4)
- Harvest of Kairos (s3)
- Stardrive (s4)
- Voice from the Past (s2)
(bumping "The Keeper" and "Hostage" off the list, heh)
I've mentioned a couple of times that one of the major reasons I was curious about B7 was that I know my beloved Duv Galeni (of the Vorkosigan Saga) is supposed to be inspired by Avon. I can definitely see the inspiration as far as physical description of the character and, say, the first view of Galeni in the cell in Brothers in Arms, but there's actually less similarity in personality than I'd expected. Like, sure, they are both highly intelligent people with a tendency towards deadpan sarcasm and unexpected flashes of violence at odds with their normally controlled exteriors -- and I *love* those types, so I do also love Avon. But their inner cores feel quite different to me. It's not just, as
oracne said, that Duv is way nicer and more moral than Avon -- although he is definitely both those things. I think also Duv is a Ravenclaw Primary, to use Sorting Hat Chats terms, one of the idealistic houses with a constructed truth. Avon, though, I struggled with. Is he a Ravenclaw Primary who has adopted some very bleak truths -- that sentiment is weakness, that you only look out for #1 or you're a fool -- and that's why he's so weirdly, unwillingly drawn to Blake and Blake's oh-so-Gryffindor Primary, with its unshakeable idealism? Or is he a petrified Slytherin, genuinely ust looking out for himself, with maybe a Ravenclaw model on top to justify why his moral system is the objectively correct one? And after s4, I'm coming down on the side of Slytherin Primary. Petrified when we meet him, probably on account of losing Anna. He's maybe starting to thaw a bit, and then Blake's disappearance, the stuff in "Rumours of Death", losing Blake (and the Liberator, I guess) again in "Terminal" drive him to the point where even he isn't insie his own circle anymore (thus the death-wish behavior), and then thinking that Blake betrayed him is the final straw -- I think s3 and especially s4 are an already on-the-edge Slytherin Primary coming apart.
Oh, and Ravenclaw Secondary for Avon, I'm pretty sure -- he's at his best figuring stuff out with preparation and knowledge, even if the solutions come to him in a crisis in a sort of Eureka moment -- while I think Galeni might actually be a Gryffindor Secondary, with his back to the wall, and just a really strong Ravenclaw model cultivated by academia. But it actually wouldn't surprise me if Avon's Secondary was burned throughout s4 -- because all his careful research and planning just succeeded in leading him into a trap and losing the Liberator in "Terminal" -- and that's why he's flailing over much of the season.
I was going to stop there, but ikel89 asked me if I'd found my Galeni fix in B7 (not really, as you see above), and I told her no, but I did find another character I like a lot, and an additional favorite despot, and a ship or two -- and then I linked her to the fandom wiki write-up on Servalan -- mostly to show off the costumes -- and her response was "Listen, she is basically evil female Miles. What's her name, Cavilo?" -- which I was very impressed by, because I've seen the theory that Cavilo was inspired by Servalan (as Duv was by Avon), and it does seem very plausible -- but to be able to pick that up from a wiki write-up is pretty uncanny! Anyway, this is all a long-winded leadup to, Servalan is definitely a Slytherin Primary (with only herself in the circle, and everybody had better realize it) + Slytherin Secondary -- which, yes, is both Miles and Cavilo.
And poor Vila I think is a Hufflepuff Primary, and, hm... Definitely not Gryff for Secondary, or Hufflepuff (hard work and showing up is, like, the opposite of what Vila does), and he doesn't seem to be very good at improvising at all. I think he is therefore one of those lazy Ravenclaws -- when it comes to his learned skills, he is very good and very clever, but NOT good operating outside of his envelope of preparedness, and a lot of his cleverness and planning goes towards keeping as low a profile as possible (kind of like Ivan, in Vorkosiverse, who I'm pretty sure at this point is another lazy Ravenclaw).
Blake I've already talked about as a Gryffindor Primary that burns between "Star One" and "Blake", and I think I'd need to rewatch the first couple of seasons with an eye on Blake to figure out his Secondary. Not Slyth, given how he shuts down when he sees there's nothing at Control, but at this point I think I could see any of the others.
OK, and now I'll happily take recs for all the spoilery things y'all were telling me not to read/watch earlier :D (in addition to this wonderful trove of things that
thisbluespirit linked me to, which I'm looking forward to exploring :D
**
For
sysann:
Favorite quotes by Morrolan:
I'm afraid most of these ended up being from books you haven't read yet -- but I don't think they're particularly spoilery.
1. From Lord of Castle Black: young Morrolan hearing about sorcery for the first time: ""Sorcery. I have learned something of sorcery. I am told it can do amazing things. I don't know. Blast them with fire, or make stones fall on their heads, or create an illusion of giant butterflies with nine-inch teeth. Something."
The thing I love about this is not just the inherent comedy of going "IDK butterflies with nine-inch teeth", which is a totally random thing to say, but the fact that it's Morrolan, of all people, being at once, like, dismissive of sorcery, but also clearly intrigued, even though he understands absolutely nothing of it yet.
2. From Lord of Castle Black: young Morrolan is arguing with his experienced commander about wanting to fight in the vangurard:
M: "Well? If I am killed, will that make you less able to make decisions? On the contrary, I should imagine that you might better be able to make decisions without my interference."
Fentor cleared his throat again, as this was uncomfortably close to his own thinking. He said, "If you believe that, my lord, why not--"
M: "Because it is my army, my fief, and my responsibility. Therefore, as long as I live, the mistakes will be mine."
The thing I like about this one is that it showcases the thing I so love about young Morrolan in the Paarfi books (which you can still see in the Morrolan Vlad knows, too) -- this mixture of hubris and humility, the Slytherin "these people are mine" combined with the "so what if I die so long as it's at the head of an army" attitude I love about Dragonlords. And, of course, the easy realization that he may be a liability, but hey, at least that way he won't be one for long! It's a very endearing combination.
3. From Lord of Castle Black: Morrolan has started playing around with sorcery and isn't being careful enough,and Sethra has to rescue him at one point before he killed himself accidentally. They proceed to have the following conversation:
"Come now," she said. "Suppose it were said of you that you had honorably created and led an army, but then, having done so, destroyed yourself through misadventure with a spell. Is that what you wish history to record?"
Morrolan explained that, insofar as he was concerned, history could record whatever it liked and be damned to it.
"But then, what of your friends? How will they feel if you should come to such an end?"
"Oh, they will, no doubt, find other friends."
"And what of your enemies? What of those you intend to punish, especially in the East? Suppose word should reach their ears that they were now safe from your vengeance, because you had, in toying with powers you could not control, done yourself in?"
Morrolan frowned and considered. "Well, it is true. I should not care for that."
I love this one for similar reasons as the one above -- it's an amusing and endearing look at young Morrolan's priorities (I do think this is a case where older Morrolan has learned that connections of friendship are stronger than that. But I still find the quote very cute.)
4. From Phoenix: M: "Do you wish to become a god?" Vlad: "Not particularly. Do you?" M: "No. I don't care for the responsibility."
This one's just quintessential Morrolan for me -- the cheerful hubris, and the determination to just do his own thing for his own amusement/satisfaction as much as possible.
5. From Hawk: M: "I've vowed that food shall not pass my lips until this matter is ended." Vlad: "What?" M: "I said I've already eaten.")
Vlad gives Morrolan so much crap about being pompous and Extra, which I find very amusing, but I like the examples that show Morrolan is self-aware enough to poke fun at himself occasionally, too.
Favorite Dragaera (Vlad Taltos) quotes:
A few are from later books -- which it turns out
sysann already read all of between when I answered the prompt and when I posted the answers, heh -- but they're non-spoilery. I don't think any of these require or benefit from any additional explanation, so just the quotes for this one:
1. From Dragon: "For one thing," said Sethra, "we don't know any thieves."
2. From Tiassa: a conversation between Vlad and Kragar:
Kragar: "And he could be that sure you'd figure it out?"
Vlad: "Yeah. He studied me enough to know I'm not an idiot."
Kragar: "I guess I should study you more."
3. From Teckla: "Why do you want to see him [Kelly]?" Vlad: "I plan to leave all my worldly wealth to the biggest idiot I can find and I watned to interview him to see if he qualified. But now that I've met you, I can see there's no point in looking any further."
4. From Iorich: ""But we are assassins: when we make mistakes, people live."
5. From Hawk: Vlad: (in response to the question "What are you working on?"): "I'm trying to set up a store to sell baskets of none-of-your-fucking-business at wholesale prices."
And two bonus lines from Jhereg,because that was not nearly enough Morrolan:
"(Be still, my beating stomach.)" (Vlad, when Morrolan is being particularly dramatic.)
Morrolan: "Seriously, though, Vlad; have you ever thought about quitting the Jhereg? [...]"
Vlad: "Ha! I've thought about quitting the Jhereg a great deal, but so far I've always managed to be just a little bit quicker than whoever wanted me out."
Top 5 quotes in general
I struggled for a bit how to narrow it down to just five, and then figured I'd make it easier by picking from among the quotes I have on icons -- that covers a nice span, actually.
1.
(icon by
pegkerr) - part of a longer exchange in LotR which I'll quote in full: “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” -- This was my senior year yearbook quote, actually, and it hasn't become any less meaningful to me or een eclipsed in the last twenty-four years. Sort of like the Serenity Prayer, I find it a grounding sort of thing -- it's useful to be reminded what our choices can't change, but that in any circumstances there is still a choice remaining to us.
2.
(icon by felishy) -- "You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince). I have heard this book has become passe, but it's one of the sure-fire ways to make me weep, so, whatever. But this quote, in particular, is genuinely the primary way I think about love, which this quote crystallized for me.
3.
(icon by iconsbycurtana) -- "Well, after five-space navigational math, how hard could motherhood be?" (Lois McMaster Bujold, Cordelia's Honor) -- the anthem of my early years of parenting (which coincided with the years I discovered the Vorkosigan books. And yes, I absolutely thank my lucky stars I didn't have to parent Miles -- and it was still way harder than anything I'd ever attempted.
4.
(icon by pouringicons) -- "I've given that viewpoint a lot of thought, sir, and reached the following conclusion: arseholes to the lot of 'em, sir." (Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay) - there are a ton of memorable Discworld quotes, but this is the one I reach for most often, because it's a great "fuck it!" quote, and actually pretty congruent with my methods. (And yes, it's friend swith my Nick Fury "stupid-ass decision" icon :D. It's a valuable sentiment, what can I say :P)
5.
(icon by priscellie) -- "The building was on fire, and it wasn't my fault," (Jim Butcher, Blood Rites) -- and this is a just-for-fun one: my faorite first line of any book :D
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For
madeline_gwydion:
Top 5 character pairings (which I'm assuming to mean romantic ones for the purposes of this question)
So, this one definitely tends to be time-dependent for me, at least to some degree. I do have some long-term forever-OTP pairings, as you'll see below, but a fair chunk of the list changes depending on what I'm in the mood for at the moment.
1. Aral/Cordelia (Vorkosigan Saga) -- This is probably my solidest OTP, in the sense that I've known these characters and shipped them hard for almost 20 years, through a long series of books and several decades of their lives. I love both characters, and the tropes of their relationship, and it hit at the right point in my own life as well -- when I was newly married (to a considerably older man) and just had L (see the "after five-space navigational math" icon above), so we were, you know, in sync. This is the one canonical pairing on my list, curiously enough.
2. Vlad/Morrolan (Dragaera) -- I apparently started shipping this (rather than just OTC-ing Morrolan) 9 years ago, and while my Dragaera fannishness does seem to come in waves -- occasionally it fades to a dull roar, now it's in a flare-up, since I finally got some of my flist to pick up the books :D -- I'd say it's never NOT been in my top 5 in those 9 years. This is the classic example of my ships, featuring the character in the fandom I like best, and the character he (or she, but usually it's "he", especially in the fandoms I'm shippy about) has an interesting relationship with -- usually at least a little rivalry/antagonism or at least Vitriolic Best Buds -- and ideally some interesting foil or mirroring or something, which is the case here.
3. Miles Vorkosigan/River Tam (Vorkosigan Saga/Firefly) -- Yeah, a crossover ship, but I've legit shipped it for years, ever since I watched Firefly, basically. This is an odd example where, quite honestly, the characters themselves are NOT my favorites in their respective canon -- River is actually one of the few principals I don't care about that much (she's in the bottom 3), and Miles probably isn't even in the top 10 of the Vorkosigan Saga for me. But it's one of those rare cases where a ship isn't "character I love and whoever he/she wants" or "two characters I love that make sense together", but where characters from two different canons and even mediums) make so much sense together, it's really something that should exist. I even have their children (and grandchildren) all planned out [ LJ link].
4. Blake/Avon (Blake's 7) -- the "hot new ship" for me (which I realize is, you know, actually about the same age as I am, so the "new" is very relative, but anyway). It's actually been a while since I had a new ship I was seriously into -- the last time I read a lot of fic for a ship was Jack/Bitty for Check, Please!, but that was because there WAS a lot of fic to be read -- I was not all that emotionally involved. So you probably have to go back to Peter/Nightingale (~2012) for my last serious one. Anyway, as you can see from all the stuff above, I'm in the throes of this one, having not only binged the canon, but also concurrently read, like, at least 150k of fic. Which did the neat thing of deepening my appreciation for the character I already liked, and deepening my understanding of the character I didn't like as much on my own. So basically fandom is doing its job excellently on this one. Time will tell how long this one will hang around as a top 5 ship -- sometimes these things burn themselves out fast, even in the presence, but especially in the absence of new canon, and sometimes they last as long as I have fic from a favorite author to read, and sometimes they hang around for ages just on their own. Time will tell, so I'm curious to have this record of it.
5. Peter Grant/Thomas Nightingale (Rivers of London) -- I think this is still my fifth at the moment. I had a couple of other contenders I considered: Jaime/Loras for the ASOIAF books -- I still love the rivals/mirror-ness of this ship, but have lost most of my interest in the series; I still read the occasional Steve/Tony fic, but haven't really been into their canon interactions since the first Avengers movie; I am still super-amused by AOS!Kirk and his off-the-charts chemistry with Bones, but that's basically down to occasionally rereading my favorite fics for the pairing. So I think Peter/Nightingale is still it for me -- I still really like their canon dynamic (though I wish there was more of it in the more recent books), I still enjoy reading fic, and I still love the series as a whole.
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For
sunlit_stone top five interesting fusions/crossovers
1. Vorkosigan Saga/Firefly: Miles/River as a ship (see above under "top 5 ships", but even besides that, I think the universes cross over in neat ways. Like, a lot of the Firefly crew could use some Beta-style counseling. It would be very amusing to watch Ivan try to flirt with Zoe. And Mark would find something interesting to do with Jayne's skills, I bet!
2. Avatar: the Last Airbender/Discworld: Nanny Ogg and Uncle Iroh sitting down to chat over a pot of tea and/or a bottle of scumble. I'm actually not sure where I got this one -- whether it came up on a Character Roulette meme (mine or someone else's), or if it was a prompt on one of those "give me two characters and I'll answer these questions" memes. Anyway, whichever way it came about, I love it! Nanny and Iroh are both characters I love a lot in their respective canons, and they would get along SPLENDIDLY -- they are both badasses who are fairly happy to be dismissed as buffoons, most of the time, and I think they'd have a lot of fun together. A slightly broader crossover would be a lot of fun, too; I feel like Discworld might be good for Azula. I think someone like Granny Weatherwax would be able to teach her how to be every bit as formidable and powerful as she wants to be without doing evil, or, alternatively (and farther afield) Vetinari might be very interested to harness all that potential and ruthlessness to something more useful than Ozai's plans.
3. Temeraire crossovers/fusions. First of all, anything is better with dragons. Especially talking dragons who are also really funny. And given the travelogue nature of the Temeraire books, and the stories set earlier in history, you can apply this fusion pretty much to any era (though I'm particularly partial to crossing it over with other Napoleonic War canons -- like, imagine Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell + dragons (Mr Norrell accidentally acquiring a dragon and palming him off on Jonathan, for example). I also really enjoy crossing over (as in, the actual Temeraire characters) with non-Earth based sci-fi and fantasy universes, especially ones with a militaristic bend. Barrayar with dragons! Dragaeran Dragonlords with actual dragon companions (Morrolan and Temeraire would I think get along very nicely, for example, and Iskierka with Aliera). And I will never forget when
lunasariel's Random Character Meme introduced us to the perfect and terrifying combination of Feanor + Iskierka (now there's a pair who would go beyond the edge of the world for some shinies!)
4. White Collar Curseworkers AU -- so this originated on Best Chat, when ikel89 and I were watching our way through White Collar. Curseworkers is a YA series by Holly Black which I think deserves to be much better known than it is (book trailer link), but the general premise is a Noir-ish world where some people have magic, of one of several different types, but magic is illegal, so the only people who practice magic are mobsters. The curse types are Physical (can break bones, etc.), Memory (can modify memories), Emotion (can manipulate a person's emotions), Death (kill with a touch), Dream (manipulate dreams), Luck (impart good or bad luck), and the rarest, Transformation (transform anything into anything). Through the general conman protagonist connection (and the prospect of gloves porn), we came up with this whole elaborate AU, where Neal is supposedly an Emotion worker, so people assume his charm an charisma is him using his magic, basically (Peter thinks he is being worked to (take your pick) trust Neal and/or fall in love with him). And then someone starts the rumor that Neal is a Transformation worker, the only one in the world, and that's how he managed to get away with his forgeries (but Neal would NEVER, there's no art to doing it that way, even if he could). In reality, Neal is a Physical worker, but he hates using that power, so he almost never does (like real Neal and guns). Anyway, the Transformation worker rumour spreads, and at some point Neal is blackmailed into doing a job only a Transformation worker could do, and he has no idea how to get out of that one -- no-one will believe that he isn't one at this point -- and someone pulls of the job FOR him and leaves him the goods -- along with an origami flower, because the actual Transformation worker is Alex. And Peter is a Death worker; he had to get tested as part of getting clearance, so he knows he is, but has never used his curse before -- although of course he ends up having to, in order to save Neal's life at some point. My favorite bit of this fusion, though, is Mozzie as a Memory worker, who has all his crazy little rituals, sonnets and secret codes and whatnot, as a way of dealing with the blowback of using this magic, which is memory loss.
LOL, apparently I actually sketched an entire episode of this AU in Best Chat, which I will now capture here, for posterity:
Act 1: sinister voice from Neal's past threatens Neal / Kate / Mozzie / June / Peter if Neal doesnot perform Transformation feat
Act 2: Neal and Mozzie attempt to fake Transformation feat using stolen supplies, bubbling reagents, and Neal's sparkly smile, while: Peter and his team, increasingly convinced something even fishier than usual is going on, try to protect Neal, who denies anything is happening so as not to put Peter in danger.
Act 3: Neal and Mozzie's plan goes pear-shaped and Neal attempts to salvage it via chutzpah, three piece suit, an intense blue-eyed-ness. Peter and the feds race to the rescue. Meanwhile, actual secret Transfomration worker Alex sneaks in, does the thing, and sneaks out.
Act 4: sinister voice from Neal's past is satisfied. Neal and Mozzie are like, whew, guess we're just that good after all :D Peter confronts Neal about how the evidence doesn't add up to him being an emotion worker. "So are you an emotion worker... or are you a Transformation worker, Neal?" Neal,with intense blue-eyed sincerity: "You're right, Peter. You figured it out because you know me so well. I'm not an Emotion worker."
Act 5: Peter to El: "So I confronted Neal about not being an emotion worker, and he admitted he wasn't, but he didnt say anything about being a Transformation worker or not. It's got to be one of the other curses. He couldn't resist showing off his uniqueness otherwise." Neal, pleased with pulling one over on everyone yet again, comes home to discover an origami flower from Alex.
5. Spinning Silver/Vlad Taltos: (from my Yuletide letter) Morrolan's necromantic windows seem like an easy way to mash things up with [...] universes with other ~Elves! -- when reading Spinning Silver last year, I couldn't help but notice that Morrolan and the Staryk Lord seem to have fairly compatible (read: utterly ridiculous) senses of honor and pride, and would be very amused to see what would happen if they had to deal with each other, with their respective mortals facepalming endlessly in the background, or however Vlad and Miryem would react to such proceedings.
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For giallarhorn: top 5 animated shows you'd recommend
This ended up being a really tough set! I had put together a list of favorite animated shows [DW link] about 2 years ago, a longer list, but many of the shows on that list are nostalgia shows for me. I have no idea how X-Men or Batman: The Animated Series have aged -- probably decently? But I haven't seen the shows in 20+ years and don't feel a particular need to rewatch them. Would Chip'n'Dale's Rescue Rangers or TaleSpin work at all for a grown-up audience? No clue, never watched them as an adult, feel no particular need to do so, either. (I probably *would* rewatch He-Man, given the chance, but would likely be quite disappointed.) And while there are animated shows I watched as an adult, none of them (outside that list) reached "recommend" status. Like, I reasonably enjoyed the first season of Disenchantment, but if you want to watch a SFF comedy Matt Groening show, there are better options than that one! Maybe if I go back and watch s2-s3 of Dragon Prince, it will impress me more, but based on s1, if I were going to recommend a sweeping epic with magic, serious themes, impressive character arcs, and badass characters with disabilities -- well, it wouldn't be that one. I may have watched three seasons of Castlevania but that's just a thing that's K's fault it's not a show I would recommend, really, and certainly not without reservations. And some of the animated shows that I know have been big in fandom, like MLP:FiM and Steven Universe, I've never even attempted, because the art style is a major turn-off for me. Anyway, so with that massive disclaimer:
1. Avatar: the Last Airbender -- it actually took me a long time to watch this show, because the art style an the awkward title made me think it was anime (and anime and I don't get along), and then I watched it with the rodents, and it was AMAZING. It introduced me to my #1 TV villain (as you can see in my previous top 5 fannish post), and a handful of other top-tier sort of characters. It has a great ensemble and one of the most impressive redemption arcs I've encountered anywhere. The story is sweeping and complex and doesn't shy away from dark themes -- but is also really, really funny. I love the magic/bending, and the non-Western setting is really interesting (and carefully done). And there are cute critters! And it's a really quotable show. Since I watched it as an adult, along with my kids, I know it works really well for both demographics. Basically, recommended very highly to anyone who enjoys fantasy and hasn't watched this yet.
2. The Simpsons -- I know, I know. Anyone who is likely to be receptive to the humour of The Simpsons has likely already watched it somewhere in the past three decades, or however longthey'vebeen doing this, so I don't know that anyone needs this recommenation. But it's my favorite animated show, probably my favorite TV show, period. And the episodes from the glory seasons absolutely stand up to multiple rewatches (to the point of knowing the scripts by heart). So, like, consider it a recommendation to RE-watch a couple of episodes or something.
3. Futurama -- Look, there should be more funny sci-fi cartoons, period. And this one has some very fun characters (Bender, Zoiberg, and Zapp Brannigan are particular favorites of mine), fun quotes, and excellent memeability.
4. The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends -- I actually don't know if you can watch this anywhere at the moment (and I haven't seen the Amazon reboot, but doubt it's as good). I watched this on Nickelodeon in the 90s, and was very amused, especially by various bad puns in the Fractured Fairy Tales and Mr Peabody and Sherman segments, and the fourth-wall breaking. While I haven't rewatched it recently, I suspect that kind of humour holds up pretty well.
5. Along similar lines, Animaniacs, maybe? Another "variety show" with a bunch of zany shorts mixed together, it appealed to me for the same reasons as Rocky & Bullwinkle. Predictably, Pinky & the Brain were my favorite bit here, and I also liked the musical numbers.
This entry was originally posted at https://hamsterwoman.dreamwidth.org/1124399.html. Comment wherever you prefer (I prefer LJ).