meme answers
For some reason I found this character meme extremely difficult to finish. Probably I overthought it. Also, crossovers aren't something I normally think about (I don't really like them) so that was tough.
But anyway, it's done now, and it did give me interesting stuff to consider.
Warning: Contains major spoilers for the end of both Blake's 7 and Rome.
For executrix: Hermione Granger (Potterverse)
a. My favourite thing about that character.
She's not just smart, she's scholarly. And how often is that presented as a virtue?
b. My least favourite thing about that character.
She can be an awful nag, like the time she bought Harry and Ron homework planners for Christmas.
c. One person I would ship them with in their own verse.
This was a tough one. I decided on Luna, because she's smart, if rather batty, and I think she would cherish Hermione in a way that Ron is too immature and selfish to manage.
d. One crossover ship for them I think would be neat.
Hermione/Lord Peter Wimsey.
e. One crossover universe for them I think would be even neater.
X-Men First Class. Magic counts as a superpower in the Marvelverse, and I think Jean and Hermione would be friends.
f. Their ship from hell.
Hermione/Draco Malfoy.
g. Their Song.
Ani DiFranco, Not a Pretty Girl. (Live performance audio here.)
h. The title of their biography or autobiography.
From "Mudblood" to Minister For Magic: The Life and Times of Hermione Granger
i. The last bad dream they had.
She probably dreams about Fenrir Greyback regularly. Also, she dreams that she's back in school and about to take an exam she hasn't studied for.
j. How they're gonna shuffle off the mortal coil, if they haven't already.
After retiring from politics, she becomes Headmistress of Hogwarts and dies peacefully in her bed at a very ripe old age.
For absinthe_shadow: Kerr Avon (Blake's 7)
a. My favourite thing about that character.
His long eyelashes. His beautiful mouth. His emotional complexity (which includes his utter fucked-up-ness).
b. My least favourite thing about that character.
The way he's in love with his own cynicism.
c. One person I would ship them with in their own verse.
Blake, of course. There are other characters I can imagine Avon having sex with, but I think Avon's feelings for Blake are so all-consuming that any other attempted relationship would always be, in some way, about Blake.
d. One crossover ship for them I think would be neat.
Avon/Tenth Doctor. They could bond through 57 varieties of guilt and knowing what it feels like to watch while the man you love/hate/love dies. Then they could have lots of invigorating arguments about idealism and whether saving people is either possible or desirable. I doubt they'd have sex very often, but they could still make each other a bit less lonely. They'd probably split up after a while, though, because neither one is quite an adequate substitute for the person the other one badly misses.
e. One crossover universe for them I think would be even neater.
I dunno about "even neater," but Avon in the Battlestar Galactica universe would be interesting. It would be like a nihilism sundae with sprinkles of bleakness! Also, Avon and Gaius Baltar could have sex.
f. Their ship from hell.
Avon/Jarvik.
g. Their Song.
There's an Avon vid on YouTube that uses Simon and Garfunkel's "I Am A Rock." The vid's mediocre, but it's hard to argue with the song choice--except that I think Avon wouldn't like the song, which for me is always a factor.
I associate Franz Ferdinand's This Boy with Avon, or at least with his bad side. (Live performance vid here.)
h. The title of their biography or autobiography.
Avon never gets his own biography. He just gets lots of mentions in the many biographies of Blake.
i. The last bad dream they had.
The very last bad dream Avon had was during the couple of hours of uneasy sleep he got before the landing on Gauda Prime. He dreamt that he found Blake, and Blake proceeded to explain at great length that he hadn't wanted to be found and had, in fact, hoped never to see Avon again.
j. How they're gonna shuffle off the mortal coil, if they haven't already.
I fear the coil was shuffled during the end credits of "Blake." And if not, Avon was probably executed soon after by one side or the other. And if that didn't happen, he killed himself. Not that I don't imagine scenarios where he and Blake both survived, but I recognize them as pure wish fulfillment.
For mcicioni: Lucius Vorenus (Rome)
a. My favourite thing about that character.
He's loyal, no matter the cost.
b. My least favourite thing about that character.
His whole self is bound up in his notion of Roman honor, and it can make him very unbending and merciless. This is not unrelated to point (a).
c. One person I would ship them with in their own verse.
Titus Pullo, natch.
d. One crossover ship for them I think would be neat.
Vorenus/Brigadier (from Doctor Who), anyone?
e. One crossover universe for them I think would be even neater.
Vorenus would be very interesting as a Federation officer in Blake's 7, full of doubts but sticking to his duty anyway.
f. Their ship from hell.
Vorenus/Atia.
g. Their Song.
Oh, lord. There aren't a lot of song about duty, are there? I honestly can't think of a Vorenus song.
h. The title of their biography or autobiography.
Vita Lucii Voreni. Because flashy titles are un-Roman.
i. The last bad dream they had.
Niobe, falling.
j. How they're gonna shuffle off the mortal coil, if they haven't already.
Well, he most emphatically was not dead at the end of Rome, despite that lie Pullo had to tell Octavian. He and Pullo and the kids moved far, far from Rome, perhaps to Spain, and Vorenus and Pullo bought a little tavern. A few winters later, Vorenus caught a bad cold that went to his chest, and not all of Pullo's begging him to live could save him that time.
For erinpoetchica: Ray Vecchio (due South)
a. My favourite thing about that character.
The way he welcomed Fraser completely and brought him into the family.
b. My least favourite thing about that character.
His hideous shirts? Also, the way he bullies Fraser sometimes.
c. One person I would ship them with in their own verse.
I kind of like him with Stella Kowalski.
d. One crossover ship for them I think would be neat.
I'm tempted to say Vecchio/Servalan (Blake's 7), because of the clothes factor. But Vecchio is much too decent for her. Hmm. Maybe Catherine Willows from CSI?
e. One crossover universe for them I think would be even neater.
I'm going to say CSI again. I think he'd fit in well with the team, as their Homicide liaison or something.
f. Their ship from hell.
Vecchio/Ray Kowalski. I know some people like it, but I really don't see it working.
g. Their Song.
Chet Baker, My Buddy. It's deeply but deniably queer, which means it works well for how Vecchio feels about Fraser.
h. The title of their biography or autobiography.
Mounties and Mafiosi
i. The last bad dream they had.
He dreamed that Fraser ran off back to Canada with some skinny blond sonofabitch. Then he woke up and realized it was true. Then he kissed Stella and put it out of his mind.
j. How they're gonna shuffle off the mortal coil, if they haven't already.
He has a heart attack while bowling.
For sallymn: Olag Gan (Blake's 7)
a. My favourite thing about that character.
His kindness. As I've said to executrix on this topic, Gan is the only character on B7 who'd bring you soup if you were sick. (Cally would bring some kind of disgusting health drink, Vila would want to bring you soup but would be too afraid of catching anything to do so, Blake would offer to let you blow something up to make you feel better, Jenna wouldn't realize that you wanted soup, and Avon would know but not care.)
b. My least favourite thing about that character.
Is there anything not to like about Gan?
c. One person I would ship them with in their own verse.
The closest I have to a Gan ship is Gan/Vila, which is part of my personal fanon. On the London, Vila offered Gan sex in exchange for protection, and they gradually got fond of each other. But it was never romantic love.
d. One crossover ship for them I think would be neat.
Gan/Kaylee (Firefly), maybe? I dunno if he's her type, but if they could get past that, I think they might be a good match.
e. One crossover universe for them I think would be even neater.
Trying to answer this question, I'm realizing how few of my favorite fandoms have a place for a decent, ordinary person. I think I might pop him into the world of the Pointsman novels, by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett. He could have a little apothecary shop or something and live a quiet life.
f. Their ship from hell.
Gan/Avon.
g. Their Song.
Somehow folk music seems more natural for Gan than pop music. So, Fair Helen of Kirkconnel. Scroll down a bit for the lyrics.
h. The title of their biography or autobiography.
There isn't one. Gan, like Avon, is in Blake's biographies, but Gan only gets a couple of paragraphs. *pets him*
i. The last bad dream they had.
He dreams a lot about what that Federation guard did to his woman.
j. How they're gonna shuffle off the mortal coil, if they haven't already.
Heroically.
For vandonovan: Roj Blake (Blake's 7)
a. My favourite thing about that character.
He cares--deeply, pasionately, sometimes irrationally. He's not someone who can pass by on the other side.
b. My least favourite thing about that character.
As with many of the other characters in the meme, what I dislike is the flip side of what I love. Blake often cares more about abstract justice than about actual people, whether it's his crew or the people who would die as a consequence of destroying Star One.
c. One person I would ship them with in their own verse.
Avon. Avon gets under Blake's skin, and I think he's the one person whose good opinion Blake actually values. And Blake trusts him (despite all of Avon's attempts to seem untrustworthy) right to the end.
d. One crossover ship for them I think would be neat.
Blake/Magneto (X-Men).
e. One crossover universe for them I think would be even neater.
Doctor Who is a natural crossover with B7, and it's even semi-canonical if you count Carnell appearing in a Doctor Who audio thingy. I'd love it if the TARDIS materialized on board the Liberator during "Star One." Especially if it carried the Ninth Doctor, Rose, and Jack. Everything would turn out better than it did in canon, and Jack could kiss Blake, which would not only please Blake but would have the salutary effect of making Avon jealous.
f. Their ship from hell.
Blake/Carnell. I actually like Carnell, but the last thing Blake needs is to have his mind fucked with by a professional, again. And Carnell is a consummate manipulator, far better at it than Blake.
g. Their Song.
The Guns of Brixton, by the Clash. Although given Blake's social class, perhaps it should be called "The Guns of Knightsbridge." (Live performance vid here.)
h. The title of their biography or autobiography.
Well, the first biographhy of Blake is one written for political officers of the re-emergent Federation. It's called Blake: A Study in the Psychological and Sociological Factors of Terrorism.
i. The last bad dream they had.
He dreamt that the Federation caught him and were going to wipe his mind again.
j. How they're gonna shuffle off the mortal coil, if they haven't already.
Well, canonically it's very, painfully clear that Blake dies from three close-range gunshot wounds to the torso. And that's probably kinder than any ending that was likely if he'd lived. (Not that I object to PGP stories that give him a happy ending, preferably with Avon. It's just that such stories require a chain of miracles in a universe that is not only miracle-free but that tends towards irony.)
*****
But anyway, it's done now, and it did give me interesting stuff to consider.
Warning: Contains major spoilers for the end of both Blake's 7 and Rome.
For executrix: Hermione Granger (Potterverse)
a. My favourite thing about that character.
She's not just smart, she's scholarly. And how often is that presented as a virtue?
b. My least favourite thing about that character.
She can be an awful nag, like the time she bought Harry and Ron homework planners for Christmas.
c. One person I would ship them with in their own verse.
This was a tough one. I decided on Luna, because she's smart, if rather batty, and I think she would cherish Hermione in a way that Ron is too immature and selfish to manage.
d. One crossover ship for them I think would be neat.
Hermione/Lord Peter Wimsey.
e. One crossover universe for them I think would be even neater.
X-Men First Class. Magic counts as a superpower in the Marvelverse, and I think Jean and Hermione would be friends.
f. Their ship from hell.
Hermione/Draco Malfoy.
g. Their Song.
Ani DiFranco, Not a Pretty Girl. (Live performance audio here.)
h. The title of their biography or autobiography.
From "Mudblood" to Minister For Magic: The Life and Times of Hermione Granger
i. The last bad dream they had.
She probably dreams about Fenrir Greyback regularly. Also, she dreams that she's back in school and about to take an exam she hasn't studied for.
j. How they're gonna shuffle off the mortal coil, if they haven't already.
After retiring from politics, she becomes Headmistress of Hogwarts and dies peacefully in her bed at a very ripe old age.
For absinthe_shadow: Kerr Avon (Blake's 7)
a. My favourite thing about that character.
His long eyelashes. His beautiful mouth. His emotional complexity (which includes his utter fucked-up-ness).
b. My least favourite thing about that character.
The way he's in love with his own cynicism.
c. One person I would ship them with in their own verse.
Blake, of course. There are other characters I can imagine Avon having sex with, but I think Avon's feelings for Blake are so all-consuming that any other attempted relationship would always be, in some way, about Blake.
d. One crossover ship for them I think would be neat.
Avon/Tenth Doctor. They could bond through 57 varieties of guilt and knowing what it feels like to watch while the man you love/hate/love dies. Then they could have lots of invigorating arguments about idealism and whether saving people is either possible or desirable. I doubt they'd have sex very often, but they could still make each other a bit less lonely. They'd probably split up after a while, though, because neither one is quite an adequate substitute for the person the other one badly misses.
e. One crossover universe for them I think would be even neater.
I dunno about "even neater," but Avon in the Battlestar Galactica universe would be interesting. It would be like a nihilism sundae with sprinkles of bleakness! Also, Avon and Gaius Baltar could have sex.
f. Their ship from hell.
Avon/Jarvik.
g. Their Song.
There's an Avon vid on YouTube that uses Simon and Garfunkel's "I Am A Rock." The vid's mediocre, but it's hard to argue with the song choice--except that I think Avon wouldn't like the song, which for me is always a factor.
I associate Franz Ferdinand's This Boy with Avon, or at least with his bad side. (Live performance vid here.)
h. The title of their biography or autobiography.
Avon never gets his own biography. He just gets lots of mentions in the many biographies of Blake.
i. The last bad dream they had.
The very last bad dream Avon had was during the couple of hours of uneasy sleep he got before the landing on Gauda Prime. He dreamt that he found Blake, and Blake proceeded to explain at great length that he hadn't wanted to be found and had, in fact, hoped never to see Avon again.
j. How they're gonna shuffle off the mortal coil, if they haven't already.
I fear the coil was shuffled during the end credits of "Blake." And if not, Avon was probably executed soon after by one side or the other. And if that didn't happen, he killed himself. Not that I don't imagine scenarios where he and Blake both survived, but I recognize them as pure wish fulfillment.
For mcicioni: Lucius Vorenus (Rome)
a. My favourite thing about that character.
He's loyal, no matter the cost.
b. My least favourite thing about that character.
His whole self is bound up in his notion of Roman honor, and it can make him very unbending and merciless. This is not unrelated to point (a).
c. One person I would ship them with in their own verse.
Titus Pullo, natch.
d. One crossover ship for them I think would be neat.
Vorenus/Brigadier (from Doctor Who), anyone?
e. One crossover universe for them I think would be even neater.
Vorenus would be very interesting as a Federation officer in Blake's 7, full of doubts but sticking to his duty anyway.
f. Their ship from hell.
Vorenus/Atia.
g. Their Song.
Oh, lord. There aren't a lot of song about duty, are there? I honestly can't think of a Vorenus song.
h. The title of their biography or autobiography.
Vita Lucii Voreni. Because flashy titles are un-Roman.
i. The last bad dream they had.
Niobe, falling.
j. How they're gonna shuffle off the mortal coil, if they haven't already.
Well, he most emphatically was not dead at the end of Rome, despite that lie Pullo had to tell Octavian. He and Pullo and the kids moved far, far from Rome, perhaps to Spain, and Vorenus and Pullo bought a little tavern. A few winters later, Vorenus caught a bad cold that went to his chest, and not all of Pullo's begging him to live could save him that time.
For erinpoetchica: Ray Vecchio (due South)
a. My favourite thing about that character.
The way he welcomed Fraser completely and brought him into the family.
b. My least favourite thing about that character.
His hideous shirts? Also, the way he bullies Fraser sometimes.
c. One person I would ship them with in their own verse.
I kind of like him with Stella Kowalski.
d. One crossover ship for them I think would be neat.
I'm tempted to say Vecchio/Servalan (Blake's 7), because of the clothes factor. But Vecchio is much too decent for her. Hmm. Maybe Catherine Willows from CSI?
e. One crossover universe for them I think would be even neater.
I'm going to say CSI again. I think he'd fit in well with the team, as their Homicide liaison or something.
f. Their ship from hell.
Vecchio/Ray Kowalski. I know some people like it, but I really don't see it working.
g. Their Song.
Chet Baker, My Buddy. It's deeply but deniably queer, which means it works well for how Vecchio feels about Fraser.
h. The title of their biography or autobiography.
Mounties and Mafiosi
i. The last bad dream they had.
He dreamed that Fraser ran off back to Canada with some skinny blond sonofabitch. Then he woke up and realized it was true. Then he kissed Stella and put it out of his mind.
j. How they're gonna shuffle off the mortal coil, if they haven't already.
He has a heart attack while bowling.
For sallymn: Olag Gan (Blake's 7)
a. My favourite thing about that character.
His kindness. As I've said to executrix on this topic, Gan is the only character on B7 who'd bring you soup if you were sick. (Cally would bring some kind of disgusting health drink, Vila would want to bring you soup but would be too afraid of catching anything to do so, Blake would offer to let you blow something up to make you feel better, Jenna wouldn't realize that you wanted soup, and Avon would know but not care.)
b. My least favourite thing about that character.
Is there anything not to like about Gan?
c. One person I would ship them with in their own verse.
The closest I have to a Gan ship is Gan/Vila, which is part of my personal fanon. On the London, Vila offered Gan sex in exchange for protection, and they gradually got fond of each other. But it was never romantic love.
d. One crossover ship for them I think would be neat.
Gan/Kaylee (Firefly), maybe? I dunno if he's her type, but if they could get past that, I think they might be a good match.
e. One crossover universe for them I think would be even neater.
Trying to answer this question, I'm realizing how few of my favorite fandoms have a place for a decent, ordinary person. I think I might pop him into the world of the Pointsman novels, by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett. He could have a little apothecary shop or something and live a quiet life.
f. Their ship from hell.
Gan/Avon.
g. Their Song.
Somehow folk music seems more natural for Gan than pop music. So, Fair Helen of Kirkconnel. Scroll down a bit for the lyrics.
h. The title of their biography or autobiography.
There isn't one. Gan, like Avon, is in Blake's biographies, but Gan only gets a couple of paragraphs. *pets him*
i. The last bad dream they had.
He dreams a lot about what that Federation guard did to his woman.
j. How they're gonna shuffle off the mortal coil, if they haven't already.
Heroically.
For vandonovan: Roj Blake (Blake's 7)
a. My favourite thing about that character.
He cares--deeply, pasionately, sometimes irrationally. He's not someone who can pass by on the other side.
b. My least favourite thing about that character.
As with many of the other characters in the meme, what I dislike is the flip side of what I love. Blake often cares more about abstract justice than about actual people, whether it's his crew or the people who would die as a consequence of destroying Star One.
c. One person I would ship them with in their own verse.
Avon. Avon gets under Blake's skin, and I think he's the one person whose good opinion Blake actually values. And Blake trusts him (despite all of Avon's attempts to seem untrustworthy) right to the end.
d. One crossover ship for them I think would be neat.
Blake/Magneto (X-Men).
e. One crossover universe for them I think would be even neater.
Doctor Who is a natural crossover with B7, and it's even semi-canonical if you count Carnell appearing in a Doctor Who audio thingy. I'd love it if the TARDIS materialized on board the Liberator during "Star One." Especially if it carried the Ninth Doctor, Rose, and Jack. Everything would turn out better than it did in canon, and Jack could kiss Blake, which would not only please Blake but would have the salutary effect of making Avon jealous.
f. Their ship from hell.
Blake/Carnell. I actually like Carnell, but the last thing Blake needs is to have his mind fucked with by a professional, again. And Carnell is a consummate manipulator, far better at it than Blake.
g. Their Song.
The Guns of Brixton, by the Clash. Although given Blake's social class, perhaps it should be called "The Guns of Knightsbridge." (Live performance vid here.)
h. The title of their biography or autobiography.
Well, the first biographhy of Blake is one written for political officers of the re-emergent Federation. It's called Blake: A Study in the Psychological and Sociological Factors of Terrorism.
i. The last bad dream they had.
He dreamt that the Federation caught him and were going to wipe his mind again.
j. How they're gonna shuffle off the mortal coil, if they haven't already.
Well, canonically it's very, painfully clear that Blake dies from three close-range gunshot wounds to the torso. And that's probably kinder than any ending that was likely if he'd lived. (Not that I object to PGP stories that give him a happy ending, preferably with Avon. It's just that such stories require a chain of miracles in a universe that is not only miracle-free but that tends towards irony.)
*****