On Thu, Aug 02, 2001 at 11:11:40AM -0400, she goes out and steals the king's english wrote:
: Possibly, Avon achieves this by accident - he really doesn't care but just : finds that the others follow him anyway.
I think he cares and would rather it weren't so but believes enough in his own superiority that for the sake of his own skin (and possibly for the others though he'd never admit it) he has to take charge to keep them all alive. Not because he has a drive to be in charge, but because he needs it to get done properly.
Yes! The INTJ in charge because nobody else is competent enough. Avon doesn't like the responsibility at all. But what you have in the third season is Tarrant coming along thinking he should be in charge, because he sees this ship not being run the way a ship "ought" to be run, because there's no obvious person in charge. And of course that's because Blake's no longer there, and Avon doesn't want to. So it all ends up being pretty lasiez faire... and there are times (like Harvest of Kairos) when Tarrant *is* in charge. But Avon doesn't trust Tarrant to be able to look after them all, brash young thing that he is, so he clashes with Tarrant.
But, somehow, after Terminal-Rescue, Tarrant has decided that he's Avon's lieutenant, and Avon has resigned himself to being in charge.
: I'm inclined to think that there is at least some element of calculation in : how he treats his crew members. For instance, he does seem to have some : insight in how to handle Vila. E.g. he is aware how Tarrant's handling of : Vila in "City" is a bad idea.
: So I suppose what I'm saying is that the "Avon doesn't give a damn" : viewpoint is misleading. He may well not give a damn on a personal level, : but he is surely aware that how he presents himself is important.
Ah, but I (and I suspect Kathryn) see that "City" scene differently. I think Avon is hurt by Vila's obvious fear in that scene. He has to come up with a pragmatic reason Tarrant shouldn't have done it before he'll speak up about it, because as Kathryn says he feels the need to show only the pragmatic aspect of himself--"A talented thief is rare"-- but I think he definitely has personal feelings involved, of friendship toward Vila.
I do agree. I didn't mean to give the impression that Avon doesn't *care* -- it's just that he'd rather people didn't know that. "Sentiment is weakness. Let it get hold of you and you are dead."
Kathryn Andersen -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Avon: We know all that. Orac: Since I lack sensors to assess what is or is not in your mind, I cannot assess what is or is not already known to you. (Blake's 7: Children of Auron [C7])