Responding to me, Sally wrote:

<I, on the other hand, always refer to them as Our Protagonists, because, um, heroes some of 'em ain't... Besides, I'm sure at least two of them would object *strongly* to the appellation. :)>

You don't think he'd object to My Darling ..?

Well, of *course* he would. But, see, you're much braver than I. :)

Although when I started college I had a sticker with his picture on it -- in full 4th season leather-and-studs mode -- which I stuck to the side of the coffee machine in my dorm room. When I mentioned it to a fannish friend and she asked me why I'd put it there, I, rather flippantly, replied that it amused me to have him doing the (rather demeaning) job of making my coffee for me. To which she said "Wow, I'd be afraid of his reaction to that!" Which actually gave me a momentary shiver. Once again, I'm *glad* he's safely fictional...

I think I've mentioned this before, actually, but my mother's reaction when I acquired said sticker was amusing: "You bought his picture? That arrogant *bastard*, and you bought his *picture*?!" I was really quite impressed. I hadn't thought she'd paid that much attention to the show. (Then again, IIRC, she *had* just seen "Orbit.") Come to think of it, that's possibly the only time I've ever heard my mother use the word "bastard." At any rate, I can, with some degree of literal truth, claim that Avon is, in fact, the man my mother warned me about. :)

[a] I am still of the Firm Opinion that if - due to The Space/Time Phenomena Known as Mary-Sue - I landed on the Liberator, I'd not only *not* be His Darling, he'd have me out an airlock within a week (and that's 1st/2nd series only, where Fearless Leader wouldn't *let* him at first. 3rd series, I'd be lucky to last three days.

Wow, that long? Actually, I figure I'd manage to get myself killed within 24 hours and save Avon the bother...

-- Betty Ragan ** bragan@nrao.edu ** http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~bragan Not speaking for my employers, officially or otherwise. "Seeing a rotten picture for the special effects is like eating a tough steak for the smothered onions..." -- Isaac Asimov