On Tue, 24 Jul 2001 10:21:42 -0700 Helen Krummenacker avona@jps.net writes:

Sally gave a lovely image of a cluttered cabin for Blake, but I've always liked the idea that Avon would be the one with clutter, a technological version of Sherlock Holmes.

LOL! While this isn't nearly as amusing -

Cally - What we see in Sarcophagus is Cally's room after she's packed away everything Auronish that she can't deal with the sight of (only to find herself sketching pictures of familiar places). Normally, she may be a bit spare on the decorations, but there's a definite effort to give her personal space a warmer touch. Also, there's a terrarium for her cactus.

Jenna - I see the lifelong space traders as having their own subculture. I don't know what a spacer's cabin normally looks like, but there is no doubt Jenna's cabin is very obviously one - and that it is just as obvious the spacer in question is Jenna. Everything practically shouts the owner's personality.

Gan - a few very small nicknacks of sentimental value (a picture or sketch of his wife and perhaps a couple other things). Other than that, there's one or two things lying around that let you know about Gan's hobbies. The 'practical' stuff is largely just that, but there is a slight sense of particular items giving the place a more human look.

Vila - I don't know what's in there, but I'm sure there's a lot of it. Vila's a packrat. He can't bare to throw anything away because 1) he may need it someday, 2) it might be valuable, and 3) the cumpulsive thief in him unconsciously hordes stuff to reassert his worth, to prove 'I was here.' However stuffed the room may be, however, it's organized, with a place for everything (even if Vila's the only one who would ever realized it's organized).

Avon - I like Helen's example except that I don't think he has quite so many dirty food and clothes items lying around (it's the biological hazard issue). Then again, maybe his space is cluttered and painfully organized (the organization system may only become chaotic as he explians it [rather like Holmes whose filing system seemed designed to confound anyone else trying to use it]).

Tarrant - Lots of big posters of famous space battles and model ships.

Dayna - Lots of weapons and stuffed animals or their skins. A harp and a maybe a picture of her family (I'm not sure if she could draw one and it might be hard to find a picture).

Soolin - Nothing that isn't glaringly practical. Anything that even suggests warmth has been discarded. A plain, metal box of hair accessories and a practical but not excessive collection of weapons and ammo (easily in reach but not displayed as if she's trying to _prove_ anything).

Blake - More warmth and color but it probably wasn't intentionally planned, that's just the stuff he's more likely to use, given a choice. A picture of his family. Also, lots of sketches of things that seem _almost_ familiar but that he can't place (but that he's not going to get rid of without knowing if they're part of his memory and not imagination). A political map of the Federation and surrounding territory with little flag pins stuck into reflecting various rebel activities, successful and otherwise.

Those sentimental gifts people gave him that he had no room for are in the _other_ cabin where he used to sleep before it got too cluttered (and he really does mean to go in and clean it up. Someday).

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