If I find the time, I might well develop her for Helen's new zine, but that would involve working out her character rather more clearly and differentiating her from me.

Tavia

"Tavia, the Federation citizen/chorus"-- works for me. What challenges does she face? What were her political feelings like a week before the story begins and what are they at the finish? Has the government been using her whiel keeping some secrets from her? (Seems like a common occurence in the B7 universe... in fact, I am working on a theory that the System was created by a secret Federation attempt to take over its three-world space gone wrong) The Everyperson character in a manipulative world is just the sort of thing I'd love to see.

I thought I'd sent off the note where I eplained the Gen-slash thing. I don't mind 'adult situations' as the movie industry calls it, if it works in terms of a greater storyline. I myself was criticized in the one Blake's 7 fanfic I wrote of being too graphic in the violence department-- but as Avon was literally in hell, I had taken cue from Dante's Inferno and it wasn't pretty. I can certainly see that a writer who wants to get Vila to be unusually helpful might give him a love affair as incentive. Once again, I'm looking for new approaches, so while I prefer Gen, if someone wants to write about Servalan's stuggle to rise to power, I can very well see that it might need to be Slash. As with many things, 'gratutious' and 'neccessary'; 'character insight' and 'porn' are a bit subjective and influenced by context. I cannot even predict what my reaction will be to a story until I've seen it. I can only say that when the zine is ready to go, I will be very clear about letting people know what to expect from the stories.

Then again, I'd go for a zine with twenty different authors' versions of Jarriere - as long as they were well written. Or Sarkoff. Or Hal Mellanby, or Kasabi.

Okay, Mistral, get to work. <g>

If you allow one main character, or tiny appearances by the crew as a whole, I think there might be enough support for a zine like Helen's suggested.

And have allowed for that.

Re: Totally different comments on fanfic, writing the characters in a way that reflects the people on screen:

But if you ask me, food, clothes, and gossip are a lot more interesting than neutron blasters.

When your life may depend on whether the neutron blasters fire, then they become compellingly fascinating.

How can you write in a purely "verbal," communicating medium by being "non-verbal." It just doesn't work.

The writer communicates verbally about the characters non-verbal communication. (after Vila makes a cutting remark) "Avon stood so close to Vila he was an inch away from treading on the thief's toes. Suddenly, he flashed a broad grin, then turned and walked away." I started to write out the translation of what Avon's body language was saying to Vila, then realised doing so would undermine myself. If I felt the meaning was still unclear, as a writer,I could add Vila's mental processing. "How does he do it! Must be a cold-blooded bastard. I'd swear from the look in his eye he was about to space me, but then he grins. He tolerates me 'cause he knows I'm funny. Frankly, he could do with a *lot* more humour, not that he'll ever admit it. And I'm not going to chance my safety by playing funny man any more today. Wonder if anyone would notice if I mix up a little cocktail in the medbay?"