Mel said: <I've been over to Louise and Simon's newish forum a few times. A lot of lively discussions seem to be taking place. But I've noticed a strong bias towards Avon, at the expense of Blake.>

and Dana: <It's all a matter of perspective - *I* think that L&S contains much unjustified Avon-bashing.>

Actually, I've found it rather disconcerting to go to lists/forums other than the Lyst and FC - there *is* a lot more of the (what I find) old-fashioned bashing and swooning going on :-) Maybe it's because this is a <ahem> more mature list, and a lot of the regular posters have been here for some time and have been there, done that (or never wanted to ;-)) It *is* very unusual to find Avon being scarified in a non-fictional sense ... but Blake (along with Tarrant) *does* still draw the bulk of the unreasoned battering (sorry Dana, but from the POV of someone who adores 'em both ...).

And it tends to centre round the Usual Arguments, exhibit A: Star One, and Exhibit B: Gauda Prime. The latter has *always* been a biggie, I can't count the number of fanfic stories I've read where Avon is exonerated from shooting an unarmed, innocent man (and one of the two people he cared about most) on the grounds that It's All Blake's Fault Anyway.

Mel again: <Avon is intelligent, resourceful, courageous, but he is also very selfish, uncaring, avaricious. Yet he's forgiven acts forwhich Blake is condemned.>

Sally's Sixth Rule - Wear Black Leather, Have a Killer Smile and Get Away with (Literally) Murder...

And Dana: <Because he's a more interesting character.>

Well, not really. He has more surface appeal, I'll agree happily. He's pretty, and acid-tongued and *entertainingly* nasty. When I first got back into Blake's 7, Avon was definitely my favourite character (Blake was second, but it *was* second), but the more I watched it, the more equally my interest was captured. Once I started digging under the surface, they're both complex, contradictory and fascinating characters - Blake is a more unusual creation, and therefore (IMO) that much harder to come to grips with.

I agree whole-heartedly with Mel's: < I feel that to understand Avon, you have at least to appreciate Blake. Not like him, necessarily, but accept his importance to Avon, as an antagonist/friend.>

I recall reading one of Judith Proctor's posts, where she suggested much the same thing - that to understand the dynamic, you have to try and look at Blake through Avon's eyes, to try and see what *he* found so fascinating and worthwhile in the man. And that leads to the question of what it is about Avon that does respond to those things ...

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