Dana wrote:

Blake's easy sense of command, for instance, could stem from being raised as a privileged older son

Personally, I'm almost convinced that he was the youngest child in his family. I've read some (rather interesting) research on birth order and personality, and, statistically speaking, you're apparently much more likely to find the kinds of rebellious tendencies Blake evinces in youngest siblings than in oldest or middle ones. Apparently, leaders of revolutions are much more likely to be younger siblings, based on studies of the French Revolution and other historical events... And Blake, IMO, just fits the whole "youngest sibling" profile to a T.

one might suggest that Avon IS a bastard and therefore a bastard.

Avon as literal bastard is an idea you see a lot in fanfic, and it seems like a pretty plausible one to me. The man obviously has a chip on his shoulder that's been there for a very long time, and having grown up under some kind of social stigma, or in a disadvantaged social position due to something like illegitimacy could certainly explain it. Then again, so could a lot of other things. It is, in any case, somehow hard to imagine him actually having a *happy* childhood.

He certainly isn't overly impressed by the sacredness of marriage vows.

In fairness to him, though, we don't really know for sure whether Anna was married when they were involved or whether he knew about it, if so. And even if she was and he did, we still don't know how she might have represented the state of her marriage to him. He might have believed she was separated, or divorced... For all we know, he might have fancied himself as her white knight, whisking her off-planet and away from an abusive relationship. We certainly don't know anything about his views on marriage in general.

-- 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