Avon/Vila 
In ye olde days, aka when fandom was on Livejournal, there used to be a thing called "ship manifesto". Truthfully, people have written "why you should ship X" essays long before then and are probably still writing them, but in my mind this type of thing is associated with a specific LJ period. And, frankly, back then I never knew what to do with them. Even today I'm not sure what to make of "why you should ship X", because it always felt to me that either you were already open to or actively shipping X or no matter what anyone else said, you were never going to. I don't believe in having to convince people about the ship-ability of my ships or in having to justifying anything, and most of all, I don't believe you can be convinced to ship something if you don't want to. I've seen a million good and valid reasons for A/B. I still will never be a shipper.
So even though I'm putting up this page up in the tradition of ship manifestos, I don't really think of it as an attempt to convince the unconvinced - rather, I suppose I hope to be preaching to the converted. But no web presence of mine - about B7, no less - would be complete without dedicating space to Avon and Vila. If you'd rather read it bone-dry, go to Fanlore.
The Characters
| Avon | Vila |
|---|---|
| Native of EARTH | Native of EARTH |
|
He almost pulled off the greatest computer swindle of all time - 500 million credits from the Federation Banking System. An electronics and computer genius, he is unsentimental and trusts no-one. He escaped from a convict ship with Blake and remained in an uneasy alliance with him until Blake was lost. Avon is pragmatic with no time for idealism. He would unhesitatingly shoot an enemy in the back but if the time came when it was necessary to kill a friend (for want of a better word) he would look them in the face while he did it. He is cynical, bitter, with a dry wit and a brilliant mind. He is probably now more dependent on the others than he or they realise. He does not particularly hate the Federation except on the purely practical grounds that they are trying to kill him. Little is known of his early background and he is unwilling to talk. He did love a girl called Anna Grant and they were both involved in something illegal. Her death at the hands of interrogators has done nothing to endear the Federation to him. |
He grew up in the labour grades with a high and unrecognised IQ. A non-aggressive delinquent, he developed a natural talent for breaking locking and security systems to a point where it borders on genius. Unable to stop his urge to express this genius by stealing anything and everything, the Federation condemned him to a life on the penal planet of Cygnus Alpha. He was rescued by Bake and has remained with Avon and the others partly out of loyalty and partly because there's nowhere else to go. He is easily led, weak-willed and a quite rational coward. |
... or something of this sort. But I've always loved this spread because it is an intro to the series 4 character ensemble and for no dicernible reason, Avon and Vila are given side by side. That Avon should be the first character to be introduced is natural, but that Vila is the second less so - unless he gets seniority bonus, being the only character in every single episode, and in this S4 ensemble only Avon himself comes close. But a big focus on the Avon and Vila duo is actually a large feature of official material of this time period, to my great joy.
Either way, I object to giving only parts of their names, for one - it's Kerr Avon and Vila Restal (before you ask, yes, it also bothers me when people say "Sherlock and Watson"). Not that Vila doesn't canonically almost exclusively go by his first name, and Avon almost exclusively by his last name, provided that we can apply contemporary British naming conventions to the B7 future, but I feel a wanted poster needs to have both either way, and so should a ship manifesto. We also have no real canon evidence where either of them have come from, though Vila at least refers to Earth as "home" (3x07). The rest is speculation based on the fact that they were shipped out from there on the same convict ship as Blake, the London.
I have fewer gripes about Avon's descriptive text, but still can't decide whether the line about friends is a stroke of foreshadowing genius or a speculative insult - it feels like something Paul Darrow, who played Avon, would have said, and PD's opinions on Avon are not to be trusted. Also I hope that I will never fall into the trap of referring to grown women as "girls" just because that appears to be everywhere. But altogether, this will serve for a brief and very superficial intro to Avon, about whom I have more thoughts than I have been able to express in seven+ years. For one, he's also definitely autistic and often asexual in my book.
Now Vila's text is... questionable. He has certainly a genius for locks and more brains than he'd want you to know, but I don't think he's easily led or weak-willed whatsoever, though he might want you to think so. I agree that being a coward in his situation is an entirely rational response! It's interesting, really - Vila (played by Michael Keating) is, in some ways, a comic relief character, and is written more or less as such depending on the episode. You'd think that an official character profile would mention that - would perhaps even mention his penchant for drinking - but it doesn't. These other parts are important, but I enjoy that this profile emphasises the similarities with Avon.
Communalities and Differences
It's sometimes been argued that Avon/Vila is a case of "opposites attract": an higher-grade citizen Alpha (Avon) and a lower-grade citizen Delta (Vila), a genius (Avon) and a fool (Vila), assertive (Avon) vs weak and cowardly (Vila) etc. Even Henry Jenkins makes a big deal of that in "Textual Poachers" (1992) (Yes, this ship is mentioned in one of the seminal academic texts on fandom. Why do you ask?). There's certainly something to that, but what makes Avon/Vila endure as a pairing isn't what divides them, it's what unites them despite their vastly different backgrounds.
They are both criminals, they are both less than idealistic and with Blake more out of necessity than revolutionary fervor, they are both geniuses in their own fields, they are both thoroughly corrupted by avarice, they both have an impish sense of humour. They're both neurodivergent and queer. They both might not want anyone else to know just how much they have in common, but when there's nobody else watching, they work exceedingly well together. They are frequently and non-verbally in tune.
Because of this dichotomy, it's been argued that there are two "kinds" of Avon/Vila shipping: the one interested in the grade/class difference and the negotiations that come from that, and the one interested in the shared criminal background, in the sense of partners in crime (which they are, canonically, more than once). Personally, I don't think you can deal with the former without also appreciating the latter, unless you want to oversimplify both their characters and their relationship.
In Canon
In public, their relationship is characterised by banter, in which they give as good as they get, and in the end often fall back to relying on or agreeing with each other. This is such a constant undercurrent that the moments when they don't agree stand out, such as Avon turning to Vila as a last line of support (and being let down) when he's arguing with the crew in "Hostage", or, of course, "Orbit".
The undercurrent includes mutual amused affection, but also a strong spirit of respect and collaboration. Avon frequently takes Vila with him on missions (including emotionally and personally thorny ones, such as confronting former friend Tynus in "Killer" or putting Vila into a key role in his plans in "Rumours") and often calls on Vila's support when other members of the crew would also be available, such as in "Orac" or "Hostage". They often wind up agreeing with each other in a round-about fashion:
- VILA
I don't like the look of that.
- GAN
Not again, Vila.
- VILA
I'm entitled to my opinion.
- AVON
It is your assumption that we are entitled to it as well that is irritating.
- JENNA
What do you think?
- AVON
As a matter of fact, I don't like the look of it either.
- VILA
[To himself] He agrees with me.
Vila enjoys Avon's attention and criminal spirit (while simultaneously being more approachable to Vila than Jenna), Avon is amused by him and enjoys the unassuming trust that makes no demands on him.
VILA Look, you don't have to give reasons. You don't even have to explain. Whatever it is, we'll back you up.
They have each others' back in... oh, so many episodes. Let's mention, because we haven't yet, "Gambit" and "City at the Edge of the World". "Gambit" is probably one of the strongest B7 episodes anyway, but it's also very much the "Avon and Vila pull off a heist" episode (thanks, Rob Holmes!) - behind Blake's and the rest of the crew's back, Avon and Vila take Orac and bust a casino, with Vila the one doing the actual gambling/cheating and Avon minding the computer. In "City", Tarrant bullies Vila into a mission and Avon puts in every effort to get him back, including unequivocally telling Tarrant to back off from Vila.
- AVON
- I don't know how you persuaded him to go, Tarrant.
- TARRANT
- I appealed to his better nature.
- AVON
- He hasn't got one. Leave him alone in future.
- TARRANT
- Or?
- AVON
- Do you want me to threaten you?
- TARRANT
- Why not? I haven't had a good laugh in ages.
- AVON
- Sensible. You could die laughing.
- CALLY
- Why are you suddenly so protective towards Vila?
- AVON
- He's irritating, but he's useful. We can easily replace a pilot, but a talented thief is rare.
This professional respect is decidedly mutual, even when framed in the usual banter, such as Vila's humorous avowal from "Gambit":
VILA Ohhhh, that is beautiful! Avon, there are times when I almost get to like you. AVON Yes, well, that makes it all worthwhile. VILA I mean, you give me a warm feeling right here, around the money belt.
That Avon cares about Vila is quite evident in "City", in "Moloch" and in "Dawn of the Gods", among others, even while he might deny it.
In (at least) "Moloch" and "Ultraworld", Vila gets a chance to rescue Avon, for a change, leaving us with my personal favourite shipping line:
AVON Tell me, Orac, how precisely did Vila confuse and distract Ultraworld? ORAC Quite simple. With a series of random and illogical brain impulses. The planet was programmed to assimilate orderly coherent thought patterns. Anything else confused it. VILA Eh? AVON You mean Vila spouted nonsense. VILA I resent that. AVON Oh, I wouldn't if I were you. Orac is saying that a logical rational intelligence is no match for yours.
Importantly, Avon and Vila are rarely in all-out conflict. Sometimes they get on each others' nerve or sore spots, but their values, sense of survival and attitude towards the world are often in accord. Even as early as "Breakdown", where Vila says some interesting things about genius, the one who comes to the aid of Vila attempting to single-handedly save Gan is Avon. They have, you might say, an understanding that envokes respect and no effort to change who the other is. I have said before and will say it here again: They respect each other because of who they are, unidealistic criminal tendency and all, not in spite of it.
In 1985, in a little queer fanzine called "touched", an Avon/Vila fan described their dynamic as "a kinship of rogues", and I think that expresses it beautifully.
At the very least or the very basic, Avon and Vila are together the longest. From the first episode in which Avon is introduced (by Vila, incidentally; 1x02 "Spacefall") until the very last, they stick together, and by S4 are the only two of the original crew left. They have been through more together than anyone else on the regular cast, and if nothing else, that has forged a bond between them.
They are the kind of pairing where I don't actually care whether they are together-together or together as close friends, though I love reading of them as romantically involved. I don't go in for 'sexual tension', imagined or otherwise, so maybe you could make a case for that existing with Avon/Vila, too, but it's not why I ship them or the reason you'll get for me for shipping them. It's them being on the same wavelength that matters.
And as much as I say that I don't trust PD's opinions on Avon, if you don't believe me, maybe you'll believe him: "He's [Avon] protective [...] towards Vila because Vila is always on Avon's side." (Blake's 7 Monthly, Issue 1 (1981), pp.26-27, interviewer unknown.)
Fanon and Fanworks
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