Recently, I browsed through this book in a store, when in the second foreword (not the one by Pterry, the next one) I came across a description of Neil Gaiman as "bearing a startling resemblance to Dr. Gaius Baltar of Battlestar Galactica fame in voice, looks and manner, only slightly less agitated". Hm, thought I, despite being a fan of Mr. G. and somewhat fond of Gaius B. this had not occured to me before, but on the other hand, let's check out the evidence:

( Cousins? )

At the very least, I am now wondering about just where Neil Gaiman's story telling abilities come from. :)

Apropos, the other day I reread The Kindly Ones and The Wake, aka the conclusion of the Sandman saga, and found it as awesome and rich as ever. I'm also more affected by Lyta Hall than ever and wish I had the Lyta standalone The Furies by Mike Carey here, but monanotlisa has it. The Kindly Ones is as much, if not more, Lyta's tragedy as it is Morpheus'. ( Spoiler for a classic Greek tragedy, Sandman style, ensue. ) Lyta haunted me then - which resulted in my Angel/Sandman crossover, Ouroborous, where she and Connor collide and end up helping each other come to terms with their pasts and presents - and I find she still haunts me now.

Watching Serenity has reminded me of one of the differences between Firefly and BSG, two shows I love with equal fervour. With Firefly, I really don’t have favourites. I can’t say I love Mal better than Simon or vice versa, Jayne better than Book, Kaylee better than Zoe, Inara better than Wash, and so on. This might just be the ensemble show (plus movie) where I manage to keep an equal ensemble love. (I’m an ensemble girl in any case, but with, say, Babylon 5, I have my clear priorities, my characters that are adored beyond measure and characters I only like, and those I just tolerate.)

In the new Battlestar Galactica, I’m first and foremost a Laura Roslin fangirl, but love the rest of the gang as well. There isn’t a regular character I find uninteresting or not worth watching and fleshing out, and of the recurring ones, I’d have to stretch it and point to two-episodes-character Anders to find anyone I’m not intrigued by. However, the degree of my interest can grow or lessen. Take Starbuck, for example: I’ve always liked her, and I still do, but I found her more interesting pre-Kobol’s Last Gleaming than I did afterwards. This might change again, of course.

Gaius Baltar, in the other hand, has become increasingly fascinating to me. He doesn’t actually fit any of my fannish archetypes. ( But let me ramble on about him at length anyway. )