Soolin

Soolin meets the survivors of the Liberator on their return from Terminal at the beginning of series 4 of Blake's 7. Dorian's companion and lover, she is a skilled gunfighter. She learnt her trade at a young age after her parents were murdered by hired mercenaries on Gauda Prime (the setting for the final episode of the series, and the location of Blake's base). Learning how to be proficient with a gun, she tracked down the killers and avenged her parents' deaths. After Dorian's failed attempt to murder her along with Avon and the others, she offers to join the crew as a mercenary ("I don't give my allegiance at all. I sell my skill." N.B. it seems highly unlikely Avon ever paid her). Along with the rest of the Scorpio crew, she is seen to be shot down at the end of the final episode, and presumably dies.
Prone to sarcasm and highly suspicious, she is nevertheless loyal to the crew. Fannish opinion is generally positive, though many have described her as being difficult character to get to know/rather a blank slate. The Recurring Themes in Blake's 7 Fan Fiction note that:
==Fan Reactions==
==Soolin in Fandom==
Like Dayna (also a woman who joins the series late into its run), Soolin is not a particularly popular character in Blake's 7 fanfiction. She does usually feature as part of the Post Gauda Prime ensemble, in stories where the crew are only stunned or otherwise recover, but she is generally a background character in such fics, despite GP being her home planet! Beloved Adversary is a good example of a PGP fic where she has a more significant role (though Blake and Avon are the protagonists).
Stories that feature Soolin as a major character tend to focus on her GP backstory. Some stories also explore the fact that of the mutoids from Project Avalon was played by Glynis Barber, the same actress that later played Soolin; several authors speculated that that mutoid was her twin sister, or even Soolin herself. In shippy fic, she is most often paired with Fandom Bicycle Avon, or Dayna (which may either be the main pairing or a background pairing). There are also a few Vila/Soolin fics, most of them written by Nicola Mody who was fond of this pairing. Interestingly, Glynis Barber was dating Steven Pacey (Tarrant during filming, but this has not had an affect on fanfiction. She is generally depicted as very in-control and confident in sexual encounters, either as a result of her experiences on her home planet, or her experiences with Dorian who (like his namesake Dorian Grey) is generally believed to have been depraved.
Soolin is depicted in some fanart, generally alone, often with a gun.
==Example Fanfiction==
===Gen===
* A Mouthful of Feathers by Mithen (backstory, GP)
* Streetcorner Girl by Loulou Harris (backstory, GP)
* Making the Best of It by Hafren (backstory, GP)
* Rapunzel by Snowgrouse (Soolin and Vila)
* Hot Stuff by Nicola Mody (Soolin, Vila, Avon)
* The Killer of Dole Nu Lin by Penny Dreadful (Soolin and Travis)
===Pairing fic===
* Assessments by Twisted Sister (Soolin/Gan, rarepair)
* Farewell Performance by Pat Jacquerie (Soolin/Vila, rarepair. Jacquerie notes: "This is the only smut story I've written without Avon as one of the participants--I don't know what got into me, really.")
* Negotiating Positions by Pat Jacquerie (Avon/Soolin, slave fic, part of a round robin)
* A Bottle of Wine by Vanessa Mullen (Avon/Soolin/Vila)
* Disarmament by Susannah Shepherd (Avon/Soolin)
* Songs of Innocence and Experience by Nova (Soolin/Dayna)
* In This Lonely Place by RileyC (Blake/Soolin, rarepair)
* Don't You Want Me, Baby? by Dormouse (explicit Soolin/Travis I and Soolin/Blake plus non-explicit Soolin/Dorian). The story was published in Dead Boyfriend of the Week.
==Fanart Gallery==
File:Fifthseason3-15.jpg|from Fifth Season #3 (1984), artist is Shelia Willis 
File:Fifthseason3-7.jpg|from Fifth Season #3 (1984), artist is Pat Cash 
File:Otherside1.jpg|from The Other Side #2 (1986), artist is Lana Brown 
File:Southernseven3-16.jpg|from Southern Seven #3 (1988), artist is Dani Lane 
File:The World Turned Upside Down-1.jpg| from The World Turned Upside Down (1987), artist is Nancy Kolar 
File:Power1-1.jpg| from Power #1, Adrian Morgan
File:Powerblakes2back.jpg|from Power #2, artist is Tanje
File:Chronicles21-2.jpg| from The Chronicles #21
File:Chronicles26-1.jpg| from The Chronicles #26
File:AVONS8 23.jpg| from Avon's 8 by Evelyn Turner
File:Whosblake4back.jpg|from Who's Blake #4, artist J.A. Gogan
==Other Fanworks==
===Fanvids===
* Soolin vid by maxipower2008
* "Straight Shooter" (the Mamas and the Papas), by Lotsacats9 (reputedly from 1989) - "...a woman character sets up a fascinating counterpoint. All the double-entendres become triple ones." -- from a letter of comment by Jean Graham in Gambit #6 
* Another Suitcase, Another Hall by Carol M. (Soolin character study)
* Old Grey Coat (Reel World) by Shadow Songs
==References==
Category:Blake's 7 Characters