Blakes7 January 2002

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Re: [B7L] Re: Names
by Steve Kilbane 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

> Haven't I heard the name "Devon" in real life before? Dunno, but *I* certainly have. steve

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B7 back on in NZ
by Nico Mody-Nikoloff 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

For anyone in NZ, Prime is showing B7 again. On Sat 12 at 2pm, it's a double episode, The Way Back / Space Fall. I'm not sure if it will always be a double. The eps shown on Prime last year were cut (often quite important scenes, too) but maybe this time I'll tape them and keep them, as the DVDs still aren't available. Nico

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Blake's 7 and Stargate
by Judith Proctor 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

I've been watching a lot of Stargate recently and I've been drawing a few mental comparisons between the that and Blake's 7. (Incidentally, if you've seen the Stargate film and not the series, the two have a very different flavour - don't judge one by the other) I always thought that Blake never followed up on Jenna's obvious interest in him because he either wasn't interested or else he was too obsessed with rebellion to have room for any other interest, but Stargate suggests a third (and very likely option). Stargate is based around the US airforce and the rule is simple, you don't have a relationship with anyone below you in the chain of command. There are several reasons for this, and they make good sense. Firstly, you cannot guarantee to act impartially - if you have to send one of your people into a dangerous situation, then can you be certain that you will not discriminate in favour of someone you are in love with? (or maybe that's a new reason for Jenna always ending up on teleport duty...). Secondly, if you're in a tight corner, you may not be able to concentrate fully on your objective if you're worrying about other things - like your beloved getting shot. Thirdly, the ban is a protection against sexual harassment (if such relationships are forbidden, then it's much easier for a woman to say no when a person with power over her makes a pass at her). In Stargate, this means that Colonel O'Neill and Captain Carter never get together in spite of a strong degree of attraction. In Blake's 7, it could well explain why Blake never makes a pass at Jenna. Another interesting parallel between the two shows is the cynic/idealist conflict. Blake, the idealist, has to cope with Avon as his perennial cynic. In Stargate, the situation is reversed where Colonel O'Neill, the cynic, has to cope with Daniel Jackson, civilian and idealist. Daniel has many of Blake's qualities. He is a passionate believer in freedom and human rights (and those of aliens come to that). He will risk his life for what he believes in, but lacks Blake's degree of fanatasism. He finds it easier to forgive. Avon's cynicism is far-ranging, he doesn't really trust anyone or anything - yet, there are times when he can make the leap of faith (whether he loves Blake or hates him, I do not doubt that he *trusts* him). O'Neill mistrusts the world on general principles and aliens in particular, but can also make the leap of faith. In his case, he trusted a man who was both an alien and an enemy (Teal'c) and it paid off. Both shows have the theme of a fight against a powerful and oppressive enemy. In Blake's case, the Federation, in Stargate's case a particularly nasty alien race called the goa'uld. Both fights verge on the impossible. The Federation are too large and the goa'uld too advanced for there to be much chance of victory. The biggest difference between the shows is in chain of command. Blake's a rebel. Providing he can convince his crew, he can do whatever he likes. O'Neill is in the opposite position. His people will do whatever he orders them to. (There are exceptions to this, but they are extrememly rare and usually Daniel who hasn't got military obedience ingrained quite so deeply in him) O'Neill, however, has to follow orders himself, no matter how much he may dislike them. He's a maverick by nature, but he will nevertheless (with extremely rare exceptions) do what he's ordered to do. It's interesting to compare the way the two shows treat their female characters. CArter initially suffered some of the things that Jenna and Cally had to put up with. It tended to be a case of "we've got a female character, what shall we do with her?" Early episodes written around her tended to look at a woman rather than an officer. Jenna had to suffer 'The Keeper', Carter had 'Emancipation'. Then, it's as though the penny dropped. They started writing for the officer rather than the woman and she becomes a character you can believe in, competent in a firefight, skilled as a scientist and with a mind of her own. Carter probably beats Cally's total count of being taken over by aliens (I have't counted, but there's certainly several cases), but *everyone* in Stargate seems to get taken over by an alien sooner or later - it goes with the job <grin>. (except Teal'c - he's immune for reasons that at least have some plausibility). My own personal theory as to why Carter seems to come out of it better than Cally and Jenna is *uniform*. In Stargate, everyone dresses the same. If O'Neill's in camouflage gear, then Carter's in camouflage gear. If he's in uniform, then she's in uniform. Stargate seems to be the one show where the main female character isn't dressed in mini skirts/skin-tight leather/bondage gear/brightly coloured pastels. I suspect this may have had an influence on the way the writers approached the character. It certainly affects the way I react to her. An intelligent female character, an astrophysicist, who gets to do all the interesting things with everyone else. Where was she when I was growing up? Unlike Jenna and Cally, she also gets called by her second name as a rule. It's Daniel, the civilian, who always gets called by his first name. But being a civilian, he's the one who gets to call Carter 'Sam' (short for Samantha). I guess it's a bit like (what I see as) the class distinction in Blake's 7. Upper grades like Blake and Avon are called by their second name, whereas lower grades like Vila are called by their second name. In Stargate, the distinction is military/non-military, but with loads of fine shadings as to who is allowed to address whom as what within the military. <grin> and the other thing that reminds me of B7 is that Stargate kills off the entire cast on several occasions... For anyone who's got this far and hasn't seen Stargate, the series is just starting from the first epsiode on Sky 1 on New Year's Day. Each episode is on twice a day - 6am and 6pm. It's an episode each weekday. It's a good opportinity to watch it from the beginning. Some of the worst episodes are near the start. The first two are pretty good, then there's a couple of really poor ones, then it picks up pace as the actors got settled into their roles and the writing improved. Basically, stick with it through the duff ones and you'll be rewarded with some much better stuff (there's several early ones that feel like Classic Trek: visit a planet, catch a silly disease, earn undying thanks of locals by curing it, move onto next planet.) Once they worked out where the series was going and started having episodes that related to the gao'uld threat, then it gets much better. The last four episodes of the first season close/second season start, are wonderful. Judith -- http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7 - Fanzines for Blake's 7, B7 Filk songs, pictures, news, Conventions past and present, Blake's 7 fan clubs, Gareth Thomas, etc. (also non-Blake's 7 zines at http://www.knightwriter.org ) Redemption '03 21-23 Feb 2003 http://www.smof.com/redemption/

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Re: [B7L] Re: fanfics
by Alison Page 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

steve said - >I like to think of writing as collapsing a probability wave: until it's >written, it's potentially many stories; only by actually writing it can >you find out which one. That is an excellent way of describing it. You want to actualise it, but that is simultaneously a reduction of the limitless possibilities to one actuality, so it is always a loss. Alison

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Re: [B7L] Re: fanfics
by Steve Kilbane 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

Helen wrote: > So, tell me, why does a peerson write it out if they don't care if > anyone reads it? As a record of their imaginings? I'm seriously curious. One reason is exorcism. Don't know about you, but I find that, no matter how clearly I imagine something, when it comes to write it (rather than just writing it down), it's a transformation process that still requires some sweat on my part. It flushes out all the bits I hadn't actually considered, and demands clarification of the bits I had. And for some people, this process is one they have to go through before they've got a story "out of their system", and they can work on the one on which they *want* to be working. I like to think of writing as collapsing a probability wave: until it's written, it's potentially many stories; only by actually writing it can you find out which one. steve

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RE: Re: [B7L] Re: fanfics
by jacquispeel＠netscape.net 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

"Nico Mody-Nikoloff" <nico(a)farsight.co.nz> wrote: >Helen Krummenacker wrote: > >> People really write stories just for themselves? >> >> I feel baffled-- writing is hard work, whereas picturing things in my >> head is easy, and can be done in endless variations. > >Totally agree! It's hard to write something that will make your readers see >the same pictures. You sound very visual, like me. I see my stories as a >film - action and dialogue - and I have to translate that to words. > >> I write only in order to be read. > >Me too. Otherwise I'd be content running my own private films in my head for >entertainment. > >Nico > So 'who' is one writing a diary for (ie not just the appointments book)? Jacqui -- __________________________________________________________________ Your favorite stores, helpful shopping tools and great gift ideas. Experience the convenience of buying online with Shop@Netscape! http://shopnow.netscape.com/ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/

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RE: RE: [B7L] Re: fanfics
by jacquispeel＠netscape.net 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

"Louise Rutter" <louise.rutter(a)blueyonder.co.uk> wrote: >Helen wrote: > >>People really write stories just for themselves? > >>I feel baffled-- writing is hard work, whereas picturing things in my >>head is easy, and can be done in endless variations. > >The problem I have with pictures in my head is that they play over and over >and won't go away. I'll have a scene or several that literally keep me awake >in the small hours of the morning, and the only way to stop them is to write >them down. After that, I think what the hell and fill in the missing scenes >to make it a story. > >While I definitely like basking in feedback at the end, I don't think I'd >ever start writing a story other than to avoid chronic insomnia. > >Louise Isn't that how 'The Hobbit' started - blank bit of exam paper Tolkien happened to be marking, & he wrote 'In a hole lived a hobbit' (or words to that effect)? How many other things have started in this way? (And some of my various stories have started to 'get the idea out of the way.) Jacqui -- __________________________________________________________________ Your favorite stores, helpful shopping tools and great gift ideas. Experience the convenience of buying online with Shop@Netscape! http://shopnow.netscape.com/ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/

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Re: Fwd: Re: [B7L] Re: Names
by Ellynne G. 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

On Fri, 04 Jan 2002 20:32:40 +0000 "Sally M" <smanton(a)hotmail.com> writes: > Ellynne wrote: > "LADY BRACKNELL: Well, I must say, Avon, that I think it is high > time that > Mr. Blake made up his mind whether he was going to live or die. This > > shilly-shallying with the question is absurd." > > <gurgle> > > well, Avon did his best to make up Blake's mind for him (and > everyone else's > while they were at it) in that last five minutes ... I was tempted to include the bit were Algernon says he's killed Bunbury, but I thought I'd better not. Ellynne ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.

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Re: fanfics
by Mel Saxby 04 Jan '02

04 Jan '02

Jackie wrote: But one *does* have an audience: one's self. And while picturing things in one's head is indeed easy, it's also ephemeral and, unless scribbled down, forgotten. The advantage to writing, even if no one else ever sees it, is that you get to read your thought pictures as well as think them and this engages more of the brain. Writing makes the transient imaginings real, nails them down. Yes, writing is hard work, but it can also become a compulsion, an activity difficult to tear yourself away from. That's pretty much my own view. Though I love to entertain myself seeing or writing stories in my head as I go about my normal life, my chief hobby is writing fanfic and original stories for an imaginary audience which includes myself.. I've only recently re-embarked on writing B7 stories in any serious way, and though I enjoy them, I'm by no means sure my efforts come up to the standard of some of the fic I've read in zines and on-line. But I hope I'm improving. If you don't entertain yourself on some level, how can you hope to entertain others? Mel --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.311 / Virus Database: 172 - Release Date: 12/27/01

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RE: Re: [B7L] Where to publish?
by jacquispeel＠netscape.net 04 Jan '02

04 Jan '02

Jen McGee <jmcgee(a)asu.aasa.ac.jp> wrote: >This has been a fascinating discussion. To tack another thought on to it, as a >newbie to the fandom (and to fandom in general, at least as an active >participant): > >I'd love to see a fic of mine in a zine--seeing something actually on paper and >knowing it was considered (by someone, somewhere) as good enough to be put >together with other stories would be a thrill. > >How does one go about finding a zine? One of the B7 Writer's Resource pages >has a list of zines looking for stories, but at the moment the list consists, I >think, of one or two only. Is there a better list out there, or is the field >just that sparse right now? And what are the odds that a story I write would >fit a zine theme? > >Jen McGee > Going back to an earlier part of this discussion - about publishing on-line then in a magazine - what if you have a 'short' published on line & develop it into a more complex story - something like the relationship between AC Clarke's 'The Sentine;' & '2001'? Jacqui -- __________________________________________________________________ Your favorite stores, helpful shopping tools and great gift ideas. Experience the convenience of buying online with Shop@Netscape! http://shopnow.netscape.com/ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/

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Blakes7 January 2002