Neil wrote:
> A death is a death is a death. Who killed whom is immaterial. What makes
> Avon so special? What makes Blake so special? Avon killed plenty of other
> people through the course of the series. Come to think of it, so did Blake.
There is a difference, though, between killing someone who is an enemy
and someone who is (or has been) your friend. Or comrade-in-arms,
even, if you don't like to think of Avon and Blake as friends.
Emotionally, there's a difference, and …
[View More]even someone who's fairly
cold-blooded (as I think Avon generally is) about killing strangers
and enemies is going to feel differently about killing someone with
whom he's had a close relationship (whatever you percieve the nature
of that relationship as being). Morally, you could argue that killing
someone who is supposed to be your friend makes the action even worse:
the crime of betrayal is added to the crime of murder. And Avon, in
my reading of the character, is someone who is capable of carrying a
lot of guilt over betrying someone or otherwise fatally letting them
down (which seems to be the way he reacted to what he thought had
happened with Anna).
> Things fell apart in catastrophically short order, and someone
> previously assumed to be a friend or at least ally (for all the sardonic
> gibes previously aimed at him) suddenly appeared in the guise of an enemy
> who seemed incapable of offering a coherent explanation for himself. Avon
> was thrown onto the defensive, and with a gun forced into his hands by
> immediately preceding events it should come as no great surprise that he
> defended himself the way he did. It was a gut reaction permitted by
> circumstance and opportunity. Not, by any means, the only action he could
> have made, nor necessarily the best, but the imperative to act overrode
> consideration of other possibilities. The decision to shoot was, I think,
> both conscious and deliberate, but in his mind he was not shooting the Blake
> he had known in the past and had hoped to find again, but a stranger who
> had, albeit unwittingly, turned everything upside down amid chaotic and
> stressful circumstances.
I just wanted to say that, sentimental character-junkie that I am,
this paragraph made me get all sniffly.
--
Betty Ragan ** bragan(a)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
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Tavia wrote:
> Rewatching the end of 'Blake' just now, the thing
> that actually disturbs me most is Avon shooting an unarmed and outnumbered
> Klyn.
I see that as relating to his reason for shooting Blake. When you are in a
battlefield situation and possibly going to be outnumbered soon, take no
prisoners. Avon's first contact on the base (that we know of) is seeing
Tarrant under attack. Then Klyn calls for security. All evidence points to
a hostile environment.
I'm …
[View More]glad you mentioned Klyn, Switching the topic a little, I'm always
surprised that Klyn and the man shot by Soolin are seldom mentioned in PGP
fanfic, especially fanfic where Blake survives or where others from his GP
base are part of the story. It's as if their deaths, or the attacks on them
if they survived, aren't important.
Even more of an aside, thanks to all for the many Redemption reports. They
make for interesting reading.
Carol Mc
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Ignore Richard's posting on missing orders for figures. Kelvin had the orders
safely tucked away and we now know who ordered what <smile>
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 '01 23-25 Feb 2001 http://www.smof.com/redemption/
Canonically, there is one statement to dispute that the idea was to have
a "young attractive woman"; Meeghat said she had been waiting all her
life. Not all her adult life. This suggests that, like the Dalai Lama,
the greeter of the Lord is to be picked at a very early age. Before it
would be known if she would be pretty as an adult, and performing duties
while still too young to be atractive to any but a very despicable man.
Generally, in such circumstances, a preist/preistess is supposed to …
[View More]hold
their position not just from childhood on, but then also into later
years. If this society operates the same way, there would only be a
small time frame in which the attendant would be young and attractive.
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In a message dated 2/28/01 10:26:11 AM Eastern Standard Time,
littles(a)lycos.co.uk writes:
<<
And by the way, I'm rather bored by the way you keep harping about how long
you've known Diane Gies. So what, you know a big-name fan. What do you want,
a medal? Judging by the posts in my in-box, people just aren't impressed.
>>
Please, Shane. Talk about total distortion. The woman has hated my guts and
conducted campaigns against me and my zines for years. I was hardly trying …
[View More]to
"impress" anyone with the fact that I know who she is and I think you know
that. Puh-leeze. And bringing up "posts in my in-box" is the oldest,
stupidest internet game in the book. Yeah! Let's fight now over who's gotten
the most PRIVATE email telling them how *right* they are. Sure.
You have anything further to say to me, please say it privately. Not only is
it boring for list members to have to read a pissing match when it's down to
only two or three people, but you keep sending me the messages privately
ANYWAY.
Annie
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Iain wrote:
<I would like to write something up. In the last day or so we've been
talking mainly about the cellar scene, but my mind has been more on the
'Pressure Point' scene which Alison and Rob performed. The more I think
about that, the more interesting it becomes -- I'd like to explore it
further.>
Oh yes, *please* ... I love that scene, I'd be fascinated by what you have
to say.
_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-…
[View More]mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
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In a message dated 2/27/01 7:24:25 PM Eastern Standard Time,
littles(a)lycos.co.uk writes:
<< Thank you for acknowledging my discomfort. However, since you say you've
known her for 10-15 years, I'd assumed you would have been familiar with her
anti-slash policy.
>>
Shane, first off, PLEASE stop cc'ing me on every single post. If it goes to
the list, I get it. I don't think it's too hard to remember that you don't
need to cc people when you post to the list.
And, yes, I'm …
[View More]familiar with Diane's policy. That *wasn't the point*. It
wasn't the objection that I made and it wasn't the objection that Carol made.
We have both pointed out to you that Diane's policy was irrelevant to the
discussion we were trying to have and I can't for the life of me figure out
why you keep trying to obscure the issue and misdirect the subject.
But, since I've clarified my questions for you multiple times now, I think
that's my cue to stop trying.
Annie
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Regarding a death is a death is a death &c...
I disagree. Why the person kills seems to me to be critical. There are many
reasons why Avon might have killed Blake, some plausible in the light of
the characters of the two and the way the scene is played, and some not,
and I could ascribe different moral values to the different motivations.
For example, killing someone for no reason other than enjoyment of pain or
power seems to me less moral than killing someone who happens to be in …
[View More]the
wrong place at the wrong time.
This is something that came out in the 'Blake: freedom fighter vs
terrorist' discussion at Redemption, and is also a point I've tried to make
in fanfic.
Tavia
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Hi all,
I've just recovered a little from Redemption, so here are a few of my
impressions:
First of all, meeting all those lystians. Hellen was incognito on Friday,
thanks to a badge that said Helen, but the other two days we could all
recognize her. Everyone looked so different from what I'd imagined.
Ares dragging around a guitar, and later on proclaiming that he was going
to take his ax back to his room to pick up his sword.
Gareth and Michael cheerfully taking the piss out of each …
[View More]other.
The high level of the discussions ("Well, I'm taller than you." "Yeah? Well
I'm fiercer than you.")
Some really funny and also interesting panels, often both at the same time.
Michael Sheard still telling "wee tales" at breakfast. He said he'd written
a book. I wonder how he ever managed to *stop* writing.
Julia and Steve being everywhere at once.
And so were Sascha and Ivan, the steward masters. But they also managed to
participate in some of the fun stuff. Don't ask me how they managed it. I
suspect they made a deal with the clone masters.
A six weeks old girl winning a prize in the fancy dress contest with a
galaxy quest outfit.
Seven of Nine with her kid (that six weeks old girl) participating in a
parade drill, and the kid slept through the whole thing.
Spam. Lots of it.
Not being able to pretend later that I had a healthy breakfast, because
Richard took a picture of me holding something very sweet with icing on it.
I'll try to post something more coherent this weekend, but at the moment
this is all I can manage. Thanks to Judith, Steve, Sascha, Ivan and all
those others who made it an unforgettable weekend.
Jacqueline
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Would someone please help me to unsubscribe from the list.
I've tried to do it eight times from various the links including the one on
Judith's site, but nothing works...
Thanks.
Andy.