Blakes7 February 2001

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80 participants
929 discussions

Re: Blakes7 & detective stories
by Helen Krummenacker 18 Feb '01

18 Feb '01

> What might be even more fundamental is that the detective genre is about the > establishment (the detective, professional or freelance) taking on the > forces of chaos and disorder (crime, social disruption), whereas in fanfic > the focus is normally on those forces of chaos, ie; outside the > establishment. Assigned reading for tonight, any Raymond Chandler novel. Phillip Marlowe, the detective, once worked for a DA's office. These days, as a P.I. he still has enough friends on the force he *might* not get his liscense yanked just because he won't break his client's confidentiality: but he'll probably need help leaving his jail cell because his kneecaps have been banged up as someone's idea of fun. Bay City, where he's sometimes had to go, the police would shoot him if he pursued some investigations too far. In short, Marlowe deals in chaos. He tries to make things a little less chaotic for his client, and that means a lot of... Beautiful Suffering(?) in the process. He usually goes up against corrupt officials, organized crime, and rich people who can afford bodyguards. This sounds very much like the Federation. Hmm. I think I may end up trying to write my own dectective Blake's 7 story.

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Re: Space Fall
by Betty Ragan 18 Feb '01

18 Feb '01

Dana wrote: > What I'd really like to know is why Jenna > knows Avalon and Blake doesn't. Oh, that one seems easy to answer. Blake, it seems, has mostly been active on Earth (at least until he was forcibly ejected). He knows who Avalon is, after all, he's just never met her in person: quite understandable if she's been tootling around the outer worlds while he's been busy rabble-rousing on Earth. Jenna, on the other hand, has spent her career tootling around the outer worlds. She probably did business with Avalon at some point, delivering supplies. I sometimes wonder if that's not the reason Jenna was arrested, for dealing with the rebels. -- 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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Re: [B7L] fannishness
by Ashton7＠aol.com 18 Feb '01

18 Feb '01

In a message dated 2/16/01 6:17:53 AM Eastern Standard Time, N.Faulkner(a)tesco.net writes: << Whereas in my case it's precisely the reason why I turned to writing fanfic in the first place. Different strokes etc.>> Yes, of course, but in your original post on this subject, you were opining that the reason most, if not all, fans become fans and write fan fiction, was for the reasons you gave. Or so I interpreted what you said. I apologize for obviously misinterpreting your statements. <<< OTOH, B7 is the *only* series I have ever got fannish about, whereas for many people a fannish approach to a number of series (not just telefantasy) seems to be common. If you're fannish about one series, chances are you'll be fannish about several. Assuming that 'fannish' can be satisfactorily defined in the first place.>>> It seems to be true that many fans, once they become full-fledged, participating fans in one fandom, will participate in other fandoms. However, there are often also those who stick to their original fandom and never find another show that excites them in the same ways. There are also those fans who change fandoms at the drop of a hat and lose interest in their older fandoms. Personally, I'm one of those who tends to stick with a fandom a good, long time, but I do "get fannish" about other shows. I never lose interest in my older fandoms, though, I just don't spend as much time participating in them. <<< Ah, but what is it about the characters or show that make them so captivating? Are there any general principles that might be extracted? Do shows that generate fandoms have any particular common factor(s)? >> For me, it's generally a show that has good writing elements and likable characters and relationships. Some of the shows I really, really like currently are Queen of Swords, Stargate, Buffy, Angel, and Andromeda. On these shows, I like virtually every character to one degree or another and I don't find it hard to simply ignore elements of the plot (for example, Queen of Swords is a show based on the Zorro genre, requiring a lot of suspension of disbelief) that might not normally "make sense." My favorite character on these shows is often the character that is hardest to figure out, because usually they become the most interesting. Annie

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Re: Who knows who
by Helen Krummenacker 18 Feb '01

18 Feb '01

> What I'd really like to know is why Jenna > knows Avalon and > Blake doesn't. > > -(Y) Blake was a peaceful protester at first, wasn't he? I had the impression the Freedom Party was a political group on Earth just trying to work with the system, not stage a revolution. Avalon was evidently from one of the outer worlds, and a revolutionary. Furthermore, she looks pretty young. She might not have had a name for herself while the Freedom Party was a movement; her prominience among rebels would have come while Blake was in 'good brainwashed citizen' mode.

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Re: Character junnkie vs. other attractions
by Helen Krummenacker 18 Feb '01

18 Feb '01

I'd classified myself as character junkie but more and more I'm thinking that *isn't* it. Mostly thanks to Neil's questions and comments. I tend to discuss characters because everyone likes to talk about them. But there's plenty of things with marvellous characters I'm not the elast bit fannish about. Unanswered questions-- THAT's my hook. Every bloody thing that gets me hooked gets me because it makes me think about the possible answers. I fond of spinning theories and solving puzzles, and the world of fiction is entirely safe to speculate about. I also like being pushed to consider answers on a philosophic level. I can have fun with the character questions, but the reason I like the Star One debates isn't to know whether Avon or Blake was right, but the higher question of "what price freedom, and can someone choose that price for other people?" Frequently I am turned off from a burgeoning fannishness by a writer who foolishly gives an ill-thought out answer, one contradictory to prior evidence. However, in other circumstances, it may be fun to try to Play the Game to work out why the impossible answer.

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Mary Sues
by jacquispeel＠netscape.net 17 Feb '01

17 Feb '01

Going back a few days A slight variant on this. Josephine Tey was one of two pseudonyms of this author. ('The Franchise Affair' and 'The Daughter of Time' ('present day detective' chasing up 'Richard III' - the Inspector Morse in hospital and the Victorian murder is a reworking of the idea) in being probably the best known of her works). In one of her stories the character goes to a play written by the author's other pseudonym. And I see at least one other Ricardian belongs to the Lyst (Loyalty binds me) - I have my own ideas. Anybody care to 'compare and contrast' Avon and Richard III? Starting with Richard III Married Anne Neville Avon: Had a girlfriend Anna Richard III Of the Duke of Buckingham who had turned against him 'The one that had most cause to be true the most untrue creature living.' Avon Of Blake in Episode 52??? There are other parallels which could be drawn __________________________________________________________________ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Webmail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/

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Re: Women in the media
by Helen Krummenacker 17 Feb '01

17 Feb '01

> (I *like* Buffy. I *like* Xena. It's just that I'd > like to see a female, non-buff,non-gorgeous, normally > attired nerd who isn't either a dork or a best friend. > Just once in a while.) There's Rosie O'Donnell, but she's a talk show host. When she acts, it's back to the best friend role. Seriously, in America, Drew Carey's about the only male who fits the "non-buff,non-gorgeous, normally attired nerd who isn't either a dork or a best friend" description. So it's not so much a matter of sexism as sexyism-- unfortunately, with the visual qualities of televesion and movies, there's not a great chance of overcoming the camera's love of eye candy. One reason I tend to like British entertainment a bit more is that the girls aren't all size 0 in dresses; there's a closer approximation to reality in the variety of ages, sizes, and style than modern Hollywood shows.

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RE: [B7L] Groundhog Day
by Harriet Monkhouse 17 Feb '01

17 Feb '01

Dana said: >I'd always wondered what Blake's local was called. I saw it in Bristol when I went to Nexus. It was called... oh, I've forgotten, something like the Idealistic Engineer. No, I've looked it up, it was the Reckless Engineer. Just opposite Temple Meads station. Harriet

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Re: Space Fall
by Betty Ragan 17 Feb '01

17 Feb '01

Another thought just occured to me... We don't know anything about the timing of Avon or Vila's arrest. It's doubtful that there's a ship heading out for Cygnus Alpha once a week (I'd suspect once a year might be more like it), so either or both of them could have already been locked up for a long time before we even meet them. Sure, they were in different holding cells while awaiting transportation on the _London_, but presumably they were held somewhere else before that. Maybe they were locked up together? Or, even if Vila had been caught quite recently, if he was held in the same facility as Avon he might well know about him by reputation. I would think that Avon would likely be the sort of prisoner who gets gossiped about. :) (I've seen a lot of fanfic postulating that they knew each other before their respective arrests, but I don't buy it, personally. Not only would it be an awfully big coincidence (yeah, I know, not that that's unusual for B7), but I just don't get that feeling based on the way they interact. Plus, Vila pronounces Avon's first name differently from the one person that Avon actually acknowledges as an old friend, Tynus.) -- 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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Richard III [was Re: [B7L] Mary Sues]
by Harriet Monkhouse 17 Feb '01

17 Feb '01

Jacqui noted: > at least one other Ricardian belongs to the Lyst > (Loyalty binds me) - I have my own ideas. There are quite a few of us. I think it's a lost cause sort of thing. I had an idea that we could get a spaceship called White Surrey and fly it round doing, er, something or other helpful to Richard's cause. Certainly don't see Buckingham as Blake, though. Edward, just possibly. George is probably the one who fits the universe best, though I can't immediately think of a direct match - hang on, Margaret is early Servalan, isn't she? Oh, I see, Tanja's suggested that one. Can't see Elizabeth Woodville, though. She's more of a woman from Paul Darrow's B7 universe. Thinking about it, Blake and Richard seem a better match. Both accused of doing something nasty to little boys. Harriet er... Jarriet

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Blakes7 February 2001