Blakes7 June 2001

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61 participants
258 discussions

Re: Duel
by Helen Krummenacker 16 Jun '01

16 Jun '01

> Helen said: > > > Blake's decision not to kill Travis under the cicumstances. > > Schmuck! If it was up to me, it would be you-are-the-weakest- > link-goodbye time. > Ev ery *other* time Blake decided not to kill Travis, I thought he was a schmuck, but I understood it in this case because he was being ordered to do so by a fool of a ghost from an alien race that got themselves killed off. He's really got no reason to trust them, and he certainly doesn't want to do whatever they say. He's a rebel, after all. > >

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Re: Duel
by Sally Manton 16 Jun '01

16 Jun '01

Natasa, this was lovely: <In Blake's case, I am not referring only to his realization about the evil nature of the Federation. Blake is not just forced to face the horrors of the world around him. He is also forced to understand and experience the dark recesses of his own mind.> Absolutely. I think this is probably one of the things that does separate Blake - and maybe Avon - from the rest, probably because they are the only ones in a role that forces them to confront *themselves*, without the blinkers we all use to protect ourselves from what we see :-) <These two bitter lessons could have persuaded Blake that he *has* to resort to violence. There's no other way to defeat the Federation. However, it is a decision which cannot leave one's soul intact.> But he's still not immune to the siren call of a peaceful end - see 'Voice from the Past'. <Blake has suffered great personal wrongs which he cannot forgive or forget. Much as he tries to suppress his hatred, obsession, need for personal revenge, from his conscious attitude, he is still aware of these traits. Even if it's true, as Sally noticed, that Blake manages to stay emotionally detached from the violence he's committing, I think that all the while he has to fight certain darkness within, to grapple with his most negative urges.> I do think that it a strong part *of* his refusal to kill Travis and Servalan. He doesn't enjoy killing, ever. With them, there is the very real possibility he *would* enjoy it, and it's important to him that he never reach that point. As you said, he knows his own dark side and is determined to keep it under control (witness also his refusal to consider controlling Star One, because "that sort of power would corrupt anyone," himself included. <The world around and within Our Hero is complex and filled with horrors. It's not just that the time is out of joint, it is also his own self which is out of joint, and the cursed spite is that he can't ever set these right.> Yes, yes, yes ... he's a product of his time and place, as they all are, and the time and place is a cold, vicious place to be brought up in. One thing about nearly all of the characters, good and bad, is their lack of vision, of any feeling for anything other than there here and now, or for anyone outside themselves and/or their own little group; this would appear to me to be so endemic that it's probably a result of growing up in this brutal, decaying civilization. Blake has vision above that (so, probably, do other rebel leaders like Avalon, but we don't see enough of them to see it). But he's still limited - damaged - by the simple fact of who he is, where he is, when he is. The difference is, IMO, that he knows and cares about it. <And kindly don't call Blake schmuck while I'm around.> He can be an idiot <g> but I still think he could claimed to be 'touched with greatness'. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Re: A Dismal Performance
by Helen Krummenacker 16 Jun '01

16 Jun '01

> ANN: Correct. Vila, how many moons does Jupiter have? > > VILA: [Looks at his console while Avon is tapping his own.] Four. > Did the Federation blow up all the smaller ones? However, aside from this jarring note, the story was excellent and I gave it the highest rating. I liked the touch of having so many of the questions directly related to thiings we've seen canonically, and parodies of modern life brought forward to the B7 future. Some questions, such as the repeated references to cats in Avon's questions, I suspect also are inside jokes, but fanon rather than canon-related. It was fun seeing the Avon and Vila team at work for the first time. <eg>

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foot and mouth
by Judith Proctor 16 Jun '01

16 Jun '01

I read in the paper today that three Welsh farmers had committed suicide in the last few days. The foot and mouth epidemic is still with us, and it kills people as well as animals. Until the outbreak is finally over and done, I'll be donating a pound for each copy of 'Morgan' I sell to a charity for helping the farmers. It's a zine in which Avon goes back in time and meets with a double of Blake - a Welsh hill farmer called Morgan, facing impossible circumstances. When I look at the farmers now, I see Morgan in all of them. This is the least I can do to help. (you can order it from http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7 ) 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: Weakest Link
by Helen Krummenacker 15 Jun '01

15 Jun '01

> e've just uploaded 'A Dismal Performance', Marian de Haan's B7 story based on > 'The Weakest Link. I loved this one - really funny. > So, someone's already done that for Blake's 7; well, I didn't have a plot for it yet. A Buffy-Weakest Link, I do have a plaln for.

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Re: Power
by Helen Krummenacker 15 Jun '01

15 Jun '01

> Ellynne suggested if Kate joined the crew: > > In Assassin, she'd probably be confused by Piri's behavior - I'd guess > Seska, once _rescued_ from males with villainnous intent, would try to > prove they're as in control as ever. So, she'd be suspicious or at least > curious. Piri would try to get rid of her first, throwing the crab pin > at her. Kate would catch it telekinetically and throw it back. Piri > dies horribly about five minutes after she's introduced. Everyone else > survives. Avon is stuck with Nebrox, his adopted grandfather. > Oh, how I would love to see that! > >

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Re [B7L] Fiction request - thanks
by Neil Faulkner 15 Jun '01

15 Jun '01

Thanks to everyone who responded to my plea for mega-short stories to fill Eric. I won't have time to look at them until next week (I work weekends), but I'll let everyone know who I've plumped for as soon as poss. (Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to take every submission). Thanks again Neil

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Re: [B7L] Re: Duel
by Natasa Tucev 15 Jun '01

15 Jun '01

Dana wrote: >Yeah, but whoever told him or didn't tell him, POV Blake killing >Travis (like eating oatmeal) is Just The Right Thing to Do. (snip) ...well, >WHENEVER you have the chance to kill an implacable enemy >who has been driven insane by a desire for vengeance on you... >kill him! OK, I know this must have been discussed many times over, but I wasn't on the Lyst then, so let this be my excuse. Blake's explanation of why he refrains from killing Travis, "You don't matter enough to kill", is not just an assessment of Travis's importance in the general scheme of things. It is also a statement implying Blake's own state of mind. As Blake's own great-great grandfather William surmised, we all start from the state of "innocence" when we perceive the world as basically good, positive and largely comprehensible. Sooner or later we "fall" from this original paradise into the state of experience which reveals to us a more complex, troublesome and disturbing understanding of the world and our own being. In Blake's case, I am not referring only to his realization about the evil nature of the Federation. Blake is not just forced to face the horrors of the world around him. He is also forced to understand and experience the dark recesses of his own mind. Blake is originally an idealist, someone whom we often see help people without any self-interest (think of Decimas, the crew of "Ortega", even the stuff in the Federation base in "Killer"). In some ideal circumstances, you could imagine that his predominant life philosophy would be what Boucher so cleverly ascribed to Blake clone: All life is linked, all life must have reverence. (Or, to quote W.B. again, Everything that lives is holy.) OTOH, circumstances have forced him to kill, destroy lives, commit a great deal of "senseless killing and destruction". Blake may have started his rebel career as a peaceful opponent to the Federation. We don't have enough data about the Freedom Party, but we know, for instance, that none of the people Travis massacred was carrying a gun (remember that Blake had to grapple with a guard to get a weapon he used to shot Travis). We also recall Bran Foster's (ironic) final words, "Whatever the consequences we must not resort to violence". These two bitter lessons could have persuaded Blake that he *has* to resort to violence. There's no other way to defeat the Federation. However, it is a decision which cannot leave one's soul intact. Another recognition which must be deeply disturbing for Blake is that not all of his motives for wanting to destroy the Federation are impeccable. Blake has suffered great personal wrongs which he cannot forgive or forget. Much as he tries to suppress his hatred, obsession, need for personal revenge, from his conscious attitude, he is still aware of these traits. Even if it's true, as Sally noticed, that Blake manages to stay emotionally detached from the violence he's committing, I think that all the while he has to fight certain darkness within, to grapple with his most negative urges. The world around and within Our Hero is complex and filled with horrors. It's not just that the time is out of joint, it is also his own self which is out of joint, and the cursed spite is that he can't ever set these right. The whole world is an unweeded garden, and so is one's own psyche. It's not just that killing one man will not bring down the Federation. It's also that killing one man will not change or annihilate Blake's comprehension of the world and his own soul. Travis may be an embodiment of everything that's dark and base in Blake's own nature, but Blake knows you cannot simply chop off a portion of the self. And kindly don't call Blake schmuck while I'm around. N.

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Re: [B7L] Power (was: Quote appeal)
by Sally Manton 15 Jun '01

15 Jun '01

Una wrote: <I think we did actually get to 10.> I think we did, and I'm proud of us all. Now to get up the energy to sit down and *watch* it to savour them all properly ... and Jacqui: <Is 'Assassin' more sexist than 'Power' - there is a comment made by Neebrox & Servalan's 'a credit to our gender/sex/whatever'?> and Tarrant's 'just like a woman' crack as well ... there's a trace of ickiness there but nah. Maybe if, once she'd got him all tied up, Piri/Cancerous had forced some sort of sexual advance on Avon (for some reason, the idea of her kissing him at this point is more giggle-worthy than anything else) you'd have an argument, but somehow it just wouldn't be the same now, would it? _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Re: Weakest link
by tavia＠btinternet.com 15 Jun '01

15 Jun '01

Thanks, Marian, that was very amusing. The ending is perfect. Tavia

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Blakes7 June 2001