Blakes7 January 2002

blakes7@lists.lysator.liu.se

60 participants
295 discussions

Re: [B7L] Re: Fanfic character Names - Consonants Fist
by feste＠brandywine.net 02 Jan '02

02 Jan '02

>Reply-To: "Alison Page" <alison(a)alisonpage.demon.co.uk> >BTW re 'Vila' didn't somebody tell us it was a word for an elf in some >Slavic language? I forget. A female tree spirit? Two sources (Thomas Keightley's _World Guide to Gnomes_, et al, & the Funk & Wagnall's Standard Dictionary of Folklore, etc.) inform me that the "vila" (pl. vile) is, indeed a Slavic nymph of the woods, fields, streams, & lakes, "the spirits of virgins & children, who leave their graves to dance at night." While "hostile to men," they do help the occasional hero. (This is why I so enjoy the vile in the 4th Harry Potter book, who are apparently irresistible to men, but who also display a less sedate side.) Funk & Wagnall then discuss Vili, one of Odin's brothers (the other is Ve), who may be an aspect of Odin, since he can step in for Odin when necessary. He helps to kill Ymir and to create humans; he also helps to take on Odin's godly duties and ... ahem ... enjoys Odin's wife while Odin is thought lost. Vili sounds like a proper inspiration for a tricky guy who's smarter than he appears. feste starting the new year right, with research feste(a)brandywine.net "Figs are sweet, but fictions are sweeter." -- William Makepeace Thackeray

1 0

Re: Season 5
by Helen Krummenacker 01 Jan '02

01 Jan '02

Jacqi asked Following the recent discussion about S5 - perhaps the only way for a TV series to have been done would be to 'do something completely different' - rather than the same mixture of 'rebels fighting the Federation and each other, and occasionally meeting interesting sentients and others.' Any ideas for such a 'completely new angle'? Sure do: This time, Servalan contacts the rebels. She killed someone in the Federation hierarchy, only to have them dissolve into goo. The Andromedan invaders were NOT completely eliminated... some apparently crashed and have been imitating humans, infiltrating their way into society. Now it isn't just rebels vs. the Federation, it's human vs inhuman, and the question of who to trust becomes all the more difficult.

2 1

RE: Re: [B7L] Re: B7 names
by jacquispeel＠netscape.net 01 Jan '02

01 Jan '02

"Nico Mody-Nikoloff" <nico(a)farsight.co.nz> wrote: >Meg wrote: > >> Looking at my latest Baby Name book: >> >> Vila: (Czech) wilful. A form of William. >> >> On the other hand, most *short* names have probably turned up somewhere >> sometime. Even if the writer invents them, chances are that someone else >> came up with them before them. Especially if they're variants of a >> common current name. Soolin I haven't found anywhere though. > >Czech eh? I've often wondered if the lower grades were moved around a lot to >meet labour demands, and that's why Vila has a foreign (i.e. not obviously >English) name. Another explanation would be the deliberate mixing of ethnic >groups to stamp out the vestiges of nationalism to form a more homogenous >Federation, though there's not much evidence for that - so few blacks or >Asians. > >I've often thought that Soolin was her family name, as she'd want to keep >that going. > >Nico > 'Vila Restal' sounds almost 'Baltic' 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/

2 1

Re: [B7L] Re: Fanfic character Names - Consonants Fist
by Ellynne G. 01 Jan '02

01 Jan '02

Speaking for myself, I look through name books and my odds and ends collection of language dictionaries, play around with things, attempt phonetic shifts, and wait till something feels right. I had one character I wanted to name Lilith. It was a good inside joke. It made her sound as if she was almost named after another character, Lily, while having a name with the exact opposite implications. But the character wasn't listening. Then, I saw a picture of Judith from the Apocrypha (James C. Christensen's. Judith is smiling charmingly, dressed in a feminine medieval style, with a big sword cradled in her arms) and that's when the character had her name. I didn't like it but I lost the argument. 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/.

1 0

Re: Re: [B7L] Names [was Self-insertion]
by Ellynne G. 01 Jan '02

01 Jan '02

Not to bore anyone with my name opinions again, but I still think it's interesting Soolin has a Chinese name. The ethnic mixing implications are fairly interesting and one of the few good hints about this future history. OTOH, maybe she was just renamed by her family's killers. And I _still_ think it's interesting that Kerr can have the same root as the 'ger' half of Roger - meaning Blake and Avon's first names really do seem to make them two halves of each other (and interesting halves as that since the 'Ro' means noble and the 'ger' means spear). 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/.

1 0

Re: [B7L] Re: Fanfic character Names - Consonants Fist
by Alison Page 01 Jan '02

01 Jan '02

Meredith has kindly told me - >It's been a long time since I last read "The Dispossessed," but surely it was >"Shevek". Cripes, thanks. I hope you don't mind me posting your correction to the list, as I am the one who has made a mistake. I am certain you are right. I have a very poor memory for names at the best of times. Perhaps I was subconsciously influenced by David's imaginary example. BTW re 'Vila' didn't somebody tell us it was a word for an elf in some Slavic language? I forget. A female tree spirit? A

1 0

Re: [B7L] Re: Fanfic character Names - Consonants Fist
by Alison Page 01 Jan '02

01 Jan '02

>David >Here is a suggestion you might find useful for generating sf names: >Arrange the consonants in some sort of order from 0 to 9, pick a number, >convert the digits in said number to consonants, then insert vowels as >appropriate. That's the method the anarchist collective on Tau Ceti use to generate their names in Ursula Le Guin's novel 'The Dispossessed'. A very readable SF novel about politics, for those who like that kind of thing. It presents two competing political systems - capitalist and socialist/anarchist, from the point of view of a physicist who defects to the capitalist system.There's a short story too called 'The day before the revolution' about the revolutionary leader, Odo. I would recommend these stories for those who like the political aspects of B7, because she presents both systems in complex shades of grey. BTW the physicist's name generated by that numerical system is 'Kedek'. Alison

3 2

Re: [B7L] series 5
by Marian de Haan 01 Jan '02

01 Jan '02

Jacqui wrote: >Following the recent discussion about S5 - perhaps the only way for a TV series to have been done would be to 'do something completely different' - rather than the same mixture of 'rebels fighting the Federation and each other, and occasionally meeting interesting sentients and others.' > >Any ideas for such a 'completely new angle'?< They could have had Avon and anyone else who survived change sides and join the Federation. Considering Avon's ambiguity it should have been possible to keep the audience guessing until the very end whether he'd really changed his allegiance or was now trying to bring down the Federation from the inside. Marian

2 1

Chris Boucher pic
by Steve Rogerson 01 Jan '02

01 Jan '02

Does anyone have a photo of Chris Boucher we can use for the next Redemption PR? Maybe someone took one of him at Deliverance. -- cheers Steve Rogerson http://homepages.poptel.org.uk/steve.rogerson Redemption 03, 21-23 February 2003, Ashford, Kent Celebrating 25 years of Blake's 7 and 10 years of Babylon 5 http://www.smof.com/redemption

1 0

Re: [B7L] series 5
by Bizarro7＠aol.com 01 Jan '02

01 Jan '02

In a message dated 1/1/02 5:10:16 AM Eastern Standard Time, mariandehaan(a)chello.nl writes: << >Any ideas for such a 'completely new angle'?< They could have had Avon and anyone else who survived change sides and join the Federation. Considering Avon's ambiguity it should have been possible to keep the audience guessing until the very end whether he'd really changed his allegiance or was now trying to bring down the Federation from the inside. >> If they were typical of what happens to a popular SF or Fantasy show today, this is what would happen: With the intent of dumping the previous fans and obtaining the highly desirable male teen demographic (the one with loads of disposible income and no sales resistance), all previous fans would be forgotten. Soolin and/or Dayna would be squeezed into a black leather catsuit and made the butt-kicking chick who is now the focus of the show. No more complex, character-driven scripts will be accepted; all will be rapid-fire action, action, action with staccato editing and close-ups. Aliens that are either outrageously ugly or incredibly sexy will be the only guest stars. Intellectuals will be relegated to an occasional scene at the beginning or the end of the episode--if there's time. ORAC will become a cool videogame box. All commercials will then market mountain dew, fritos, Old Navy clothing, Sega, Taco Belle, and any other product the desired demographic can easily be made to part with, the commercials populated by slovenly clothed, vacant-eyed examples of their contemporaries. The show will be renamed BLAKE-X. Leah

1 0

Jump to page:

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

Blakes7 January 2002