Blakes7

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5511 discussions

Re:Knightwriter
by Bizarro7＠aol.com 30 May '01

30 May '01

In a message dated 5/24/01 3:15:24 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Judith(a)blakes-7.com writes: << We're still working through the aftermath of Linda Knight's hospital admission. We can't get any news as to how she is and are understandably concerned as this was her second hospital admission in a short space of time. We're contacting most of the publishers who deal through her and have arrangements in place with some already. We're not accepting orders for zines published by Knightwriter as of now (because I don't want Linda to return to a massive pile of backlogged zine orders - it'll be the last thing she'd want to deal with), but once Linda is okay we'll have them back again. The majority of zine were not affected. We're working fine with Kathy Resch's titles, can now take orders for zines published by Secret Pleasure, and all UK zines and stuff from Maverick Press carry on as normal.>> Further on this topic, all previous and new issues of Ashton Press Zines are currently available directly from Annie Wortham at Asthon7(a)aol.com. She has retrieved the masters and is producing and shipping them out herself. Leah

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rules (long)
by Sally Manton 30 May '01

30 May '01

Sally's Rules of Blakes 7 I've been asked by a couple of people on the lists about posting my Rules of Blakes 7. I have - as you may have noticed - a large number of opinions, but only seven actual rules (the the number is sheer coincidence, truly) of varying degrees of seriousness. So in the interests of pure fun, I'm putting them up for anyone who wants to have a read. Please note the *reason* I call them Sally's Rules - not because I am trying to lay down the law for people who've been in fandom waaaay longer than I have or anyone else, but because they spring from the way *I personally* look at the series - a character junkie's heaven with an amazingly complex and turbulent central core, a feast of moral and dramatic ambiguity, a gloom-n-doom fest lavishly leavened with the most delicious sense of the ridiculous. You will also notice that there is precious little of the political/sociological/technological/etc side of things in this list; I seldom feel strongly enough about the 'hard' side of things to have a Firm Opinion. These are after all rules for Sally and Sally's playground only, and all in fun; no one else should pay the slightest attention to them unless they like to :-). ************* Rule One - Blake and Avon Actually Like Each Other. Just Don't Ask Either of Them Why. Not all the time, of course. Sometimes it's like, sometimes it's love, sometimes it's even wistful thoughts of the other and an open airlock. My own opinion is, that when Blake say "You really do hate me, don't you?" Avon's *truthful* answer should have to be "Of course. At times." It's a complicated friendship, with many thorns and precious few roses, but from the evidence of the series (The Web, Duel, Breakdown, Shadow, Pressure Point, Voice from the Past, Countdown, Star One ) there *is* real liking - rather bemused, methinks, on both sides and decidedly reluctant on Avon's - at the bedrock of the whole delicious, stormy kit and kaboodle Rule Two - By the Time He's Hurt Enough to Cry, He's Far Too Hurt to Cry. Avon of course, and this is one of my biggest bugbears in fanfic - the Avon In Floods of Tears scenes. I can see any of the others breaking down in tears if they hurt enough, even Blake, but it just is not Avon's style to me (this has nothing to do with what swollen eyes and a red nose does to the fantasy. Nothing at all). Rule Three - Blake Would Never, Ever, Ever so much as Raise a Hand to Avon. And Avon Knows It. This one is probably the hardest and fastest. Even after PGP, I can't see it. Blake *can* be violent, but he is invariably quite dispassionate about it - he doesn't physically lash out in temper. And never at the people he cares about. Rule Four - You Cannot Fight for Freedom in Sensible Flat Shoes. Really serious stuff, this one :-) but *look* at Our Heroines, will you? All of them. Kasabi was the only one who wore sensible shoes, and look what happened to her ... Actually, one of the things the frivolous part of me most loves about Blake's 7 *is* its sense of the ridiculous mentioned above, and the beautiful way it fits in alongside the irony and angst. It first appeared for me with the Wardrobe Room, an insane idea purely there so that Our Heroes could dress up to the completely impractical nines to commit mayhem. (Can anyone see Avon's face if Star Trek-type uniforms had been in that room instead???) Then there's the whole business of the Liberator, a star-going five-star hotel for them to commit their mayhem from. Rule Five - Blake Is Right About Star One - and Avon Knows That, Too. I've argued this one up hill and down dale for the Lyst, and I can do it again (but I won't right now, so don't try and make me :-)). There's no proof that Cally's 'many many people' equalled millions, there's no proof that controlling Star One would have worked at all, there's lots of reason to believe that destroying Star One, while it might not have knocked the Federation out with one blow, would have given the resistance its best chance of actually orchestrating the downfall of a brutal and savage regime. Blake may not have liked what he was doing, but he knew what he was doing. Rule Six - Wear Black Leather, Have a Killer Smile and Get Away with (Literally) Murder... Born of the undeniable fact that Avon *is* a (gorgeous, sexy and entertaining) bastard and gets forgiven (or completely exculpated) by fans for acts that Blake or Tarrant would and do get dumped on for it's unfair. It's unjust. It's B7. I do it myself. Rule Seven - An Introvert Would *Not* Be Wearing Those Boots! And I do mean the eye-popping thigh-length ones from Shadow <gurgle> It's symbolic - a reaction to the irresistable but dangerous temptation to force the characters into pigeonholes (introvert, fanatic, earth-mother-alien :-)) when the onscreen evidence is that they don't fit that well*. Avon certainly has introvert tendencies, but some fairly obvious extrovert ones (such as the more spectacular sartorial developments, and the fact that he's so comfortable in other people's right-up-close-and-personal space. Especially you-know-who's). Blake, a very driven man, certainly has a leaning towards obsession, but that doesn't explain how even towards the end of the Star One arc, he's still so easily distracted by any metaphorical lame dog that crosses his path. Vila's a coward, but can ditch the cowardice like a discarded overcoat when his survival is better served by something else. Susan Beth's fascinating list of classical 'types' - and Terry Nation's own statement that he drew his characters in broad strokes** - notwithstanding, there's a great deal of ambiguity and inconsistency in all of them. That's a lot of the charm, IMO. *Yes, yes, this could be anything from PD's version of the character clashing with Chris Boucher's *and* mine, to them hiring an actor ten years younger than the role, or just Bad Writer Syndrome, but that's not Playing The Game. **IMO a very very good move on his part, since it did leave a lot of room for the actors/directors/other writers/viewers to fill in the detail. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Re: Shields
by Hellen Paskaleva 30 May '01

30 May '01

Iain: <Plasma bolts presumably consist of magnetically confined plasma. Thus, a suitably configured electromagnetic field should shield the ship from all -- or nearly all -- of the plasma bolt. Such shileds could be defeated either by sufficiently powerful plasm bolts, or by overloading the shield mechanism with repeated attacks.> My thoughts exactly. That's most probably what the Federation intended, when sent 20 ships after Liberator in "Hostage". <The neutron blasters, firing a neutral beam, would pass straight through these shields, no problem. Thus you can fire out while the shields are operating. Similarly, photon beams would be unaffected by the shields.> I wonder do we need one type of shields to protect a ship, or one for each kind of weapons and one - for the solid particles, floating in space. <<It is possible, that the shields work the same way - they allow the ship's lasers (with a particular frequency) to fire *out*, but stop everything else (with any other frequency) from penetrating *in*. That could be a reason why every time Vila needed to "clear blasters for firing" manually - for security reasons the "home" frequency has to be changed often.>> <But then you wouldn't be able to see out.> Why not? The frequency of the visible light presumably is different from the frequencies of the weapon's beams. Otherwise you would be able to shot people with a camp torch. Hellen == "Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality." -- Jules de Gautier _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Re: [B7L] Geography (was: Eclectic)
by Sally Manton 30 May '01

30 May '01

Andrew W wrote: <Funny, the Australia I live in is still part of the British commonwealth, which is what became of the empire after it dissolved....> True, but do any of us speak purest BBC-British? (My accent is a muddledly mix of Australian, Dad's English and Mum's Welsh). A mere commonwealth wouldn't make our descendents *all* want to talk like Wallace Greenslade* ... would it? (for those who haven't heard it, BBC announcer from the Goon Show. No one on Earth has ever sounded quite so - so - *English* to my ears). _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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H&H: Vila
by Sally Manton 30 May '01

30 May '01

Susan Beth wrote: <His sense of humor is one of his best assets and he knows it. No matter how bleak the situation, he makes light of it.'> And a very good defence mechanism it is, too, part of his quite unique survival skills. There's that noticeable difference between the way he acts in Spacefall - the passive-agressive patter, the attempt to unsettle the inexperienced newcomer Blake - a rather good defence for a small man, who isn't a good fighter and has to shift for himself in a violent environment, like a harmless animal that tries to look that bit more threatening. Once he's on the Liberator though, things change - he now has a place in Blake's crusade (and complain as he might, and does, he never shows any real desire to give up his place), skills that have value, and other people who can be depended on for help and protection - as long as he keeps on their good side. So his style becomes 'Mostly Harmless and Fun to Have Around'. The jokes and self-deprecation not only keep him on the others' good sides, it helps defuse or negate any irritation or bad feelings over his self-centredness, mistakes or weaknesses (he never does become much of a fighter :-)) and acts as a valuable leavener among the prickly and temperamental group. Thus he even jokes when he's completely stuffed up (Shadow) as a way of easing Blake's rather understandable (and probably formidable) temper. Vila sometimes does get away with more than he should, simply because he's *likeable* rather than admirable. Again thanks for these, Susan Beth; I have a feeling they'll stick in my mind during future discussions on this character junkie's favourite topics. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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H&H: Avon
by Sally Manton 30 May '01

30 May '01

Susan Beth wrote: <'Behind his insolent stare lies a disappointed idealist - a man who wants to believe in honor and integrity, he cannot quite do so.> Very much a popular view of Avon, this, an integral part of the Avon-Blake discussion and his view of Fearless Leader (with the obvious implications for Gauda Prime). The irony IMO being that Avon *did* learn to believe, just for once, and far more than he himself realised, and he was totally inexperienced in the art of believing better of people than was *absolutely* necessary; if he hadn't believed in Blake, he wouldn't have reacted nearly so violently when that belief was threatened. <If he does give his word - a rare occurrence! - he keeps it.'> "Oh, and I'm a man of my word. In the end, that's all there is, really." And the kamikaze defence of Star One. I'd have *loved* to be a fly on the wall for the scene that led to that promise ... _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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H&H: Blake
by Sally Manton 30 May '01

30 May '01

Susan Beth wrote: <Blake is 'The Chief.' <snip> He rarely takes time to build consensus or garner support - not unless he is forced to in order to achieve his goals. He expects people to line up and follow his directives unquestioningly.'> Oh dear of dear oh dear ... well, I wouldn't say 'unquestioningly', he's not that deaf :-) but I would agree that part of the reason this unruly crew *do* what he wants is his unspoken faith that they will (yes, even Avon. Time Squad, anyone?) <'His powerful personality often forces others to align themselves with his plan, and he usually wins the day even if all the details have not been pinned down and discussed.'> <chortle> Time Squad *again*, anyone? Dear I love that episode ... Actually, there are lightly sprinkled indicators that the crew do discuss everything more than is normally assumed (the comfortable round-table discussion in Weapon, the open shock that he *has* been keeping plans from them in Pressure Point, Vila's "You've always explained, given us reasons for things," from Voice). I think Jenna's "You lead. We don't take commands," is very close to the truth; Blake gets his own way, but they make him work for it (for instance, Gan disagrees strongly with Blake's plans in both Shadow and Pressure Point, but Blake talks him round :-)). But the point is valid, that they tend, albeit neither quietly nor always cheerfully, to go with his flow whether the whole thing's been thrashed out or not. I recently read a story (hi, Predatrix!!) where Blake, shepherding them all off for a rest, was reminded of the legend of the man who tried to herd cats and I just thought that metaphor was sooooooo perfect. <'Stubborn - The CHIEF sometimes becomes so focused on the mission before him that he loses track of when a cause is lost. Obstinate to a fault, even when someone points out that the battle is over, he continues to fight.'> Yes, well it was a good idea *sometimes* (the end of Redemption). I love the bit in Spacefall: BLAKE: [Sighs] It was my fault. AVON: We know. BLAKE: I'll try and do better next time. Lucky Avon didn't have a hand free, or he'd have thumped the irrepressible bastard ... _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Re: [B7L] Re: Zine lists coming up
by Tavia 30 May '01

30 May '01

Sarah kindly wrote: >Anyway, feel free to play with the raw data if you like. Now how could I resist such an invitation... There have been a total of more than 800 all-Blake's 7 fiction zines produced. Zine production peaked in 1988, with a total of 73 zines, and has since trailed off appreciably: (Numbers are average per year) 1978--1979: 14 1980--1984: 31 1985--1989: 55 1990--1994: 36 1995--1999: 21 2000--2001: 9 No date avail: 54 (total) The vast majority of zines produced (82%) are gen, according to Sarah's classification, with 8% het adult, 9% slash and 2% mixed (gen plus adult/slash). Considering only 'adult' zines, there does seem to have been a partial switch from mainly het adult (1970s and early 1980s) towards mainly slash zines (especially early to mid-1990s), though genzines dominate throughout. Like all zines, the annual production of both het adult zines and slash zines has decreased since the late 1980s. However the rate of decline, especially for slash zines, has been less rapid than for genzines, and so they are currently increasing as a proportion of the total. Too few mixed zines have been produced to assess. A few summary graphs are at the below address, and I'll forward my spreadsheet (MS Excel) to anyone interested. http://www.viragene.com/zinesumm.htm Tavia

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Geography (was: Eclectic)
by Andrew Williams 30 May '01

30 May '01

Sally wrote: >It is patently obvious what happened, surely - at some time in the near >future, North America, Australia and the rest all decided that an itsy bitsy >mistake had been made along the line ... and voted to rejoin the British >Empire. Funny, the Australia I live in is still part of the British commonwealth, which is what became of the empire after it dissolved.... Andrew.

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re: Corgi Liberators
by JEB31538＠cs.com 29 May '01

29 May '01

I sent some private Emails to Walter who asked about Corgi Liberators since there are some available in a shop in Australia that he knew about. I decided to send this one to the list in case anybody else was wondering what their Corgi Liberators might be worth. ***** The value of any Corgi Liberator is only what someone else will pay for it. I believe up to 250 pounds have been paid for some mint on card Corgi Liberators. Since I personally own nine Corgis, obviously they are not that hard to come by as single ships not on cards and they show up on Ebay frequently. Of the nine I have, only one is mint on card--the multi-pack. It's the MOC ones that are hard to come by. And although I paid high for the MOC one, all the others I got were extremely reasonable, most of them being in the $10 -$20 range. There are various Corgi Liberators and I have the three basic models: white, blue and silver. All have the green ball. But the blue (it's metallic blue) and silver have yellow pieces on them as opposed to the white which is all white. I think the silver ship was only sold in a multi-pack paired with a wonderful NASA Enterprise which opens up. Kevin Davies in DWB made value estimates, the last one dating about 1993. I am not sure if the estimates are for mint on card ones or just the models by themselves. That makes a big difference, I think. It would probably be better to assume he meant MOC than not. He estimated that the white mint would be worth up to ten pounds, silver mint would be worth up to 40 pounds, and blue mint would be worth up to thirty pounds. It's interesting that Corgis are so cheap in Australia. And that some are still available in a shop amazes me, Kevin Davies points out that the ones on sale in the US and Argentina dropped the B7 logo although credit was still given to the BBC and Terry Nation. My silver Corgi with NASA Enterprise MOC came from a lady in the UK two years ago, although, of course, I have no clue where she bought it. It says Made in Great Britain and has no B7 Logo. It does credit BBC and Terry Nation BUT this is hidden under the Enterprise and only BBC and Terry can be read if you hold it at a certain angle. Joyce

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