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Lyst Culture Guide (take 5)
by Kathryn Andersen 17 Mar '01

17 Mar '01

I think this is getting closer... Guide to Lyst Culture ********************** (written for the B7 mailing list at <http://lists.lysator.liu.se/mailman/listinfo/blakes7>) composed by Kathryn Andersen version 0.5 Considering the number of newbies who have admitted to being nearly frightened away by the manner of folks on this list, and wondering how much larger the number who *were* frightened away, I figured it was a good idea to write a Gentle Introduction which will lift confusion and humanise the apparently terrifying denizens of these electronic halls. Me saw need, me wrote. If me make mistakes, please tell, so corrections entered. This is by no means meant to replace the actual Lyst FAQ (at <http://www.lysator.liu.se/~calle/b7list/FAQ.html>) but serve as an adjunct to it. This is *not* a rule-set of customs. It is *descriptive* not proscriptive. The actuality, not the ideal. The distillation of our understanding of what the Lyst is like, so that folks don't have to read a year's worth of posts in order to get an idea of what the heck is going on here... Lyst Culture In A Bottle ************************* What's this "Lyst" business? ============================= The mailing list <blakes7(a)lists.lysator.liu.se> was, so far as I know, the first Blake's 7 (electronic) mailing list to be created (and it also predates the newsgroup). Note the "lysator" in the address. Since there are other lists (most notably, the Other List), presumably to save having to say "the lysator List", a shorthand for that is simply "the Lyst". Our Esteemed Listowner, Calle, is not a woman. This doesn't stop people calling him "Cally", indeed, it would be almost irresistible not to, considering the subject of this List. Nobody outside his native country can actually pronounce his name correctly, but it may help those who want to try, to keep in mind that "Calle" comes from the same root as "Carl". Not only that, it's a common short form of Carl, in the same way that Dick is for Richard. Contrary to rumour, "lysator" does not mean "liberator" in Calle's native tongue. It apparently doesn't mean anything in particular. Posting Style ============== Unlike many other lists, we don't tend to be chatty, and off-topic posts are (after a while) encouraged to go to the Spin-off list, so that we can get down to the serious business of discussing the political systems in B7 or the nature of terrorism or how teleportation works; or the lighthearted business of Avon's red leather trousers or what kind of ice cream the particular characters would prefer, or how to recast the series. It isn't a required custom on this list to introduce yourself, though a few people like to. People also don't tend to issue a formal welcome to newbies -- we just get on with the discussion and expect folks to join in (or not). Please don't consider this unfriendly; it's simply... focused. We're always interested in fresh ideas. If someone doesn't respond to your posting it could simply be because they agreed with it -- and didn't want to write a "me too" post. On the other hand, feel free to consider this unfriendly... but if you do, then it behooves you to go and welcome people, don't it? If the Lyst seems particularly busy and snarky, it's probably February. Odd Acronyms and Other Collections ================================== If you are confused by people referring to "the wrath of FINALACT" or suchlike, be confused no longer. As with many online fandoms, groups of like-minded fans often declare allegiance to their particular favourite characters, and form groups. Generally in order to be part of such a group... one simply declares oneself to be part of it. One doesn't have to be part of any group at all, and these groups are not meant to be taken deadly seriously either. Though some are more tongue-in-cheek than others. Often they are formed of those who consider their view to be a minority one. The Tarrant Nostra ------------------ Yes, this one doesn't have odd acronyms but with such a cool name, who needs them? The first known reference to the Tarrant Nostra by that name is apparently in 1995, though the core group was around for longer than that. The name sprung from the mind of Brooke Barker. This group, is, obviously, those who favour Tarrant. Carol McCoy is "The Godmother" of the Tarrant Nostra; other members may not be so clearly identified. See Also <http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/TarrantNostra/tarrant.htm> F.I.N.A.L.A.C.T. ---------------- This stands for "Foundation Invalidating Numerous Accusations Levelled At Croucher's Travis". These are the fans who prefer Brian Croucher's Travis, aka Travis II. They have a tendency to threaten detractors with The Comfy Chair, Karaoke music and Teletubby torture. Jacqueline Thijsen is the Chief Inquisitor. Penny Dreadful is their Queen, hopeful of being elevated to godhood, so that Iain Coleman can be Pope. See also <http://tezcatlipoca.algonet.se/cgi-bin/getbyid.pl?id=26736> G.I.T.H.O.G. ------------ This stands for "Greif Is Travis, House Of Greif". Byline -- 'In Time, We All Come to Greif'. These are the fans who prefer Stephen Grief's Travis, aka Travis I. They appear to be less active than FINALACT, probably because they don't perceive themselves to be in the minority. See also <http://tezcatlipoca.algonet.se/cgi-bin/getbyid.pl?id=33344> A.S.K.S. -------- Avon's Sympathetic Kindred Spirits go against the flow of Avon fans because they don't give a fig whether he looks sexy in black leather, they just identify with him. Kathryn Andersen made up this acronym, so she is presumably the founding member. Gareth's Gorillas ----------------- Fans who are into Gareth Thomas and his work, as distinct from just being interested in Blake (though they are interested in Blake too). Chief Gorilla is Judith Proctor. One may see them at cons wearing "Gareth's Gorilla" badges. The Gan Defence League ---------------------- Those who appreciate the unsung and oft under-appreciated Olag Gan. Judith Proctor goes around distributing oak leaves to those who stand up for Gan and say nice things about him. S.C.A.M. -------- Society for Crushing Animals Maligners, given a name by Una McCormack, the (almost) sole person who not only liked the episode "Animals", but strives to defend it. Dedicated to the art of Justinification (justifying Justin). Followers of the Goddess ------------------------ The concept of the Golden Goddess Soolin, her Acolyte Dayna, and the Chief Hairdresser Vila was the invention of Ophelia (aka Kanna-Ophelia, aka (name suppressed on request))... not quite as gone as we thought. J.A.D.E. -------- Jarriere's Always Discriminating Enthusiasts don't actually tend to use this acronym a lot, but their influence has been far-reaching; not only did they get this minor character who only appeared in one episode (Gambit... Travis called him a powder-puff) into the top 20 of an online poll of favourite SF characters.... but they actually persuaded a fannish model-maker to include Jarriere into their line of die-cast models (after Avon, Blake, Travis and Vila). They are led by Harriet Monkhouse, who, after another Harriet joined the Lyst in 2001, decided to style herself Jarriet (or Harriere) to cut down on possibilities of mistaken identity. Avon Without Guilt ------------------ Not a terribly active group these days, but Pat Nussman founded "AWG" -- Avon Without Guilt. As in, yes, we *know* it's terribly common; we *know* that more discerning tastes move on from their first attraction to the Dark and Snarly One in favor of the more arcane delights of, oh, The Thane and Bruce; we *know* he has a less than stellar character. So what? We still love him, and we refuse to be guilty about it. Sickly Equines =============== Certain topics have a habit of coming up over and over again. I'm reluctant to call them dead horses, because it can be the case that a newbie can actually offer new insight that nobody's thought of before, and pass the hand of healing over what was once assumed to be a corpse. - Hey, Maybe Avon Shot Blake's Clone! - Was Blake a Freedom Fighter Or A Terrorist? Should Blake Have Destroyed Star One? - Avon Was Mad (No He Wasn't) Hot Topics ========== One topic which is pretty much guaranteed to start the fires burning no matter how nicely and calmly people may start the discussion, is slash. If you don't know what slash is, don't worry, since you probably don't want to argue about it either. An oldish summary of the pro-slash position from Susan Beth can be found at <ftp://ftp.lysator.liu.se/pub/blake7/misc/slash.defense> A summary of the anti-slash position is at <http://www.katspace.com/b7/slashsum.html> Any topic can raise the temperature if it is pursued obnoxiously enough. There has been steam coming out of ears over - whether Deliverance is Sexist - posting style - con reports - religion just to name a few. But don't let that scare you off, we're generally quite calm and rational... Signs that a thread has gone on too long at too high a temperature are - posters start repeating themselves (worst case, reposting earlier posts of their own) - postings degenerate into a "he said, she said" dissection of why what so-and-so said was insulting. INTJ? MBTI? Huh? ================== Once upon a time, someone first brought up the idea of figuring out the Meyers-Brigs (personality) Type Indicator for each of the characters. It was mentioned briefly once before, but the topic truly exploded in February 1998 when Adam Fuller posted this -- <http://tezcatlipoca.algonet.se/cgi-bin/getbyid.pl?id=21161> There's some archival information on how this thread started on Sue Clerc's pages -- <http://members.nbci.com/sjcinct/mbb7.html> Much discussion ensued, and many people went off to <http://www.keirsey.com> to take the personality tests there to figure out their own type. Of those who took the tests and actually reported back, the majority appeared to be either INTJ or INTP types (and, oddly enough, the consensus was that Avon was either an INTJ or an INTP). This probably explains why the posting style of the list appears so unfriendly -- half of us are closet Avons. Some people are sick of this topic. Others remain fascinated by it. Penguins? What's that got to do with B7? ========================================= The connection between penguins and B7 can only be explained by the one who discovered the sinister conspiracy in the first place. For some reason, Calle seems to think it was Una McCormack, but the rest of the world blames it on Neil Faulkner. <http://homepages.tesco.net/~N.Faulkner/blakes7/darkheart/darkheart.htm> Except for Neil, who blames it on Alison Page. Acknowledgements ================ Thanks (in no particular order) to Penny Dreadful, Calle Dybedahl, Neil Faulkner, Una McCormack, Tavia, Mistral, Steve Rogerson, Ophelia, Andrew, Sandra Kisner, Harriet Monkhouse, Jacqueline Thijsen, Wildean, Harriet, Carol McCoy, Susan Beth for additions, comments and corrections. Where To Find It ================ This FAQ-ish thing can be found on the web at <http://www.katspace.com/b7/lyst.html> and posted on the Lyst at regular intervals (when I set it up). -- _--_|\ | Kathryn Andersen <kat(a)foobox.net> / \ | <http://www.katspace.com> \_.--.*/ | v | #include "standard/disclaimer.h" ------------| Melbourne -> Victoria -> Australia -> Southern Hemisphere Maranatha! | -> Earth -> Sol -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Universe

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Re: [B7L] Recent slash discussions etc
by Tavia 17 Mar '01

17 Mar '01

Iain wrote in response to me: >Just because you get up on a stage, >or in front of a camera, doesn't mean >you sign away your rights as a private human being. I think this is one area where one ends up arguing from one's personal set of axioms, so finding common ground is not necessarily possible. I happen to hold 'freedom of speech and expression' very close to the top of my personal set of axioms; Iain, I guess that you would put 'right to privacy' higher. >If those people >tried to tell me that it was OK because they weren't pictures of me at >all, but of Caliban, or Macbeth, or Panfilo, I don't think it would cut >much ice. There is actually a real physical difference between what the actor looks like and what the character looks like. To go back to the Avon example, I recently saw one of the B7 blooper tapes, which has numerous examples where mid-take, something goes wrong and PD goes in seconds from 'PD playing Avon' to 'PD relaxing waiting for retake'. The two look totally different. I'm sure make-up and costume would make an even bigger difference. >If someone had done a drawing of me playing Caliban, I wouldn't mind: >indeed I'd probably be terribly flattered that someone thought it worth >making such a picture. If I'd found people trading in pictures of me >fellating Gary Mooney, I'd be upset and offended. I'm sure I'd share your upset and offence at similar pictures of me. But I'd still defend someone's rights to produce them should they happen to so desire. Tavia

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Re: [B7L] Light Bulb Joke
by Mac4781＠aol.com 17 Mar '01

17 Mar '01

I've fallen behind. If it's not too late to kick in on this... Cheryl wrote (re lightbulb changing): > I tried but I can't think of one for Tarrant. Tarrant doesn't need to change lightbulbs; the glow from his teeth provides sufficient illumination. (idea shamelessly swiped from another source) Carol Mc

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Re: [B7L] AVON'S GARDENING DIARY
by Jenny Kaye 17 Mar '01

17 Mar '01

I think it's one of the funniest things I've ever read. Neil, you're a genius! Jenny _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Re: The use of Star One
by seven＠gaudaprime.com 17 Mar '01

17 Mar '01

Jacqui pondered There would have to be some sort of 'agreed upon' means of dating to avoid confusion (eg in the Solar System Mercury's year is 88 Earth days, Pluto's 240 Earth Years) - but what about galactic positioning - there would have to be some agreed upon zero 'longitude'. Perhaps one of the functions of Star One was to be the equivalent of 'Greenich Zero' - especially as it handled a certain amount of Galactic communications. David writes A military dictatorship that does not trust its own staff to maintain the central computer, and yet is expanding throughout the galaxy, would naturally position the computer away from settled areas and where all planets came within its scope. In the same way as you are looking at the letters in this message, so an all-powerful computer should view the planets of the Milky Way, an expansionist Federation would say. The following message was heard on a ship travelling along the Galactic longtitudes from Gold Keiller: Good morning, good morning, Keiller the Purser speaking. In a few minutes I shall be giving you the day's itinerary, but first, please tune all chronometers to frequency 7 for synchronisation with Federation Standard Time. David Since a Fed. Stan. Time obtained after the destruction of Star One, it is all the more likely an F.S.T. obtained before the destruction, and with it, some zero hour or meridian. Jacqui Also - as the Andromeda Galaxy would serve as a 'neutral zero' (if the invasionary tendencies of some of its inhabitants was ignored)- both the Federation and the System could agree to use it without politicising it. Any comments? David Not a comment, more a feeling through some approaching idea. from Pressure Point Travis: Of course. We have never concealed it. On the contrary, we broadcast the fact. We used it as a challenge to our enemies. We invited them to attack Control. Blake: It was never here? Travis: It was moved thirty years ago. David Presumably, the mine-field was thirty years old when Avon directed the detectors towards it. If the Federation and the System posited Andromeda as neutral zero, they did it about thirty years ago. Just where this leads, I cannot say. DC

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Re: Fwd: Re: [B7L] Avon's conviction (was Recent slash discussions etc)
by Ellynne G. 16 Mar '01

16 Mar '01

1) If Avon had been captured and tried, he should have been interrogated about the scam. Since Anna had been interrogated and (apparently) killed, his survival raises lots of questions (maybe he blackmailed the judge?). 2) Granted, Anna's not about to win honesty awards, but, for her statements to have made any sense at all (before and after being shot), it stands to reason Avon didn't stand trial - a publicized trial would have let her know he was alive and 'letting him go' implies he didn't stand trial. 3) Shooting a man who has just shot you doesn't count as cold blood, which is what Jenna asked about. More interesting is Grant's blunt statement that Avon should have shot the man - and the implied assumption that it's what he would have expected Avon to do. Although the idea of Avon deliberately creating false records to get himself off Earth on a prison ship (a daring, unlikely to be checked, yet semi-suicidal way of slipping past security [which might have suited his mood]) and that the fleet Liberator destroyed had a few ships Avon had coordinated with to rescue Blake (hence, he delays the mutiny till the time is right), has its appeal, it has holes, too. Still working on the Unified B7 Theorem. 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/tagj.

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Re: [B7L] Lyst Culture Guide (take 4)
by Ellynne G. 16 Mar '01

16 Mar '01

On Fri, 16 Mar 2001 05:24:11 +1100 Kathryn Andersen <kat(a)foobox.net> writes: > Okay, incorporating suggestions and corrections... > I think we're actually moving very close to Version 1.0 here... > No Sickly Equine suggestions? > "It was all a dream." (Meaning the episode Blake, all S4, S3-S4, or even S2-S4. I think S1-S4 hasn't been argued much). Also character vs. plot/action/innovation/whatever (as one character in a novel [near the semi-intense climax] said, "You may not be very interested in the state of my mind but, believe me, I was." Or something like that). Groups: Wasn't one of the Travis groups calling themselves The Church of the True Travis a while back? Oh, and speaking of INFs, I suspect I'm another. Also, although I'm less vocal about it, Una has Animals and I seem to have Dawn of the Gods. ________________________________________________________________ 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/tagj.

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Re: [B7L] Lyst Culture Guide (take 2)
by J MacQueen 16 Mar '01

16 Mar '01

>From: Iain Coleman <ijc(a)bas.ac.uk> >On Thu, 15 Mar 2001, Una McCormack wrote: > > My penguins just suck. >Er, Una, are you sure you're on the right list? Of course she's sure. This is the new, improved Hoover penguin*. Same laboratory development as Og, probably. Though Steve'd know more about that, do you think? Regards Joanne *As opposed to the hover penguin, so my assumption goes. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Re: [B7L] AVON'S GARDENING DIARY
by Frances Bishop 16 Mar '01

16 Mar '01

This had a fertile plot and contained seeds of greatness. And it was bloody funny. Cheers Frances

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Re: [B7L] Re: Wulgar's filk, prizes, and address corrections...:)
by Ellynne G. 16 Mar '01

16 Mar '01

Sorry, reply to someone else about something else. Please disregard. 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/tagj.

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