Blakes 7: Fandom PIMP

[arenee1999]

Look under the cut for a show filled with witty one-liners and snarky remarks. If you like lots of angst and intelligent characters, this is the show for you.

AVON: I am not expendable, I'm not stupid, and I'm not going.

The Show: 

Blakes 7 was a British SF show created by Terry Nation. It originally aired in Britain between 1978 and 1981.





It is set in a future that is ruled by an evil dictatorship called the Terran Federation. They keep their 'citizens' in line through drugs and force.

BLAKE: Typical Federation policy: things are more important than people.
CAUDER: The Federation was bleeding us dry. They levied impossible demands on our economy, gave us no voice in our own government. We were little better than slaves on our own planet.
BLAKE: It's a familiar pattern.

One of the best Sf television shows ever. Sadly it is often overlooked and underrated. It is anti-Trek, the characters are far from perfect. In fact they're all (or almost all) criminals. The heroes don't always win, in fact they lose more often than not (or at least fight to a draw). 

You can see it's influence in shows such as Farscape, Babylon 5, Andromeda and Firefly (as well as a few others).

Season 2 Trailer:

Watch on YouTube

Season 3 Trailer:

The characters and their interactions with each other are what makes this show great.

VILA: Oh, a very antisocial bunch. Murderers, liars, cheats [Looks at Jenna] ... smugglers ...
JENNA: [To Vila] -- thieves --
VILA: -- and they're the nice people.

To quote from executrix , "even the computers are in a snit 24/7".

Blake: The idealistic freedom fighter

Avon: The cynical computer genius
AVON: I have never understood why it should be necessary to become irrational in order to prove that you care, or, indeed, why it should be necessary to prove it at all.

Jenna: The beautiful smuggler/pilot

Vila: The cowardly thief
VILA: There isn't a lock I can't open -- if I'm scared enough.

Gan: The gentle giant

Cally: The telepathic alien
CALLY: My people have a saying: a man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.
AVON: Life expectancy must be fairly short among your people.

Sevalan: The Federations Supreme Commander, and later the President 
SERVALAN: Hope is very dangerous.

Travis (the first): A Space Commander and Blake's nemesis

Travis (the second): A poor choice for a replacement, still Blake's nemesis

Dayna: The weapons expert

Tarrant: The pilot
AVON: Ah well. Tarrant is brave, young, handsome. There are three good reasons for anyone not to like him.

Soolin: The mercenary

Then there are the computers...

Zen: The Liberator's main computer
ZEN: Preemptive interference in crew activity is forbidden.

Orac: The snarky super computer
ORAC: I have noticed that the occupants of this spacecraft have a lamentable lack of interest in the more fascinating aspects of the universe.
Slave: The aptly named computer aboard Scorpio

And the ships...

The Liberator

 Scorpio


The Fandom:

For such a small fandom, it is very active. There are a lot of very good writers and artists in the fandom. The majority of the stories are slash, with a heavy leaning toward Blake/Avon. Avon/Vila and Avon/Tarrant have also been big pairings in the fandoms 30 year history. Avon/Vila is currently making a comeback as one of the popular pairings. There are also a good amount of gen and het stories. The most popular het pairings are Blake/Jenna, Avon/Cally and Avon/Servalan.
This is an angst heavy fandom, which becomes obvious after watching just a few episodes. Quite a lot of fans are in denial, with a majority of the stories written PGP (Post Gauda Prime) assuming the events from the final episode didn't happen as shown in canon.

Where can I find the Show...

It has been released on Region 2 and 4 DVD. They are available through the various amazon.com stores. It has also been uploaded to two LJ communities. Unfortunately the community rules are very strict and they do not allow their comm names to be posted on un-locked posts. If you are interested in the names of the comms, ask in a comment and I will send you the links either via PM or a screened comment.
You can also ask on blakes7 , if anyone has uploaded it to any of the file sharing sites.

Other places to look on LJ...

For fic:
b7friday  b7recs Also check out the recs on crack_van 

For art:
b7fanart and b7icons 

For general discussions:
b7discussion and the above mentioned blakes7 

 
X-Posted to smallfandomfest

Comments

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Quite a lot of fans are in denial, with a majority of the stories written PGP (Post Gauda Prime) assuming the events from the final episode didn't happen as shown in canon.

To be fair, there was meant to be another season (which is why Gareth Thomas had a contract stating he died in that episode and wouldn't come back) and Chris Boucher said he could bring anyone else back who wanted to continue. As they weren't declared dead, it isn't canon that they are (just shot) and people can play and do. Apparently the slo-mo filming was also deliberate so that it could be a dream or hallucination, and some have gone with that interpretation.

[arenee1999]

But since there wasn't another season, we have to go with what was shown. However, when I say 'in denial over the events of the final episode', mostly I meant about Blake being dead. Personally I think the others were shot with either 'tranqualizer' guns or 'low (or possibly medium) energy guns' like what was used in 'Project Avalon'.

Even though the show and it's fandom are 30 years old, I didn't want to include anything that could be considered a spolier. A lot of people are very picky about spoilers. The show may be old, but it's new to them and they don't want to know what's going to happen. Which made writing this post quite difficult to say the least. :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Sorry! Feel free to delete my comment. :-P

BTW my B7 on LJ page might be of use, though I think you covered all the comms.

[arenee1999]

No worries. :D That sentence is worded a bit...vaugely. It was one of the hardest to write with out using spoilers. :) Which is why I lifted it from executrix's crack_van overview and just reworded it a bit. *sigh*

I considered puting a link to your newbieguide post in there as well. Actually, I thought I had. Ah well, I've been sick for two days and I feel like crap. It's amazing I was able to get the post together at all.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It is! I hope it took your mind off how you feel and that you're better soon.

[arenee1999]

It did help a bit. I seem to be feeling a little better. Hopefully in a day or so I won't feel like crawling under a rock and dying.

Of course, getting positive comments on this puts me in a much better mood as well. XD

[arenee1999]

I was meaning to mention...spikedluv is the Mod at smallfandomfest and she is always looking for communities dedicated to small fandoms to affiliate with smallfandomfest. Since you are one of the Mods for a few of the B7 communities I thought I'd let you know, in case you're interested.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

That's cool! You're doing a good job there. :-)

[arenee1999]

Aww, thanks. :) I'm trying!

[vandonovan.livejournal.com]

This looks great. Are you linking this post to that comm or reposting it there? If it brings over just one more fan, I will call it a win! :D

[arenee1999]

It was reposted there. :) I'm trying to get new people interested. It's just difficult because the DVDs aren't available in Region 1.

I'm glad it came out alright. As I said to Nico, it was difficult to do without using any spoilers.