temeres has a fascinating couple of posts about a "new wave" in Blake's 7 fanfiction in the late 90s/early noughties: here and here. An interesting moment when people were meeting and discussing online but still (mostly) publishing in zines.
(sorry, no Trooper icon to go along with the subject line) If someone happened to be a fan at the relevant time(s), B7 offered not *only* a group of people who agreed with you that the blokes were shagging like weasels, but a canon in which technology was your enemy, nothing worked, and the dictatorship was more survivable than your friends.
So it's a great fandom for critique of politics and sexual politics. And, for those so inclined, a fandom that questions the very idea of order is also a good place for literary exploration.
B7 fandom has also tended to be post-adolescent, and well-educated (formally or autodidactically), allowing space for a certain amount of thoughtfulness between explosions of one sort or another.
B7 fandom has also tended to be post-adolescent, and well-educated (formally or autodidactically), allowing space for a certain amount of thoughtfulness between explosions of one sort or another.
Interesting point, although I've been in some fandoms where age and guile have not prevented explosions. Unfamiliarity with basic netiquette on the part of main participants, and a large number of participants (making the debate impossible to follow fully) seem to have been the trigger for these explosions, if I was going to generalize.
(I have a feeling I arrived back in B7 fandom shortly after a couple of flame wars had fully burnt out, so at a moment when people were regrouping or newly arriving, and ready to engage in lively, non-hostile discussion.)
Varia Lectio was just the best zine. I still have it on my bookshelf all sparkly and studdy though the glue has kind of eaten its way in. I was not too keen on (fan)zine culture because it seemed to pride itself on being hideous and charging a gazillion dollars for it (whereas punk zine culture prided itself on being hideous but only charging a loonie and some used stamps) but a web archive can't be studdy (if gluey)...good times...
My copy is tucked away safely in a box: I was scared of it falling apart. I really want to reread it now, a lovely thing. My other fave was "Sleer As Folk", tho' my copy has sadly gone walkabout *mourns*.
Eh, I tried to make ttba both cheap & pretty. I'm still proud that I managed to make some loose change for charity despite charging (as I recall) around half what Judith suggested I should.
I think the demand for a new wave was there before the internet assumed its central prominence in fan discourse. I saw the new wave emerging out of the discussion in the Horizon Letterzine, which was circulating at a time when relatively few fans were online. The later pivotal role of the internet for facilitating discussion, and simply bringing people together to share ideas, is of course undeniable.
If any one event generated the new wave, it would I suspect be the BBC's release of the whole series on video. That brought a whole new crop of active fans into fandom. But some at least were not new to the series, only new to fandom. They had been quietly nurturing their fannishness, alone and in private, for a decade or more, and this inevitably individuated their interpretation of the series. And these interpretations subsequently proved to be at odds with what fandom had been doing over that decade, hence the impulse to break away from the established fandom tradition.
That, at least, is a potted summary of my own experience, though I doubt if it's unique.
Yes, you are of course right about the video release (1991-ish, IIRC). I like the idea that people had quietly formed their individual interpretations.
I'd parted ways with Horizon before the Letterzine took off, so my route back to B7 fandom was when I able to get online regularly (1995 onwards).
But some at least were not new to the series, only new to fandom. They had been quietly nurturing their fannishness, alone and in private, for a decade or more, and this inevitably individuated their interpretation of the series. And these interpretations subsequently proved to be at odds with what fandom had been doing over that decade, hence the impulse to break away from the established fandom tradition.
This is a very convincing narrative. (I was new to the series, fwiw...)
Zines.. I recall them! Just. I had to find new homes for mine when we moved house, alas. TTBA was my favourite, though the Space City ones were great too.
If someone were desperate to get rid of a copy I'd be keen to purchase it, but I really don't want to deprive anyone of my publishing genius otherwise :) I was planning on looking round the zine sales at Redemption for one.
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The Future's So Shite You Have to Wear Shades
Date: 2011-02-07 02:45 pm (UTC)So it's a great fandom for critique of politics and sexual politics. And, for those so inclined, a fandom that questions the very idea of order is also a good place for literary exploration.
B7 fandom has also tended to be post-adolescent, and well-educated (formally or autodidactically), allowing space for a certain amount of thoughtfulness between explosions of one sort or another.
Re: The Future's So Shite You Have to Wear Shades
Date: 2011-02-08 10:14 am (UTC)Interesting point, although I've been in some fandoms where age and guile have not prevented explosions. Unfamiliarity with basic netiquette on the part of main participants, and a large number of participants (making the debate impossible to follow fully) seem to have been the trigger for these explosions, if I was going to generalize.
(I have a feeling I arrived back in B7 fandom shortly after a couple of flame wars had fully burnt out, so at a moment when people were regrouping or newly arriving, and ready to engage in lively, non-hostile discussion.)
no subject
Date: 2011-02-07 04:00 pm (UTC)usedstamps) but a web archive can't be studdy (if gluey)...good times...no subject
Date: 2011-02-07 06:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-07 11:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-08 01:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-08 01:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-07 08:17 pm (UTC)If any one event generated the new wave, it would I suspect be the BBC's release of the whole series on video. That brought a whole new crop of active fans into fandom. But some at least were not new to the series, only new to fandom. They had been quietly nurturing their fannishness, alone and in private, for a decade or more, and this inevitably individuated their interpretation of the series. And these interpretations subsequently proved to be at odds with what fandom had been doing over that decade, hence the impulse to break away from the established fandom tradition.
That, at least, is a potted summary of my own experience, though I doubt if it's unique.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-07 09:42 pm (UTC)I'd parted ways with Horizon before the Letterzine took off, so my route back to B7 fandom was when I able to get online regularly (1995 onwards).
no subject
Date: 2011-02-08 01:52 pm (UTC)This is a very convincing narrative. (I was new to the series, fwiw...)
no subject
Date: 2011-02-07 10:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-07 11:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-08 07:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-08 06:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-08 01:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-08 06:56 pm (UTC)