two cool things

[kindkit]

1) If you've ever thought of giving Blake's 7 a try, now is a good time, because a rewatch-and-discussion has just begun at b7rewatch. Discussion for each episode will be split into two posts: one general and one designed to accommodate new viewers, in which spoilers past the episode under discussion are not allowed. The general post for episode 1x01, "The Way Back," is here, and the spoiler-free post is here.

Blake's 7 is a show that deserves a larger following. Yes, the sets are wobbly; yes, the costumes and hairstyles are dated. But the worldbuilding, characterization, and dialogue are first-rate, especially in S1 and S2. The show explores genuinely difficult political and ethical questions without preaching, platitudes, or any guarantee that the good guys will win. Or even that the good guys are good. At its best, it blows every other science fiction show out of the water.

The DVDs are available at amazon.co.uk. Feel free to PM me if you have questions about, you know, stuff.

2) The wonderful DW community queerlygen has begun its multi-fandom, prompts-claim ficathon of gen stories about queer characters. The definitions of both "queer" and "gen" are well thought-out and flexible, and the characters you write about don't have to be shown as queer in canon. The prompts post is here.

*****

Comments

[sashajwolf]

Excellent, another person from my flist who's doing the rewatch! Another thing I like about B7 is that it has plenty of strong female characters, and some of the episodes actively challenge sexism (Gold comes to mind).

[kindkit]

I agree about the strong female characters, although I wish Jenna and Cally were given more to do--they spend too many episodes waiting by the teleport.

[sashajwolf]

True, and that may be part of the reason I never warmed to Cally. I loved Jenna, though, and it's pretty clear that Blake and Avon value her skills and see her as an equal.