The Wrong Fandom Had a Real-Life Kobayashi Maru Situation
October 14-16, 1988: The Blake's 7 Slash Wars Build Fandom's Fourth Wall
This Week In Fandom History Episode #185
Photo Credit: BBC
Down and... safe? This week, V and Emily are joined by fandom scholar Lena Barkin (The Fanthropologist) to discuss an event that should, really, be as notorious in fanfiction culture as the Anne Rice debacle or Cassandra Clare kerfuffle: the Blake's 7 Slash Wars. This seismic, terrible fanwank is technically still ongoing, but hit its heyday forty years ago as the cast and crew of Blake's 7 hit back at fans -- like, specific, named fans -- who dared to write Blake/Avon slash. This supersized episode looks at the dangers of parasocial relationships, why fandom and media celebs should never cross the streams, and the nature of slash in the landscape of the 1980s. Lena brings an important POV as someone who is actively in Blake's 7 fandom today -- and is a slasher.
ABOUT THE EPISODE
A No-Win Scenario
First and foremost, we have to thank Lena Barkin (@thefanthro) for her wonderful guesting on this episode, because as we said in the episode: she was able to tackle this divisive topic with empathy in a way that I don’t think many people could. Without her, I think it would have been a much angrier episode, and – spoiler alert – we’ve got one of those next week, and having two in a row is always a big bummer. (Sometimes that is the nature of history, unfortunately. It’s not all sunshine and celebrations.)
That said, it was a joy to see Lena’s celebration of Blake’s 7, in spite of… everything. She genuinely loves that fandom, and even still genuinely loves Paul Darrow, and that reminder was really necessary when covering a topic like the Blake’s 7 Slash Wars. As an outsider to the fandom, my entire reaction is: “WOW, fuck that guy!” But Lena is a fan. And as we all know, or I assume you know since you subscribed to a fandom history recap newsletter, that makes all the difference in the world.
It’s interesting to think about how being a fan shapes our perceptions of the thing we love.
Not to bring up The Wizard Books, but they’re a really strong example… while I was a huge fan of them, I was able to overlook that there was one (1) Jewish wizard (and that they had an insultingly stereotypical name and zero other traits), that every fat character was also morally bankrupt, that the only Black students in the school were also its top athletes (besides the MC), that repugnant Rita Skeeter had “mannish” hands (side-eye), and that Cho Chang’s name is fucking “Cho Chang.” Being a fan made me not only more charitable to those things, but totally unobservant of them. Granted, some of that is that I was twelve and it was the ‘90s. But even a decade later, it took having someone who was not a fan pointing them out to me before I noticed them and said, “Yeah, actually, that always sucked. Huh.”
In a less serious sense, it probably is also why I have a ticket to Avengers: Doomsday even though I KNOW it will just make me angry and also leave me literally grieving. I have zero expectations of it being a movie that I will actually enjoy. But I am a fan of the MCU. I am willing to give it the benefit of the tiniest shred of doubt, you know? Because I love it. I’ll hate it, but I still love it.
(For what it’s worth, if we get Wanda back, I will forgive it ALMOST any transgression [except the death that we’re most certainly getting and that No One Wants]. Again, that’s being a fangirl. My perception is ready and willing to be skewed, babey.)
It was nice to be reminded of that with regard to the Blake’s 7 Slash Wars, which were on the calendar far longer than we planned to have a guest for the episode, and honestly, that I was dreading covering because they just seem so… miserable. As Emily said in the episode, truly THE WORST POSSIBLE THING THAT CAN HAPPEN TO A FANDOM HAPPENED TO THIS FANDOM. And as an outsider to the fandom, I cannot imagine loving that show enough to make it through the Wars still interested in fandom as a whole, let alone the Blake’s 7 fandom.
But people did.
The fandom still exists.
People still love it.
And that’s why we do this show. So even though it was a deeply terrible thing that happened, it was kind of a delight to get to discuss it.
tl;dr? Everyone lost in the Blake’s 7 Slash Wars except, kind of, us?
Photo Credit: BBC
Blake’s 7 Fic Recs
The first two of these recs come from Lena, as someone who genuinely read and rec’d the works! The other three were found by Emily.
The Totally Imaginary Cheeseboard by Jean Airey & Laurie Haldeman, illustrated by Gail Bennett
Summary: A teleport malfunction causes Avon to swap places with Paul Darrow. Avon's experiences at a Blake's 7 convention are both hilarious and touching.
Lena’s Rec: This feels relevant because Avon attends a con! It was published right before the Wars, too.Gauda Prime & Prejudice by x_los
Summary: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single person must be in want of a partner. On Gauda Prime, the conviction had hardened into fact."Roj Blake leads the Freedom Party from Gauda Prime, an agricultural commune with a harmless fetish for public assemblies and gossip. Kerr Avon, a free trader with an incredible ship, a fabulous supercomputer and no tact whatsoever, manages to get on Blake's bad side almost immediately.
Lena’s Rec: More recent but my favorite AU.Phantoms by Jean Graham
Summary: What begins as a tense but routine operation to liberate a Federation prison spirals into a moral crisis when Blake is nearly killed by a young inmate — a terrified, malnourished boy no older than twelve. When the crew brings the child aboard Liberator, Cally discovers the truth: “His name is Payter… Payter Fen.” Payter is one of the three children Blake was falsely convicted of harming — the very charges that destroyed his life and launched his rebellion.Rojer by x_los
Summary: Taking down the Federation might actually be easier than sorting out what's going on with Rojer's parents.Avon and the Widow by Susan M.M
Summary: Post-Gauda Prime. The Federation has taken over the rebel base. Roj Blake lies dead at Kerr Avon's feet ... or does he? Can a pack of criminals turned reluctant revolutionaries escape Servalan's clutches? And who is the woman who claims to be Roj Blake's widow?
For the next month of newsletters and episodes, please send us your fic recs for…
The Sentinel
ANY FIC hosted on AO3!
Interview with the Vampire (books, movie, or TV show)
Union J
Send us your recs (and self-recs count!) at our website and check future newsletter editions to see recommended fics!
Other events that happened This Week In Fandom History…
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