Map of my Head

Blake's 7 Motivational/Educational Posters

2012-10-17T11:09:59Z

Random quotes/phrases mixed with characters from my favourite 70's show.

Blake's 7 had it all.

Knight in Sour Armor, Deadpan Snarker, Anti-Hero, Anti-Villan, Cold Equation, Chronic Hero Syndrom, Foe Yay, BBC Quarries, Downer Ending, Big Bad, Faceless Goons, The Empire, Evil is Hammy, BBC Quarries, Failure is the only option, Ghost Ship, Hell-bent for leather, Homoerotic Subtext, Looks, BBC Carries, Body Linguistics, Impractically Fancy Outfits, Licensed sexist, a Mad Hatter, a Psycho Sidekick, BBC Quarries, Magical Computer, Magical Database, Moratlity Chips, Obfuscating Stupidity, Painted on Pants, Paul Darrow is about to Shoot you, Sanity Slippage, BBC Quarries, Sour Supporters, Space Clothes, Space Pirates, Squadettes, Stuff blowing up, Girly runs, Tragedy and Tragic Mistakes, BBC Quarries, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Well Intentioned Extremists, WHAM episodes, Speed Chess, Accidental Aiming Skills, BBC Quarries and NO BUDGET.

Old habits die hard....

2012-09-17T08:50:21Z

Haven't been around much lately. And no time for manipping fun: except yesterday.

Two desktops and some icons.

Avon & Blake

The one under the cut is not worksafe. Don't click if you don't like your B&A straight and properly dressed.

No more errors logging in today!

2011-12-07T11:49:31Z

Take it away!

Hope Lj really solved the problems. I have been posting entries, comments and replies that never made it through the DDoS atack. And uploading pictures was sheer hell!

Boerne

2011-11-29T16:59:15Z

the smaller desktop version:

All I want for Chistmas.....

2011-11-29T16:56:44Z

One of the last two of the Thiel/Boerne batch I made for the Adventskalender. I really enjoyed working on these.
This one hardly needed any photoshopping: it's nice to see how much these two actors really like each other. I think that's one of the reasons why the show is so popular. If the magic works off-screen then you can see it on-screen.

Merry Xmas everyone and have a good 2012!

Boerne manipped

2011-10-25T08:43:21Z

Perfectly worksafe body swapping fun....

Boerne/Thiel icons & a Boerne manip

2011-09-07T18:19:52Z

Blake's 7 and Buffy icons

2011-01-14T11:10:48Z

Buffy icons:

  1   2    3
  4   5 6
7   8 9
10 11 12
13 14 15
16 17  18
19 20 21
22 23 24

Blake's 7:
I haven't been very active in B7 fandom lately, but I haven't abandonned it.

1.   2.   3.
   4.   5. 6.
   7.   8. 9.
10 11 12
13 14 15
16 1718
19

Killing Time....

2010-12-31T17:25:06Z

Giles & Buffy

2010-12-23T08:57:15Z

I don't have time to do a proper desktop. I'm still sekritly exploring fandom and now the kids are at home, so there's not much time for Lj during the day, especially not when one wants to photoshop pics like these.

original manip:

+ some icons

(the last batch=Mr. Gently Benevolent. Finally got my hands on Bleak Expectations series 4)

Mixed Manips

2010-11-30T09:53:31Z

Icons:

1. 2. 3.
4. 5. 6.
7. 8. 9.
1011 12
13 14 15

Some manips I've done over the years I found in a lost file. I don't believe I have posted them here before.

AB
CD E
F

G

H I
J

Wouldn't it be lovely.

2010-11-24T12:10:02Z

Dominance and submission vs the Head and the Heart.

I've been reading some interesting posts on possible pairings in B7 lately. Most favourited is B/A , which didn't really surprise me. It is also the most problematic pairing, because not many fans see them happily living together as a couple. Maybe that's why people so fanatically ship B/A. It's fascinating to see how two people, who seem to have no love for each other -may even hate each other- actually end up in bed together. Personally I'm more in favour of stories about friendship between these two. I don't mind slash, but I don't necessarily like to read all the explicit stuff.

But to my surprise many people think that Avon would not be interested in Cally in a romantic way. Even V/A and S/A seem to beat C/A to second/third place. I like the C/A pairing. What would be more interesting than to see a relationship develop between the head and the heart? Avon is a man of logic and reason, a man who hides his feelings; a very private person who needs a lot of personal space. Cally on the other hand is alone and desperate for contact. She has lost all of her people and has to live with these humans, who do not share her telepathic gift. She is used to sharing thoughts. It must be very hard for a person who has had this ability all of her life, to suddenly do without. She now has to learn to read these humans, she has to learn about facial expression, body language and the meaning behind their words.

Someone once wrote that there was no fire between Avon and Cally. On the contrary. I think in a way, Cally is the female version of Blake. Compassionate, fighting for a better world, a warm personality, easy going, likable. Of course there's fire there!  Avon sees her as a threat to his privacy. Although he knows that Cally can't read his thoughts, he's still a bit weary of her. But part of him reaches out to her. Part of him wants to learn to trust and love again like he loved Anna. Cally finds it difficult to understand why Avon keeps himself so clamped up. Despite her inability to read his thoughts, she instinctively feels that Avon is a complex, but decent man. She admires his way of working, his keen mind, his independance and is probably not blind to his good looks.
There are enough interesting aspects to explore in this relationship and it might show us a different side of Avon. In B/A -fanfic we often see the SM or BDSM explored. Maybe Avon is actually very ordinary and has no taste for angsty, kinky sex in a relationship.



I know Cally is dead. I know Avon is dead. Everyone's dead, but wouldn't it be lovely if these two had survived? Avon is a prisoner of the Federation at first . We can't have a PGP story without Avon undergoing some kind of physical or mental torment, but then he is rescued. By none other than Cally.
Cally survived the ordeal on Planet Whatyamacallit by some sort of secret, miraculous Auron procedure that restores her back to life. She is still in the resistance and just happens to stumble upon this ghost from her past. Or maybe she'd heard rumours about Avon's captivity and set out to rescue him.

I wonder what their first words to one another will be. Will it be a happy reunion? Won't she be mad at him for revtrieving ORAC instead of saving her? Why did she never try to contact Avon when she was alive? Will Avon completely trust this Cally? Isn't she an elaborate trick devised by the devious Servalan and her team of mind tinkerers? He trusts her of course. In spite of what Avon wants us all to believe, he trusts people a lot. He trusted Blake, and Anna. Even if reason tells him that the appearance of Cally is too good to be true, he so much wants to believe she survived. Let's face it: when Cally left, the series was doomed. It's a lovely thing to see the tentative romantic tingle between two characters developing over the years. Take House/Cuddy (House MD), or Nate/Sophie (Leverage), Picard/Crusher (Star Trek TNG), Grissom/Sara (CSI). I'm sure there are a lot more examples that I can't come up with right now; even in the regions of slash pairings. Scriptwriters who disregard this and kill off one of these characters, should know by now that they will soon be out of a job.

As we all know, you cannot fight human (and auron) nature (and win). Cally and Avon realise they love each other madly. Cally has known this all along (ever since she told him she was interested in his work (Web) and he didn't know what to say: it was really adorable to see Avon speechless), but Avon, poor emotionally scarred Avon needs more time and it will take many battles against the Federation before he admits to himself that he has loved Cally for a long time, but never wanted to give in to these feelings because she is an alien. And an idealist. And she mostly agreed with Blake back then. And she almost got them killed when she was possessed by an ancient being. I don't think Avon was flattered by the fact that AncientCally would have loved to have kept him around as her personal escort boy, if she hadn't turned to dust. Anyway, they will make hot steaming love under the bright starry sky of a wonderful planet. Cally will teach Avon the Auron way of lovemaking and Avon wishes he could get rid of the image of this other woman that haunts him. He will never be free of Anna Grant, but Cally accepts this, because she really loves Avon with all her heart. Wouldn't that be romantic?

I'll have to find some nice Avon/Cally stories to read tonight.

.

Avon & Cally

2010-11-23T20:58:24Z

Ever wondered if tattoos were in fashion in the third century of the second calendar? They look kind a spacey on Avon. The one on the right shoulder must be Anna Grant.

Vimeo_LOVE

2010-10-12T07:15:41Z

I uploaded my fanfvids to Vimeo. I seem to have a nose for songs that are banned on YouTube and at least 5 of the vids have soundtracks that cannot be played in some parts of the world. My very first B7 vid (Dead) is banned in my country. I made an audio swap for the Avon/Cally-vid I had online, because it was also banned in many countries (mainly Germany I think). Sometimes it's okay to change the music. In this case, I think the second one works better with the new soundtrack (The Book of Love). But when you've worked hard to synchronize music and clips and YouTube suggests an audioswap, I really feel the urge to hit someone.

I've uploaded to other hosts before, but in the end the vids all got the same treatement as on YouTube. Well, for now everything seems to be working; in Sweden that is....

Steampunk Avon

2010-10-11T10:35:51Z

Found this entry on my flist in the steampunk community. It was just perfect for a new Avon-Manip.

The history of the English Language

2010-10-06T09:11:36Z

In for some reading fun? Below you'll find what is probably an accurate account of the history of the English language. A certain Scorpio wrote it on this website.

Blake's 7 icons

2010-10-01T10:11:51Z

Animated, still, text, no text and qoutes.

1 2 3
4 5    6
7 8 9
1011 12
1314 15
16 1718
1920 21
22 2324
2526 27
2829 30
31 32 33
3435 36
3738 39
40

Ooh, the suffering.... Rumours of Death-vid & picspam

2010-09-29T10:26:54Z

I made a fanvid for B7 and therefore I rewatched Rumours of Death. That wasn't too much of an effort. I love Avon and Rumours is basically about Avon, although a disproportionate part of the episode was about these two guys.
You'll be glad to hear that I will not mention them below .

Rumours of Death has Avon suffering beautifully in the opening scene. One should of course wonder what the hell is going on, because we are confronted with Avon, alone in prison, obviously suffering from lack of sleep after a horrible night on his uncomfortable slab. For people like me ( and those of you who are on my flist because of the fanart, should know by now that I have this thing about a suffering Avon.) these questions are totally unimportant. I feast my eyes on seeing Avon in trouble, in a prison jumpsuit that suits him better then every other outfit he's ever worn in the entire series. We are awarded a view of his

bare prison-feet

a five day old prison-beard

weary eyes

and not a soul in sight who could help him escape. We hear the most horrible screams from somewhere in the prison; undoubtedly a poor unfortunate undergoing the same fate that lies in store for our hero. The cardboard cell door tries to slide open smoothly (...and fails due to the non-existing budget of the series) and we realise that Avon is in for a lot of trouble. Will he be manhandled by sturdy black clad Federation guards? Will he be tortured by the devious Servalan herself? Will an absolutely evil looking interrogator bring in lots of evil instruments of torture or syringes filled with brightly coloured evil drugs that will be used to hurt poor defenseless Avon? I remember the very first time I saw the episode and I also remember how I felt when his interrogator appeared.

In comes Shrinker.........................

......in his black nylon uniform that makes annoying noises even when he breathes. He looks like the average bachelor uncle who drinks a little too much at family gatherings, the one who is always persuaded to play Father Christmas, but somehow reminds you of that strange recluse who lives just around the corner, the one you warn your kids about. But still. Disappointing. The fact that we obviously missed all the goody torture-bits ( we learn that Avon has been uncooperative and has been bleeding on the wrong bit of floor (for 5 days, no less!)) doesn't score any points among those who appreciate some good Avon-whumpage.
But all is not lost: we're only mere minutes into the episode. Maybe Shrinker's fellow interrogators are on their way with strange contraptions, solely devised to hurt out hero.

Avon is massageing his neck where a secret homing device is hidden underneath the skin. It's been there 5 days now and it's giving him the most awful rash. Sheer torture!

The observant viewer will have noticed that Shrinker licks his lips when he crowds poor, frightened Avon with his flabby, nylon presence. Is he going to eat him? Or worse: lick him to death? Much to my surprise I noticed (while capping the episode) that Avon responds by mirroring the creep. He also licks his lips! Is this an early sign of Stockholm Syndrom? Is this some secret lip-licking code I know nothing about? Or is it just that the air in prisons is too dry? Anyway, this lip licking is far more disturbing than all the other dangers Shrinker personifies.

Shrinker informs Avon that the Federation has lost its patience with him and our hero understands that he is in big trouble now. The bully produces an object from his pocket that reminds me of my new Parker pen and he plays the guessing game with his victim. Does he know what this is? Of course Avon knows; he's a brilliant technician and eventhough the actor would love to say that it's a badly designed B7-prop that wouldn't frighten a toddler, he answers that it's a laser probe. We subsequently see more Avon-suffering (and may I say some of the most interesting acting in PD's career) without actual whumpage, before (sadly) Avon is rescued by his team and teleported back to the Liberator. Bummer!

The Parker laserprobe...

We now understand that Avon is out for revenge. He wants to kill those responsible for torturing and killing his beloved Anna, who was not quite the woman Avon thought she was. But he is about to discover the horrible truth, so we can look forward to some emotional suffering.

We find out that Anna is now Sula Chesku and while Avon has a man-to-man talk with Shrinker in a cave (interior design courtesy of Vila), Anna is raiding the Presidential Palace, killing her Federation-husband in the process. She's one of the good guys! Or is she?


While Avon is in a melancholy mood of misery and woo, reliving many happy memories and conjuring up his worst nightmare, Sula/Anna takes Servalan prisoner (was it really necessary to slap her? she didn't resist and took her defeat like a man).

So instead of Avon suffering beautifully, it is Servalan who steals the show in that particular departement. She is beaten (off camera, but has the bruises to show for it), shackled to a wall in a cold, dark cellar and all the time she manages by sheer willpower to remain fully, yet enticingly clothed in that dress.

That dress probably had every teenage boy mesmerised. Plot? What plot? Servalan in that dress, in shackles in a dungeon, subject to the whim of everyone who just happens to come along?  And who stumbles upon her? Avon of course. Her roughens her up a bit, pushes her about, but the magical dress is still not budging.

Well, I suppose the boys all went to sleep happily that night.

And then Anna turns up. Avon manages to restrain his joy: he is stupified. So are we. We really don't know if what she tells us is true. That she loved Avon, eventhough she was sent to spy on him. She wonders why he didn't rescue her and he tells her that he didn't because she was dead, which is a good enough reason I would say, but still she seems more than a little displeased with him.

Anna watches Avon's finely chiseled lips and realises what a fool she's been.

Avon realises that Anna only wanted him for his finely chiseled lips.

Avon puts two and two together and we virtually see the truth dawning on him. His sweet Anna is the evil spy Bartholomew: the same person he wants to kill in revenge for...killing Anna. Even for an intelligent man like Avon this is a complicated, emotional predicament to be in. He doesn't listen when she says that she was only ever Anna Grant with him and not Bartholomew, because he's too busy figuring out what to do with all this cropped up anger and feelings of revenge. If there had been a mean dog in the cellar, Avon would probably have kicked it.

And then Avon, stupid Avon, actually falls for the old 'Avon watch out trick!' and shoots her in selfdefense. Don't they have a stun setting on their guns like they do in Star Trek? Avon admits that allowing him to shoot her in that way, was a very decent and honest thing to do for Bartholomew/Anna/Sula. He'll probably be grateful for that for the rest of his life.

Now we have Anna suffering beautifully and Avon suffering because he just shot the only women he's ever loved and he's just found out that he had been betrayed by the only woman he's ever loved and now he has to live with the fact that he killed her, a burden that undoubtedly will weigh heavy on his psyche and may well drive him mad in the course of series 3 and 4. But we even see Servalan suffering beautifully because she does have a heart and feels sorry for Avon because she understands that he now has to live with himself, which is quite difficult even without shooting the only woman he has ever loved, because Avon is after all......a hard man to live with.



Anna dies and Avon frees Servalan from the wall, the others teleport to the Liberator (Vila is quick on the teleport this time), leaving Avon behind. Servalan has gotten hold of a weapon and threatens to kill Avon. He says he doesn't care. But Servalan does. Care. About him. She virtually caresses him with her gun, thus fullfilling a long-cherished desire to have her way with Avon.

Will she actually kill him? Or will she take him away to her rooms and keep him as a playmate. We'll never know what her real intentions were. Avon is teleported very much alive, leaving Servalan behind in the cellar with an indiscriminate look on her face.

I'd like to think that she actually had no intention of killing Avon. She has a thing for him.

Almost every scene was emotionally demanding for Avon.

Frantically Desperate

Intensely Sad

Genuinely Hurt

Desperately Alone

Totally Exhausted

Mortally Frightened

Desperately in Love

Bent on Revenge

Just Being Pretty Handsome

Getting the credit and praise He deserves for His performance...

..and practising his doom-and-gloom-look on Vila

Rumours of Death, a Fanvid:

This episode still has me puzzled. Why had Anna/Sula changed sides? Why did she allow Avon to kill her if they were now on the same side? Why didn't she explain....something!? Was she really in favour of a People's Council or was she just a power-hungry megalomaniac herself? Did she really love Avon? Was Avon the reason for her to betray Servalan? Would she have killed Avon with the same ease as she killed her husband Chesku? Was she already married to Chesku when she spied on Avon? Why did she choose to die and why did she choose Avon to be her executioner? Didn't she realise that he would not be able to live with himself after that? Was Anna evil?

B7: icons and wallpaper-manip

2010-09-21T09:55:56Z

still experimenting..........

update 23/09: adjusted Avon's biceps........

I was bored...

2010-05-06T10:39:40Z

Mostly 'old' manips:

Cally

2010-05-03T06:40:52Z

Sherlock Avon and Doctor Vila and another Avon/Cally

2010-03-18T21:54:51Z

Just a quicky for fun. I saw the movie the other day and was pleasantly surprised to discover that my favourite composer did the soundtrack.

Shore Leave & the King & I

2010-03-17T20:52:07Z

Photoshop: a little tutorial.

2010-03-17T17:23:30Z

For kalinda

These are the pics I worked with.

What I usually do is make a copy of the basic pic and cut away the heads (that's called vignette in my photoshop).
That looks something like this:

Then I 'vignette' the heads of both Avon and Cally try to match brightness/colours with the basic pic.

Then it's time to fit the heads on the bodies. That's always a hard part, because in my old version, the heads tend to get ugly (you can literally count their pixels) if you rotate them inside the basic pic. Maybe you don't have that problem in newer photoshop programs.

When the heads are attached to the bodies, I add the 'headless layer', so I won't have to clone and smudge and cover up too much with head and body.

Then I clone and smudge from the main body, so colour and structure are somewhat alike.

I usually add a transparant layer and adjust brightness and contrast untill I get a nice result. I use several layers that add colour and/or structure to the manip. That's what you see in the one I just posted. The first one is without the layer and in the second one I added this layer, made transparant 30%:

Hope this helps in your endeavours with Gimp. I'm sure there are a lot of tutorials out there, but I'm always glad to help, although I don't know if I'm of any use to you with my antique photoshop program. I have photoshop essentials but I keep putting it off to learn the basics there. It differs too much from my version (I think).

Avon/Blake Fanart

2010-03-16T11:06:46Z

ultrapsychobrat 'complained' about the fact that I hadn't been doing B/A manips lately.

same pic without the sandstone filter is over here

icons:

manips: