and
.This mailing list has recently been difficult to join owing to administration problems. These have been sorted out and we now have new administrators. This is a copy of the official document for the mailing list.
Introduction Many Blake's 7 fans have fond memories of the Space City list run for four years by Susan Beth and we'd like to thank her for running it for so long.
The Lysator list is the earliest known Blake's 7 mailing list, and still going. Space City was a spin-off to enable members to discuss slash and adult topics without controversy, and Freedom City is now the current adult mailing list for Blake's 7 fans.
If you wish to join, please read the information below which is sent to every new member.
VILA: They say it's wide open.But first, a few formalities:
AVON: What is?
VILA: Freedom City.
AVON: So I've heard. Wide, wide open.
VILA: Got everything a man ever dreams of, they say.
AVON: Space City pales by comparison, they say.
Freedom City is the forum for the free discussion of relationships in the Blake's 7 universe, including sex, both het and slash, and B7 fan fiction of any rating or category. Other topics that branch off from these discussions or other matters that might or have resulted in unwelcome friction on the main B7 list are also welcome.
Because many of the discussions are of a sexual nature, membership is restricted to adults. If you are under eighteen or would find the discussion of the topics described above offensive, please do not subscribe, or unsubscribe now.
Current List Admins:
and
.
Please send questions about administrative matters (rules, subscribing, changing addresses) to either of the above addresses.
Send messages you want to post to the list to:
freedom-city@list.blakes-7.org.
This list is intended as a supplement to the main Blake's 7 list, not a replacement for it.
Note: Freedom City is a privately owned list. The List Admins don't plan on removing anyone from the list unless forced to by flagrant violations of the rules, but they are the final arbiters should it be necessary. Sorry, but that's the way it is.
Because of the potentially "adult" and "explicitly sexual" nature of some posts on this list, membership is restricted to consenting adults.
There are no other qualifications for membership. Everyone who asks to join will be added to the distribution list as soon as we can take care of the administrivia. No one will be kept out for "historical" reasons, and no one can be blackballed by any other person(s); everyone starts fresh.
"Honorary" members: on rare occasions someone who wants to be a member of Freedom City cannot subscribe directly, usually because of health problems or lack of an internet connection. Cases such as this need to be discussed with the List Admins. If they decide it is suitable, the person is considered an Honorary Member and can have the messages delivered to them through a sponsoring member.
Instructions for subscribing and unsubscribing may be found here. If this doesn't work (it doesn't come up for some members), then e-mail one of the admins.
You can also use the above website to change your membership status or configuration, including setting digest-style delivery or disabling delivery altogether (e.g., for a holiday), and so on.
In addition to the website interfaces, you can also use email to make such changes. For more info, send a message to the "-request" address of the list (for example, mailman-request@list.Blake's-7.org) containing just the word "help" in the message body, and an email message will be sent to you with instructions.
If you have questions, problems, comments, etc, send them to mailman-owner@list.Blake's-7.org.
Anything that derives from the interpersonal relationships of the B7 characters, including homosexual and heterosexual relationships as well as platonic ones, is welcome.
Topics that have been or might be too sensitive for the main list are also welcome.
Blake's 7 fan fiction of any category (gen, het or slash) and rating is most welcome. Warnings are optional. Basically, if you think your story needs a warning, put one on it.
Occasional digressions and off-topic threads are fine, but if a thread goes way off topic and looks like it will stay that way, then it's time to move it to the spin list or private mail.
To protect against any accidental spreading of viruses, the list software will not forward messages that aren't in plain text, meaning especially no html coding. If messages you send do not appear on the list, this is the most likely cause, and you should check the help file and option menus of your mail list program to be sure you are sending plain text.
For the same reason, messages with attachments are not forwarded either. When you want to post a story or other text that you have in a file on your computer, what you should do is cut and paste that text into the body of your message.
If you want to share something that cannot be done in plain text -- for example, a piece of art or a scanned photograph -- you should put the item onto a web page and then just put the URL for that page into a message to list.
All material posted here is copyright to the individual authors of such posted material. Therefore, list members may not quote material posted to this private list in any other forum, or circulate such material in any other way without first obtaining the formal written consent of the copyright holder -- that is, the author of the material in question.
This scary-looking legal notice is just intended to make sure everyone knows and is playing by the same set of rules. It was written for Space City by Mimi Panitch, after kindly researching copyright law, and we're keeping it because it's a good idea.
You see, list members often post about sensitive subjects that they wouldn't want to be quoted on in less friendly forums. Sometimes writers post fiction which they may later want to rework for submission to zines or other publications. With the "no quoting outside the list without permission" rule, writers need not worry about their privacy or losing control over their creations, and the rest of us get to enjoy their posts, which they might otherwise hesitate to share.
So, quoting from posts while responding to them on the list or in private mail to the author is fine, but PLEASE ASK before you do anything else, like forwarding Avon stories to your friend who isn't on the list, because you know she'd just love them.
Fandom runs on trust. Please don't abuse ours.
To protect both the privacy of the members and their individual copyrights, there is no public archive of the Freedom City messages. Authors are free to make their stories available in any manner they choose, such as submitting them to zines or public web sites or putting them on their own web pages.
However, some members do keep private archives on their own computers. Many members keep copies of just the stories they particularly liked so they can reread them later, other members have backlogs of messages they haven't yet read and deleted, and at least one member keeps a full archive of every message she receives. Everyone who keeps list material archived is required to make every effort to protect it from being passed to anyone who is not "entitled" to read it, that is, to a person who would not have received it already in the normal course of events.
This means it is all right to pass messages along to FC members who need a copy due to reasons such as:
The test for acceptable forwarding is: was the person a member of FC when the message was posted? A person is still a member if they were accidentally unsubbed, or had to step away from email for a short period but intended to return.
On the other hand, membership is not "retroactive". New members are not entitled to read messages/stories that were posted before they joined FC. If a new member learns of a story s/he wants to read -- for example, someone praises the story in a message or a sequel to it is posted -- the new member should write to the author of the story and ask. It is then up to the author either to say no or to make it available. The author can do this by any means s/he chooses, for example: mailing a copy to the new member, providing a pointer to a zine or website URL, or possibly giving on-list permission for someone with an archived copy to send it to the new member.
Despite the rules to protect the privacy of FC posts, there is still the possibility that due to someone's mistake, a virus, a hacker, or other unfortunate accident of that nature, posts to FC may be read by non-members. If having the contents of a message revealed would have a devastating impact on your life, the only way to be totally safe is to NOT post it in the first place.
While there are no forbidden words (this is an adults-only list after all), bear in mind that gratuitous use of obscenities is likely only to result in your being ignored.
The basics No blatant ads for non-B7 items or services (ads for B7 zines/cons/filktapes/artworks/etc are welcome), no calls for violently overthrowing the government, no libel, the normal restrictions on Net posting.
Personal attacks or flaming, and posts intended to give offence, including "stirring" and "trolling."
The major reason this list exists is to provide a place where sensitive subjects like slash can be discussed without incurring the hostility that such topics inevitably draw on the Lysator list or open newsgroups. It is intended as a place where discussion can be vigorous without being hurtful.
Trolling isn't necessarily evil, but it does violate the spirit of this mail list. If you want to engage in verbal combat, there are thousands of newsgroups and mailing lists where such behaviour is appreciated. There is no need to turn Freedom City into another clone of the same.
Advertising Freedom City's existence in public forums
In order to avoid attracting people who are only interested in smut rather than B7, Freedom City is not advertised or promoted to the general public, including on Internet newsgroups. Doing so will result in the offender's removal from the list.
The only published guideposts to it are on Calle's Lysator site and Judith Proctor's website, both specifically B7 sources of information. It is also OK to mention Freedom City in posts to the main list on Lysator or the spin list.
However, the list is not "secret." You are welcome, encouraged even, to recruit B7 fannish friends that you think would fit in, and may freely forward copies of this FAQ to them.
In many ways, Freedom City is analogous to a private party. People may come and go freely, but those conversing in the room have the right to know who is there "listening". In order to foster a sense of trust on the list, and to encourage people to get to know each other a little, once a year or so, the List Admins will post the membership addresses to the list. Everyone will have ten days to respond by posting to the list. If someone has not answered the Roll Call in that time, it will be assumed they are no longer interested in Freedom City and the List Admins will unsubscribe them. "Honorary" members should reply via their sponsoring member.
To make these posts a bit more interesting, the List Admin may include a question people can choose to talk about in their "I'm here" post. These questions should be of a casual nature, such as "Which crewmember would you choose to be stranded on a deserted island with?" or "Who is your favourite guest star?"
Over the seven-plus years this list has existed, there have been a handful of cases when those mistakenly posted messages included comments about other list members of, shall we say, a less-than-charitable nature. Talking about others behind their backs isn't nice, but it's inevitable that people will do it. As List Admins, we have some say over what happens on-list, but none over others' private thoughts, opinions or e-mail messages. We are not gods.
We also cannot "unpost" messages. So, if your intent is to vent or be snarky about some list matter to one of your friends privately TRIPLE CHECK THAT TO: LINE!
So far this is the best way we have come up with to proceed when these offences occur:
Space City was launched just before Labor Day weekend. One year later, we decided to throw ourselves an on-line 'party' in honour of our birthday, and that tradition has continued each year, despite the change in the list name. (For non-American list members, "Labor Day" is a floating holiday observed on the first Monday in September, resulting in a three-day weekend.)
The goal of the party is to have as many people as possible post a bit of fiction. Of any length -- we've had full length stories, vignettes, fragments. In fact, we've had pieces that were a single paragraph, possibly even a single sentence! The idea is just to be a part of the 'fiction orgy' and have fun. Every single year we have a few posters start by saying "I'm not a writer but..." and then they post something that inevitably turns out to be a pleasure to read. So no excuses -- join in!
To help inspire the writers, we usually come up with a theme for the party, something general enough to be adaptable to any season or any group of the crew that a member might prefer to write about. For example, two past themes have been "love" and "hidden aspects". Members start making suggestions for the theme early in June, and then the List Admins put up a slate of the suggestions and the membership votes.
Note: you aren't required to use the theme by any means. It's there to help people think up stories, but if some other idea seizes your imagination, we're equally happy to read that instead.
Also: Some people choose to contribute through graphics/art. These should be put on to a web page, and a message giving the URL posted to FC.
In addition the List Admins might be called on to remind members of the rules if they are being broken, and to unsubscribe a member if s/he continues to break the rules. Historically 'reminders' have been needed less often than once a year, and so far no one has ever needed to be unsubscribed against their will.
The List Admins also supervise the Roll Call and Labor Day parties, as described above, posting reminding messages and counting votes and so forth.
The List Admins also occasionally update the FAQ as new issues arise. When that needs to be done, there should be discussion of the matter on the list, then the List Admins will post the proposed new wording for the FAQ and allow the members to comment. In the past, there has always been general agreement with the suggested changes. If a suggested change is greeted with clearly mixed opinions, the matter can be voted on.
There are two List Admins, which allows them to cover for each other when Real Life needs take priority. Each List Admin serves for one year, but one of the List Admin's term begins on July 1, the other on January 1 -- this is to ensure there is always one 'experienced' Admin.
Choosing List Admins
A couple of weeks before a List Admin's term is up, s/he posts a call for volunteers to serve the next term. There is a one-week period for people to step forward by posting to the list a message that clearly states you are willing to help out AND includes a number that represents how you feel about taking on the job. Use a 1 to 10 scale, where 1 means "I don't really want to, but if nobody else steps forward I'll do it to keep the list going" and 5 means "Yeah, OK, I don't mind" and 10 means "I'd really like to contribute to the list by doing this." Note: the 'retiring' List Admin is perfectly welcome to volunteer her/himself, if willing to serve for another year.
At the end of the week, the volunteer with the highest number becomes a List Admin. If needed, the "other" List Admin will pick a 'winner' from those tied with the highest number by some random method.
The retiring and continuing List Admins will fill the new List Admin in on how to handle the administrivia.
General Note:
This FAQ was originally written by Susan Beth for Space City. It was later revised by Tiger M for Freedom City. Still later it was revised by Meg. It was revised again in 2003 by Susan Beth, Anna and Harriet, and again in 2008 by Harriet and Nico. It will no doubt be revised many times in the future as new topics arise and new List Admins take over. It's alive! ;-)
Last updated on 20 August 2008.
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Last updated on 06th of October 2008.