The Nothing That Is
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| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Nothing That Is |
| Author(s): | Lexa Reiss/Brooke Barker |
| Date(s): | 1994 |
| Length: | 20 pages |
| Genre: | slash |
| Fandom: | Blake's 7 |
| External Links: | |
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The Nothing That Is is a Blake's 7 story by Lexa Reiss.
It was originally printed in the zine Southern Comfort #8.5.
It has a sequel called Exit Interview in Southern Comfort #10.5.
Summary
"Cadet Tarrant learns a few hard truths about himself, about the Federation, and about others in this pre-series story." (Summary by the publisher)
Reactions and Reviews
1994
Tarrant/Travis is a fairly common pairing. It’s not a favorite of mine; rape stories just don’t yank my crank. [...] Instructor Travis rapes Cadet Tarrant as a punishment for a minor infraction. (I liked this unusual, well-written story. Here, the rape doesn’t make Tarrant love Travis; rather, it forces Tarrant to confront aspects of his own sexuality.) [1]
1995
"The Nothing That Is" by Lexa Reiss is one of the best pieces of fanfic that I've ever read. Slash is only incidental to the complex, well developed plot. It is a fascinating Tarrant story that takes place during his days at the FSA. It includes a supporting cast of characters from the series as well as an intriguing original character. [2]
2013
Ah, now this deserves to be the length it is. This one is truly excellent and I thoroughly recommend. It's not so much about the sex (although the way that Tarrant has different sex with all of the three people mentioned above is interesting and reveals different aspects of his personality), it's about living in the Federation when you know what it's doing is wrong and how you cope with that. Very very interesting stuff. Jarn is a good character, Kyera (the mutoid from 'Duel') is represented her as a very interesting character - Tarrant is slightly out of his depth, but not at all stupid. Excellent writing too. I thoroughly recommend.[3]
I would argue this was Tarrant!gen, despite the rating. However, you do have Tarrant/Travis, Tarrant/Kyera, Tarrant/OC (Jarn - puppeteer in training)… Skipping on to 1994 and a fic from the zine 'Southern Comfort 8.5'. With some serious reservations about the final 50 pages, I really like this zine. It has one of my favourite A/B fics ('Turn, Turn, Turn' by Irish) and lots of other fun and/or thoughtful things. It also has very nice illustrations, as do most of the SC series (.5 indicates B7 only, .75 indicates Avon/Vila only - none of my recs will be A/V, but it was a very popular pairing back in the day.) This fic is arguably the best thing in the zine. I've given it the NC-17 rating it deserves (and there's non-con as well as consensual sex), but the fic is not so much about the sex (although the way that Tarrant has different sex with all of the three people mentioned above is interesting and reveals different aspects of his personality). It's about living in the Federation when you know what it's doing is wrong and how you cope with that. The use of Jarn's future profession (puppeteer) works very well as a device for understanding the B7 universe, while Kyera's ultimate fate (as the mutoid from 'Duel') never feels cheap - it feels like a Greek Tragedy. Our hero himself, Del Tarrant, is out of his depth, but not at all stupid - and he's the one who is changed by these events. And we have a good example of a morally grey Travis (in a similar vein, I second the rec of Privilege . Excellent writing, too. I thoroughly recommend.[4]
References
- ^ from Strange Bedfellows (APA) #7 (November 1994)
- ^ Carol McCoy, focus is Del Tarrant, in IMHO* #2 (1995)
- ^ Aralias reviewed this zine in 2013 on Dreamwidth, Archived version
- ^ from Crack Van by Aralias, posted December 12, 2013