Five Easy Pieces and a More Difficult One
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| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Five Easy Pieces and a More Difficult One |
| Author(s): | Nova |
| Date(s): | 1999 |
| Length: | |
| Genre: | slash |
| Fandom: | Blake's 7 |
| External Links: | online here |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Five Easy Pieces and a More Difficult One is an Avon/Blake story by Nova.
It is a VERY early Five Times story.
It was published in Homosapien #6 and is online.
Reactions and Reviews
Could so easily have been a slash cliché, but well enough done not to be. Avon and Blake visit a culture where public homosexuality is allowed and encouraged. This kick-starts a pacy racy and often witty romp through how Avon and Blake's power-struggles might play themselves out as seduction. Then they get to the thorny question of love (happy sigh).[1]
Why This Must be Read: This is one of the first slash stories I ever read. Maybe I’m imprinted on it, but it’s a wonderful place to start--a loving fillip at B7 slash clichés, from one of the brand names in B7 slash. Nova is the ultimate B/A shipper; she genuinely loves them both and writes a basically sunny-but-never-soppy romance. In “Five Easy Pieces” Blake and Avon proceed through a series of obligatory slash scenarios, bonking their way toward emotional engagement. Nova is one of the doyennes of HEX (Happy Ending Expeditors)--a B7 practice of rewriting another author’s story (with her permission!) to make it a bit less grim.[2]
In which Blake and Avon try and engage in anonymous meaningless sex with each other - and fail not to get emotionally involved. Nova is particularly good at writing love - both the aching and upsetting supposedly unrequited kind and (without ever letting go of the antagonism and ease of misunderstanding) the joyfully requited kind. And few writers have such a gift with endings that leave you grinning and feeling like everything is right with the world. This is a classic example of that genre.[3]
I… frankly don’t remember that well the more psychological parts of this one, even though I read it not so long ago. What I remember well is all that sex and the bit with the uprising, which sums up my priorities quite accurately. (The sex was damn good. And so was the uprising.) In my defense I must say that it’s one of those “faux-casual sex turns into emotional commitment” fics, so sex and romance are interwoven very closely here, even by the fanfiction standards. It’s also quite trope-heavy, going through several slash cliches, and as someone who’s not a fan of many slash cliches I can say that it’s done in pleasantly non-cringy way (except the first part, which was somewhat cringy. I think nothing can redeem Visiting a Gay Planet and Trying to Fit In for me, except maybe outright parodies).[4]
References
- ^ 2002 comments by Predatrix
- ^ 2003 comments at Crack Van
- ^ Katy and Molly's 77+ Favourite A/B and A-B Stories, Archived version, August 5, 2013
- ^ From the tumblr post Reviews of Some Nova’s Fics, Archived version