Stress Factors
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Stress Factors |
| Author(s): | Paula |
| Date(s): | 1988 |
| Length: | 46 pages |
| Genre: | slash |
| Fandom: | Blake's 7 |
| External Links: | Online here |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Stress Factors is a Blake's 7 story by Paula.
It was published in Southern Comfort #4.75.
Summary
This story is a sequel to "The Bondstone," which established a psychic and sexual link between Avon, Vila, Cally, and Blake. When Avon attempts to break the bond, he and Tarrant are accidentally pushed into a sexual encounter that is unwelcome to both of them.
Reactions and Reviews
This is a sequel to one of my favourite zines "The Bondstone" so I was predisposed to like it. Its 46 pages take up the story three weeks after the Bondstone, in which Vila, Avon, Cally and Blake became bonded. Avon is having problems adjusting to the bond, problems which leads him into danger. Tarrant and Servalan also feature heavily, Dayna less so, and Soolin is barely mentioned. I didn't feel this had the emotional impact of its predecessor, though it's certainly well worth reading. The plot felt rather contrived IMHO, especially where Tarrant is concerned, but then you could say the same about the original. If you like wallows and loved the Bondstone, you might be slightly disappointed; if you prefer a little more action with your protestations of love/renunciation or whatever, you should enjoy it.[1]
Sequel to "The Bondstone," which established a psychic and sexual link between Avon, Vila, Cally, and Blake. When Avon attempts to break the bond, he and Tarrant are accidentally pushed into a sexual encounter that is unwelcome to both of them.[2]
Perhaps my favorite story was "Stress Factors." I always wondered about the future of that bond after "The Bondstone."[3]
"Stress Factors" is unfortunately not as memorable as its prequel, and the complication with Tarrant seems forced to me. As a flight-capture-and-rescue story, and on the general idea that a four-way bond will take a lot of adjusting to from these particular characters, it's more than adequate; Blake coping with the revolution after Gauda Prime is an important storyline, assuming Blake gets that far, and the relationship among the crew is only part of it. "The Watcher" also uses the whole of the Scorpio crew, and comes to grips mare definitely than any other story with the fact that surviving rebels will have no reason to like Avon, after Gauda Prime. Despite an adequate action plot and acme rather nice detection (again, by Vila, and again, a good choice), it's a slightly awkward story where the character close-ups don't always ring true. Avon by the end of fourth season was no prize when it came to relating to actual people, but the Avon of the story takes disaffection to a new order of magnitude — while simultaneously allowing Vila closer to him. It's certainly dramatic far the storyline, but not all elements match up smoothly.[4]
The jury's still out on "Stress Factors." Maybe because I haven't seen any episodes with Blake, except for "Terminal" and "Blake." Or maybe because Cally just seemed to be thrown in to keep Vila occupied while Avon and Blake sorted themselves out. I really haven't decided yet.
"The Watcher" was another one I was dissatisfied with. Not enough reason for the "faith" quote at the end when Avon had only decided to be nice to Vila two pages back.[5]
My favorite story was "Stress Factors." I wish Tarrant had stayed bonded with Avon though. Would have made things a whole heck of a lot more interesting. They had such an interesting (?) effect on one another. First time it was the bond yet the
second Tarrant went to Avon of his own free will. I would have liked them to have stayed bonded. [6]
References
- ^ from CB at Judith Proctor's Blake's 7 site
- ^ Favourite Avon/Tarrant Stories
- ^ from an LOC in Southern Comfort #5.5
- ^ from an LOC in Southern Comfort #5.5
- ^ from an LOC in Southern Comfort #5.5
- ^ from an LOC in Southern Comfort #5.5