Strings Attached
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Strings Attached |
| Author(s): | x_los |
| Date(s): | September 2015 |
| Length: | |
| Genre(s): | slash |
| Fandom(s): | Blake's 7 |
| Relationship(s): | |
| External Links: | Strings Attached |
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Strings Attached is a Avon/Blake story by x_los.
The story was published in September 2015 by Aralias in Pride and Prejudice, a Blake's 7 zine.
Reactions and Reviews
i really like this one - i'm glad that, although it was the first non-gem B/A fic you wrote, you held it back so that it could go in the zine, because it's brilliant and cracky and brilliant, and CARNELL. all the carnell stuff is amazing - i've said before (in fact, i feel like i've commented on ths fic before but i can't have done) that i love that the fate of the war is changed by this tiny stupid thing. it feels like a joke, and yet also like exactly the right kind of things for pyschostrategists to be doing. ONLY CARNELL, only a genius (that's you bb), could have figured out that corsets would save the day. also - i like that they are friends, obviously, and that avon has become less embarrassed but carnell is still superior and mocking him, and that blake is the president but carnell knows a lot that is uncomfortable about him - for example, he knows that the president enjoys corsets and breath play. that's a lovely puncturing of the blake mythos, even though it doesn't mean that blake's not a good president, and had to cope with difficult things - indeed carnell himself says that the pressures were immense. i like that you bother to point out that carnell, for all that he's an amazing genius etc, couldn't do blake's job - so we don't put either of them down. they're good at different things.i love the tone of this one - i think maybe it's the fact that it's shorter as well, but it's like you crammed jokes into almost every second. it's an absolute pleasure to read. this is one of my favourites from right at the beginning: he liked Carnell, obscurely. That didn't mean Carnell wouldn't get them all killed – after all, Avon loved Blake, and nothing was likelier.
i also like the P&P reference - it's a bit random, but it helps tie the fic in with the THEME, y'know?
both blake and avon are a bit gayer than usual, but that fits with the larky tone, and it never morphs them out of character. maybe you should do a carnell-heist story. he's such fun, and this fic that revolves around him is such fun, and heists are fun - and surely carnell is GREAT at crime, except for some reason he isn't.
this is nice He didn't doubt Carnell's observational powers, but neither did he think that pouring tea weighed much against Blake's regular shows of disdain. i mean, there are probably loads of bits that are nice, but i saw this one and thought - i really like this.
i lie the sex, btw - and how it's fun, and both are them are in control and out of control in different ways. i like that blake has a weird fettish and the reason for it (Although really, when he explains it it sounds like his 'fettish' is just finding paul darrow attractive [particularly paul darrow in corset - why has fandom never gone for thsi before?? maybe we needed draco malfoy], and there are about a million people who are into that).
and you've written a good vial :) basically - this fic is great! i like it a lot.[1]
The tone of this one is weird to be bc it feels more Predatrix or Executrix-ish than me-ish, to me, and v polished in a way I’m not ultimately sure about—but which also feels more Respectable than most of what I do.[2]
I think this is wonderful. It reminds me a lot of a Firefly fic about Wash's leather fetish, especially his Zoe-in-leather fetish, because it communicates so much of what the fetish means to the participant.Special lols for estate agent!Jenna (evidently what she did before adopting the comparatively more respectable metier of smuggler) and Blake being vulnerable to possession on Cally's day off.
Can't be *very* Executrix-ish though because they actually have sex "on-camera" without a cutaway to the fireplace...[3]
Ok, so I've come around on this completely. I love it and have read it a few times now. I know you feel it's a bit glib, and I hope that because I used to agree in draft one, that you'll actually believe that now I think it isn't and with good reason. I actually think polishing it makes it work a lot better, because I can settle into the logic and rhythm of the story better...[snipped]
The jokes are always just on the edge of puncturing the fic but you always manage to keep the story intact, and I think that energy really gives the story something. I enjoy the fun of the boxes and how everyone enjoys them.
Ok, the sex is tender and hot, moving right along...I like this version of old!Avon, I like that he's totally shameless and has an awful cane--it's a nice glimpse of this better world, and Carnell's speech at the end is a bit smug but not too much to spoil it. In a way, it really justifies the story being about Blake's fetish, because it's about letting yourself enjoy those sort of human quirks, making space for it. But it's phrased in a way that has such sympathy for and understanding of what's really difficult--almost impossible--about this happy ending, even as you make it look so easy. I love all of that phrasing, but "simultaneously something terribly obvious and still rather delicate sums it up perfectly.[4]
...this was REALLY awesome and such a fitting, if embarrassing, fetish for blake to be stuck with. also, your carnell is adorable...[5]