Blake's 7 ficathon story: Islands

[vilakins]

Here's my story for the Blake's 7 ficathon.

I wrote for kernezelda who wanted Avon and/or Vila with Cally in the third season. That gave me a fairly free rein so I decided to use an alien idea that had been knocking around for a while.

Islands

Comments

[kerravonsen]

Oh, I liked that. The last paragraph pulled it all together. And here I'd been expecting something depressing, what with the total isolation that the three of them had been feeling at the start, (and also because I'd just read "Mirror Image" and "Sand is Another Word for Grit" which were both rather angsty and depressing -- this was a welcome relief. Not that it wasn't angsty too. I can so see Avon's reaction to the nebula, wanting to die and live without pain...

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Oh, I always give them some hope. I don't write unrelieved depression; It's a weakness of mine. :-D

[mistraltoes.livejournal.com]

That hurt. In the good way, though. All of the characters were well done and at the stronger end of how they appear on the show; and I particularly liked Avon's thought on regrets. The nebula consciousness is a nifty idea, too. As is the thought that Cally can take Avon in a fair fight. :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I think she definitely could having seen Avon fight. Check this out (http://www.livejournal.com/users/spacefall/8246.html). :-D

[mistraltoes.livejournal.com]

::chuckle:: Oh, dear.

[reapermum.livejournal.com]

I always wondered whether the fighting style was deliberate or they couldn't afford a fight arranger.

After all, Jenna and Vila must have learned to deal with bar room brawls, Gan can wrestle, Blake may have been encouraged to learn unarmed combat with the Freedom Party, but Avon? What excuse did he have to learn to fight?

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Very true; he's a geek. He took to guns with gusto though.

Very nice!

[(Anonymous)]

Avon isn't so far gone that he can't recognize the importance of Vila and Cally's feelings for him. Wonderful unique scenario.

Thanks, Joolz

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Avon and Cally seemed to share a real bond in 'Sarcophagus'. Pity he didn't remain friends with Vila after she died but I think he distanced himself in S4 to inure himself against further loss.

[kernezelda]

Thank you. I like this quite a lot.

Avon has always cut himself off from anything that can affect him, and Anna's betrayal proves him right, after all. Except he's not right, and a life without warmth or feeling is no life at all.

Cally's loss is tempered with her self-assessment and recognition of why she remains with Liberator. I like the way she and Vila work together to pull Avon out of his (virtual) suicidal notion.

The concept of the young nebula, a lifeform so different, yet able to learn and feel, is a lovely backdrop. Especially nice is the image of the tendril reaching out wistfully.

Again, thank you very much.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you liked it. :-D

[reapermum.livejournal.com]

The young nebula is very like Hoyle's Black Cloud, but obviously less of a shock to the human mind.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Ooh, tell me more! I read Hoyle as a teenager; perhaps the idea got into my subconscious.

[reapermum.livejournal.com]

Black cloud drifts into the solar system and obscures the sun, causing havoc on earth. Astronomers realise its an intelligence and feed signals between it an a human. I think they lose the first volunteer to madness, the second keeps going long enough to explain the damage that the cloud is doing, so it goes away. Then that bloke goes mad, but after he had explained his survival technique. He compared it to the early meetings between Europeans and Tasmanians, which caused the Tasmanians to die of despaire because they couldn't understand the European culture. So if there was a clash between what he believed and what the black cloud said always believe the cloud. His colleagues thought that he hit something so fundamental that he could not adjust to it.

I haven't read Hoyle for 40 years, must try getting hold of some.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Ah. Either I didn't read that one or my memory's a lot worse than yours. But then I think most people's are. [boggles] 40 years!

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

I liked that. Al the characterisations were equally real, and the whole was well plotted too.

Gina

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I had it in my head since the ficathon was announced but it took the approaching deadline to drive me to write it. I envy you your impressive output.

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

And there I was stressing that I hadn't written anything all week...

Gina

[vandonovan.livejournal.com]

Gosh this is a bit of an old story, but still very good. I never warmed especially to Cally when I watched the series, but it's easy to see how she and Vila became important to Avon as the show wore on, and this is a perfect example of that. It's a wonderful job, showing Avon's despair and Vila and Cally's caring. And the nebula was a wonderful idea as well.

But it does make you hurt a bit, knowing he lost some of that warmth when Cally died, and that any warmth Vila was still trying to give, Avon largely pushed away... Foolish boy.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I have Vila say to someone in my current WIP that Avon blamed him for not dying instead of Cally, but occasionally forgot to.

An old story because of the sentient nebula? Yes, I think Star Trek's done it more than once, and New Who had a sentient sun (after I wrote this) but hey. :-)

[vandonovan.livejournal.com]

Oh, no, no. I only meant it's old because you posted it over three years ago, not that the plot is old! I thought it was very original, actually!

And oh, Vila saying Avon blames him for not dying. I don't mind him saying it, so long as he gets proven wrong. Sigh. Oh.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Oh, good! I do know Star Trek did a sentient nebula but this one, I hope, had a twist to it.

Avon finds out how much Vila matters. :-) Not of course that he'd admit it.

[vandonovan.livejournal.com]

I rather think Avon would happily marry Vila, so long as he didn't have to say "I do."


I'm not sure of the Star Trek episode, but I would wager yours is better at any rate.