Depression is more than a state of Mind by AnonEHouse/Willa Shakespeare/Entropy_House (PG)

[aralias.livejournal.com]

Fandom: BLAKE'S 7
Pairing: Ensemble, with Avon/Cally, Blake/Jenna
Length: 8476w
Author on LJ: entropy_house
Author Website: b7fanfic_etc, on AO3 and on Hermit
Why this must be read: On the one hand, this fic (written in 1996) is not exactly the sort of fic Willa Shakespeare is best known for (see, Divide and Conquer, recced back in 2004, for a more typical example - and an excellent fic). It's het, there's no sex, and it's a historical AU. But on the other - it is. Willa is very good at ensemble fics where everyone gets something important and interesting and probably amusing to do, but these fics are still primarily based around the romance arc. Willa believes you can have an exciting plot and a romance (and often sex) in the same fic - which is a combination I love, particularly when it's done this well. She's great at awkward people romances (now she writes Tony Stark, rather than Avon) and plausible mega-happy endings. The term 'HEX' was apparently of her coinage. coined to describe her work.

I would also say that one of her primary motifs as a writer is the re-use and re-purposing of existing material to provide structure and create comedic and narrative tension. In some cases this takes the form of a fusion (the plot 'Much Ado About Nothing' used for B/A) or a crossover. In this case (unusually) it takes the form of a historical setting, specifically 1930s 'Guys and Dolls' America. It's a somewhat an unusual choice for a historical!AU in general, but I think a clever one for these characters and their concerns. And it's fun. Willa fic is almost always lots of fun.

Excerpt

"Kidnapping?" The man gave a short, bitter laugh. "Once it would have been worth your while." His eyes went completely black. "Once there would have been someone willing and able to pay for me."

"Who are you?" Cally asked.

"Nobody. Not now."

"Even a nobody has a name," Will said. "I'm Will Restal, that's Olaf Gan," he pointed to the large man standing silently at the bedside, "and the lovely lady is Cally Auron."

"Well, now, you've proved your point. Even nobodies have names."

Cally started forward, angry, but stopped when she saw the man fight to rise onto one elbow, and fail. "You're sick, so I will make allowances, but they will only go so far. This is the All Soul's Mission. You are safe here, and may stay until you are better."

Link: Depression is more than a state of Mind

Comments

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

Hello! I remembered that story, but I had to hunt on the internet to find out when it was published. It was printed in the:

Pattern of Infinity (historical AU, published in 1996)
(You can find a review of the entire zine here.)
http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7/Fanzines/Reviews/PatInfinty.html

Thanks for the rec. Brings back the good old days. :^)

(Oh, I didn't invent HEX, but the person who did invent it first used it to describe me. I'm kinda semi-officially The President of the Happy Ending Expeditors.)

[aralias.livejournal.com]

you're most welcome. thank you for the info about the fic. ASTONISHINGLY that means i've put it in exactly the right place - one rec out either side and it'd be out of chronological order. magic. rather than just trying to work it out, i suppose i could have a) written to you or b) looked it up on fanlore myself, but for some reason i'd convinced myself that the zine wasn't published. i am delighted to hear it was - and it sounds like it was a really good zine (with an excellent name).

thanks also for the update re- 'HEX'. the lady formerly known as nova told me that you did.

i've updated the rec to reflect these facts.

and just as a head's up, i'm planning to rec another of yours in a week or so. it's also not from what i think of as your core canon, but it is my favourite apart from 'divide and conquer', whcih (as i mentioned) has already been recced. i should really leave some more comments...

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

HEX was kind of a toss-up. IIRC Nova coined the term and first applied it to me, but I certainly wasn't the first person to do HEXing. I may have been the first person who isued a challenge to a whole mailing list. Anyone who had a 'downer' ending and was curious to see if I could continue the verse to at least a hopeful ending could challenge me. I did enough one year that two mini-zines were published- one contained stories from the mailing list, including the ones I'd HEXed, and a much smaller zine was just the HEXes.

That was fun.