Nexus by Corngold (PG-13?)

[aralias.livejournal.com]

Fandom: BLAKE'S 7
Pairing: Blake/Avon, Avon-Jenna, ensemble.
Length: 26,692 in five chapters
Author on LJ: corngold
Author Website: on AO3
Why this must be read: I think it's fair to say that the fic-writing part of B7 fandom, though never dead, has gone through something of a renaissance in the past year. It's still quiet, but new fic is being written and at a goodly pace. We also have a kink meme (something only popular from 2007 onwards) and some new shared gags (Jewish!Travis springs to mind, as does Avon and Jaguars). I've got three more recs from 2013 for you, and one from 2014. We're back, baby.

Bodyswap is another trope that is practically canon thanks to (astonishingly) the same episode that gave us canon!'aliens made them do it'. It's also one of my favourite tropes, just generally. In this fic Avon and Jenna are swapped with each other and (rather than endure sympathy from their crewmates) decide to pretend to be each other until they can fix it or they are found out.

I really like this fic for its dedication to making use of its ensemble cast and for bothering with a good, interesting, universe-expanding B7-style plot, as well as for
the warmth, respect and love with which it depicts Blake, who is my not so secret favourite. But I usually use this space for some meta about why the fic is clever, so I also want to flag up the fact that it's an interesting choice a) not to swap the 'love interests' with each other and b) to specifically choose to swap Avon and Jenna, who are quite similar characters with quite similar concerns. The main differences are (arguably) that Avon pretends to be less moral than he is and that he strongly dislikes Blake, and Jenna wants to be more moral than she used to be and is willing to admit she likes Blake a lot. They're sort of on opposite sides (Jenna vocally supports Blake, Avon openly does not), but Corngold shows that they respect each other too. So, it's interesting to compare and contrast the two of them as they play each other. It's also very funny, like a good bodyswap or episode of Blake's 7 should be :D

Excerpt

Avon gets something to eat and then follows after Jenna. He finds her with Blake, heads bent over the ominously gutted teleport controls.

“—no way to keep it from shorting out because I’ve had to disconnect the backup drive,” Blake’s murmuring. “What do you think?”

“Mm,” Jenna grunts shortly. It’s a reasonable if unimaginative impression of Avon at his most taciturn, deep in thought.

“What’s going on?” Avon asks, bounding down the stairs and feeling his curls bouncing around his shoulders. He feels absurd, like a circus act, and Jenna shoots him a look that’s halfway between horror and hilarity.

Blake doesn’t seem to notice, which Avon takes to mean that it was a decent impersonation, whatever Jenna thinks of it.

“Zen reported a small malfunction in the circuitry here,” he explains. “When I couldn’t find Avon I thought I might try fixing it myself.”

“Ha!” Jenna barks. “Not one of your better schemes, Blake; you should have waited for me.”

Link: Nexus