Here's a real oldie. An old Horizon zine, dating back to the days when they published adult material. This zine is rather a joy in some respects. I found it stirred fond nostalgia in me. For the early days of fandom? Er, no, 'cause I wasn't there. But among this collection of stories can be found such a collection of ultimate plot cliches that they can hardly fail to amuse.
We have Blake and Cally having sex after a well-meaning alien influences their minds.
Then there is Vila having to pick the lock on a planetary ruler's chastity belt and of course being invited by her to help out in other ways after it is removed.
Then Jenna, Cally, Avon and Blake fall in with a group of matriarchs who of course assume Jenna to be the leader and Avon and Blake to be little more than pets - and they have to sleep with each other to keep up the pretence.
Next, we have the 'aphrodisiac accidentally mixed into the coffee' which causes Jenna and Avon to have a fling, and that gives a complete quartet of the most cliched stories in existence.
There's also one uninspiring Vila/Cally (trapped in a cave) story and two others that are fairly original. The last story I really enjoyed. Blake makes up his mind to finally make a pass at Jenna, only to discover that she shacked up with Gan long ago. Then, just to make life complete for the Gan fan <hurrah!> we discover that he is in such hot demand that Jenna and Cally are having to take it in turns every other night!
Actually, considering the zine is fully of such ancient plots (well, maybe they were new back then), the stories aren't that badly written. The cover had me in absolute hoots of laughter though with a gloriously stereotyped picture that looked as if it was straight out of the only cliche that was missing from the zine (but then Avon and Blake as sex slaves is usually slash, not het fantasy).
Lysistrate, "The Deepest Secret" (B/C, A/Meegat)
Liberty Belle, "...from the Bottom Up" (V/oc)
Anne Lewis, "The Initiation" (A/C, B/J)
Robert Aries, "I Suppose it Was Inevitable" (V/C)
Anne Lewis, "Late Watch" (J/Travis)
Pat Thomas, "How Sweet the Cup" (A/J)
Southern Comfort, "Tonight's the Night" (G/J, G/C)
Art: Heather Lulham cover
Surprise - A N Orephus
Jenna is fuming at being left on teleport duty, and ends up n a bath with
Vila. Lightweight PWP but nicely done.
What a way to go - Carole Fairman
A very early example of the author completely ignoring characterisation as
shown in screen in order to force the sex scenes she wants. I don't really
see either Blake or Avon deciding that a shag with Jenna or Cally is far more
important than dealing with the pursuit ships bearing down on the Liberator.
Jenna as a shy virgin isn't terribly convincing either, even in a story
probably written during the first run of the first season.
Manipulative Dexterity - Miss Terious
Half page funny.
Lya - Miss Terious & A N Other
A look at a newly married Gan's relationship with his wife, and how he ended
up with a limiter and a sentence to Gauda Prime when he should have been able
to plead self-defence. There's some good discussion of the corruption in
Federation society, although I don't think it's sufficiently clear why a
trooper attacked Gan's wife.
Empathy - Miss Terious
Avon unwittingly experiments with a tasp (direct electrical stimulation of
the brain pleasure centres), and is driven insane. Cally has to use her
empathic capability to draw him out. It was a new plot then, and it's nicely
written.
Song of the Rebel Leader - Liberty Belle
Poem, missing in my copy
Rushalla - Varian Martin
Part 1 of a long story which isn't continued in issue 3, or anywhere else. I
can't say I'm disappointed. Blake gets involved with a female original
character, to the distress of Jenna.
Night Shadow - Pat Thomas
Servilan's (sic) erotic nightmare.
A.N. Opedhus, "Surprise" (J/V)
Carole Fairman, "What a Way to Go" (B/J, A/C)
Miss Terious & A.N. Other, "Lya" (G/oc)
Miss Terious, "Empathy" (A/oc, A/C)
Varian Martin, "Rhushalla, part 1" (B/oc)
Pat Thomas, "Night Shadow" (Servalan/?)
Miss Terious, "Manipulative Dexterity" (A/oc)
Poetry:
Liberty Belle, "Song of the Rebel Leader" (a la "Hiawatha")
Art:
Heather Lulham cover (J/V)
Felicita - Janet Ellicot
Blake is trying to persuade the leader of a colony planet to let the
rebellion use it as a base. The man has other ideas about how to get an
income from his planet, and is quite happy to get the information he wants by
using torture on Avon - including rape. Non-explicit.
Time and Place - Carole Fairman
PWP in which Blake and Cally, and Avon and Jenna, have one night stands
before settling down in their "correct" pairings.
Programmed Responses - Catherine Knowles
Avon has been captured by the Federation and programmed by a puppeteer before
being allowed to escape. Vila has to help him unravel the programming.
Non-explicit but still grim.
The Reason Why - Kathleen Glancy
Avon is being very, very nice to Vila. Everyone except Cally is wondering why... Amusing short.
Order of the Court - Carole Fairman
Blake and Jenna's happy sexual relationship is disrupted by Blake's
accidental discovery of part of his sentence. Gives me the impression that
the angst is tossed in to evade the label of PWP for the utterly gratuitous
sex scenes.
Fiction:
Janet Ellicott, "Felicita" (A/oc)
Carole Fairman, "Time and Place" (B/C, A/J, B/J)
Catherine Knowles, "Programmed Responses" (A/oc, A/V)
Kathleen Glancy, "The Reason Why" (A/C)
Carole Fairman, "One Last TIme" (Travis/Kiera)
Carole Fairman, "Order of the Court" (B/J)
Art:
M.J. East cover (B & J)
You'd never believe It, But... - Ricia Watts
Short funny in which a teleport accident puts Avon in a twentieth century
house, and in need of emergency teleport.
Pleasure Palace - Star One
Avon is Trapped In A Brothel (TM). He has to be rescued by Blake (pretending
to be a customer), and then Gently Taught To Enjoy Sex Again by Cally.
Competently enough written, apart from the gaping plothole of why it's
implied that the Federation were responsible for converting Avon from
customer to merchandise, and yet Blake is able to walk in unrecognised.
Admission of Love - Rosinante
Third season Cally is tortured by Travis, and brutally raped by reptilian
aliens under his command. Only It Was All A Dream, and Avon has to Gently
Teach Her To Enjoy Sex, knowing that It Is Her First Time.
Skylarna - Ricia Watts
Avon goes to a concert by a singer he's long admired, and ends up rescuing
her from terrorists. As a result they end up in bed together. This one has
indigo hair as well as eyes, but is actually sufficiently readable that I'm
disinclined to label her MarySue. The Tarrant Nostra need not bother, as
Tarrant is (ab)used to demonstrate how much more attractive Avon is.
A Jenna Story - Carole S Fairman
Blake and Jenna have a brief encounter during their first night on the Liberator.
Perfect Pleasure - Southern Comfort
Avon has been captured by the Federation, but when he proves resistant to
interrogation, Servalan decides to keep him as a pet. By the time Blake and
the crew arrive to rescue him, he's been brainwashed and dosed with
aphrodisiacs. So Servalan gets taken back to Liberator as well, to provide an
outlet for Avon's needs while the drugs wear off. Stretches the disbelief
suspenders in places, but worth reading.
Ricia Watts, "You'd Never Believe It But"
Star One, "Pleasure Palace" (A/many, A/C)
Rosinante, "Admission of Love" (A/C)
Ricia Watts, "Skylarna" (A/oc)
Carole Fairman, "A Jenna Story" (J/B)
Southern Comfort, "Perfect Pleasure" (A/Servalan)
'A Blake's 7 story' by Heather Lulham - not a bad story at all. A rather sad tale in which Avon meets a girl who has loved him from childhood. He has a brief erotic encounter with her, but is unable to accept any deeper relationship after his experiece with Anna Grant. Well written and worth reading.
'Xtar' by Rosinante - not as good as the other story in the zine. Dayna is raped and eventually turns to Vila to help her recover from the experience. Not that bad, but some irritating writing habits occasionally distract from the story.
Heather Lulham, "A Blake's Seven Story" (A/oc, T/oc)
Rosinante, "Xtar" (D/V)
Pamela Wright, "Legends" (A/oc)
Sharon Eckman, "You Were Right -- I Did Underestimate You,
My Dear" (Soolin/Dorian)
Sally Jones, "The (K)Nightly Quest" (J/oc, A/oc
Silver Reed, "The Final Conquest" (A/Servalan)
J.D. Humphries, "A Knowing Smile" (A/Soolin)
Ricia Hargraves-Wilson, "Just What She Always Wanted"
(A/Servalan)
Cynthia Helos, "Ceremony's End" (D/T)
Cynthia Helos, "Power Struggle" (Travis/Servalan)
Poetry:
U.N. Owen, "Ther Avon"
Ros Williams, "Cally" (A/J, Travis/C, A/C)
Ros Williams, "Interlude" (G/Meegat)
Mary Moulden, "The Visitors" (A/oc/oc)
Ros Williams, "Twelve for Teleport" (A/C, A/Servalan)
Paula Dare, "Rubber Duck" (A/C)
Cavea Lector, "The Moley Flower" (A/C)
Ros Williams, "Catch 22 - Federation Style" (B/C, V/J, A/C)
Mary Moulden, "Long Road from Innocence" (A/Meegat)
Ros Williams, "The New Arrival" (A/V, A/B, A/C)