Beyond the Far Horizon

Fanfiction
Title:	Beyond the Far Horizon
Author(s):	J.R.
Date(s):	November 1994
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Blake's 7
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Beyond the Far Horizon is a Blake's 7 Avon/Blake story by J.R..

It was published in Southern Comfort #8.5.

Part of a Trilogy

• Beyond the Far Horizon (Avon/Blake) ("Avon and Blake are surprised to realize that they are hopelessly in love...even though they can't seem to get along for more than an hour at a time!") (16 pages)
• Echoes of Love (Avon/Blake, with Avon/Soolin and Cally/Jenna) (33 pages)
• Coming Out of the Dark (Avon/Blake, with Cally/Jenna, Blake/Jenna and Avon/Cally) (36 pages)

Reactions and Reviews

Overall I enjoyed the three stories, but I do have some complaints. If I wanted to read K/S, I'd pull out one of a zillion K/S zines I own. Blake is bashed in this. Hey, this Blake is so totally untrustworthy and so stupid that everyone, including Avon, wonders why Avon loves him. And this Avon is rather "off." I guess I just don't see him cooking up a storm, talking babytalk, and weeping hysterically.... Good sex in this [one]. I liked Avon kissing Blake in front of the others.

And now we get to this series of fics [the last three fics by this author in Southern Comfort #8.5, the second of which is Echoes of Love]. Fortunately, I am too tired to eviserate the next one as greatly as it deserves, so I will keep it brief (I know it doesn't seem brief, but it is given my intense dislike).

'Beyond the Far Horizon' is actually OK. Pure fluff - our heroes go to a beach resort (as they always seem to in the fics, Blake having finally bowed to the inevitable truth that everyone would rather do literally anything that wasn't fighting the Federation, but particularly sunbathing) and he and Avon are drawn together and have sex, and then there's some cute silliness where absolutely everyone creeps in to look at them sleeping together and is like OMG NO WAY, and then Avon makes everyone an omelette and..... yes, it is vaguely adorable, I'm sorry.

In general, I quite like this fic, but there are warning signs already that it will soon turn into the disaster that will be 'Echoes of Love'. These signs are (or rather sign is) that Avon is like 'Blake, if we are to be together, you must actually listen to me', which is... fair enough actually. But unfortunately the 'listening to Avon' business manifests itself in the story as the specific event: 'Avon won't let Blake attack Central Control after Kasabi is captured'. This saves Gan's life (although the narrative doesn't bother to make this point by having Gan be around a lot and everyone being like 'oh Gan, you are brilliant - I'm so pleased you're alive') and makes Blake realise what a terrible mistake it would have been for him not to listen to Avon, because Avon is right about everything.

Now my problems with this are two-fold:

1. Blake has no hold over Avon in the actual 'Pressure Point' (or any episodes, actually. All he has is his conviction and Avon's willingness to basically do whatever he says). This time (PP) he has literally agreed they will go back if it is too dangerous - arguably that was a lie, but it's no more a lie or not a lie than him telling Avon that he will listen to him. All Avon had to do in PP as writ was say no, but he said yes, because he loved Blake and, arguably, because attacking Control was the right thing to do (and maybe he wanted the Liberator and so he wanted to get rid of Blake). Therefore the conditions have not changed. Blake has still agreed to listen and is still going back on his word, Avon still has reason to mistrust Blake's agreement, Blake still wants to destroy Control because it's right, Avon still doesn't want to die but still loves him and wants to help him. The only thing that has changed is maybe that he already owns the Liberator (but if you want the Liberator so bad, just stage a mutiny), so I find Avon refusing him now in a much more aggressive way deeply implausible. I suppose the promise is a personal one between lovers and that's different, but I read Avon's agreement to go with Blake to attack Control as a personal agreement too (do you want to tell me why? I like a challenge. You don't want to tell me why IT'S BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU).

2. I just don't like the idea that if Blake had listened to Avon all along then everything would have been brilliant. Pressure Point is his only real failure up until that point - and yes, it is a massive failure that is brought about by him being obsessed and thoughtless, but it seems unfair to smack him in the face with it and say it's what he always does and that what he always does always has these terrible consequences. Yes, he does always do it, but he's usually clever and resourceful enough (and has good people/equipment to back him up) to make it work for him. That's why he thought he could attack Control this time. Because he'd always succeeded in the past and once again he thought it was worth the risk.

Anyway, then he's like 'oh Avon, I'm so glad I listened to you, you are amazing', and I gag slightly, even though I do think that Avon is really clever and Blake should listen to him a bit more than practically never.