A Friend in Need (Sylvia Knight's story)

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Fanfiction
Title:	A Friend in Need
Author(s):	Sylvia Knight
Date(s):	1989
Length:	5374 words
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Blake's 7
Relationship(s):
External Links:	the story on AO3
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A Friend in Need is a Blake/Vila, Blake/Avon story by Sylvia Knight, a sequel to Descending Horizon and a part of her famous Descending Horizon series. It was published in Resistance #3 in January 1989 alongside two other stories from the series: Shards (a prequel to the Descending Horizon story from the previous issue of Resistance), and On the Edge (a sequel to A Friend in Need).

Summary

In this sequel to the popular Descending Horizon story (published in the zine Resistance #2), Blake, still dealing with his feelings for Avon, rejects Jenna and ends up spending the night with a sympathetic Vila.

Previously published in the zine Resistance #3.

Part 3 in the Descending Horizon series.

Reactions and Reviews

I agree that the Sylvia Knight stories in Resistance 2 and 3 were real standouts — I've noticed that they turn up on almost everyone's list of favorite B/As. I even know one person who's not much into slash generally who liked them a lot.

Very few people can make this pairing work, but Sylvia Knight puts in enough accuracy and characterisation to do it. Again, rather a lot of internal character-describing-his-emotions stuff but she makes that work, too. The friendly half-drunken tumble is surely handled, and Knight doesn't put a foot wrong throughout (apart from the occasional Americanism, but that's personal taste: as a Brit, I can't hear "I like most everything" in Blake's voice. It's just not idiomatic anywhere but the States). But despite that, and despite using a relationship that won't be central for most readers, this story works. Same sequence as the last. Don't miss.

There's some excellent writing in this volume - not all of it to my taste, but certainly of a high standard.

Following on from 'Descending Horizon' from Resistance #2 there are three interconnected stories by Sylvia Knight - 'Shards' (set pre-series), 'A Friend in Need' (after Countdown - B/V, a very rare item, and not bad at all, though poor Vilakins is so blatantly second-choice), and 'On The Edge' (pre-Star One, A/B, and even more explosive and intense than the earlier story). All three men are well, if quite harshly, portrayed, and the emotion between Our Heroes is a satisfying mix of passion and vitriol, though I did miss the humour of the series. Recommended, especially the last.

I like this a lot better than the Cally pity sex, even though it is essentially the same thing (double standards - get this het away from me!), I think because Blake is so clear with Vila about what is going on/so friendly about the sex - also we're in Blake's POV (we were in Cally's for the A/C) so we get to hear his sad thoughts about Avon - which makes it more interesting. Vila's dialogue is a bit off/too cockney.

I’m continuing to read third part of Descending Horizon, for what it is worth the Blake is not actually bad, that poor guy is so torn lol but complexity of these relationship makes me laugh: how many of them are involved, how many of them feeling one sided emotions, how many of them telling the truth?

Ah, free love commune!Liberator. Great for porn and crackfic, but gets too overwhelming in serious works.