The Night Watch (Blake's 7 story by Erszebet Bathory)

Fanfiction
Title:	The Night Watch
Author(s):	Erszebet Bathory
Date(s):	1995
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Blake's 7
Relationship(s):
External Links:	online here
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The Night Watch is a Blake's 7 Avon/Blake story by Erszebet Bathory.

It was first published in Bene Dictum #2 and has been archived online.

Reactions and Reviews

1995

And I second your recommendation of Erszebet Bathory's "The Night Watch"

in Bene Dictum: Half'n'Half. Wow, what a chiller! Interesting that you thought of this one in terms of stories with a well-done Blake, but yes, with his conscience surgically removed, he could be like that, I think.

Blake might be tempted to do this - but I don't see him actually carrying it through. It is a very hot story, but I can't see him putting his compassion on hold for long enough - even when Avon's been driving him mad all day.

As for slash, at Escapade, I picked up "Bene Dictum: Half 'N' Half." Mostly Professionals stories but there was a thimbleful of B7 and one of them had me clenching the pages so tightly I was leaving wrinkles. "The Night Watch" by Erszebet Bathory gives us a harsh, uncompromising view of Blake willing to put his bootheel down (symbolically) on the back of Avon's neck and take what he most wants, which by the way has been a thorn in his side since Gan's death. The dialogue is spot-on, the sparring utterly convincing, and the tension razor-edged. Blake toys with his prey a bit then gets down to business: hot explicit sex and Avon -- on his knees before an implacable master. This story could be an interstitial scene within an aired episode (I always admire a writer who can do this), just one that got dropped for -- lack of time (yeah, right). As for believing in it, yes, I could imagine this scene happening if Blake's conscience and compassion for another being suffering went on hiatus. He's done some hard suffering himself, betrayed friends, lost family, been tortured, mindwiped, drugged, but he's finally had enough. So he swats a mosquito irritant. This is a grim horrific universe and this Blake reflects it, shrugging off pain, his own and Avon's. In the end he's tied Avon to him forever in a bitter push-pull thrall more binding than slavery.

1996

Thanks (?) to Joyce, I've gotten to sample a couple of "/" stories from the OBLAQUE folk, confirming that I really don't want to read any more of those. The one where Avon's amnesiac was so-so, but "Open All Hours" by M. Fae Glasgow, and "The Night Watch" by Erzbet Bathory... nope, never again. I really don't enjoy reading stuff that leaves me feeling grubby and nauseous. It's stories like that which get me thinking, "Y'know, maybe the Anti-Slash Brigade has a point..."

[I] would strongly recommend taking a pass on Erzebet Bathory's The Night Watch. Unless, of course, Blake-As-Happy-Rapist is your cup of tea, but I doubt that would apply to most of us.

2005

Yes! Yes! This is a very nasty perverse *awesome* story. And yes, Blake dominates this story, and, for once, he gets what he wants. Considering the price he will have to pay later and the hell he will live in, I can't blame him. (But then, I seldom blame Blake). Ah and Avon suffers. Beautifully as usual.

A story you should read every time you're watching the show and wish that Blake would bitch slap Avon and make him see the light.

Vengeful, wonderful, HOT story.

I love that story. *drools* It really is refreshing to see Blake dominate Avon completely for once, hee. I never blame Blake either, look who he has to put up with;).... That's why Evil!Blake stories are my guilty pleasure:P. What if he *did* snap one day? Hm, Blake Snapping seems to be a fanfic kink for me in the way that Avon Is Forced To Feel is for others.

2017

WHY ARE BLAKE AND AVON DOOMED THIS WEEK? Blake uses weird alien mind control to sleep with Avon and then thinks better of trying that again because it’s wrong.

EDITOR’S NOTE: somehow childlike

PROSE: fine

OVERALL: There’s not enough ‘why’ from Blake here, and the plot device means that Avon’s fairly absent–though you could revise this story so we’d know more about what Avon feels initially and then under the influence, and I think that’d be better. It’s essentially a vampire-thrall sort of ploy (per the wanky author name), but it’s not really doing it for me on that level, and I don’t know what this means for them.