what will I do when I don't have you / to hold onto in the dark? (from 'Oceanographer's Choice', The Mountain Goats)

part 1 of 2

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💫🐶 | STAR TREK: The Original Series — 1.05 The Enemy Within (1966)

In the dark there was no pretence. In the dark there where no poker faces. The tears fell silently. The horror was bone deep. Reassurances where pressed into skin with lips and hands and noiseless care so that when the light came they would be stone again. Staunchly resolute and unrelenting.     

The KS Project

The KS Project is a continuing mission to rescue, collect, and share original art and fanworks focusing on Star Trek’s iconic duo Kirk and Spock, helping in the curation and preservation of this cultural history for fans today and in the future.

The two characters conveyed an indefinable, profound relationship that has been explored and enriched by over half a century of prolific creative fandom (producing art, sculpture, fanfic, vids, theatre, film, crafts, filk songs...) alongside endorsed books, comics, artistic merchandise and more. The project was conceived by a fan who was inspired at a difficult time by the two characters and the relationship they saw on screen, initially becoming the recipient of gifts of unwanted fanworks. Realising this rich material and history was in danger of being lost (e.g. disposed of by disinterested parties or becoming inaccessible in other ways), they declared a ‘safehouse’ for anything that people wished to see go to a devoted home, especially fanzines, and began to research and catalogue the material. Given its founder is an artist, and no other project exists with this as a primary focus, art is particularly welcomed and appreciated. It would be amazing to one day be home to one of the most comprehensive archives of original Kirk and Spock art/fan art, and to be able to safeguard it for the future. This indeed hopes to add to other efforts to rescue and conserve such work and help other fans access and enjoy it going forwards. If you are part of any projects, institution or fan-lead, for example, to digitize, catalogue and share fanworks, then do feel free to get in touch. If you are a collector, especially of Trek art, or even an original creator, whether or not you have anything to donate or sell, it would be great to hear from you. Even fewer comprehensive records exist of the fan art than fanzines, including artists who have produced huge bodies of original work over the years but much is MIA or remains rarely seen. As originals are found and added to the collection, they will first be shared online. If a grand gallery is a far off dream, ways to view the physical work will progress step by step, with possibilities such as bringing it to events or visitations. This is a fan-run non-profit passion project, so means and resources are limited, but every way will be found to make this a success and special contribution to the fandom, relying on mutual generosity and enthusiasm. Live Long and Prosper!

So grateful that Open Doors exists!

Reference by @wolfi-sama

Inktober 2021 (Star Trek Themed), Day 1/31: “Crystal”

Stolen Kisses

by CateAdams

The Enterprise comes into contact with a belligerent alien species after a distress call from a desperate refugee. As his first officer offers his life in a bid to protect the crew from telepathic danger, Captain Kirk races against the clock to try to understand the terrible culture that produced it.

Written for the Trek Tribute Zine 2021 “The Premise”

Words: 4984, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 2 of Episodes

my roommates got me soooo into tos i’m so beyond fucked up over kirk and spock it’s ridiculous

normal tos characters: Mr Spock.

kirk: Mr Spock.. (affectionate)

In my comics, this is exactly what the little <3 in Kirk’s dialogue is meant to convey.

by CateAdams

After an ambush at a routine colony check-in, Jim and Spock are trapped on an alien world with the Enterprise out of reach and a group of deadly mercenaries searching for them. In hiding, Jim and Spock finally have a conversation about the depth of their relationship and where it might go. As Spock describes the importance and history of t'hy'la, Jim realizes that there may already be such a connection between them. In the darkness and quiet, the captain is able to clearly sense his friend in a way he hadn’t been able to before. And then he realizes it is because Spock has been gravely injured and his shields have slipped. Will they be able to hold on long enough for rescue or will Spock succumb to his wounds just as they each have discovered the truth between them?

This story was included in: “This Simple Feeling Zine Issue 6” (Twitter: @TSFZine, Tumblr: thissimplefeelingzine) Thank you to beta reader dogfeathers whose comments greatly improved the draft and lent confidence to the writer!

Words: 2761, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

When the captain can’t stop teasing his Second in command…

Yes, I’m also returning to this fandom as well.

Update: Prompting extended till 31 Jan, but ready for claims! Let’s get creative!

Wheeee, we are excited to see the prompts coming in! Thank you to everyone who reblogged our announcements and spread the word. As we are new to Tumblr it isn’t easy to get the news out quickly and widely. We have extended the sign-up/prompting period a little to give more K/S fans the chance to get their prompts in on time: prompting will close on Monday, 31 Jan 2022, 12:01AM UTC. Until then you can add prompts via the sign-up form. Up to 5 prompts are allowed per participant - if you have already signed up and want to add more requests, you can do so until this deadline. Despite the extended prompting phase, claims will start as scheduled. You can claim as many prompts as you fancy, even your own! Each prompt can be claimed by multiple people. 

Prompt claims and creation period: Jan 20 - March 10. Deadline for posting works: Thursday, 10 March 2022, 12:01AM UTC. The collection is now officially open (though moderated, i.e. each submitted work will be approved by the mod), so when you claim a prompt you should also see a “fulfil” button. Please use this button when you post your work, to make sure it is in the collection and unrevealed till the fest goes live in time for K/S Day.

We also received an important question from a fellow fan: Can one claim a prompt without submitting a prompt oneself? YES. “Sign-ups” are tied to the request form, but you can definitely take part without going through the sign-up form. As long as you have an AO3 account, you can check out the K/S Spring Fever prompts (link to the list) and claim/fulfil whatever tickles your inspiration. Though we are of course happy about any and all prompts – the more the merrier. Your idea might just give someone’s muse the right nudge!

A word about art: Most of the prompts we have received so far are phrased for fic, so let us emphasise that this fest is all about fanwork diversity. You are free to fulfil a prompt with art, vids, podfic, crafts, cake art etc. even if it sounds more like it is phrased for fic. As prompts can be claimed by multiple people, there is no “taking away”. One and the same prompt may inspire fic, art, or cake art. 

The only thing we ask all participants is: Please respect any DNWs (Do-Not-Wants) stated and the ratings in a prompt!! (Example: if someone only wants their prompt fulfilled up to a teen-rating, don’t give them smut, no matter if your medium of choice is fic or art or anything else. No marzipan peens in that case.)

(Why do we keep mentioning cake art, you ask? Because K/S cakes, be they with life-sized marzipan figures or a bit simpler, are awesome. And they have a long tradition in fandom, especially at conventions. That’s why. Also, the mod has a sweet tooth.)

If you encounter any difficulties during sign-up or claims, or have any questions, please get in touch with us: kirkspockmod+ksspringfever @ gmail . com  We are happy to help!  

image description: a tweet from Ceinwen Langley from Oct. 2020. “I don’t know who needs to hear this, but writing is hard because you care about it and you want it to be good, not because you’re bad at it.”

STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES 2.03 “The Changeling”

I review killing time (or whatever)

Okay, yes this review has taken me forever and that’s because there’s so much I want to say, and most of it has very little to do with the plot of the book. I cut down a lot of this so you guys could just get to the main point of what I’m trying to say, so I apologize if this is a little brief or incomprehensible to those who haven’t read the book. 

And also, before I get into it, I would like to say rest in peace to the author Della Van Hise, who passed away in march of this year. She contributed a lot to the fandom, especially in regards to K/S fiction, as well as publishing a lot of non-trek related work during her life. 

First of all, if you have heard of Killing Time, there is probably one specific reason for that. It’s the same reason I picked up the book in the first place and why it’s really even a topic of discussion on this site. To put the story quite briefly, Killing Time was recalled during its initial release on account of the book having too many slash elements (aka, the relationship between Kirk and Spock could be read as sexual/romantic). I first heard about the book here in this post where the history of it is worded to sound like one very dramatic mystery. One user (no shade intended here) even goes as far as to say the book was recalled by old Gene himself! Now I’m always one for drama and such, but after reading the book I looked into it a little more, and I don’t think that’s exactly how it went down. 

Here you can find multiple statements from the author herself, in which she tells the whole story. According to her, the book publisher accidentally released an unedited manuscript that was never supposed to make it to the public. So technically the publisher did not recall the book because it was “too gay”, they recalled it because they printed a version that was never meant for the public to see anyway. These were the edits that were specifically requested by Paramount, who the publishers were supposed to go through to get the final okay on all material. And like, yeah, all of Paramounts edits were pretty much to delete any sentence where Spock and Kirk are tender to each other, they were trying to make is less homoerotic, obviously. I understand why this slight distinction may not make much of a difference to you guys, but for me it’s important to note that the book wasn’t recalled because it was too gay, it was just never supposed to be gay in the first place. It doesn’t make that fact any better, but it does make it less dramatic, in my opinion. I encourage you to read the statements from the author on this topic though, because she gives the whole story a lot better then I just did. 

Now to address the main question at hand, does Killing Time depict a romantic relationship between Kirk and Spock, or is it all just hype? (in layman’s terms, is the book gay or not?) and to answer quite plainly, yes it’s gay. of course it is. but then to answer less plainly, no. What the fuck do i mean by this? well let me try and explain. 

I read the second edition of the book, aka the censored version, but I also followed along with the first edition (using this great article). The changes made to the book did not effect the plot at all, and were really only minor things. Notably, in the second edition they just kind of left out any part where Spock and Kirk touch each other (and I don’t mean in a sexual way). For example, there is a scene where Spock and Kirk are having a serious conversation in the ships garden. In the first edition, at the end of the conversation Spock places a hand on Kirks shoulder, which Kirk covers with his own hand. In the second addition, all mentions of this simple contact are deleted. The differences between the two are mostly little things like this. There is no secret sex scene or love confession hidden in the first addition. You see, in my opinion, the changes made to the second edition of the book do very little to censor the romantic undertones between Kirk and Spock. That’s because they are ingrained in the plot line itself. 

One very important aspect to this book is that Kirk and Spock share a mental bond. This is something that can only happen between a Vulcan and another when they are extremely close. The mental bond that Kirk and Spock share is so strong in this book, it’s even present when they enter an alternate dimension where they are strangers to one another. There is a romance in this book between two original characters, and their relationship is constantly being paralleled by that of Kirk and Spock. And, maybe most telling, Spock refuses a female Romulan who is very interested in him over and over again simply because Kirk exists. And no, that’s not an exaggeration, here is a line from when the Romulan woman was begging Spock to be in a relationship with her: 

That line is in both versions of the book. What I’m trying to say is yes, there are K/S elements in Killing Time. There are many tender moments and lots of talk about Kirk and Spock’s devotion to each other. 

So now you’re asking yourself, Gar, why did you just say earlier that “no, the book is not gay”? Well, that’s because it’s not. This isn’t a K/S book. This isn’t a piece of Spirk fanfiction. Because for as much as this book is about Kirk and Spock’s relationship, it’s even more about Romulans (and more specifically, that one girlboss Romulan Commander from the Enterprise Incident…. bet ya didn’t see that coming!) That’s right, the most controversial Star Trek book ever published is at it’s core quite plainly just a Star Trek book. There is weird alternate dimensions, time travel, espionage and lots and lots of Romulans! 

Alright, alright, what I’m really trying to get at here is that yes, if you read into Killing Time there is K/S elements. I mean for god sake the author was a known K/S fanfic writer, that wasn’t a secret by any means. If she wrote their relationship a little more tenderly than most authors would have, can we really be surprised? But writing a K/S story was not her intention here, and that’s not what this is. I think the author put it best herself, so I’m just going to put that here: 

People will hype up killing time as some secret confirmation that K/S is real and canon, and I really get that. Like, it would be really nice to have some canon acknowledgment of K/S, and I really don’t blame people for acting like that’s what this is. But that really isn’t what this is. And even if there was some kind of love confession, I really hate to break it to you, but the Star Trek novels are just fancy fanfiction and are not considered canon by any stretch (excluding the one Gene wrote himself, which let’s face it, perhaps has the most K/S elements of all). 

If you are looking for a nice story about Kirk and Spock being in love, then I very much urge you to look at Ao3 or similar sites. Skip this, if you want a K/S story, because that’s not what this is. Now, if you’re a huge fan of the Romulan commander from the Enterprise Incident, then my GOD you have to read this. I think this was a pretty solid Trek book. It was no piece of literary genius, but it got the job done. There was a lot of it that I think could have been left out, because it the later half it started to drag horribly, and we got a few plot threads that went absolutely nowhere. I’m not sure I’m much of a fan of alternate universes, as I really really enjoy the established dynamic of the characters, but it didn’t bother me too much. But I mean hey man, there was defiantly parts where I was so invested I couldn’t put the book down. Give this one a read if you’re looking for a pretty interesting Trek book with a little bit of cheeky K/S sprinkled here and there. 

If you have given the book a read, or just have thoughts in general, I’d love to hear them! 

There’s a reason Killing Time and “The Price Of The Phoenix” have similar vibes, and it’s not just because of the homoeroticism- it’s also because of the relationship that one (or more) of the main characters has with The Romulan Commander. In Killing Time, Spock goes into Pon Farr and melds with her offscreen. In The Price Of The Phoenix, Kirk is running round naked the whole time and it’s “one kirk for Spock, a kirk clone for the romulan commander”. And it’s great.

However, I will say- there are direct comparisons made between two telepathic Original Characters who are in a relationship in the novel (Richardson and S’Parva, if I remember correctly), and Kirk and Spock themselves.

And, later-

(Bolded words are my own)

So the real answer is: regardless of whether this is intentional subtext, this book definitely offers many gay readings which are just as enjoyable.

Not on the bridge captain!