The Lorath
| K/S Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Lorath |
| Author(s): | C. Diane Mamaril and Zetta H. |
| Date(s): | 1979 |
| Length: | |
| Genre: | slash |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: The Original Series |
| External Links: | |
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The Lorath is a Kirk/Spock story written by Ray Newton and illustrated by Michael Verina. It has a sequel called The Lo' Chin.
It was published in the print zine Naked Times #3.
In it, Spock "takes the veil." This story was subject of the article "Sexuality in K/S Fiction: Internalized Homophobia" an essay in Not Tonight Spock! #10 which discuses homophobia in K/S fanfiction.
Summary
"... a story detailing what might happen if Spock should "happen" to find himself in a pre-Reform Vulcan era—a world where slavery was common, even revered... and where he himself feels far more at peace with his hybrid nature than in the world of Starfleet. But... Kirk is compelled to follow his fleeing companion into a world where he is truly unskilled and unprotected... and fair game for slavers who seek to exploit his unusual qualities."
The Author Comments on "The Lorath," Its History, and Its Trajectory
In January 1999, this The Price and The Prize was posted online by Foresmutters Project. An excerpt of the introduction to that post, which discusses "The Lorath":
As well as I can remember, The Lorath was the first slave story I wrote, for the Naked Times competition; that did seem to be the hot topic at the time. The line I took was that in a practical slave society, a beautiful, useful slave would be valued and cared for, so there would be a specific word to describe the relationship. Lorath was my attempt at a suitable word, and yes, it pre-dated t'hy'la - in fact, I remember thinking that Gene had come up with a word that was very necessary in the K/S universe (without the slave context, of course).Most of the basic ideas about Vulcan warrior society were inspired by [Gayle F's] S'Kanderai; I took the view that a chaotic, disorganised society would neither work nor survive, so the rules and codes of honour were important.
I had in fact found myself writing several slave scenarios, most appearing in Duet under the name Jane Jones. There was quite a bit of debate at the time as to whether slave stories were valid - some people took the position that Kirk and Spock would never take part in such a relationship, whatever universe they were in, or that if they did, Spock would immediately want to free Kirk. I took the view that in a slave-based society, it would be so normal for Spock to own slaves (even Kirk) that it would take a considerable period of inter-relationship with someone strong enough to make him really think about the consequences of what slavery did to the psyche of the slaves for him to learn to change his opinion.
In "The Prize" I tried to show the evolution of the relationship and the process of learning through Spock's eyes. I also thought that in such a society simply freeing one member of a slave race would be very dangerous for that slave, since he would not have even the meagre protection that the rules of ownership afforded. First the individual had to change, then gradually society; as we know, such change can be led by one man...
We had some quite funny discussions at the time on the slave theme; a situation that was very common was Spock falling for this beautiful golden god. I thought that a vulcanoid race that had never seen a human before might think very
differently, and did a story for Duet (Eye of the Beholder) where the Vulcan in fact found this pale-faced, round-eared, clammy-skinned weakling a distinct turn-off - though Spock learns to love him, of course.[1]
Reactions and Reviews
The idiot (pardon the expression) jumps through the Guardian of Forever without any preparation except for a first aid kit. Accidentally being pushed through—okay—but consciously stepping through wearing a uniform, no desert gear, hardly any food or water, and no knowledge of Vulcan’s pre-Reform age is beyond me. Beats me how he ever got to be a starship captain. There was one thing I had trouble with and it kept intruding all the way. It was Kirk’s meekness. I can’t put it any other way. If nothing else, Kirk is a fighter.[2]
References
- ^ Ray Newton's comments January 27, 2000 as posted at ASCEML, when "The Prize" was first posted online by Foresmutters Project
- ^ from The K/S Press #15