An Interview with Farfalla
| Interviews by Fans | |
|---|---|
| Title: | An Interview with Farfalla |
| Interviewer: | Lyrastar |
| Interviewee: | Farfalla |
| Date(s): | 2004 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom(s): | Star Trek: TOS |
| External Links: | Interview with Farfalla - the Butterfly Kitten, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
An Interview with Farfalla was conducted by Lyrastar in 2004. It was posted to Lady Kardasi's Domain.
Excerpts
Lyrastar: As I understand it, you got into K/S slash before you really got into Trek. That's a new one for me. How did that come about?
Farfalla: I was in my sophomore year of college when TNG hit me like a ton of happy bricks. I used to get this weird, almost physical euphoric feeling when it came on.
I was looking for Data het online (I knew about fanfic because of Sherlock Holmes slash and Hermione/Snape) when I found the Trekiverse archive. I knew about K/S because it's sort of common knowledge that it was "the first slash pairing" within the fanfiction world at large, so I thought I'd check some out. I had no idea how much it would suck me in--but in some ways, it seems like it had been waiting for me all my life. I'm a romantic who grew up on the dramatic, elegant-yet-exaggerated emotions of opera. K/S plays to everything I like. It was like finding the perfect soda, and knowing that for the rest of your life, that's probably the one you'll pick at restaurants when they ask you for a drink order.
I read for seven hours straight that night. After that, I craved the episodes, but I had to wait until one came on...
Now I own it all!
Lyrastar: But how about Kirk and Spock together? What is the attraction of that for you?
Farfalla: I like reading about a gay couple who is so devoted to each other. That's basically the biggest thing--it's hard to find good gay literature, especially stuff that's not depressing.
I really don't think there are that many other pairings in all of fandom that show the level of love that they do. Or have twenty-five year marriages or whatever you call it, the way they do. I like the security of that longevity.
I also find both characters incredibly appealing by themselves. I've been reading a lot of MUNCLE lately, and while I like the love shown between Napoleon and Illya in the stories, I'm not as interested in the characters by themselves yet.
Lyrastar: How is K/S different for you than Napoloen/Illya or other "hero buddy" parings?
Farfalla: For one thing, they're with each other for three decades. To use N/I as an example, all we know about them beyond the show is that, in the sequel movie fifteen years later, they've grown apart. Kirk and Spock only lose each other for a little bit--neither Gol nor death can keep those two apart.
Also, they both emote more than most other characters. Kirk's level of devotion to Spock in the movies goes beyond what most other men in movies express, for me. They reach an almost operatic level of intensity, and for someone like me who grew up on opera, that appeals to me. There's this kind of "epic romance" feeling...timeless, because they're in a time that doesn't exist. That helps.
Additionally, them being in the future means that I can use them to escape 20th/21st century problems society has/had with queer individuals. N/I certainly doesn't give me that freedom.
Lyrastar: What elements of stories reflect this--or other favorite themes for you? Are there things in K/S that you would rather not read about?
Farfalla: My favorite elements? Flirting. Affection. All those little bits of life that help cement a relationship, fitting seamlessly into everyday life (in space. In Starfleet.) Deep kissing. Helping each other. And, as we all know... Jim's stomach, and semen. *blush*
No relationship is perfect, but one thing that is very clear to me is that Kirk and Spock are good for each other.
All of the crew being interesting.
Least favorite? I've made no secret of the fact that I am highly allergic to K/S breakup stories. (I really do not care for K/S stories where the two of them are portrayed as a negative influence in each other's lives, or as if they'd be better off without each other. The fact that they're so good for each other is my main draw to the pairing, and without it, I'm not getting what I came there for.) I also don't enjoy rape in stories, but that's not so much about the subject itself as the fact that it's often written in such gory detail that I feel as if I'm supposed to be finding the rape arousing. By the way, I also don't like anal sex in fics as much as I like all the other types of male/male sex, but if it's written a certain way I can enjoy it because it does have elements that remind me of how good vaginal penetration feels.
Lyrastar: When you say you see K/S as a gay message, do you see either man as primarily attracted only to other men, or are you do you mean it more as a de facto observation since they are now a same-sex couple?
Farfalla: I mean the second. I suppose I see them both as bisexual, technically speaking. When I call Kirk or Spock 'gay', I'm only using it in the "something other than 100% heterosexual" sense, not in the "100% homosexual" sense. For someone like me who reads the PlanetOut headlines every day, I'm constantly bombarded with the phrase "gay rights". They don't call it "bi rights" if they're talking about a man with another man and they both HAPPEN to like women also--what they're fighting for are the same rights that exclusively gay couples are fighting for. Same-sex rights. The right to live as a gay couple.
Lyrastar: What led you to start up the All Ages Kirk Spock Archive?
Farfalla: I was sitting on my dad's computer one day, trying to find K/S fan art to show my little sister that would be safe for her to look at (she's still only eleven), when I realized that even going to many of the sites I had in mind would bring up thumbnails with big amusing penises. I decided to start a page to make this task a bit easier in the future.
And then it exploded.
AAK/SA is now the largest collection of K/S fan art online. Sometimes, I even get people who don't give two craps about K/S to draw something for us. We also have a wealth of fanfic and livejournal icons and who knows what else...
...I plan on keeping AAK/SA going because, far from being just about my sister, it's become a resource for the whole K/S community and I'm very, very proud of it. It's also a great way for people new to slash to dip their toes in without being accosted by anuses and stuff. AAK/SA has also provided K/S fans with a way to find the K&S "that reads like slash if you want it to" without having to read through dozens of "gen" stories that are really PG het in disguise.