COCO CHANNEL Interview with Kaki
| Interviews by Fans | |
|---|---|
| Title: | COCO CHANNEL Interview with Kaki |
| Interviewer: | Karmen Ghia |
| Interviewee: | Kaki |
| Date(s): | October 1999 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom(s): | slash, fandom, Star Trek |
| External Links: | An Interview with Kaki; reference link |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
COCO CHANNEL Interview with Kaki is archived at The Society for Slash Diversity and The Committee of Chekov Obsessives Comparing Historical and New Narratives in Ensign Literature.
See List of Star Trek Fan Interviews.
Excerpts
Karmen Ghia: How did you decide to start writing what was in your head? What was your motivation?
Kaki: I think we have to blame Judith Gran for that. I sent her comments on Terminus (the on-line version: wonderful story, go read it) and did some beta-reading on the last bits of that one. She told me she thought I should try writing. I, of course, told her I had no imagination, no creativity, etc. She disagreed. Some time later (weeks, I think) the idea for the first section of "Mission to Neverias" hit me and insisted on being written down. Then the next. It was pretty much a mess. I learned a lot rewriting that one. POV and verb tenses, etc. So, when the next idea hit, it just had to go down on paper.
KG: What writers do you feel have influenced your slash writing?
Kaki: Two ways to answer this. Obviously Judith influenced me to write. Killa, T'Jonesy, Judith and others I can't remember names for initially made me fall for the idea of K/S, so they got me into the mindset. All the folks on ASC/EM that have given feedback and written slash I've enjoyed have certainly influenced me to enjoy writing slash. Also, the print zines I have read have influenced me; some have inspired, others led to the Tuppertrek stories.
KG: Me, I'm just a webizen so I know nothing of the printzine community, except for a brush or two with certain members. What is with those people? Are they really as uptight, narrow minded, hyper critical/sensitive and condescending as they seem or am I really just too fucked up to see their good points?
Kaki: Most [of] the print folks I know are really great. Some of them are locked into a set way that K/S should be written and some are literally afraid of the net/web. However, I think the major clashes between the web and print world are just based on a few individuals. That said, I still tend to be wary around print folks until I find out what their perspective is.
KG: What's your thinking on chicks with dicks and Tupper Trek? I don't find it interesting, but my tastes are more, um, graphic. (I actually have trouble figuring what's going on [sexually] in much of K/S, it's way too subtle or something for me.)
Kaki: I might be the wrong one to ask about this. My parodies of these types of K/S have been posted (and will continue). I got so annoyed with the stories of happy romance a al Harlequin, the stories where Spock is too out of touch with himself and Kirk magically has the answer in his humanity (as opposed to they work together to solve problems), the ones where Spock is essentially a little wifey, the ones where they are so, so ashamed to be 'gay' etc. that I wrote "A Printfan's Nightmare" after discussing the issues with friends didn't resolve the annoyance. In my parodies of Tuppertrek, Spock is the fairly rational 'adult', with Kirk as the homey wifey. They are much fun to write.
OTOH, I do think that much of the fiction I am objecting to may have been needed to develop K/S to where it is today. In the 70s and 80s some of the issues that really bug me may have been cutting edge and I simply lack the perspective.
Kaki: I have some experience with the printzine community. I have subscribed to the K/S Press for a year and a half, I borrow and read zines from their library (love many of them), have one zine published story, and have been to two KS Press parties at Shore Leave. So, not a long acquaintance, but some. Hopefully everyone reading this knows about ASCEM, so I'll just say that's my home away from home.
I'd recommend to everyone that being a part of both worlds is good.
I think that the two worlds clash, at times, for a number of reasons. For one thing, people who are in one world or the other (and not both) sometimes feel excluded from the camaraderie. Also many printfen aren't comfortable on-line and many on-line folks have no idea how to get to the zines (I remember being there not so long ago). Plus net fen are used to having their K/S (and other slash. I'm not involved in any non K/S off-line activities involving slash) easy to access, free or cheap, and with a public forum for commentary, feedback... Print folks are used to limited feedback at longer intervals, edited material, buying the zines (and keeping often well-produced zines for years), and being fairly well hidden from public view. I think print fans are afraid that the public access will be bad for them or for fandom, also that the net may make it hard for off-line fandom to survive. Net fen, OTOH, tend to want their 'fix' faster and not be quite so ready to accept an editor's choice in stories.
KG: Do you have any thoughts on the future of Slash on the Web?
Kaki: I hope it continues. It seems like slash in general is growing by leaps and bounds. The Master/Apprentice site had almost 700 stories last time I checked. And the Highlander fic is growing... I suspect more shows will come along and be slashed.
Reactions and Reviews
For some fan reaction, see here.