COCO CHANNEL Interview with PB Wrapper
| Interviews by Fans | |
|---|---|
| Title: | COCO CHANNEL Interview with PB Wrapper |
| Interviewer: | Karmen Ghia |
| Interviewee: | PB Wrapper |
| Date(s): | October 1999 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom(s): | slash, fandom, Star Trek |
| External Links: | An Interview with PB Wrapper; reference link |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
COCO CHANNEL Interview with PB Wrapper 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 long have you been in the Star Trek fan community?
PB Wrapper: Longer than most people here, I think; about eight years.
KG: Pre-internet explosion, eh? Have you stayed mainly in TOS or do you do other genres?
PBW: I ventured into Voyager for a while, but I think I've burnt out on that. I read Man From Uncle too occasionally.
KG: I used to watch that show; those two in bed never entered my tiny mind. Ever.
PBW: They shared a hotel room almost every week. Sooner or later, they would have pushed those twin beds together.
KG: What was your earliest story?
PBW: Amazon women. Terrible shortage of men. Senior officers misunderstanding poor Ensign Chekov. Actually, the same story I've been writing ever since. How embarrassing. Not slash though, although there was a fairly intense m-m relationship. Some bondage, a little rough sex with school girls. I hasten to add that it was the school girls who were being rough.
KG: What writers do you feel have influenced your slash writing?
PBW: At the point when I started writing it, I'd hardly read any slash, and none at all that I'd have wanted to be influenced by. I liked the idea, but I didn't like what anyone had done with it. The few examples I'd got hold of were the kind of K/S where Kirk ended up giving Spock silk underwear, and it made me cringe. Why would he? What would either of them get out of the gesture? More recently, anyone whose ideas I can get away with stealing.
KG: What do you feel is the future of K/S?
PWB: I wish more people would remember that Spock's an alien. 50 percent by blood, but probably 90% by upbringing. That so rarely comes across in slash. But that's not the future of slash. It's become a romance genre, a 'fairy tale' coupling, and it'll fade out as we all become disgraceful old ladies (and wolves). Eventually, our heirs will be scandalized to find lavender scented bundles of zines, tied up with string, among the empty gin bottles in the bottom of our wardrobes. *I* don't think K/S is going to go on looking like a dream coupling to enough new people to keep up the momentum.
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?
PBW: I've had very good experiences with the few printzine eds I've dealt with, both in and out of the Trek circle. I've bought more completely crappy Trek zines than I like to contemplate, and I do wonder how some of them managed to convince themselves that what they were selling was worth anyone's money, but artistic differences aside, they were still straightforward and cheerful people to do business with. In 'Enterprising Women'... there's a description of the zine community as something like the scientologists. You only get admitted to successively higher levels as you prove yourself to be 'one of us'. Now, imagine some rogue scientologist setting up a web page that admitted *anyone* to the upper levels of Hubbard's empire, and the reaction there'd be from the hierarchy - you're stealing *some* people's reason for living. Not only were they authors and editors themselves, but they thought that new authors and editors could only come about by the laying on of their hands. For *other* people, it's no big deal, but they're sticking by their friends. Others still have made the transition to the net with no problems. I think all of us who were involved with printzines have regrets. A manila envelope hitting the doormat sounds *special*.
KG: You've had experience in the printzine community and the webslash community. In what ways do their inherent strengths cause them to be inherently antagonistic? Or do I think that because I'm an asshole? (Okay, it's an awkward question, rephrase at will.)
PBW: Printzines need a market. People won't pay for what they can get for free, even if the free stuff is substandard. It's a trade dispute, isn't it? Print people are trying to protect their patch from substandard imports that will wreck their business. The recent 'foresmutters project' looked like an attempt to reposition their product in the market. They're telling the netizens that it isn't just good, it's a superb cultural treasure, and should be hedged around with controls to preserve it. Unfortunately, that's just not true. I can't think of a single printzine that's as good as the best of what's available on the web, and very few editors were utterly reliable purveyors of excellent material. I'm very pleased to see some of the old 'classics' available to everyone on the internet. They just don't look like classics any more. They look like what they always were: imaginative, amusing (not always intentionally) romance stories, well enough written, vastly overpriced and part of the fun of belonging to a secret society.
PBW: Apart from Jungle Kitty, I don't know anyone who's managed to write an interesting on-going female partner for Kirk or Spock. You either fall foul of 45 minute syndrome, and have to kill off your heroine, or you write her as a second string. In terms of a permanent relationship for Kirk, sexual or not, there can only be Spock. Brandt is fine, but she fails the 'romance test' ultimately because she doesn't need Kirk, and Kirk doesn't need her. Take Spock away, and Kirk is diminished. Take Brandt away, and Kirk is unhappy. Generalizations, I know, but that's the power of the relationship as I see it. I don't know if early K/S writers started off by trying to write conventional romances for their icons, and found it didn't work, but I do wonder if they stumbled into the delights of K/S almost by accident. It was never unique to Trek. That slight sexual frisson between leading male characters is all over the place, and always has been. Trek was just a show where there were always possibilities. Quite how that impacts on Chekov writers though... I don't mind reading stories in which Chekov has female partners. He, let me assure you, vastly prefers being in stories with female partners. He's a straightforward little fellow. But if he's happy, and she's happy, then where's the story?
KG: Do you have any thoughts on the future of Slash on the Web?
PBW: It would be fun if Viacom came up with some legal wheeze to stop it. Someone would publish a list of all the trademarked character and ship names and other distinctive terms. Against that would be the list of neutral but unusual words to be used in their place. We'd circularize handy software plugins for setting up your word processor to make the substitutions. Such attacks would probably just reinvigorate what might otherwise become an aging and inward looking community.
Reactions and Reviews
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 21:05:04 -0000
From: Scarlet
Subject: Re: An Interview with PB Wrapper
This interview was very interesting, esp. the insights on storylines, characters, and the writing process. Thanks.
And I know it's the wrong list, but I would like to take the opportunity to express my appreciation of PBW's latest story on ascem; The Latest Dream I Ever Dreamed. It's hotter than Vulcan.
Surely now there are enough S/C stories to guarantee a Golden O category? (At least 5 stories by at least 2 authors.)
Scarlet [1]
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 22:40:06 EDT
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: An Interview with PB Wrapper
PB remarked:
> there's a description of the zine community as something like the scientologists. You only get admitted to successively higher levels as you prove yourself to be 'one of us'. Now, imagine some rogue scientologist setting up a web page that admitted *anyone* to the upper levels of Hubbard's empire, and the reaction there'd be from the hierarchy - you're stealing *some* people's reason for living. Not only were they authors and editors themselves, but they thought that new authors and editors could only come about by the laying on of their hands.<
Say, that's pretty interesting. I can't speak for the print vs. web issue, but fanfic as a cult--gee. Well worth mulling.
It does, of course, cause me to inquire whether there's L. Ron Hubbard slash. Not to be confused with L. Ron Hubbard squash. Might be a North American joke...
Good thoughts on what makes Chekov tick, too, btw.
raku [2]