Catharsis (Star Trek: TOS story by Lee Owers Sansome)

K/S Fanfiction
Title:	Catharsis
Author(s):	Lee Owers Sansome
Date(s):	1994
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
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Catharsis is a Kirk/Spock story by Lee Owers Sansome.

It was published in the print zine KaleidoScope #2.

Summary

"Spock takes out his anger at his bondmate after rescuing him from the planet where Kirk has spent three months with no memory and with Miramanee as his wife."

Reactions and Reviews

Set after the episode Paradise Syndrome this deals with the effect that learning about Miramanee has on Spock. Although I would prefer not to believe that Spock would react in the manner portrayed by the author it is nevertheless convincingly written. A sad little story without a happy ending.

The violence in this short work was so graphically written that I actually shuddered as I visualized what was happening. However, I'm not a fan of gratuitous violence so, unfortunately, I found very little to like about Catharsis. Maybe I'm missing something but I had some difficulty understanding the reason behind the force of the claiming. While I'm not averse to violence, torture or other mayhem when appropriate, I do feel that its existence needs be supported within the framework of a really strong plot. I also noticed that at no time were names mentioned and except for the use of the mind to mind contact, I had the feeling that it could have been the male/male pair in almost any fandom.

Although this is a very well-written story, I wasn't quite sure that I liked it - - until the end. The story is told from Kirk's point of view, in first person, and it's very effective. Through the Captain's eyes we see Spock enter his room at night and basically rape him. He's very violent. This was the part I didn't like. This can't be, I thought. Not our kind and sensitive Vulcan. He wouldn't do this, especially not to Kirk. But wait, there's an explanation. Once I reached the end, I discovered that this story takes place immediately after the events in 'The Paradise Syndrome.' Spock has spent months anguishing over the fate of his friend. Knowing this, the reasons for Spock's behavior did seem believable & I ended up liking the story after all. A good read.