Earthbound (Star Trek: TOS story)

Fanfiction
Title:	Earthbound
Author(s):	Elwyn Conway
Date(s):	1982
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:	art by Conway, printed on adjoining, but separate pages
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Earthbound is a Kirk/Spock story by Elwyn Conway.

It was published as part of a serial in Nome.

Summary

"Now on Earth, Kirk is unable to forget about the Enterprise and Spock."

"It is the end of the five year mission and Spock has left for Vulcan. McCoy uses all his persuasive talents to prevent Kirk from accepting the assignment at the Admiralty, but to no avail. As Kirk begins to realize his mistake in accepting the assignment, McCoy finds there is little he can do to help his friends."

Series

• A Mission's End ("Parted from Me" Book 1, Nome #5)
• Earthbound ("Parted from Me" Book 1, Nome #5)
• And Never Parted ("And Never Parted" Book 2, Nome #6, #7, #8)
• Never and Always ("Never and Always" Book 3 is made up of two stories, "What Are Friends For?" and "When Legends Meet," Nome #9)
• Touching and Touched (Nome #10)
• Genesis Aftermath (Nome #11)

The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Writer

In the 1980s, the large distance between the United States and Australia, the latter where Elwyn Conway lived, was made even more vast by the fact that before today's almost instantaneous fannish communication, fans had to rely on the extremely expensive long distance phone call and/or the handwritten letter which took weeks to arrive at its destination. This meant that for Conway, feedback was slow and sparse, if present in any great amount at all. Considering that this series was written over at least a six year period, it is amazing that she persevered as she did.

In 1988, Conway sent this letter to Nome #11's newly-established LoC feature:

I just want to say how much I appreciated the LoCs you printed in the last issue, and especially the comments on my story, both positive and negative. You may remember, three or four years ago, when I said it was like writing into a vacuum, not getting any feedback, not knowing what people liked or disliked. Now your invitation to your readers to write LOCS has produced an abundance of feedback, and I'm very grateful for it. It was overwhelmingly encouraging, and sometimes quite touching. Before. I wasn't sure whether people understood or empathized with what I was trying to convey in my story. Now I am quite sure that many people do, and I would like to thank them for taking the time and trouble to say so.

Reactions and Reviews

1982

This issue contains: ‘A Mission’s End’ and ‘Earthbound’ by the same author, which deals with Kirk and Spock leaving the Enterprise at the end of the five year mission. Since this theme they hold in common is the only real plot, making each piece more or less a vignette, they could have easily been combined. As it stands, one if left with the feeling that the next few stories, which also proceed along the official Roddenberry timeframe, are not real stories either, but a series of flashbacks that are superimposed on each other.

1998

God, but Lori Ciani got under my skin! That callous bitch. She instinctively knows what to say to inflict the deadliest of wounds. He should have wrung her neck. No, on second thought, better not, she isn’t worth it. Kirk appears to give up. Oh, he is too much the professional not to do his job, but his heart isn’t in it anymore, or should I say his soul?