Flames (Star Trek: TOS story)

You may be looking for the glossary term Flame.

Fanfiction
Title:	Flames
Author(s):	Anna Parrish
Date(s):	1990
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:
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Flames is a Kirk/Spock story by Anna Parrish.

It was published in Charisma #8.

Summary

"Admiral Kirk, now grounded, meets the famous half-Vulcan singer, Spock, and the chemistry between them ignites into a powerful and jealous love relationship that overtakes their lives and minds."

Reactions and Reviews

1990

After finishing this A/U novella, I was left wondering if it was meant as a satire. I was feeling downright entertained by the time I neared the ending, and it occurred to me that I shouldn't have taken the rest of it so seriously. Throughout, however, I encountered a number of stumbling blocks.

I had difficulty accepting the entire premise about age. It's one thing for Kirk to think of himself as 'old' at the age of 50, but another for Starfleet to have a regulation automatically retiring all captains from command at the age of 45 (especially considering it's now the 23rd century; surely, humans beings will live even longer then than they do now). Added to that premise was the statement that Kirk was very young for an admiral. If captains must retire from command at age 45, and they're too young to be admirals, then what are they supposed to be doing in the interlude?

It was confusing when, on page 68, Flip tells Spock, "You're a human being looking for love, " and Spock somewhat grudgingly agrees. Then later, it's stated that Spock is a Vulcan/human hybrid. (Perhaps the Spock in tills universe is opposite from 'our' Spock; i.e., he's a hybrid who sees himself as human. However, if that's the case, it was puzzling to have him behaving in a Vulcan way in many situations.) I had trouble at first accepting Spock as a famous singer, but as the story went on, and Spock proved himself a bit of a temperamental, spoiled celebrity, his occupation was a lot easier to accept, which is a credit to the author's skill.

There seemed to be a few 'gaps' in the telling of this story. Chapter 2 starts with Spock saying, "So, this is San Francisco", as though he's never seen it before. Yet, hours later, mention is made of Kirk and Spock going to the latter's apartment. Also, it wasn't clear that Spock was making a music video when he and Kirk had their first argument about Kirk appearing in it, and it's not explained why Spock wanted to 'die' in it. Also, after Spock orders Flip to cancel all of his engagements for the upcoming six months, he continues to perform for a number nights thereafter. Near the end, Kirk is awfully concerned about Spock's privacy during sex; yet, earlier in the story, Spock was annoyed, but not embarrassed, when Flip kept walking in on them.

It made me stop when, on page 129, McCoy tells Kirk, "Stop being the... female in this mess!" to which Kirk replies, "Stop being crude... and offensive." I can't help but hope that by the time the 23rd century arrives there is nothing 'offensive' about being female.

I had lots of trouble with Kirk's characterization. To be blunt, I didn't like him very much. I simply couldn't imagine him being so passive in so many aspects of his life, no matter how insecure he was feeling. Spock may have been something of an egotist, but Kirk was wimpy, childish, and incapable of making decisions. The part of him I found the most unbelievable was his irresponsibility concerning his job. It's one thing to be late for work, but another to be unconcerned about it, particularly when he is supposed to be a role model for the cadets. His infatuation with Spock just doesn't excuse it. Also, I didn't understand the reason for Kirk blushing so much. It seemed he got embarrassed at the vaguest mention of sex.

Spock was also behaving rather childishly and irresponsibly, but I still found his character intriguing. After so many stories with Spock and everyone else worshipping the ground Kirk walks on, it was refreshing to have the tables turned and everyone, including Kirk, in absolute awe of Spock. I also found Spock to be an interesting, complex individual, if somewhat irritating. It's a tribute to the author's skill that she was able to inject him with Vulcan speech patterns and mannerisms while still having him behave like a spoiled star. (However, the adverb 'coolly' was a bit over-used when describing Spock's tone of voice, thereby becoming an distraction.) I found Flip to be a delightful character who was primarily responsible for the story being fun. I was puzzled, however, as to why the other characters were so intent on making wisecracks, especially in the latter stages. It seemed liked everyone was trying to be cute. It worked for Flip, and somewhat for McCoy, but seemed out of character for Kirk, Spock, and Admiral Opro. (Of course, if the story was meant to be a satire, this problem isn't really a problem.)

All in all, I came away feeling that "Flames" was an amusing romp about lust. There is mention of love, but I didn't think it sincere since Kirk and Spock responded to each other on a physical level only. The rest of the time they did little other than argue and sulk, which made me question if they had any liking for each other as individuals. Their relationship experienced little growth during the course of the 100+ pages, and neither character learned anything, except that their hormones couldn't do without each other (and that Spock couldn't manage his career without Flip).

Few stories in K/S are amusing, and fewer still are unique, and this novella is both. I enjoyed it on the level of a humorous read, and think I may have enjoyed it more if I had expected this going in. I would recommend, it to those who are fed up with the same old story lines and are looking for something really different.