Hitched

K/S Fanfiction
Title:	Hitched
Author(s):	Mildred Manhill
Date(s):	1993
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
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Hitched is a Kirk/Spock story by Mildred Manhill.

It was published in Charisma #18.

Summary

"McCoy asks Kirk to officiate at his wedding to another man and when Kirk finds out the other man is Vulcan, it gives him hope for a future with Spock."

Reactions and Reviews

"Hitched" is an interesting short story that I thought fell short of its potential, mainly because I disagreed with its basic premise.

I was immediately caught by the natural-sounding dialogue of the first two pages. Kirk and McCoy are having a drink together. Then McCoy, after a little prodding, asks Kirk for permission to get married. Fantastic! Like the writing duo who are the authors of this story, I think McCoy is too often short-changed as a character in K/S stories. There's a lot that could be done to develop him as an independent entity, separate from the coattails of K and S, and I innocently thought that here was a story about to do just that. Giving McCoy desires and a life of his own is just the type of creative touch I love to see.

Prepared to be captivated, I read another few paragraphs. Unfortunately, it turns out that McCoy doesn't intend to marry a woman, but a man. And then four pages later it is revealed that McCoy's intended is not only male, but a Vulcan as well.

I was really disappointed by this turn of events. Making McCoy bi-sexual, and being capable of being attracted to a Vulcan, distorts the character that we know from the series, I'm not saying that it isn't possible to present him in this way, but to do so would require a reworking of the character, and many thoughtful pages- The story should have spent much more time on development, showing us how it was possible for McCoy to become this type of person. One of the advantages of writing in a "genre" is the fact that your readers are well aware of the background of your universe- In the standard Star Trek universe, in which "Hitched" is based, McCoy does not have same-sex predilections (that sounds dirty, doesn't it?) and he's not terribly fond of Vulcans.

When I read the first part of this story, I expected McCoy's blossoming love to trigger the K/S relationship, and that is indeed what happens. But because McCoy's situation parallels K and S's so closely, it was like reading the same story twice. I feel as if the authors missed a wonderful opportunity that was twofold: to explore the inner depths of the Enterprise's physician in an original, non-stereotyped way, and to shed fresh light on Kirk and Spock's relationship by contrasting it with a loving heterosexual one newly gained by their friend. Imagine the subtle tensions that could have been played upon as Kirk sees a conventional marriage and reflects on his own choice of an unconventional, same-sex, alien lover.

Part of my disappointment with this story is fueled by a long-standing quarrel I've had with one of the tendencies of K/S, and that is to make any romantic rival for K or S, or any loving/sexual relationship at all, same-sex. It seems that in trying to adjust for the homophobia of today, many authors, including the authors of "Hitched," bend over backwards in the opposite direction.

Just a note on dialogue. I remember Linda Frankel saying several months ago in one of her letterzine contributions that she read the dialogue she'd written out loud to see if it sounded genuine. I think this is a great idea. The dialogue between Kirk and Spock on page 37B is pretty stilted. And especially in a long exchange, it's important to provide some direction as to setting, movement and emotional state. In this story there is more than a full column, starting at the top of page 37B, where there is just dialogue, and none of the "beats" that a reader needs to orient herself.