Jungle Kitty

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Fan
Name: Jungle Kitty
Alias(es):
Type:
Fandoms: Star Trek
Communities:
Other: Look At His Butt! podcast blog
URL: Jungle Kitty's Lair (archive link) early author site, Invisible Planets (archive link) author's site, Kirk/Spock Archive, AO3 account
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Jungle Kitty was a multi-award winning Star Trek fanfiction writer who created the OFC Suzanne Brandt. While she was a fan of Star Trek since it first started running in syndication, she only became active in the fandom in 1997.

By 1999 she had written 83 stories and attended 5 conventions. In 2005 she, together with fellow fan LT, debuted Look At His Butt!, a podcast dedicated to all things William Shatner.

She passed away at the end of 2022.[1]

Interviews

In Her Words: Excerpts from Interviews

1999

[My motivation for writing was] finding Treksmut on the web. I'd always been afraid to go looking for it, thinking it might be so awful that I'd be embarrassed that I even read it. And, yeah, I found some of that. No, I won't name names. But mostly it was a stunning surprise, especially Killa's "Surrender" and Tjonesy's "20 Questions." Those stories made me realize that you could take what seemed like a very silly obsession and turn it into something wonderful. I wanted to try my hand at it. And it didn't hurt that a good friend said very sternly, "Girl, write those stories down! You are insulting your muse!" [2]

2000

Slash really doesn't have much appeal to me as a writer anymore, unless it's humorous. I just can't get serious about it... When I started out in fanfic, I was looking for sexy stories about Kirk. What I found was K/S. I wrote K/S because I wanted to write about Kirk in a sexual way and had already heard the term "Mary Sue" and didn't want to confront all the negative connotations of that right off the bat. I've joked that my K/S stories should have been coded K/s because I think it's pretty obvious where my interest was. K/S was a way of exploring Kirk. Now I explore him in a different way, one that to me seems to resonate more with the Kirk I see onscreen. But I was never a slasher, as in 'a person with an interest in slash per se.' [3]

I primarily write K/Brandt, a relationship that has no basis in canon. Well, except for the way I see Kirk. I like to think that has a basis in canon. Suzanne Brandt is an original character. I created her out of a basic frustration with The Girlfriend of the Week Syndrome and a dislike of many of those women. Initially, I wanted to see how he would respond to a woman who was both a friend and a competitor, someone who was like him in many ways. I thought there was going to be at most three stories about her. Then as the series started developing, I began exploring what might happen to Kirk in a serious, non-platonic relationship, one that wasn't over at the end of the ep and lasted more than a few days. Of course, now I'm exploring Brandt (as well as Kirk & Brandt together) as much as, if not more than Kirk. For me, she's becoming more her own person and less a means of discovering him. I know many people see Kirk as a perpetually horny, skirt-chasing, love 'em and leave 'em kind of guy. I think they might have him confused with Mitchell. <g> I think his longing for a different sort of life in "The Paradise Syndrome" and the happiness he found for a short time with Miramanee is an often overlooked part of his character. So I'm kind of dangling that in front of him, but making him work at it. I'm evil. <g> [4]

My "best" stories (according to reader feedback) seem to be: Contemplating the Death of an Old Friend, Golden Boy, The Life That Lies Before, Blood Claim, The Uneasy Dancers. [5]

I have mixed feelings about my earliest stories. I'm proud that I finally wrote them down while simultaneously embarrassed at the quality. When I sat down to write my first story ("The Wedding Gift"), I thought I was going to write what turned out to be my second story ("The Edge.") I'm still not sure why I wrote "The Wedding Gift" instead, except I did want to write Kirk with a woman, even though the story eventually segued into K/S. See, I was already terrified of the term "Mary Sue" and I'd only been into fanfic for about two weeks. <g>

I'm embarrassed by how derivative and imitative my first couple of stories are. I know I was consciously writing what I thought would be liked and accepted according to what I knew of the fandom at the time. I didn't really start to come into my own "voice" until I started writing things that I was pretty sure would jar some expectations. And although the aftermath of that was sometimes most discomfiting (mostly because once I started working on those stories, I lost sight of my original foreknowledge of how they would be received), the experience itself was very freeing.

The really annoying part of all this is that I think I've improved as a writer, yet when I look at the stories I finished even a few weeks ago, I see things that make me shake my head. Apparently, at the time of actual composition, I'm too close to pick up on some of that. And sometimes I'll run across a section that I knew wasn't exactly right at the time but couldn't figure out a way to fix it. Once it's posted, the answer jumps right out at me. Maybe that means I should wait until I think the story is perfect, but then I'd never post anything and Wildcat would probably kill me for making her beta the same story over and over and over...

I used to think I should go back and fix these things up and occasionally, I do in a minor way. But I recently read an interview with Stephen Sondheim in which he talked about someone resurrecting his first musical (unproduced until now). He said that looking at it again after 50+ years was quite an experience. He saw things that he thought were good and other elements that made him cringe. But he's not going to revisit it. He said <paraphrasing here>, "Those are my baby pictures. You don't touch up baby pictures."

I'm trying to develop that perspective. [6]

Fans Comment

Jungle Kitty is terrific. Everything she writes is as good as it can be--her humor is side-splitting, and her drama is heartbreaking. It's a testament to Jungle Kitty's skill that she has created an original character who is very nearly as well-known as Kirk, Spock, or McCoy among fanfiction readers. Suzanne Brandt belongs with Jim "T is for Tomcat" Kirk, and we really believe that she is the one who can make him settle down. Jungle Kitty's dialogue is always sharp, her narrative always smooth, and she never fails to pull us into the story with the first few words. And what can we say about the imagination of a writer who can dash off something as inventive as jet-propelled tribbles at the drop of a hat? Jungle Kitty never ceases to impress me. [7]

JK has almost converted me to Kirkology -- in fact, if there weren't a lot of really good Spockologists around, she would have succeeded. After reading "Blood Claim", I found my self combing her lair for more and more K/Brandt. I admit it -- I'm hooked. For creating the most un-Mary Sue character ever seen in fanfic and for making me actually enjoy hetsmut, Jungle Kitty gets a big round of applause. "The Uneasy Dancers", in particular, is a masterpiece. Of course, I may be saying that because it's got quite a lot of Spock in it, but I really did think it was one of this year's best reads in mondo angst. I'll read anything she writes and never think twice that it's labeled K/f -- and from a K/S-ing Spockologist, that's saying a mouthful. [8]

[I love Jungle Kitty] for making me believe that, sometimes, just sometimes, Kirk belonged with a woman, and for creating a wonderful, strong, and entertaining female character. The Brat is one hell of a gal. As Jane Austen said of Lizzie Bennet: "I must confess that I think her as delightful a character as ever appeared in print, and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like *her* at least, I do not know." [9]

She's got it covered, from side-splitting humor to the deepest emotions. She pushed the envelope with "The Uneasy Dancers" and "Golden Boy", creating situations that put the reader through every emotion the characters were experiencing. Suzanne Brandt is a strong and wonderful character who holds her own with my favorite captain, JTK. Jungle Kitty was one of the first authors I read on the NG and I've never been disappointed. [10]

Everybody knows that the quintessential Kirk author is Jungle Kitty. No one else does such a masterful job with his character, whether it's a playful WIP like "Hush" or "Distracted" or touching on a much more serious issue like "Mercy." And I absolutely adore "The Family Mythology", which is the best in a long line of great Kirk/Brandt stories. When I read this story, I could see everything unfolding before me as if I was watching it on the screen, and could hear the characters' voices so clearly. And then there's Jungle Kitty's gift for parody--it's amazing that the same author who had me in tears with some of her offerings this year also had me giggling my way through her humorous stories. So many of Jungle Kitty's stories this year are real keepers in that I keep going back to them again and again. [11]

Jungle Kitty is an author who has been so long in the genre and is so proficient, both at writing and at writing Trek, that she can go from writing a strong, serious story to hilarious comedy to an even more hilarious parody of some really bad writers without breaking a nail. Ya gotta admire that kind of flexibility in a writer. I sure do. [12]

Works

Fiction

Meta

Awards

ASCWin.jpg   GOWin.jpg

1997

GO97.jpg

Golden O's[13]

ASC Awards

1998

98goldenO.gif

Golden O's[14]

ASC Awards

  • Alara Rogers Award for Best Author: 3rd place
  • Best Original Series Poem: 2nd place tie for How the Troll Stole Treksmut
  • Best Kirk pairing:
  • Best Kirk/Spock: 2nd place for Golden Boy

ASCA Tribble Awards[15]

  • Best New Author: 3rd place
  • Best TOS Author: 1st place
  • Best TOS Story: 1st place for Born to be Wild

1999

GO99.jpg

Golden O's[16]

  • Captain Jinx Award for Best Author: 3rd place tie
  • Ruth Gifford Award for Non-Authorial Contributions: 3rd place
  • Best Story: Honorable Mention for The Uneasy Dancers
  • Best TOS Author: 2nd place
  • Best TOS Multi-part: 1st place for The Uneasy Dancers
  • Best TOS Challenge: 3rd place for Contemplating the Death of an Old Friend
  • Best TOS Humor: 3rd place for A Captain's Duty
  • Best TOS "Single Person": 1st place for Contemplating the Death of an Old Friend
  • Best TOS Rude Person: Pon Farr Without A Noun Present (co-written with Jonk and Laurel)
  • Best Kirk/female: 1st place for The Uneasy Dancers
  • Best Spock/female: 2nd place for The Uneasy Dancers
  • Best TOS Hetsmut Single Part: 3rd place for A Captain's Pleasure
  • Best TOS Hetsmut Multi-part: 1st place for The Uneasy Dancers
  • Best TOS Multiple: 1st place for The Uneasy Dancers

ASC Awards

  • TOS General Story: 3rd place tie for Contemplating the Death of an Old Friend
  • TOS Challenge Story: 2nd place for Contemplating the Death of an Old Friend
  • TOS Humor:
    • 1st place for Murder in the Shankiverse
    • 2nd place for Scandal in the Shankiverse
    • 3rd place tie for A Captain's Privilege and Modular Mates
  • TOS Kirk pairing:
    • 1st place for Rain Check
    • 3rd place for Although It's Been Said Many Times, Many Ways
  • Miscellaneous Humor: 2nd place for Gone With the Solar Wind

2000

GO00.jpg

Golden O's[17]

  • Best TOS "Getting to Know You": 1st place tie for Getting to Know You - Tribble
  • Best TOS Het: 3rd place tie for Homecoming
  • Best Kirk/female:
    • 1st place for Homecoming
    • 3rd place for In Mind and Body

ASC Awards

  • Alara Rogers Award for Best Author: 1st place
  • Best TOS Author: 1st place
  • Best TOS Challenge:
    • 1st place for Kirk And Spock Go Ice Fishing
    • 3rd place for Academy Daze, or If Chuck Jones Wrote Fanfic
  • Best TOS General Story:
  • Best TOS Humor Story: 1st place for Les Liaisons Ridicules

2001

ASC Awards

2002

ASC Awards

2003

ASC Awards

2004

ASC Awards

  • Best TOS Challenge: 3rd place for The Last Seduction
  • Best TOS Humor: 1st place for Backwards and In High Heels
  • Best Kirk pairing: 1st place for The Sound of Drums
  • Best TOS Filk/Poem: 1st place for 5-7-5

2005

ASC Awards

  • Best Peeps Story (all series):
    • 2nd place for As Ye Sow...
    • 3rd place for Living Hell Is The Best Revenge

2006

ASC Awards

  • Best TOS Challenge: 2nd place for Stardate 5423.5
  • Best TOS featuring Kirk: 3rd place for Admiral on the Bridge

2007

ASC Awards

  • Best TOS featuring Kirk: 2nd place for By Some Other Sea

References

  1. ^ Look At His Butt!, Show #304 - Feburary 5, 2023, Accessed 18 February 2023.
  2. ^ from COCO CHANNEL Interview with Jungle Kitty
  3. ^ from TrekGirl Interview with Jungle Kitty
  4. ^ from TrekGirl Interview with Jungle Kitty
  5. ^ from TrekGirl Interview with Jungle Kitty
  6. ^ from Writers and Writing
  7. ^ TOS & Best Author Feedback Votes by Wildcat (March 25, 2001)
  8. ^ alt.startrek.creative, May 1999
  9. ^ alt.startrek.creative, April 1999
  10. ^ alt.startrek.creative, April 1999
  11. ^ Rocky at This is the Digest from 2002 for the Category of: Original Series Authors
  12. ^ Paula at This is the Digest from 2002 for the Category of: Original Series Authors
  13. ^ Golden O's 1997 (accessed 6 Dec 2020)
  14. ^ Golden O's 1998 (accessed 6 Dec 2020)
  15. ^ Alt.Startrek.Creative.All-Ages (accessed 10 Dec 2020)
  16. ^ Golden O's 1999 (accessed 7 Dec 2020)
  17. ^ Golden O's 2000 (accessed 7 Dec 2020)
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