K/S Relay

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For similar titles, see Relay.

Zine
Title: K/S Relay
Publisher: Janet Hunt & R. Merrill Bollerud
Editor(s):
Date(s): 1980-1982
Series?:
Medium: print
Genre: slash
Fandom: Star Trek: TOS
Language: English
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

K/S Relay is explicit slash fiction anthology that focuses on the relationship between Kirk and Spock. The stories were previously published in other zines. All issues required an age statement.

This zine has an explicit het sister zine called Relay.

Issue 1 (Relay)

This is the zine Relay #1.

Issue 2

cover of issue #2
cover of issue #2
blurb for #2, printed in Classified Assignments #2

K/S Relay 2 was published in 1980 and contains 56 pages. The art is by Roo and R. Merrill Bollerud.

NOTE: There appear to be at least two different editions. Each has a publication date of 1980 and each have 56 pages.
One edition has a white cover. The text and illos are in blue. Page 24 of this edition's contents is a Kirk paper doll. This is likely the original printing.
One edition has a blue cover. The text and illos are in black. Page 24 of this edition are short typed descriptions of available Star Trek zines.

From the editorial:

If you have bought this zine you have had adequate warning of its contents, Ruth and I wanted to reprint some good K/S stories but wanted to keep the 'adult' stories and the 'K/S' stories separate to save confusion and offence to those people who like one sort of story and not another. Its all a question of personal taste.

I'm sure you will enjoy Leslie Fish's stories, good K/S stories with a plot are difficult to come by and Leslie's stories started a long and very interesting letter discussion in US zines when they first appeared, I recommend that you read 'Shelter' first, as 'Poses' is its sequel, I met Leslie when I visited the states a couple of summers ago, she is a lovely person, has a beautiful soul, lives life to the hilt and cares about the world around her. She has a collection of her series called 'The Weight' coming out shortly,[1] its' an intricate and quite addictive plot and is highly recommended. Any suggestions for 'adult' or 'K/S' type stories you have read and consider to be worthwhile reprinting would be greatly appreciated, please let me know the author and title as well as the name of the zine you saw it in and I'll try to get it. (I've got the most marvellous nude Spock drawing and no story to use it with, so get your thinking caps on,) Special thanks to Ruth, Pat for the incredible typing, Allison and Maureen for artistic interpretation and imagination and staying still in odd positions for a long time. And to Lynn for getting up at unbelievably early hours to help with collating.

Enjoy the stories, Leslie has the gift of being able to get inside her characters heads so that we share their thoughts and understand them as people, so off you go on a mind meld trip.

  • Shelter (reprinted from Warped Space #20) by Leslie Fish (3)
  • Cooling One's Heels by Leslie Fish (reprinted from The Sensuous Vulcan) (Spock waits on the bridge to hear if Kirk will live or die.) (18)
  • ads in one edition, a Kirk paper doll in another edition (24)
  • Poses by Leslie Fish (reprinted from Obsc'zine #1) (This is the sequel to "Shelter") (Spock tries to hide from what happened between him and Kirk, while Kirk grapples with the changes in his own preconceived notions of himself.) (25)

  • from issue #2, first page of "Shelter"

  • from issue #2, art by Roo for "Shelter"

  • from issue #2, art by Roo for "Shelter"

  • from issue #2, art by Roo for "Shelter"

  • from issue #2, art by Roo for "Shelter"

  • from issue #2, first page of "Poses"

  • from issue #2, art by Roo for "Poses"

  • from issue #2, art by Roo for "Poses"

  • from issue #2, art by Roo for "Poses"

  • from issue #2, first page of "Cooling One's Heels"

  • from issue #2, paper doll

  • from issue #2, art by Roo for "Cooling One's Heels"

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 2

See reactions and reviews for Shelter.

See reactions and reviews for Poses.

See reactions and reviews for Cooling One's Heels.

K/S RELAY 3 containing "Shelter" and "Poses" by Leslie Fish was something I really looked forward to. So many people have been impressed by "Poses". Yet I find that reading it after "This Deadly Innocence" is a let down.' "Poses" is less mature and thematically over-stated. By this, I mean that Leslie practically bludgeons the reader with the theme of Kirk's and Spock's poses. 'l like the theme, but I don't need to be made aware of it so constantly. The theme should be integrated with the plot, as it is in "This Deadly Innocence", a much more subtle portrayal of a similar theme.

I also noted that McCoy was rather psychoanalytic in "Shelter". This is an uncharacteristic approach for him. He usually relies more on observation and experience than Freudian theory. In fact, I'd regard McCoy as more Client-Centered than Freudian.

In any case, I'm sure I'd be as enthusiastic about these stories as nearly everyone else if I'd read them earlier. They are good stories, but they don't compare well with a masterpiece like "This Deadly Innocence". [2]

Issue 3 (Relay)

This is the zine Relay #3.

Issue 4

cover of issue #4

K/S Relay 4 was published in 1982 and is 94 page long.

The editor writes: "I have enough material for 'K/S Relay 5', but don't know yet when it will be ready, if you would like details send a sae and I will send a flyer then it is ready."

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 4

See reactions and reviews for This Deadly Innocence, Or The End of the Hurt/Comfort Syndrome.

See reactions and reviews for Lester's Complaint.

See reactions and reviews for Kirk's Defence.

[zine]:

K/S Relay 4 is one of an admirable series of reprint zines. Janet Hunt's selection of stories for both 'Relay' and 'Computer Playback' has emphasised the very great talents many fan writers have.

'Relay 4' contains three stories, one long, two short. These two, 'Lester's Complaint' by Leslie Fish and 'Kirk's Defence' by Wendy Rathbone are not K/S.

'Lester's Complaint' is a transcript of Dr. Janice Lester's testimony at the preliminary hearing and is a chilling account of her life and, in particular, the year she spent with James Kirk. Her madness is finely understated and one can understand, and even begin to sympathise with, the reasons for her jealousy and hatred of him.

'Kirk's Defence'-- Not even 'Wendy Rathbone's expert handling of the facts from Kirk's point of view can quite take away the uneasy feeling that his unconscious male arrogance has had a lot to answer for.

The long story, 'This Deadly Innocence, or, The End of The Hurt/Comfort Syndrome' by Leslie Fish, is one of my personal favourites. In a way, its title sums up its essence, for it is full of contradictions that marry into a most effective whole. It ably combines seriousness and frivolity, mixing earthiness and romance, intellect and emotion into a delectable, frothy concoction. However, just like a well-made soufflé, the result stands up under careful inspection.

The original premise is almost flippant; can one really believe two mature men 
will embroil themselves in such a farcical situation, or that McCoy will not recognise
 what is happening much sooner? Can it be that the writer is actually poking gentle
 fun at the Hurt/Comfort situation so beloved of fan writers, stretching it out to 
the point where credulity almost, but not quite, snaps? Certainly with the choice
 of venue for the medical leave McCoy insists they take, the reader is shown that 
this will not be a Hurt/Comfort story, for the environment is totally, unequivocally
 safe.

Their problem? To find a way, acceptable to both of them, of expressing the love McCoy knows they feel. Both of them are bound by the conventions of their roles, Spock as a Vulcan and Kirk as a cool, calm, Starship Captain. It is Spock's initial acceptance that he must find what there is to his life other than existence and logical function, that leads him to an understanding of his suppressed need. Kirk, used to handling emotion, knows all along that he loves Spock, but not how deeply it will go if he gives his love full expression.

The story is gentle and unhurried and allows us full insight into each man's mind as they struggle, each for the other's sake, to undergo the actively embarrassing process of being quite honest and open, not only with each other, but ultimately, and hardest of all, with themselves.

Leslie provides interesting sidelines for consideration; Kirk's sexual proclivities and Spock's shocked understanding of the possible reasons for his very-existence are two of the most intriguing. The story ends in mutual acceptance of their feelings, with a final envoi to remind us that this serious business of love always has its lighter side.[3]

References

  1. ^ There's a reason Leslie's zine was sometimes referred to as "The Wait" as fans would have to wait another 8 years for The Weight to be published.
  2. ^ from K/S & K.S. (Kindred Spirits) #16
  3. ^ from Communicator #4
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