Styx and Stones (Star Trek: TOS zine)

Zine
Title:	Styx and Stones
Publisher:	Pon Farr Press
Editor(s):
Date(s):	March 1987
Series?:
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Star Trek: TOS
Language:	English
External Links:	some fiction is here
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back cover, Jacqueline Zoost

front cover by Marilyn Cole

Styx and Stones is a slash K/S Star Trek: TOS 100-page anthology zine with short stories by Alexis Fegan Black.

Editorial

STYX AND STONES is a collection of previously unpublished short stories which I hope you will enjoy reading as much as I've enjoyed writing. It dawned on me one morning that I had several stories sitting about — stories which hadn't made it into NAKED TIMES and which, for one reason or another, I hadn't sent out to another editor.

So... after sorting through and re-editing, I decided to offer them in this manner rather than waiting to publish them elsewhere. Again, I hope you'll find them entertaining.

I would also like to again thank Marilyn Cole for the magnificent cover which inspired the title-story Of STYX AND STONES. This is the cover which was originally supposed to be on NAKED TIMES #12 — the cover which managed to get lost in the mail for over 2 weeks, and gave both Marilyn and I a minor coronary arrest. Marilyn was kind enough to do another cover for NAKED TIMES #12 (the beautiful Winged Spock/Fallen Kirk); thus, I became inspired to write STYX AND STONES. Again, Marilyn, thanks.

Contents

sample text, prose

sample poem

It contains five stories and poems:

• Editorial (3)
• The Reason, poem (4)
• One Foot in Paradise (Kirk and Spock discuss their dreams every night but trouble starts when Spock dreams of them bonding and then making love. " Trembling inwardly, Spock stared at the human’s back. Then, without thinking, he looked down at the glass he still held in his hand and suddenly hurled it against the far wall, watching as it shattered into a thousand slow-motion fragments like the pieces of his heart. “Yes!” he snarled, clamoring to his feet and meeting the fear-widened human eyes. “I love you, Jim! But I do not believe it can be enough! Others have loved you, and you nave turned away from them – as you turned away from me just now. Love is not enough!” For a single instant, Kirk thought he would pass out on the spot, melt to liquid and spread himself on the floor. Before him stood a raving lunatic who also happened to be a Vulcan, who also happened to have just said the one thing which would make it enough…") (5)
• Collaboration (Kirk is feeling bored and dissatified, so his bondmate comes up with a plan to relieve his boredom after Kirk tells him of the stories that have been written about them. "“Did you know, Spock, that back on Earth – and probably on a few other planets as well – there are stories being written about us” Kirk mused. “I do not find that surprising, Jim,” Spock offered. “The ENTERPRISE’s missions are of historical importance. It is logical that they be documented for future generations.” Kirk frowned. “That’s not what I mean, Spock,” he clarified. “I’m not talking about historians or scholars. I’m talking about fiction.”") (55)
• Styx and Stones (Spock awakens in a new land after dying and waits for Jim, who is in a coma following a shuttle crash. Sequel: The Fallen. " The wings, Spock recalled, had mysteriously grown from his back when he had felt a need for aeriel surveying of his new world. It had begun with what he’d thought a skin irritation of some sort; and, unable to see himself in any type of reflective surface, he had not understood what was happening until the transformation was complete. And yet… Jim was lost Even the wings of a guardian could not shielded him from whatever dreams he was living in the darkest regions of his unconscious mind. There was one other Spock had learned to do and, dropping his head into his hands, the pale soft wings trembling as his shoulders heaved, he began to weep." (also in Naked Times #32) (89)
• The Same Answer, poem (100)

Reactions and Reviews

See reactions and reviews for One Foot in Paradise.

See reactions and reviews for Collaboration.

See reactions and reviews for Styx and Stones.

[zine]: This is one of those zines that I never got around to ordering through the mail. Then, when I ran into it at a convention and saw Marilyn Cole's beautiful cover (a pencil rendering of Spock with wings & wearing nothing but a loin-cloth!), I was compelled to buy it, if for nothing but the cover. What's between the covers, though, is every bit as good.

The lead story, ONE FOOT IN PARADISE (and the other on a Vulcan banana peel, maybe? -- just kidding!) is a story which takes the premise that Kirk and Spock have set up a nightly tradition of telling one another about their dreams, presumably to help Kirk cope with the nightmares he has. This has gone on for some time without problems, but when Spock begins to have dreams of his own, the story really takes off. This story is packed with sexual tension, and has some very interesting conversations between K & S. A very powerful sexual encounter is included, one which made this reader give serious thought to trapping the pizza delivery man and... well... you get the picture, right?

The second story, COLLABORATION, is a very interesting story in that it deals with a time in the K/S relationship when they've started to get a little lazy — a "little too comfortable" as the writer puts it. To alleviate this situation, the two embark on a meld-induced fantasy — one which also put the pizza delivery guy in serious danger! COLLABORATION also has a sub-plot which suggests that fictionalized stories are being written about Kirk and Spock in their own time — i.e., that they've become legends in their own time. I found this an intriguing possibility, and the humor in the situation left me with a warm feeling inside.

The final story, STYX AND STONES is perhaps the "weakest" of the three. It is an "after-death" story (sort of). As I understand it, Spock has become the "keeper" of the River Styx, and though he hasn't got a clue as to how this happened, he isn't alone long. When Kirk joins him (through a scene with some magnificent avant-garde writing!), the two begin their journey in paradise. And when Spock tells Kirk: "Our bed is one of soft, non-irritating mosses; and the pillows are the petals of a large flower, filled with down"... well that was enough for me. I could just see Spock preening those beautiful wings Ms. Cole depicted on the cover, and I found myself sniffing with happiness as I completed the story.

STYX AND STONES is a very good read, with three interesting stories and two nice poems (also by Ms. Black). Unfortunately, there is no interior art; but when writers can paint such detailed pictures with words, I find that illustrations aren't always necessary. The back cover, by Jacquelyn Zoost, is quite nice, as are the decorative borders which accompany each story. This zine is highly recommended — both for the tender affection between Kirk and Spock as well as for the passionate love scenes.

Now I think I'll order a pizza.