The Human Kind of Love

Fanfiction
Title:	The Human Kind of Love
Author(s):	Indra
Date(s):	1987
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:
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The Human Kind of Love is a Kirk/Spock story by Indra.

It was published in Greater California K/S.

Discussed in Not Tonight, Spock!

See Sexuality in K/S Fiction: Anal Intercourse.

Summary

"Kirk is ordered to temporarily take command of an all-Vulcan ship while Spock sees to the overhaul of that shipʼs computers."

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  title page

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  art for this story by Georgia Barnes

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  art for this story by Georgia Barnes

Reactions and Reviews

I am willing to give this story credit for an interesting concept, but that's as far as I will go. Kirk is assigned to command a ship crewed entirely by Vulcans. It is observed in the beginning that this would be Kirk's worst nightmare. I disagree. He's supposedly the best Captain in the fleet. If he is, then commanding a Vulcan crew would present a challenge to Kirk but Kirk enjoys challenges. He would be confident from the outset that he could win their loyalty, as he won Spock's. It would just be a matter of finding the right style and approach. Kirk has the ability and the intelligence. He could do it within a week. Instead we are presented with the unedifying spectacle of a floundering Kirk who has nearly destroyed himself physically and mentally attempting to be Vulcan when he surely knows he can't be Vulcan. Even if Kirk didn't have the intelligence to realize this, Spock could easily have foreseen the consequences of such an attempt and warned Kirk not to try it before the assignment ever began. Kirk would have seen that he could be respected for what he is, and I doubt that Spock would really have needed to point it out to him. Thinking that he must prove himself in Vulcan terms implies a sense of human inferiority and a lack of self-confidence that I would be readier to believe of Spock than Kirk. This story underestimates both Kirk and Spock rather seriously. I wish Indra had thought out her concept with more thoroughness before she sat down and wrote. Not every story in a zine can be brilliant or even good.

"The Human Kind of Love" by Indra gives us a situation which is suppose to be Kirk's worst kind of nightmare. He is assigned to be the captain of a ship full of Vulcan's. Because he feels so incompetent as he is, he strives to be Vulcan like. This wears him down mentally and physically... and as we all know 'Humans aren't Vulcans' anyway. So how come Kirk didn't know this?? Why does Mr. Spock have to explain it to him. Why is Kirk so self-conscious? I just don't buy the fact that our Kirk would be this insecure of himself. Anyway, I did find the concept interesting, even if it was unlikely.

Having just bonded, Kirk and Spock are ordered to test a new ship crewed with Vulcans. They have to deal with bigotry and admiration, as well as the newness of their bond. There is more potential for drama by playing out the ambivalent reactions, feelings of the crew than by introducing a new race of beings. I see it as a missed opportunity because as far as I know, it’s the only story dealing with Kirk as captain amongst a fully Vulcan crew. The setting is ideal.

The first story is ―The Human Kind of Love‖ by Indra. Kirk has been given temporary command of a new ship with an all-Vulcan crew. His and Spock‘s newly formed bond is not as stable as it should be and this causes Kirk some difficulties. Aboard is a Vulcan Healer who is not exactly sanguine about an inferior Human at the helm. This is a story of reverse prejudice at its worst but devotion at its best. My only complaint, and this is a personal pet peeve of mine, is that when Kirk and Spock are in a meld or communicating non-verbally, Spock suddenly becomes a Quaker spouting ―thees and ―thys‖ everywhere. I know many people use this device to indicate that Spock‘s speaking Vulcan but it just annoys the hell out of me. I especially found it disruptive in a sex scene in which Spock is supposed to be using English (or Standard) to seduce Kirk and he still breaks out in ―thee‖s everywhere. It really is disruptive to me but that‘s just my opinion. It turned what could have been a favorite story into a good story.