The K/S Press/Issues 041-050

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The K/S Press 41 (January 2000)

  • a fan addresses a comment from an earlier issue:
    In Jenna's LOC on "Patterns," she writes of how McCoy brings up the issue of how the general population thinks of homosexuals, in their times. [JS: I don't believe this is an issue "avoided in K/S," is it?] She believes that attitudes will have changed, the dropping of stereotypes...but what if they haven't? she wonders. I'm thinking that a common attitude people have now and will have then, is that homosexual men are "not like men," ergo, they must be "like women." So, given how women are in TOS, McCoy's affected queen-y gestures in this story are not out of line. ("Who is your hairdresser?" indeed.) I sure think, though, that the future won't look like TOS, but more like VOY, DS9 and just about any of the other sci-fi shows. But who knows. Maybe there will be a decade, 2260's say, when women have a comparable look as they did in TOS. Things change so fast, or at least they do now, so I imagine it's going to continue to be a roller- coaster ride. Certainly every decade with every generation changes, every century definitely. 1650 was very different than 1750 to the people of the times though we might look back and see them kind of blur together...so who can possibly say? I do think/hope men and women will be much less constrained; that there will be freedom and more variety in self-expression.

  • a fan comments:
    K/S writers and artists are not working for profit seems so obvious, but I think sometimes we tend to focus instead on levels of ability as the determining factor between amateur and professional—as though professional always means “skilled,” and amateur, “unskilled.” This may sometimes be accurate, but I think it’s worth remembering that the creative freedom we amateurs enjoy is even more basic to what K/S is all about.

  • a fan addresses another fan:
    I was dismayed to hear that you have been importuned to fill out “another survey from someone working on their doctoral thesis, subject: Slash fiction.” I have frankly had enough of being examined under a microscope by the academic world and don’t welcome yet another well-meaning but non- comprehending soul. Besides, such scrutiny, it seems to me, will lead inevitably to more exposure to the “outside world,” and while I am not one to try to keep my K/S totally secret, I am also not too happy about opening myself and what I love to laughter and ridicule.

  • this fan writes of death stories:
    I would really hate it if there were very many of these “old Kirk” stories, but an occasional one is okay with me. If it’s delicately handled. Except, of course, I hate going over that line to a death story! No way, no how. Forget it. Don’t want to read it, don’t want to hear about. I’m one of those who has never seen Star Trek VII: Generations. And I don’t want to see it!

The K/S Press 42 (February 2000)

  • an author explains the edits she did for a published story that had been written by another fan who had recently passed away:
    FYI, about the Chris Soto story in Scattered Stars 12, I've been meaning to explain my part in it. Chris had sent me (old-fashioned paper copy by mail) just the one chapter of the novel which was to have involved many past-life episodes. I wrote my editing comments on her copy and returned it to her, keeping a copy for myself. So that copy is what I typed it up from, including my editing changes, which she had agreed with. I didn't "fill in the story" as Robin's editorial indicated—Chris had sent me a later version than the one she had sent Robin. I changed very little except grammatically, etc., so this was really Chris's story as she wrote it. However, I did make a big change: I took the liberty of changing her names for the characters to Kirk and Spock, because of my personal preference in A/U stories. I never care for it when other names are used because my mind has to quickly translate each time who it is. Is "Sean" Spock or Kirk? Is "Marcus" Kirk or Spock? Chris had Kirk as Sean and Spock as Marcus, which is admittedly more realistic historically.

  • there is much discussion on whether a first officer should be sexually involved with his commanding officer, more discussion on “Is there a conflict between True Love and Military Responsibility?” One fan writes:
    My, my, should a first officer be sexually involved with his commanding officer? The romantic one in me wants to scream, YES! What would I do with my K/S? Without it we would not have the wonderful story lines, which sometime deal beautifully with conflict of interest. However, let’s be realistic. First off, how many shore leaves could our boys have TOGETHER and maintain their command mode? And quite frankly, I would most definitely think that eventually Kirk’s personal feeling would get in the way of his professional decisions. Let’s face it...just a split second of indecision...effects the command. Honestly, I believe it would actually be dangerous for a commander and his second-in- command to be lovers. You would like for there to be a level of trust and confidence that one of the pair would perform effectively if the partner was injured or killed. However, I feel there would always be a level of uncertainty or doubt.

  • another fan writes of the conflict between "True Love" and "Military Responsibility":
    Yes. And I enjoy the stories and appreciate the authors that deal with this seriously. But I don't mind at all when our stories aren't "realistic." We don't have to deal with this issue as a serious reality if we don't want to; but of course there is conflict, just in the fact of the superior officer being in a position to order his second-in-command/lover into a dangerous situation. However, even if they weren't lovers, it goes with the territory, that the captain might have to send someone into potential danger who is an invaluable member of his crew, and maybe who he really likes. This is just the reality of the military structure, and a powerful dynamic in the comrades-in-arms thing. It just adds to the intensity of a love relationship between military men. I suppose in our fantasy K/S world, their being lovers adds to the heroic nature of the characters--together, they are an unbeatable force, and the potential sacrifice inherent in their military mindset adds to the bond they share that makes them so heroic together.

  • contains an explanation of “K/S Day”:
    The history of K/S Day is simple. One of our subscribers noted that WS’s birthday is on March 22 and LN’s birthday is March 36th, so three years ago she suggested recognizing and celebrating our fandom on the day that split the difference… Celebrations in the past have ranged from eating pink and green ice cream to cavorting wildly in the streets, shouting ‘Kirk and Spock’ at the top of your lungs. You get to choose your level of involvement.

  • a fan comments that she’s heard of:
    another person who’s doing yet one more ‘doctoral thesis’ on ‘slash’” that is seems “like the same-old-same-old but we’ll see. No one’s managed to explain ‘/’, let alone K/S (which is a WHOLE other subject!) to my satisfaction yet… I’m not even sure why people continue to get approval for this kind of thesis. Maybe their advisiors are ignorant of others who have gone before them? To me, trying to ‘explain’ slash (again, let alone K/S!) is like trying to describe purple to someone who was born blind.

  • the author of “All that We See or Seem” in Starry Seas, Earthly Planes comments that:
    it is very close to the “Dreams of the Sleeper” trilogy. In fact, it was precursor. I was witness to the genesis, if you will, of both stories… and the idea just became clearer and more fleshed out—and was presented MUCH better in DOTS.

The K/S Press 43 (March 2000)

  • a fan writes of fiction, and of [suicide]]:
    Someone mentioned in one of the December LOCs about a story in which Kirk was considering suicide, and my first reaction was: would he do that? I believed it in Killa’s “Full Circle”, considering how beaten he was emotionally and physically after his reaction to the meld ripping him apart. Then later that day I got sucked into my first viewing of Xena, a dark and disturbing episode that had me hooked. It concerned Xena’s reaction to the death of who I assume is her counterpart and best friend, Gabrielle. Xena is torn apart by this separation and takes part in some mystical ritual blood drinking which helps her get to the other side to be reunited with Gabrielle. Very powerful slashy stuff that had me thinking of K/S parallels. I couldn’t help think, would Kirk do that? Or Spock? We write that they would, and we read and accept, but then we also want to see our Kirks and Spocks strong. In canon they would not make such sacrifices, though they have come close. Which is more realistic? I lean toward the latter, but I see how compelling the other is. I guess that’s why I like Killa’s Bitter Glass so much, it is a “compromise” for me, as the Nexus is not death as we know it.

  • a fan writes of the current topic of discussion:
    I enjoyed reading all the comments in last month’s KSP about the conflict between military responsibility and true love. I agree that in reality many conflicts could arise, but I am also one of those who are willing to dispense with absolute realism when it comes to K/S. Saying this feels a bit strange because I am always insisting that realism helps a story, and I think it usually does. When it comes to theme, however, I’m afraid I would have lost interest long ago if the majority of K/S fiction involved Kirk and Spock facing serious objections from Starfleet or from the Enterprise crew. Seeing them repeatedly forced to either keep their relationship a secret, do battle with the powers-that-be, or leave Starfleet would be too depressing! Any of those scenarios could make for a gripping story, but I wouldn’t choose them as a steady diet. Besides, since we’re in the business of imagining what the twenty-third century might be like, who’s to say that any society an author invents is impossible or too optimistic? And because I believe Kirk and Spock to be persons of exceptional integrity and intelligence, I don’t think that their military standing needs to be dealt with in every story. I assume that they take their professional responsibilities seriously and in a crisis will put the welfare of their ship and crew first, and so just don’t tend to worry too much about whether an intimate relationship might lead to errors in judgement.

  • a fan comments on the "missing episode on radio" and speculates:
    I was surprised to read the transcript of the radio “missing episode”. I had received a tape of it from someone a number of years ago and I played it over and over! But there were many lines that are not in the version I have. I loved the additional lines. My dream would be for someone to make a really good, serious audio tape of Kirk and Spock together. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Sometimes when other K/Sers and I are watching episodes, we comment on some lines we hear that could be a part of this tape. I wish...

The K/S Press 44 (April 2000)

  • a wonderful thought about the future:
    Don’’t forget! We are all going to live in the K/S Retirement Village when we’’re old enough and where we’’ll sit in soft upholstered chairs with fuzzy blankets covering our laps, and take little sips of sherry and nibble on jelly-filled doughnuts, and push up our small pince-nez glasses while we read about Kirk and Spock fucking their brains out.

  • a fan with a plan:
    I loved your story, “All This Time”. Wonderful! Yes, I have my trusty legal pad filled with a list of potential songs and a list of clips to go with them. So this summer will be editing heaven at my house. One video I have got to do...though it will not be K/S, is to the tune, Tub-thumping. It is something that won’t leave my head! It’s driving me crazy! So to satisfy the maniac in me I will have to complete this video first. Maybe, if it turns out as wild as I think it will be, I could still bring it to Kiscon.

  • many fans comment on K/S Day -- one of them:
    Finally...K/S Day. I hope everyone enjoyed a peaceful and wonderful day! My celebration was not flashy or spectacular, but rest assured that I did spend the entire day thinking about Kirk and Spock, and about my treasured K/S sisters. I had the morning off from work (no, not because my employer recognizes that March 24th should be a national holiday!) and started the day by reading the first half or so of Companion, which was the first K/S zine I bought years ago. Nostalgic and inspirational reading! Then when I went to work and later to the opening night performance of a community theater production (I’m in the orchestra), I wore my beautiful silver K/S pendant—in the midst of hectic ‘real life,’ a fine reminder that it was our special day.

  • another fan celebrates:
    I was greeted first off in the morning by my best friend, Liz, calling me from work and singing "Happy K/S Day to You," to the tune of Happy Birthday. Then there was the wonder of opening my e-mail and finding not one but five K/S day greetings—three of which were animated cards. Terrific. I've heard of but never seen any of these before and I must learn how to send those. Also spent a lot of time thinking about Kirk and Spock and also trying to think of ways to get my writing partner to finally sit down and help me finish up a story we have in the works. No easy task that.

  • more from another fan on K/S Day:
    I'm writing this on K/S Day. As soon as I get home from work I'm going to put back out the explicit K/S art and stuff around my house that I had very quickly tucked away when my brother came last. Then I'll put on my favorite songtape, Chris Soto's. Then, I just got today in the mail Beyond Dreams 2 and haven't even opened the envelope yet, so I'll certainly enjoy perusing that. I woke up thinking about Kirk and Spock, and I’ll go to sleep thinking about Kirk and Spock. Pretty much like every day.

  • a fan explains reading a zine in public:
    Folks have told me before that they are astonished that I can read K/S in public, but really, it is simple. I use a zine condom, one of those wrap-around folders that literally wrap around the covers of the zine, and whenever I come to a particularly explicit piece of art, I gently fold the page over in a way so that it doesn’t crease. No problem. If somebody wants to be rude enough to read over my shoulder, then they will get a big shock, but who is going to do that while I’m sitting in a booth at Denny’s? (For those out of the US, that’s a chain of inexpensive restaurants.) I read K/S even on airplanes, which is close quarters indeed, and have never run into any trouble at all.

  • on issues finding a print shop with sensibilities:
    I wanted to report on some of my recent experiences in having Beyond Dreams 2 printed. I was somewhat worried about reproducing the artwork, as the art in BD 2 is perhaps—well, all right, definitely— more explicit than what we had printed in BD 1. Hey, just because I like to see Jim and Spock making love doesn’t mean that others appreciate the same thing! And I was switching printers for the artwork, too, as the ones I’d used before had made me feel somewhat uncomfortable. (Not to mention the one art house that practically threw me out the front door when I tried to get the Encore artwork reproduced, and the owner who told me indignantly: “You’ve got one naked man sitting on another man’s lap!” I responded: “Yes, that’s true. Why won’t you print my art when your employees said they would?” Ah, better not to get into the details!) So a week before the big date, I found my way to the manager, a nice older lady with whom I have dealt before. I gathered up my equanimity, waited until there wasn’t anybody else around, and I told her exactly what was going to be in the zine: a full frontal male nude that left nothing to the imagination, men embracing, very suggestive poses, and finally the one where Spock is on top of Kirk and there is definitely nothing between them except skin! She looked calmly at me and said that it surely couldn’t be much worse than what she had already seen. I said perhaps it might be, a little. She reassured me that there would be no problem. I know she wants my business, but it surprised me that she wanted it that badly. A few days later we proceeded to spread the artwork out on the counter and start working with different reproduction methods, trying to find the best ones for each pic, because it is never the same for all of them. She worked with me for about an hour, other customers came and went around us, behind us. In the beginning we were pretty discreet, covering things up when someone came up behind me, but after about half an hour I said, oh forget this and I ceased to worry. If they wanted to be shocked, let them. I never turned around to look for reactions, but nobody kicked me or verbally assaulted me, and I emerged unscathed. When the actual reproduction took place, the manager did it herself early in the morning. A funny thing, too, is that she assured me she would only allow the older members of the staff to see what she was printing or handle the material. You would think that it would be younger people who would be flexible and open-minded, but I have discovered that is not the case, at least not in Texas. The younger people here are heavily indoctrinated and rather rigid in their beliefs. (Of course, I am over-generalizing on a massive scale here)

  • the editor has a proposal:
    Let’s pick another topic to talk about for our May K/S Press. Because of the recent votes in California and in Vermont, let’s discuss: Are Kirk and Spock Gay? And all the ramifications that stem from that question.

The K/S Press 45 (May 2000)

* includes a transcript for "K/S Performance With Action Figures":

... our K/S sisters from Germany told us of how they gathered to celebrate K/S day. This month [Regina F] has sent us the transcript of the play she performed that day using Kirk and Spock dolls.

  • a fan addresses another:
    I enjoy picturing you making the arrangements for KiScon, in such a straightforward way as I'm sure you do with these people. At least you don't look like a "dyke," so people don't have their hackles up from the beginning. I think it's so amusing, to think of all our members who are like the "lady next door" or whatever...and if they only knew what lurks behind this Sunday school teacher exterior....

  • a fan ponders the question: "Are Kirk and Spock gay?":
    Evidence in aired Trek and ST-K/S fiction to the contrary notwithstanding, I think this question is moot by the 23rd century. For the most part, nowadays people think in terms of either/or, so it's either gay or straight. But I don't think it will be like that in the future, at least not in the ST future. Each person will lean one way more than the other (not that many are ever right in the middle), but I think it will be recognized that everyone has the potential to be all ways. Even with artificial insemination and in vitro births and all that, there will probably always be a strong pull between males and females for propagation of the species. Maybe only for that, though. Otherwise, one male and one female and their offspring isn't really the most desirable way to live; or at least there are so many other ways that will be acceptable and easily available at different stages of life and so on. One male and one female is fine, though--don't peg me as one who doesn't believe that's okay... "gay" might be a genetic predisposition, or it might be a choice. I see both kinds of people it seems. The ones who all their lives were only drawn to their same sex; and the ones who make a choice for who to have relationships with. And then there's bisexual and transgender and...I think I'll call this finished before I get off onto all that. Gay or not, Kirk and Spock are the best of humanoidity (goofy-looking word, but what else?).

  • regarding the gay question:
    Are Kirk and Spock gay? The first thing that came to mind when I was thinking about what I would write here is that I would have to start by defining the term “gay.” That led me off into a long mental discussion with myself about whether someone can be “gay” if they are or ever have been sexually attracted to someone of the opposite sex, and that led me off into a long consideration of the meaning of Kirk’s sexual history (we know he slept with a lot of women, but is that, alone, sufficient evidence of his true orientation--maybe he really wanted to sleep with men but felt he couldn’t for some reason, etc., etc.) and an equally long consideration of the meaning of Spock’s sexual history (almost every time he seems really interested in a woman there are extenuating circumstances... And then I got sort of frustrated and angry and thought: Why the heck are we all so determined to categorize people anyway? And then I imagined Kirk and Spock suddenly appearing in our current culture and trying to live as a couple: I imagined them buying a house together; I imagined them taking long walks at twilight, holding hands; I imagined them pausing in their driveway each morning to kiss each other goodbye; I imagined them trying to get a marriage license. And that’s when I realized that there really wasn’t that much point in worrying about the details: the fact is that if Kirk and Spock were to suddenly appear in our time and dare to openly express their love for one another, they most certainly would be considered gay. Unfortunately, they would also find that if they wanted to stay and continue to openly express their love, they’d have to draw very heavily upon their famous courage and strength of character in order to deal with a bunch of frightened dimwits who think that allowing a devoted same-sex couple to marry might somehow (don’t ask me how) threaten their own, heterosexual marriages.

  • regarding the gay question:
    The first thing it seems to me I’d have to do is define what GAY means. I won’t bother to use a dictionary, but to me that means someone who is exclusively attracted to persons of the same gender. So right off the bat I don’t think I could call Kirk and Spock gay technically speaking, since each has been involved with people of the opposite sex. Perhaps I could call them bi-sexual. Except that there is a question where Spock is concerned, since Leila and Zarabeth were both attractions born from outside influences and the seduction of the Romulan Commander was born from duty. So I could easily accept the premise that Spock is basically homosexual, or gay, despite his episode experiences. Only he could answer if he is basically attracted only to men! If so, then I’d call him gay. But I think this question is aiming at more than just labeling our heroes, it’s more about what being gay might mean in K/S writing and the future as well. There are a whole bunch of stereotypes that are attached to the world’s understanding of what being a gay man is, and very rarely are they addressed in K/S writing. The tendency of most writers is to assume prejudices against same-sex relationships will be swept away in the future; presumably the stereotypes will be too.

The K/S Press 46 (June 2000)

  • a fan explains how K/S has changed her life:
    It's changed my life a whole lot. The entire fanfiction phenomenon has changed my life in a way that I can't really fathom. It inspires me, puts me in a good mood and life's so much fun. I've never been prejudiced against gay couples or homosexual love, but after starting to read slash, I think I've become even more accepting. I'm beginning also to understand how difficult it must be to be gay and out in this world. I'm not telling just anyone about my interest in K/S exactly... And this although it is one of the most fulfilling aspects of my life. It's sad, but true.

  • a fan admits to reading K/S zines in many places, including church, explains what K/S means to her:
    K/S has changed my life forever. I relate to Kirk and Spock more than anything else, besides God, I think. I live, eat, and breathe it. It has enriched my life in many ways and has shown me the way to our human condition and loving unconditionally.

  • a fan wonders:
    I voted for the Stiffie awards online for both K/S and Blake's 7. I am wondering how they prevent "ballot box stuffing" since they don't ask for any ID when you vote. For the FanQs, I had a snail mail ballot. If you vote online for the FanQs, do they require identification or not?

  • regarding whether Kirk and Spock being gay:
    [J] mentioned in particular the old idea that some people insist that Spock and Kirk are definitely not gay and are only interested in each other because of true love which can transcend gender. I know when this idea was raised (but not specifically about Kirk and Spock) at Minotaur's talks at Escapade it really got hooted. This may not be true, but I think some people who use this interpretation are a little homophobic or feel that by saying the characters are gay that somehow they have made them less masculine. In reality, I suspect that very few straight people ever get into a homosexual relationship. More than likely, the so-called heterosexual person is really bisexual and just didn't realize it for whatever reasons. Supposedly, there are more bisexuals than we would think. Society tends to teach heterosexuality, so one's natural inclinations can be thwarted by one's upbringing and society's expectations.

  • about the gay thing:
    The excellent comments in the last KSP really set me to thinking about the question of whether Kirk and Spock are gay. I have always assumed that Kirk is either heterosexual or possibly bisexual, and that Spock is probably heterosexual— until he falls in love with Kirk, that is! Getting a handle on this question can be harder than you expect because there are so many variables and unknowns. Do we consider only the events shown in aired Trek? That’s a reasonable approach, I suppose, but to me it seems unnecessarily limiting since our fandom is all about imagining what else might happen to Kirk and Spock in past, present, and future.

  • a fan describes some of her writing process:
    Recently, I’ve been discussing an experience I’ve been having while writing K/S. I visualize a movie playing in my mind as I write a scene. A friend likened it to a VCR playing with “jog shuttle”! I love that—it’s a little dial on the remote control that you can turn to forward or rewind frame by frame. I watch as Kirk and Spock stand in a kitchen (don’t get scared—no housekeeping involved) and Kirk hands Spock a mug of coffee. I rewrite and the movie/tape rewinds as Kirk’s hand comes back with the mug and then is replaced with a coffee pot. The movie starts again as he reaches forward to pour some coffee into Spock’s mug, when I rewrite and the movie rewinds and the coffee pours back into the pot and Kirk’s arm goes back and he steps backward. Then it’s a mug again and the movie starts forward and Kirk hands it to Spock again!

  • a fan describes some of the process in deciding what hotel to choose for a K/S convention:
    I finally narrowed it down to two hotels, and I decided to tell the sales managers of each what the true nature of our convention is. I thought one might eliminate itself by the reaction to K/S and material of an adult nature being in the meeting rooms. Hesitantly, I told the male salesman what those “science fiction fans” would be interested in during the weekend. He didn’t even blink! Boy, did he want our business! He told us he had recently hosted a lesbian church service as well as several gay and lesbian groups. A few weeks previously he had hosted a weekend sponsored by James Dobson’s Focus on the Family. The topic of the weekend had been homosexuality and how to prevent your child from succumbing to it! These workshops were open to the public, and the hotel had been somewhat concerned that there might be protests outside, but they went ahead with the weekend nevertheless. But what made my committee member Barbara T and me really laugh was when he first compared us to the tattoo enthusiasts meeting and then to the wife swappers meetings! Barbara and I goggled at each other. Wife swappers?... Then I went and told the female sales person from the other hotel what K/S really meant. She didn’t say a word, but her eyes got bigger and bigger until finally she stopped me. “I can’t deal with this,” she said. “I’ve got to go get my manager!” The manager turned out to be a sophisticated woman who nevertheless wanted lots of reassurances that we wouldn’t “offend” not just the guests at the hotel but the employees! Well, guess which hotel I went with? For this and many other reasons, the fellows who have previously dealt with tattoo artists and didn’t blink at a lesbian church service will have the opportunity to host KiScon 2001.

  • regarding Anal Penetration and a fan's peeve:
    I have no problems with thinking that Kirk might behave as aggressively as he does in that story, and I do believe that Spock could be roused into a sexual frenzy of need. What I do have problems with is the characters thinking that being penetrated would relieve that sexual frenzy, that an inexperienced male would beg for penetration. Male to male penetration, especially the first time (heck, even for some women, remember the hymen?) is not easy, can be painful without adequate time and preparation. Besides, men don’t tend to think in terms of being penetrated as part of their instinctive sexual responses, they think of penetrating in that way. Being penetrated doesn’t naturally bring orgasm for them, penetrating does. (Especially for an inexperienced male. I am ready to believe that for a man experienced with male to male sex, he could be conditioned into achieving orgasm through penetration.) So any time one of them begs the other to penetrate them as part of a physical need, and it is a first time experience, I am taken out of the story because it just doesn’t make sense to me. Not that the action doesn’t make sense, but it doesn’t make sense to me that a natural sexual response would be desiring penetration.

The K/S Press 47 (July 2000)

  • a fan comments on an earlier comment:
    The 'don't embarrass the staff' attitude is so reminiscent of the comments here about repealing Clause 28 which 'bans the promotion of homosexuality in schools'... I resent the inference that teachers would ever 'promote' homosexuality. Present it positively, as a lifestyle that suits some people, yes. Anyway, you can't 'promote' homosexuality. Someone is either gay or he's not. Someone who positively isn't, isn't going to be drawn into it; though I do believe a degree of homosexual interest is part of growing up. This could be something as harmless as a child taking a teacher as a role model—the good old 'crush' that will normally be outgrown in a few months. But it certainly looks as though there are still a lot of people who regard it as a “choice” of lifestyle that is deliberately made.

  • a fan writes:
    Okay! I’m all excited about the upcoming Shore Leave! I’ve been doing as much art as is womanly possible. The only problem is, and I know this is sacrilege, is that I must draw some other characters besides Kirk and Spock. Sigh. If I’m to sell art there, I’ve got to draw subject matter that will sell. So Kirk and Spock en flagrante delicto, will have to take a backseat to Spock with McCoy, and Picard. And forget even a nude Picard! (Not that there’s anything wrong with that...)

  • regarding the comments on anal penetration in a previous issue:
    About [J's] Roundtable from last issue: My wonderful PP brought up the subject of male to male penetration. Of course this is as it relates to K/S, so this is not necessarily a scientific discussion of homosexual sex. What I mean is that we can write Kirk and Spock engaging in any type sexual congress that we want. But I think Jenna said that for men, being penetrated is not the act of choice for them, that their instinctive sexual need is to do the penetrating—to be the penetrator, not the penetratee, as, I guess, women are. However, I was told by a K/Ser who is very knowledgeable on this subject, that that is not actually the case. I was told, much to my surprise, that most men want to be penetrated—that that is the desired position of choice.

The K/S Press 48 (August 2000)

the "gen" K/S cake at Shore Leave #22
  • LoCs
  • "Heartbeats," fan bios for Rosamund Clifford and Patti Byther
  • an extensive description of the upcoming KiScon 2000
  • contents of the K/S Zine Library, American Branch and European Branch, including new additions to both
  • ads for zines
  • an ad for art by Chris Soto; Merry Men Press: "Chris has passed away, but her gorgeous art lives on. Her work has graced the covers of some of the finest zines in fandom over the years. Now is your chance to own these beautiful originals!"
  • much art for sale by Shelley Butler including: "'Pieta,' the infamous print where Kirk is NOT dead, he just ate too much of Spock's famous family recipe of 'Vege-L'Matya Casserole Surprise'. He's digesting."
  • an ad for The Official Leonard Nimoy Fan Club (UK)
  • ads and description of four available Star Trek song tapes available only to subscribers
  • a fan thanks some fans who have gone before her:
    As I re-read one of Charlotte Frost’s great stories I felt the need to say something to those of you who have added so much enjoyment to our existence and have kept the legend of Kirk and Spock so vitally alive. I don’t know why any of you have dropped out of K/S. I do know it can be a very ticklish and time- consuming obsession and I suspect that sometimes the pressure induced by continuing to participate creates too much friction in your lives and you must make a choice. To those of you whose creations I’ve loved, I want to say how much I miss you. But I also want to tell you not to suffer any remorse for no longer being able to contribute. Think what you’ve done. Your words will live beyond you; beyond any of us. Ten years from now, twenty, they will thrive. Think of the stories we pick up today that were written in the 70's...close to 30 years ago. Children have been born and raised, and schooled and had children of their own since this phenomenon all began. And from each of you who has contributed there is a flower in the garden of life for K/S, for Kirk and for Spock and what they mean to each other. 79 episodes and 6 movies have become culturally significant. Think what the hundreds of accounts of the love between Kirk and Spock have become. I’d adore seeing Charlotte Frost and many of my other favorites return to the fold, but almost as much as I want to once again experience love through their words, I want them to realize how undying that love is—how it blossoms day after day as we read the words again. The glory you felt when you learned there were many who cherished your stories should never fade. You have shared such riches with us all.

The K/S Press 49 (September 2000)

the art show at Shore Leave #22
  • from a prolific zine writer:
    I was curious about how K/Sers feel about a topic that is sure to become more and more prevalent as online life increases. I've hear bits and pieces from other fandoms about authors creating their own web pages and putting up their fan stories. Of course, this can create a conflict if the author wants to use their stories which have, in the past, been printed in fanzines. What complicates the matter is that it's pretty standard for editors to keep fanzine in print perpetually. So, how long does an editor have exclusive rights to an author's story? At what point is it acceptable, within fandom, for the author to post a story to a web page, even though an editor is still selling zines with that story in it? My initial thought would be that, all things being equal, the web listing would hurt the editor's zine sales, and therefore an author shouldn't have the story on the web 'compete' with the fanzine, thereby denying the editor the right to collect on her expenses for printing a zine. However, editors surely can't claim exclusive rights forever. I know of one case where an editor has denied the author permission to put a story on a web page, even though the fanzine where the story was is published has been in print for six or seven years now. I also know that this has caused some problems in a small fandom between authors who want their stories to have more exposure, and the editors who feel their fandom livelihood is threatened because they are still selling the zines.

  • a fan writes:
    I'm glad you [the editor] wrote that response to my LoC. It reminded me of the 'new' policy the K/S Press initiated that we should feel free to respond to LoCs, whereas in the previous letterzines, LoCs were a one-way street.

The K/S Press 50 (October 2000)

  • contains 38 pages
  • has LoCs for fiction: Atlantis Stars, Confidential File, The Bounds of Friendship, Contribution, Getting What You Wished For, Deep Water, Everything, Ghosts, How High is the Sky?, I'd Dye for You, Into the Night, A Meal to Remember, The Letter, Love Letters, Memories, Pandora's Box, Morpheus Rising, Personal Endeavor, Music to Die For, Ravage, Rain, Sadness, Loss and Love, Snowman, Such are the Gates of Paradise, They are Immortal, All Those Stars, Things That Go Bump, This Can't Be Love, Till Only the Stars Remained, Tirizandi in the zines Amazing Grace #4, As I Do Thee 16, 18, Beyond Dreams #2, Charisma #3, First Time #47, #50, #51, KaleidoScope #2, Morpheus Rising, Scattered Stars #12, see those pages
  • Heartbeats bio for Morjana Coffman/Alex Kane
  • an extensive description of the upcoming KiScon 2000
  • About net fiction from a reader:
    It seems to be fairly widely accepted in some fandoms that a story can be posted after it's been in print for a year, but it's also ethical to say that it was first in a zine, and name that zine. After all, the rights do revert to the writers... Some editors have put net stories into zine format and those zine seem to sell just fine, if only because a lot of people aren't online yet. Some online fans have complained bitterly when a story that was originally posted has been withdrawn (even for just a year) to go in to a zine, because, they say, it means for that time they can't reread it. Personally, I don't understand not saving out a story you really enjoy but downloading it every time you wan to read it; but I suppose it's a matter of how you use the net. I personally don't like reading off a monitor, so stories I'm likely to want to reread, I print out.

  • from a reader:
    I've come to the conclusion that there really isn't all that much competition [between net fic and zine fic], though a lot of people seem to think there are. Some people are online and also buy zines. Some people are online and say they can't afford to buy zines, and that they are therefore being denied the stories that are in zines... Some people aren't online at all, many of them don't want to be or simply can't afford a computer... and are permanently being denied a huge percentage of the stories that are posted.

  • Jenna Sinclair, the editor, says they ask the authors and artists in her zines not to post their fiction for three years after the zine has been published:
    It's all based on economics. When the time comes to print a new zine, the zine checking account has got to have the money in it to support the new zine. Editors put literally thousands of our own dollars into the business to get it started, money that is never paid back. But that initial capital must be recycled to keep the business going and keep the zines being published.... What will sell zines and allow us to continue? The fiction in the zines, of course. And the art and poetry, but mainly the fiction. It is our primary asset... Take away the asset and there's no income stream... So we've got to try to do is get economic value from those stories. In this issue of KSP, Fiona James says that in other fandoms, stories are posted one year after they are posted. This feels like financial suicide to me... It's all a matter of experimentation, really. Posting a story too soon after publication robs it of its economic value to a zine and an editor.

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