The Legacy of K/S on the Internet: Online K/S Fiction

You may be looking for The Legacy of K/S on the Internet: The Source of the Mississippi, another article in Legacy #1.

Meta
Title:	The title on the article itself: The Legacy of K/S on the Internet: Online K/S Fiction, on the title page it is The Internet: Online K/S Fiction
Creator:	Lyrastar
Date(s):	July 2007
Medium:	print, CD
Fandom:	Star Trek: TOS
Topic:	K/S
External Links:
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The Legacy of K/S on the Internet: Online K/S Fiction is an article by Lyrastar that was published in Legacy #1.

Lyrastar examines traces the history of K/S and the internet.

Topics covered:

• Beside the Wells by Susan Legge
• the changing trends in fiction: shorter, more humor, more experimentation...
• TrekSmut University
• the first K/S drabbles and the history of the drabble
• the 1997 list of K/S nominees for the ASC Awards
• the birth of alt.startrek.creative.erotica and at.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated
• Rude Person
• one of the first multi-media K/S sites, All Your Trek Are Belong to Us
• Spock Fuh-Q Fest
• KirkLovesSpockFic
• conflicts among various online groups, flame wars
• Fascinating, a Yahoo group
• KirkSpockCentral, a mailing list
• the rise of LiveJournal

Excerpts

Regarding the year 1997:

Another first time fan fiction author this year was Greywolf, who got a first taste K/S with “Turning Point,” and says, “It was like giving a junkie a shot of the pure shit; it was such a rush to find out that I was not the only one in the universe who saw what I saw on the screen.” Jumping right in, Greywolf posted “Deep Elem Blues” and “New Minglewood Blues,” the first parts of the heavy hurt/comfort alternative universe story that would become the K/S saga, “Song of the Dirhja,” followed in rapid succession by several full-fledged (and hot!) explicit K/S short stories. “Forget whiskey,” says Greywolf, “forget sex, cocaine and chocolate; writing is the best fucking drug in the universe!”

The much-awaited sequel to “Turning Point,” “Full Circle” came out in 1997, allowing readers to let out a collective breath, with the first story having left Kirk and Spock separated and in very unhappy places. Note that “Turning Point” is on the award contender list for 1997 year as well, having been substantially revised and resubmitted. This highlights another difference over paper publishing; the electronic format meant that stories could be fairly easily fixed, changed or added to even after Web publication. On the down side, stories could be erased—often permanently, as is the case with the first edition of “Turning Point,” where the writer’s own file was lost in a computer crash—unless an end user had thought ahead to print out or save a copy for herself.

Says Killa, “You know what’s funny is, I suspect the original version was a better story. I don’t think the extant version is an improvement at all. But I’m not reading either of them again, so I’ll never know.”

As K/S and fan fiction in general developed an Internet presence, some characteristics distinct from that of print fiction began to appear. Perhaps most notably, Web-published fiction could be solely driven by what the author cared to write—regardless of anyone else’s interest in or taste for the same—whereas the pragmatism of recouping distribution expenses meant that print fiction had to consider what people cared to read. Or at least what the publisher believed that people cared to read.

This led to a bit of a double-edged sword. On one side, the breadth of the experience open to K/S fans was virtually unlimited. On the other side, there was going to be a progressively bigger pile for a reader to dig through in search of something she might like.

Regarding the trend in shorter stories:

Around this time we already start seeing the trend to shorter stories. Perhaps it’s the immediacy of self-publishing and the sense that—unlike submitting to a zine—posting online was No Big Deal, just a spontaneous sort of thing. Or perhaps it was that feedback loop again. A K/S vignette based around one idea, one bit of dialogue, one moment would find just as many readers and could provoke as much discussion as a full story. In fact, short pieces or single chapters from a story often stimulated more total comments than long stories released as a whole, as readers could easily digest a chunk in one sitting and respond promptly, engaging the sense of personal conversation with the author. Perhaps it was more the reduced comfort—or in 1997, with many pay per hour plans Internet service plans, often increased expense—of reading and posting long stories online. While humorous shorts and “Plot, What Plot?” (PWP) erotica pieces popped up quickly and to a warm reception, the emotional dramas—especially longer ones—tend to be remembered and dominate the newsgroup’s awards and personal lists of favorites.

The article closes with:

K/S creators and consumers alike continue to search for a way to use today’s resources to achieve the ideal combination of accessibility, privacy, community, economy and luxury to share and maximally enjoy the pieces so lovingly crafted amongst them. As the state of the Internet has changed and evolved, so has the exact manner that works and ideas are presented and dispersed, but what hasn’t changed since 1966 is the love people see between Kirk and Spock, and the desire to expand and expound upon it. Wherever and however K/S is found, there has been a bond between those who live and understand it that transcends the medium. Hopefully, as the World Wide Web pulls people closer together, so it will for all those united in their view of Kirk and Spock, and even more exciting possibilities for sharing the vision will emerge.

Fan Comments

Then Lyrastar continues with online K/S Fiction which was very detailed and enlightening. I enjoyed this very much.