Scandals of Shikahr

Zine
Title:	Scandals of Shikahr
Publisher:	Tyne & Wear
Editor(s):	S. Meek & Tina Pole
Date(s):	yes, the sequel is Second Chance
Series?:	1983
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Star Trek: TOS
Language:	English
External Links:
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Scandals of Shikahr is a slash 58-page UK anthology edited by S. Meek & Tina Pole. It has one illustration by A.H.

front cover, by Roo

flyer, click to read

It has a sequel called Second Chance.

From an Ad

"A humorous K/S zine, which deals with Jim and Spock's visit to Shikahr for what they believe will be a quiet wedding - Shikahr may never be the same again! The zine features stories by Jane J. Coulson, Lena Marson, Mary Sue, Teresa White, etc., all done in the best possible taste!!"

Fear and Exposure

This zine was featured in one of fandom's regular panic attacks; a copy had been sent to a muck-raking tabloid newspaper and the zine's editors were feeling very exposed after being called by the paper for a comment. The instinctive response was to keep any slash-based fan activities low-key in the immediate aftermath of these events.

From the Editorial

The idea for 'Scandals' was born one dark, rainy night on the way to the bus stop, after a surfeit of Too, Too Serious K/S stories. Before we could erect our shields, the Spirit Of Melodrama had tipped us a naughty wink and it wasn't long before we were both going well over the top—sorry, Over The Top—and dragging our partners in crime with us, namely Teresa and Lena, but you'll have gathered that from the flyer anyway. After that talking and thinking in Capital Letters became almost a way of life, second only to daydreaming about our Two Heroes...well, as the viewscreen is starting to mist over...

Contents

Summaries are by Gilda F.

• The Scandals of Shikahr an Epilog by Jane J. Coulson (Amanda and Spock plot to get Sarekʼs acceptance of Spockʼs bonding to Kirk.) (1)
• An Epilog by Jane J. Coulson (Kirk and Spock canʼt wait for their bonding day—especially Spock, who is concerned about all of Kirkʼs suitors.) (9)
• Extracts from the Vulcan Sun by Jane J. Coulson (A series of letters to Vulcanʼs premiere advice columnist.) (13)
• Love Me, Love My Sehlat by Mary Sue (Spock returns home to find that he and Kirk have been gifted with a sehlat cub.) (15)
• The Sehlat's Story, part one by Jane J. Coulson (The sehlat meets Kirk. Spock sets Mutt straight.) (18)
• Homeward Bound by Lena Marson (Mutt finds something to entertain himself as he and Kirk walk home from obedience school.) (23)

• Lock Up Your Sehlat! by Jane J. Coulson (Kirk and Spock have to buy a new bed.) (25)
• A Close Encounter - Vulcan Style by Lena Marson (TʼPring uses the excuse of the cubs her sehlat is having from Mutt, but she appears to have something else on her mind.) (30)
• Let Sleeping Sehlats Lie by Jane J. Coulson (Kirk and Spockʼs new bed arrives.) (33)
• The Sehlat's Story, part two by Jane J. Coulson (36)
• Jim and Spock and Sarek and Amanda by Jane J. Coulson (While the Vulcans trade secrets, the humans do the same.)

• Desert Interlude by Teresa White (Spock talks Kirk into attempting his own kaws-wan.) (37)
• A School for Sehlats by Jane J. Coulson (Kirk takes their sehlat, ʻMutt,ʼ in for training.) (56)

• 

  illo by A.H.

• 

  sample text

Reactions and Reviews

The Scandals of Shikahr is a gossip magazine on Vulcan. These days they are very busy reporting about the “Bonding of the Year," of Spock with his captain James Kirk. Before the bonding, it turns out that Spock has rivals: Many young Vulcans visit the house of Sarek in order to propose Kirk. As a sign that the proposal is accepted, the would-be lovers all bring…nuts with them. Because Kirk has no idea what the meaning of the nuts is, he accepts them all, gratefully. According to Amanda it is good that Spock gets some competition. After the bonding they spend their leave, 3 months, on Vulcan in their own home. They collect all their bonding presents, and from Spock's aunt, much to Spock's dismay, they get a pet Sehlat, not a pure breed, and not at all educated. Kirk wants to keep him and because Spock can't refuse his bondmate anything, he agrees on one condition: Kirk has to take the sehlat to school. What follows are the hilarious events of Kirk dealing with a Sehlat who can't understand why his master doesn't try to tell him with his mind what he wants. They are thrown out of the Sehlat school, their bed is ruined and at last a pornographic photo of them is published in the Scandals…. If you like a humorous romantic story please read this. Kirk is more a kind of brat instead of a starship captain, but it gives you a good laugh.

If you like your humour with a touch of slap stick, then "this one's for you." One of the editors explained; "this zine was born one dark, rainy night.. .after a surfeit of Too, Too Serious K/S stories." (I know what she means!) The Kirk and Spock aren't quite the way I see then, but...if you squint slightly, they Just could be...under the right circumstances. I do have s problem with the "bedroom scenes." When "Our Two" disagree, they are just right, but when things are going well. Kirk gets a little "soft, not quite a wimp, but not the Kirk I expect. (I am not referring to Kirk's calling Spock "love". After all, this is a British zine.) On the other hand: Kirk and Spock go to Vulcan for their wedding, but Sarek stalls at giving his consent. He, Spock and Kirk learn that many unbonded Vulcan males not only find Kirk very attractive, they'd gladly take Spock's place as Kirk's bondmate. Kirk acquires a pet sehlat, but he doesn't get an intelligent, pure-bred, he gets a mutt! T'Pring hasn't found Stonn to be the bargain she thought he'd be, and she's out for revenge, etc., etc. After some of the chapters, there are ads from the Personal Column of the "Scandals of Shlkahr." And you thought all Vulcans were stuffy? From "The Vulcan Suns," we are treated to one of T'Proop's columns. (Vulcan's "Dear Abby"). The editors mention that they are considering a sequel. I hope they do, and that they amplify the adventures of the Vulcan, a curly-haired youngster named "Starsk" and the Andorian diplomat named Thutch. (They have possibilities.) On the technical side: The print is not reduced. (A pleasant change, not to need a magnifying glass.) There are 58 pages, and not an excessive number of typos. In my copy, page 18 had to be read upside down, but it was there. An added bonus is the prompt service provided by the editors. (This is rather a novelty when so many editors seem untroubled by making their customers wslt 6 months, and longer.) I enjoyed this zine. The editors write well, and have a gentle, loving touch.

The review of this 'archive' zine la prompted by the recent article in News of the World, which we mentioned in the last n/l. The first thing that comes to mind is to ask if the writer of that article has actually READ the zine which prompted such a virulent denunciation. 'Scandals' is a humorous, VERY tongue-in-cheek look at the K/S phenomenon. Anyone who can take seriously the image of a line of eligible Vulcans calling at Sarek's house to court Kirk in the mistaken belief that his bonding has been broken, each bearing the obligatory gift of a bowl of kepas nuts, thus overcrowding Amanda's larder, has a very strange idea of what constitutes pornography. When you add Spock's Aunt T'Pitha, a Daughter of Tradition pressed into service as a witness to the bonding - 'Spock had forgotten that T'Pitha was a Daughter; it was rumoured that TPau was doing her best to do the same,'; her wedding gift of Bobo, the untrainable mongrel sehlat; Starsk, the Vulcan water-bed salesman; Spock heading into town to buy a new bed and coming back with a computer; you may have a very individual comedy zine, but you certainly don't have anything to warrant tho diatribe in News of the World. Unfortunately, to the best of our knowledge 'Scandals' is now available only second hand, but if you have the opportunity to read it, I can promise it will only offend you if you are totally opposed to ANY mention of K/S. I consider it one of the most amusing zines ever produced. One thing - it certainly underlines the fact that you should take most things that appear in the press with a VERY large pinch of salt.