The Weakness (Star Trek: TOS story by Patricia Laurie Stephens)

K/S Fanfiction
Title:	The Weakness
Author(s):	Patricia Laurie Stephens
Date(s):	1990
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

The Weakness is a K/S story by Patricia Laurie Stephens.

It was published in Charisma #9.

Fans were challenged to write a sequel to Alexis Fegan Black's story of the same name in the zine's previous issue.

Summary

"This is the long awaited completion of "The Weakness" by Alexis Fegan Black, a story-looking-for-an-ending (see CHARISMA #7). The winner of the contest, Stevens, has given us a view of the "Mirror" Kirk and Spock which is, more often than not, shocking, but also quite entertaining. Master Spock expects nothing but perfection and obedience from his slaves, and Kirk, now under Spock's control, has a lot of humiliating (but also pleasurable) lessons to learn."

"M/U: Spock abducts Kirk and takes him to be trained as his pleasure slave so that when they return to the Enterprise he can control Kirk's more dangerous behavior."

Reactions and Reviews

This was the most explicit K/S story I've read in quite some time, and that's the level I was able to enjoy it on. I wouldn't have been able to handle it all if it had taken place in our universe, but since it was the mirror characters I decided to not be judgmental about the S&M aspects and simply enjoy the eroticism. And that was certainly easier knowing that it's the way Kirk truly wanted to be seated. I did have trouble, however, with such frank discussion about Kirk's wants and needs. It seemed Kirk and Spock both were being borderline scientific about the roles they were playing. I think the story would have been even more fun, and certainly more realistic, if Kirk would have at least expended a little more effort in trying to deny he liked it, needed it, or whatever. There needed to be more conflict between Kirk and Spock. I also had some difficulty with Spock's dialogue. At times, he just didn't talk like a Vulcan. (E.g., on page 138, the sentence, "We've started falling in love already, haven't we?" sounds like a human talking rather a Vulcan.) Perhaps it was merely a matter of too many contractions being used on Spock's part, but I did stop and pause at a few sentences to make sure it was really Spock who was doing the talking. This story was intriguing with its theme of a starship commander needing submission to ease the strain of command, but I confess I'll remember it most for being a cure for an overdose of bland sex scenes.

I'm glad to see a consensual s/m story in K/S, but the very title implies that this alternate Kirk is a lesser man for wanting such a thing. Nevertheless, I did like the basic concept. I especially appreciated reading Spock fucking Kirk on the motorcycle. That was the most unusual kind of sex in the story, and I believe that it exhibits Vulcan control to very good advantage. If anyone could fuck someone while driving a motorcycle, it would be Spock. As for the fist fucking, it's certainly a dangerous act, but K/S is fantasy and fantasizing about fist fucking is totally harmless. There were points where I thought the story was undermined. When Spock woke to hear Kirk weeping, I wondered why Kirk was reacting that way. It's never explained, so I am left to imagine that perhaps this isn't as truly consensual as I thought it was. I thought that Spock telling Kirk that they were only trying this out undermined the story in another way. If Kirk sees the situation as temporary during his training, he will never experience full surrender because he can think in terms of resuming the life he had before this. This touches on a very difficult issue in consensual s/m relationships. Negotiation to determine the partner's Units and preferences is very important, but if the partners step out of their roles for negotiation purposes during the acting out of the fantasy, the flow can be disrupted and the credibility of the fantasy would then be damaged, if not totally destroyed. I would like to see a story like "The Weakness" where the participants have no doubts and consistently stay within the scenario.

Now, how about another not-our-universe story? In Charisma 7, that was published in 1989, Alexis Fegan Black wrote part one of “The Weakness,” in which Mirror Spock realizes he is going to have to do something to control Kirk’s wild, tyrannical behavior when he comes back from our own universe (in the “Mirror, Mirror” episode). Well, in Charisma 9, Patricia Laurie Stephens completes that story with “The Weakness, Part Two.” Oh, boy, does she ever complete it. Mirror Spock abducts Mirror Kirk and trains him to be his personal pleasure slave, so that when they go back to the Enterprise he can control Kirk’s dangerous impulses. That sounds like having his cake and eating it, too! There are some pretty graphic scenes presented in this story of Kirk’s “training” that will probably remind well-read folks of other kinkier stories you’ve come across. I was frankly shocked down to my socks the first time I read this story, but then, I’ve always been a little naïve, I think.