United They Fall
| Meta | |
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| Title: | United They Fall |
| Creator: | Devery Helm |
| Date(s): | February 1984 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: TOS, K/S |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
United They Fall is a 1984 essay by Devery Helm.
It was printed in Yet Another K/S Zine.
The topic was the Kirk/Spock relationship and how she found it impossible not to write it.
Excerpts
While at a con recently, an anti K/S activist approached me and accused, "So, you write K/S!" The inflection was less than positive . . . resembling, in fact, more the tone one would use in discussing backed-up plumbing.
"Uh . . . yeah . . ."I responded, courageously holding my ground while checking out the nearest exit. (You can never tell when these subversive hostilities will erupt into the physical.)
"All I'd like to know is . . . WHY?!" my adversary exclaimed, poking an adamant finger into my chest. "It's absolutely disGUSTing:" Then she turned on her heels and left. I managed a weak smile at the various assortment of people craning their necks in my direction ... in search of something disgusting, I imagine . . . and crept back to my room.
Later on, while contemplating wearing a Horta disguise at the next con I attended, I also started thinking about the accusation. Why, indeed!
It's not that I have a one-track mind where K/S is concerned; I have tried diligently at times to write action/adventure, get 'em stories, even a MarySue. But I will confess that some odd things occur when my efforts are directed toward purely platonic aspirations between the two in question.
For instance, take what happened just the other day. I was sitting at my typewriter happily pecking away at a pleasant little hurt/comfort tale when suddenly Kirk started getting . . . restless. Well, okay . . . maybe "horny" would be a more apt description. He was supposed to look over at Spock with a friendly smile when . . . damn it ... he leered instead! Plus a wicked gleam came into his eye.
"Down, boy," I ordered. "Not this time. You and Spock may be all alone in your quarters, but don't forget his shoulder is badly bruised from the explosion down in engineering. And in this story, you're just friends, remember!" I decided to divert our noble captain's attention, and dinner seemed like a good way to do it. Get them out of Kirk's room and into the nice, crowded mess hall. They could meet Scotty or Uhura; I'll even let Kirk have chocolate cake for dessert. But no . . . the captain had other plans. And he began to watch Spock with ribald speculation again.
Maybe I should let Spock handle this, I thought. After ail, he's the one with all that Vulcan restraint. Perhaps he could talk some sense into his commanding officer.
I groaned. That damn Vulcan certainly wasn't any help! Maybe I should try a change of tactics; it might be a good time for the curvaceous new ensign to make an appearance.
- "Captain," Spock announced, "I believe we have time for a slight repast before our meeting with Doctor McCoy. Surely hy now you feel the need for some . . . nourishment?" Kirk repeated his leer. "You bet, Spock. ..and I know just what I want for the main course!"
"I GIVE UP!" I conceded. I knew when I was licked. It was no use ... at least not today. Despite how hard I was trying, it all came out K/S. You'd think my mind had a mind of its own! No matter how much I beg and scold, it simply lies there (in the gutter) refusing to listen to reason. Kirk, of course, is the instigator but my mind certainly aids and abets all it can. I sat for a long time just contemplating my space bar.
K/S or nothing, huh. Okay, what the hell . . . there is always CHEAP THRILLS, T'HY'LA, OUT OF BOUNDS . . . Not a bad list really, and growing all the time just like Kirk's . . . but enough! "You win. Captain ... I won't fight the inevitable any longer. Spook's all yours." Diversification was never one of my strong points anyway.
"Don't fight it," I sighed, biting back the "it's bigger than both of us" part of the phrase. Someday I'm sure I'll get around to writing a non-K/S story, but as things stand . . . or, um, lie at the moment, I guess I'll have to be content to do what the imperious Kirk commands. Far more formidable souls than I have yielded to his irresistible smile, his fatal charm, his uncompromising demands.
For above all else. Kirk is . . . and always will be . . . the captain. And it looks as if, in any story that I try to write, the captain will always get his man.