Unto Which Holy Estate

Fanfiction
Title:	Unto Which Holy Estate
Author(s):	Judith Gran
Date(s):	1996
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:
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Unto Which Holy Estate by Judith Gran is a K/S story.

It was published in the zine Amazing Grace #3.

Summary

"Is an ideal Vulcan/Human ceremony ever feasible? Back together after VʼGer, Kirk and Spock plans for marriage meet with opposition concerning the type of ceremony they want."

Reactions and Reviews

1996

It's a very interesting look at the future Catholic Church. I hope this is a vision, not only a story. It's about time that some things change!

Kirk and Spock try to decide what to do when T'Pau refuses to allow any humans but Kirk's mother at K&S's bonding ceremony.

This story introduces a wonderful character, the Reverend E. Carter (Hawkeye) Hawkesworth. In fact, it is Hawkeye who finally resolves the problem, and the story ends in Hawkeye's POV.

I think this would have been a better story if it had been told completely from Hawkeye's POV, something along the order of "a day in the life" where K&S are only one problem among many. However, that would have meant leaving out the sex scene, which is quite well done.

On a level of personal taste, I find the concept of Kirk being raised as any kind of Christian very off-putting. I especially didn't like the future Roman Catholic-cum-Episcopal church of which he is a member.

Kirk is from a farm in Iowa. The majority of rural people are usually very religious. I think it’s very believable that Kirk’s upbringing was religious too. It doesn’t have to be, but it’s a possibility. And why is it “very off-putting?” Why can’t Kirk be a practicing Christian or Jew or anything else? To be among the stars, to be gay, doesn’t mean that you can’t pray to God. And this future Catholic Church, wasn’t this a wonderful vision? I myself am no Catholic, but I think a lot of people would love it!

What a beautiful beginning to this story as Kirk wakes up in Spock's arms and they make love. The scene is simple and spare with some lovely words like: "Spock's clear, lucid mind lay open, transparent and vulnerable before him."

This, plus some hot, though too short sex and the absolutely drop-dead romantic moment when Kirk says: "'Marry me.'"

Apres Gol and they're on the Enterprise together— "They were working side by side again, and the ship was no longer a stranger." Then Spock goes to Vulcan to make plans for the marriage and Kirk goes to Riverside, Iowa (I just love it!).

I really enjoyed the very clever way the author kept the little "secret" of the archbishop from the reader. And I totally loved the memory of when Kirk was a boy and he stole the communion wine. Exactly what Kirk would have done!

The author really did a neat job of combining the Star Trek future with contemporary times. I enjoyed the "reality" of it and especially all the history shown in the church. I realize all the history and information wasn't exactly presented in the most dramatic way, nevertheless I found it fascinating. I like the idea of finding out what might happen in the future.

The character of Archbishop Hawkesworth was nicely drawn and tied in well with Kirk and Spock. This is especially important, I think, when introducing a new character—it just has to have something important to do with K & S. Also, it was an interesting moral dilemma for the archbishop.

I feel there could have been more hints as to who the "life-partner" of the archbishop was. I looked for clues but all I could find was "short".

However, one of the most pronounced lackings in the drama department of this story was in not showing the wedding ceremony. I wanted so badly to see the ceremony! How wonderful to have seen what everyone wore, what was said, how Kirk and Spock looked at each other, if they kissed or danced together. Maybe they stepped on a brandy glass!

Seriously, the author definitely displayed no lack of talent in the writing of other scenes. It was so disappointing not to have seen the wedding ceremony. Anyway, I love the idea of K & S having a wedding. (Hint: Anyone interested in writing a story of a big, formal K/S wedding? Or has there ever been such a story?)

By far, a very readable and unique story.

Nice rich title. I love the word "holy" and think it appropriate to K/S; divorced, that is, from its connotations to do with organized religion as we know it.

We are shown how Adm. Kirk had been so unhappy, in just a few, choice words. I admire this. But this morning, he's happyon the Enterprise, with Spock sleeping beside him. I loved the sex (with meld) right away; quite nice. Kirk says marry me; Spock says yes. Sigh.... (Yes, that's me sighing; me who has never much believed in marriage; but I love it just fine for Kirk and Spock.)

I like how Kirk's feelings about religion are expressed. He's too worldly (worldsly? galaxy-ly?) to put much store into set ideas; but it would please his mother to have a Catholic wedding. It's interesting how Kirk would like a Vulcan ceremony, though, and that Spock is the one who thinks if they have one, they should have both.

So then we get the problems, T'Pau's not wanting outworlders at the ceremony, etc.

When Kirk goes to NYC to see an old archbishop friend, I enjoyed the history of NYC and the Catholic church as a social force, including when gay marriages weren't done, and during the Eugenics Wars, and about various marriage ceremonies.

Cleverly done, that after pages, we learn this Rev. Hawkesworth is a women. So she and T'Pau duke it out, so to speak,and the wedding takes place. But then at the end I felt more focus was given to her, Hawkesworth, than to Kirk and Spock.

Though to some extent we're told what happened instead of seeing scenes of it happening, the writing in this story was flawless.

1997

The zine opens with the unusual question of what happens when two lovers of different cultural backgrounds wish to formalize their union with a marriage ceremony. Unto Which Holy Estate, by Judith Gran, gives us a Kirk who is trying hard to find a compromise between his own Catholic upbringing and Spock's Vulcan traditions. It seems the two guys want to get married but aren't sure where, or how to go about it. I have to admit to giving a cheer of delight when the absolute first words of dialogue in the story were Kirk saying "Marry me," and Spock saying, "Yes. Oh, yes." Additional cheers to the editor because I think that is a hell of a way to start off a zine.

However, to really enjoy this story I think you have to first be able to accept the background that the author writes for Kirk. It seems our fair captain was an altar boy, though a naughty one, and that his mother attends daily Mass. I found this extremely difficult to accept. Given the total lack of evidence of such a Christian background for Kirk, I found this story really hard to believe. Am I out in left field here? Maybe. But it did hamper my reading of the story a bit.

As I read, I found myself further tripped up by the author's choice of focus in the story. I was really enjoying the prospect of getting to see an actual marriage ceremony between Kirk and Spock. How cool! I mean, maybe I wouldn't have made Kirk Catholic, but cool anyway. Not something that's done often. But as I read, a pattern began to appear. I kept wanting/anticipating scenes that didn't come about. Here's an example: Kirk calls Spock on Vulcan from his mother's house on Earth. They talk about T'Pau and the ceremony, and then the author writes, "They talked for a few minutes longer -- lovers' small talk, endearments and expression of how much they missed each other -- until Spock, concerned about the expense to Kirk, signed off." They did? Why didn't I get to hear it? Sob. Here they are about to get married! I want to enjoy it with them, you know?

Okay, so at this point I began to think, obviously the author intended another focus with this story besides the K/S relationship. This guess seemed to be borne out by the rest of the story, which seemed to center on the recognition of IDIC by two powerful institutions of differing traditions. But I don't really understand why we couldn't have both the love story and the IDIC story. If these two incredible characters are going to marry one another in public, with all the pomp and ceremony, isn't it the event of the century? I think it is! Everything the author wrote about in this story was interesting -- but how much more amazing this story could have been to me if the main players had actually had some purpose in the story besides representing two different cultures. (I'm trying to lay aside here my own selfish desire for the gratification of getting to see "the guys" have a wedding night... that's purely self-indulgent.)

I will say, I almost forgave the author for leaving out the "good stuff" when I got to a scene where Kirk is waiting to speak with the archbishop (nice surprise there, Judith, I won't give it away.) Cool scene where Kirk looks at photos on the wall and thinks about the history of the church and the role it has played in society. Nice piecing together of clues from the series, and I always like it when someone comes up with a plausible history for the so-perfect world they always talk about in Trek, the one with no disease or poverty. My favorite passage was this one: "Curious, Kirk stared at the old photos for several moments, trying to imagine the shame and embarrassment a man must have felt in those days if he was drawn, as Kirk was now, to a male lover. He couldn't..." "...Before Spock, he'd mused on the irony that in an earlier era, his single-minded sexual interest in women would have marked him as "normal" while in his own society his one-sided sexual preference was merely a source of amusement and affectionate teasing among his friends."

Loved that. And the best part of this scene -- Kirk imagining himself saying to Spock, "With my body I thee worship." Whew! I think I broke out in a sweat there.

But why, oh why didn't we actually get to hear him say it? And after the resolution (sort of) that the author gives us to Kirk's dilemma, why don't we get to actually witness the ceremony? Sigh. I found myself wondering why Kirk and Spock were even in here. An original and thoughtful piece that nonetheless left me unhappily wanting the rest of the story.