WHIPS (Star Trek: TOS story)
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| K/S Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | WHIPS |
| Author(s): | Gena Moretti |
| Date(s): | 1996 |
| Length: | |
| Genre: | slash |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: The Original Series |
| External Links: | |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
WHIPS is a Kirk/Spock story by Gena Moretti. It has a prequel called To He Who Waits.
It was published in the print zine Within the Mirror #11.
Summary
"When Kirk falls through the Guardian during an earthquake, Spock, who is injured, enlists the help of the M/U Spock."
Reactions and Reviews
Another Moretti story with lots of plot. All of her stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. Getting to the end is always a delight. As always, her story concentrates on the characters and their loving relationship and offers us new insights.[1]
Mirror Spock transports to our universe after an artifact appears on their transporter as a sign that he must go. Mirror Kirk has a bad headache (...) so he can't go with Spock. When mirror Spock gets to our Enterprise, Spock tells him to save Kirk who has gone through the Guardian Of Forever into Vulcan's pre-reform past. Then our Spock goes into a healing trance.Mirror Spock goes back into the past and the story is about his adventures in rescuing Kirk who has become a slave. Except for a number of typos including the best one—"dessert" for "desert"—not badly written in Gena's unique and colorful style. There's a lot of good detail of all the costumes, people and life-style out there in the Vulcan dessert (sorry, couldn't resist) and good interaction between mirror Spock and our Kirk.
As is usual for a Gena Moretti story, no sex to speak of, but nice loving feelings and expressions and involving plot.[2]
This is the latest in a series of stories in which "our" Kirk and Spock and the Mirror Kirk and Spock know each other, like each other, and help each other.Mirror Spock gets a call for help from "our" Spock; Kirk has gone through the Guardian into Ancient Vulcan, Spock is hurt, barely conscious, and Mirror Spock agrees to follow Kirk and rescue him.
This is a story which is more hurt/comfort than K/S, if only because the partners are the wrong ones. Mirror Spock reveals himself as a compassionate person who has to be completely out of place in the Mirror universe - on the surface, knowing how the Mirror universe is usually portrayed, one would expect him to fit in perfectly, caring only to succeed in his mission.
Definitely 9.5 out of 10. It would have been 10, but for one slight problem I've commented on elsewhere. Incorrect homonyms. I could ignore the slaves being kept in corals, but I found it more than disconcerting when the characters kept traveling across the dessert.[3]
Gena paints wonderful pictures of pre-reform Vulcan, full of searing desert atmosphere, rich characters, visualizable cultural detail, all nicely integrated into the narrative. This story is mostly about our Kirk with Mirror Spock, which is a fascinating relationship between two equally fascinating characters. But they're both loyal to their own partners and don't allow themselves anything overtly sexual between them, so the story didn't feel very K/S—because neither do we see our Kirk and Spock together, and only a brief scene of the Mirror Kirk and Spock together at the end.But I do like envisioning the comradely relationship that's developed between the two pairs. Some little oddities, such as a few not-quite-perfect word choices, and such as a not very convincing reason that Mirror Kirk doesn't go with his Spock to the Guardian of Forever planet to go back and rescue our Kirk. Also, no one in all the Vulcan slave camps mentions that Kirk is apparently an alien. But I love details such as, one slave who Spock is freeing wanting to shave his beard like Spock does; and Kirk teaching the freed slaves to ride their beasts of burden.
As for the whips of the title, they figured into the story but more as just a ubiquitous detail than a meaningful, useful metaphor or even story device; and they didn't figure at all into anything that passed between the Kirks and Spocks in whatever combination. Too bad; a little whip-play wouldn't have been bad....[4]
I'm a big fan of her works. She writes some of the best K/S stories. She's right up there with the best of the best be it 23rd century or A/Us. She's one of the writers that I'm always on the look out for in a new zine. She has a good grasp of the Star Trek characters.That's why when I read The Smallest Slave' and her latest The Whip' I thought, What Happened!? This is not the usual high caliber stuff that I normally get from this writer. It reads like a Star Trek TOS pro novel. It was formulaic, superficial, rushed, and way too pat to boot. The mirror Spock, so out of character, happens to forget to change into appropriate attire, bring food or water as he goes back into Vulcan's past to save Kirk. Spock boffs off the leader of a slave caravan who happens to have water, clothes, and shoes that fit him exactly with the added bonus that the other drovers didn't give a plug nickel about their former employer and Spock was able to fill in those shoes just like that. He gave water and freedom to the slaves and a buttload of goods to pay off the drovers. A whip fight for the possession of Kirk. Mirror Spock get Kirk. Couldn't our Spock have done all that and show compassion too?
Where's the zest? The great obstacles and adversities, the little pitfall and minor quirks and humors? It has all the elements of a great sauce, but its bland as a day old tofu. It make me wonder if the writer is no longer interested in writing slave stories, since she has gotten it down to an exact science? This is the author who got me hooked on A/U stories like The Ones from the Mountain' in WOTW 6 and 'For Friendship's Sake' in SS 1. I know she can do a gazillion time better then this after reading all of her other stuff. While her slave stories are a disappointment, she can still do a kick ass good Starfleet, 23rd century, first time, established relationship stories. I will definitely be keeping my four big eyes out for them.[5]