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I Read the Gayest Star Trek Novel
Feb. 3rd, 2019 05:21 pmPosted in full at: http://bit.ly/2Sm4t3k on February 03, 2019 at 09:14AM
I Read the Gayest Star Trek Novel:
We have loads more into on Fanlore: https://fanlore.org/wiki/Killing_Time_(Star_Trek_tie-in_novel)
“There’s conflicting accounts of the official reaction of Pocket Books; some say they tried to recall all the copies of the first edition, some say they simply destroyed what had yet to ship. What is true is that later additions include over fifty significant changes to the novel. The more gay parts are removed, all physical affection between Kirk and Spock, even platonic, is removed. But the first edition can still be found, and a book that first retailed for $3.50 is being sold for $50 to $80 on eBay.
It’s a fascinating little slice of a history that underpins fandom as we know it today. Many fans around today could tell you the history of slash stories in the early 2000s, how some archives wouldn’t allow LGBT stories at all, how some would rate them NC-17–and how every fanfiction writer was terrified of lawyers coming after them for dabbling in copyrighted worlds. But before the internet, before fandom became a dominant market force, the interaction between fandom and the establishment was much more fluid. And while LGBT content was ultimately taboo, it was also popular with those who wanted to carry the torch, and the Star Trek fandom was in many ways a more tolerant place than the rest of the world; after all, homosexuality was medically classified as a mental disorder right up until 1987, a full two years after this book came out.
While no one intended for this incredibly gay Star Trek book to make it to stores, the fact remained that it did, and it exists as evidence of this complex time in fandom history, with benefits we’ve lost over time and restrictions we couldn’t imagine in this relatively taboo-free era of fanfiction. If you can manage to find a copy of the first edition, it’s worth a read.”
Tags:fandom history, star trek, fanzines, kirk/spock, DWCrosspost
Tumblr post (this is likely a reblog, and may have more pictures over there)
I Read the Gayest Star Trek Novel:
We have loads more into on Fanlore: https://fanlore.org/wiki/Killing_Time_(Star_Trek_tie-in_novel)
“There’s conflicting accounts of the official reaction of Pocket Books; some say they tried to recall all the copies of the first edition, some say they simply destroyed what had yet to ship. What is true is that later additions include over fifty significant changes to the novel. The more gay parts are removed, all physical affection between Kirk and Spock, even platonic, is removed. But the first edition can still be found, and a book that first retailed for $3.50 is being sold for $50 to $80 on eBay.
It’s a fascinating little slice of a history that underpins fandom as we know it today. Many fans around today could tell you the history of slash stories in the early 2000s, how some archives wouldn’t allow LGBT stories at all, how some would rate them NC-17–and how every fanfiction writer was terrified of lawyers coming after them for dabbling in copyrighted worlds. But before the internet, before fandom became a dominant market force, the interaction between fandom and the establishment was much more fluid. And while LGBT content was ultimately taboo, it was also popular with those who wanted to carry the torch, and the Star Trek fandom was in many ways a more tolerant place than the rest of the world; after all, homosexuality was medically classified as a mental disorder right up until 1987, a full two years after this book came out.
While no one intended for this incredibly gay Star Trek book to make it to stores, the fact remained that it did, and it exists as evidence of this complex time in fandom history, with benefits we’ve lost over time and restrictions we couldn’t imagine in this relatively taboo-free era of fanfiction. If you can manage to find a copy of the first edition, it’s worth a read.”
Tags:fandom history, star trek, fanzines, kirk/spock, DWCrosspost
Tumblr post (this is likely a reblog, and may have more pictures over there)