The concept of Jim Kirk as science officer and Spock as captain cracks me up. There’s Spock trying to run a smooth logical operation and then there’s Jim “hold my beer” kirk in science running outlandish experiments just cause and driving Spock nuts.
When I was a kid, maybe 14 or so (which is, you know, 20+ years ago), I belonged to a Yahoo! mailing list for an anime called Gundam Wing. It was mostly populated by other teens, of varying ages, as it was started by a teen and her friends. Eventually it migrated, when Yahoo! groups started as forums, and even branched off into non-GW related stuff in a second forum.
One of the things I remember the most clearly is the oldest person in the group. Her name was Steelsong. She was a 40-something Dom with a sub whose name we knew even though we knew nothing else. She ran her own fanfic archive because the web was still handmade HTML and navigated in webrings and I’m pretty sure Google didn’t exist or was only barely, barely launched and not well known. She was kind and patient and we loved her. She treated everyone on the group with the respect given any adult, even though most of the rest of the world was still treating us like we were children. Not teenagers even, but children. She never once condescended to any of us, never made our youth a barrier to her respect, never treated us like we were incapable of being full people or like we were less than her because we were young.
I remember that she hosted our fanfiction, as absolutely terrible as it was (and I still have some of it, I am WELL aware of how cringingly terrible it is, just absolute nonsense garbage), right there alongside of other fic that was soul-achingly beautiful. Not a separate section for her friends or for kids, just right there like we were good enough to feature alongside other authors. I never once received crit from her that I didn’t ask for, only support. Only love. I am still writing today partly because Steel was so kind about our fic, fanfic and original.
I remember that when I started doing clay sculpture, she commissioned a tiny pair of dragons from me, to support me doing artwork. She sent a check my mom cashed for me, and my mom helped me mail it when it was finished. It broke in transit, and Steel assured me that she mended it and that it was still beautiful. It was a small gold dragon curled up with a small silver dragon.
I remember that her patience knew no bounds. I remember that she was there for us, regardless of reason. When we wanted to know silly things like what to do with a single AA battery, she answered. When we had serious questions about sex, she answered. When we had questions about writing, she taught us. When one of our group members, a young gay teen in Australia, ended up in the hospital and then stopped making posts, and we all knew what had happened, she let us talk to her about it because we couldn’t go to our own parents, even though we had just lost a friend.
She was not a replacement to my parents, but she was an extra parent, in some ways. A friend, certainly, but someone that had been through more life than we had and was willing to pass on knowledge if we asked for it. Someone older that we trusted with things that were too uncomfortable to go to our parents or teachers or whatever about, because we already knew she wasn’t going to judge us or something, and that we would get an honest answer.
I don’t know why I’m remembering this so hard tonight, and I’m not sure if there’s a point to sharing this, except that I know she’s gone now. She was ill the last time we spoke, and her site went down a long time ago, and I miss her. She was a huge influence on my life, then and now. She was hope, for me, that life as an adult didn’t have to be boring, it wouldn’t have to mean giving up the things I loved and Becoming Only Responsible With No Fun. Her presence meant I had hope I could still write and play with friends even when I wasn’t ‘a kid’ anymore. And she’s gone, and I miss her, and I wanted to share her from the perspective of youth, and the perspective over twenty years later has provided me.
And I think of her, when people go off about older folks being in fandom with younger folks. I’m an older folks now, or at least middle aged folks because there are certainly folks older than me still, but I wasn’t always. I’ve been here since i was a younger folks, and I know how much Steel’s presence and support meant to me, how much she helped not just me but everyone on that group. And I think of the people saying older folks don’t belong in fandom, and that they shouldn’t interact with younger folks at all, and I just think… I can’t agree. I needed that kind of solid presence in my life back then and even at the age I am now, I need the folks older than me to stay. I want them here.
So I guess, like, if you’re here and you’re 40 or 50 or 60 or 70 or 80 or whatever, I want you here in fandom with me, still. Your presence here is a comfort. It is hope. It is a reminder that life will continue to be fun, even as I get older, myself. And if you’re younger and you have this sort of elder in your groups, I hope that they are like Steel. I hope they are kind and patient and supportive, and that knowing them gives you hope for your own future. I hope in twenty years you look back and remember them fondly.
I donโt watch Star Trek but Iโve talked it over with some Star Treks and I think the next Star Trek crew member should be a potted plant. Just a weird looking little succulent or w/e in a pot, with wheels and a hawkings-style voice synth. Their badge or whatever can be a lil tree ornament. Low budget, no actor required character that will be instantly iconic. Whoever owns Star Trek write me a goddamn check.
They are an important member of this crew with many responsibilities!!!!!!!!
Remember I know nothing about Star Trek
I love this for two reasons: 1) it would be awesome to have a sentient plant with an accessibility device on a starship, 2) from a meta standpoint, the brilliance of having a literal (non-sentient) plant as an actor/character who audiences WOULD attach to and create stories for and care aboutโฆitโs just, the height of human storytelling, and I mean that in a non-ironic way.
Thank you, Nichelle Nichols, for being an inspiration and role model of so so so many little girls and giving us Star Trek. Your presence represented the core value of the franchise and you gave it soul. Thank you so so so much.
I have attempted to contact all the authors on the archive, but because of the limitations of mass emails, and the fact that many authors no longer check the email addresses they originally posted with, I’m certain many people did not get the message. So if you haven’t already heard…
It is with nostalgia and gratitude (for Robin, for keeping ksarchive.com alive, and for all of you, for the love you’ve brought to this fandom) that I’m letting you all know ksarchive.com is already in the process of moving to the Archive of Our Own through the Open Doors project.
The Kirk/Spock Fanfiction Archive was built on the eFiction software platform, which hasn’t been updated since 2005. In its current version, it is no longer supportable, nor supported by the developer, and is subject to constant security attacks. I feel that the Archive of Our Own offers the best path forward to preserve these works.
I have contacted the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) for assistance in moving The Kirk/Spock Fanfiction Archive’s content to a collection on the multi-fandom archive they maintain, the Archive of Our Own (AO3). (Specifically, I will be working with the Open Doors committee. You can read about their recent import projects at this link. )
Here is where I would like to ask for your help!
1. If you are a ksarchive.com author and already have an AO3 account and have posted your Kirk/Spock Fanfiction Archive works there, please let me know your Kirk/Spock Fanfiction Archive pseud(s) and e-mail address(es) as well, so that we won’t import your stories. (There is a tutorial on the Open Doors website with instructions for mass-adding stories to the new collection on the AO3.)
3. If you would NOT like your works moved, please send me your Kirk/Spock Fanfiction Archive pseud(s) and e-mail address(es) so that we will not add them. (If you would not mind them being preserved but do not want your name attached to them any longer, please let me know that too—we can orphan your works instead of leaving them behind to be deleted.)
4. AO3 can NOT preserve reviews, because each reviewer would have to “claim” them on AO3 the same way that authors claim their stories. So, authors, please save your reviews! And reviewers, if you’d like to save your own reviews, and post them on the stories again on AO3, that would be terrific.
5. If you are helping an individual author preserve their works, and they are missing any that were ever posted to ksarchive.com (even if long since deleted), please contact me! I made frequent backups, and with a bit of sleuthing, I can usually come up with the original files. Please email me at killabeezish@gmail.com if you are trying to locate a work that ever existed on ksarchive.com.
All works imported on a creator’s behalf will be attributed with their name in the summary of the work. As we import works, we will e-mail notifications to the address associated with the work. (If you know of any authors who no longer have access to their Kirk/Spock Fanfiction Archive e-mail address, please tell them to contact me directly.) When all stories have been accounted for, I will permanently close down the site.
