The US K/S Press Fanzine Library has fanzines to loan.
The K/S Press is a free monthly newsletter that any K/S fan can subscribe to by contacting catalenamara
The Press offers two lending libraries - one in the US and one in the UK.
The US librarian has run the KS Press Fanzine Library for many years. She knows the zines very well and can assist new readers, guiding them to zines that will be just what they’re looking for. To borrow from the library, you need to become a K/S Press member. There is a small yearly fee charged to use the library. Here is a listing of the US Libraries holdings.
Why The Library?
Although the library does not lend out zines that are still in print, there is a whole legacy of zines available. Zines with art and poetry. Zines with stories that will never be published on the internet or archives such as AO3 or The K/S Archive. Classics such as Courts of Honor that may be difficult to read off of a computer screen.
Borrowing
The US library will mail up to three zines for a period of five weeks; a week to read each zine plus a week at each end for mailing. They usually mail zines at the Media Mail rate, which is the cheapest way, but of course will mail at any rate the borrower wishes. When the zines are returned the postage costs to get the zines to the reader are returned as well.
The Chris Soto Memorial Library
The US KS Press librarian also administers The Chris Soto Memorial Library which consists of tapes and professional books about Star Trek including all the episodes and the animated series. All titles in the zine library including hard-to-find gen zines galore, are printed each month in the KSP.
Questions? Contact Carolyn Spencer @ Carspence @ aol.com (please contact
catalenamara first as you need to be a member of KS Press in order to borrow from the library)
*The covers for T'hy'la #12 merge to form a panoramic view of Spock spinning a web around Kirk. Artwork by Marilyn Cole
Today I want to address the age-old question: do Vulcans have sex ouside of Pon Farr? I know this question is extremely important to many of us because reasons. So let’s take a look at what we know.
Pon Farr is a seven-year cycle that male Vulcans must go through in which they must mate, otherwise, they are overcome by a blood fever and die. During this time, animalistic instinct overwhelms the logical thought processes that Vulcans value so highly. The matter is therefore considered highly private. According to Spock in ‘Amok Time,’ “It is a thing no outworlder may know, except those very few who have been involved. A Vulcan understands, but even we do not speak of it among ourselves. It is a deeply personal thing.”
Despite this, we come to learn that there are others in the Star Trek universe who are aware of Pon Farr, although they seem to have some understandable misconceptions about the process: specifically, that it is the only time Vulcans can mate. For example, in the episode “The Cloud Minders,” Droxine brings up the topic during her short-lived flirtation with Mr. Spock.
“You only take a mate once every seven years?”
“The seven-year cycle is biologically inherent in all Vulcans. At that time, the mating drive outweighs all other motivations,” he replies, not answering her question at all.
“And is there nothing that can disturb that cycle, Mr. Spock?
Extreme feminine beauty is always disturbing, Madam.”
Interesting. Here, Spock basically admits to being attracted to Droxine outside of his cycle. Notice how he says he is disturbed by “extreme feminine beauty,” going out of his way to compliment Droxine. Also notice that he does not say that feminine beauty is the only thing that he would find disruptive.
From this exchange, we can infer that Vulcans do experience sexual attraction. As with all illogical feelings, they usually make the choice to suppress it. Compare this philosophy to Spock’s suppression of his pain in ‘Operation Annihilate’:
“Pain is a thing of the mind. The mind can be controlled.“
Pain is not an emotion, but Vulcans still endeavor to suppress it. It is a physiological reaction, much in the same way as sexual desire. It is logical to assume that attraction is dismissed in a similar manner,
This philosophy is confirmed by Harry Mudd in the episode “Mudd’s Women.” He asks, “You’re part Vulcanian, aren’t you? Well then, a pretty face doesn’t affect you at all, does it? That is, not unless you want it to.”
So we know that Vulcans experience sexual desire. But do they do the sex?
There is nothing to suggest they are incapable of sex outside of the seven-year cycle. In fact, Mr. Spock is vaguely implied to have had sex with Leila in “This Side of Paradise” and Zarabeth in “All Our Yesterdays.” In both instances, he was overcome by emotion due to outside forces, but his overall biology remained the same.
So yes, Vulcans can have sex outside of Pon Farr.
Whether or not they do is another matter entirely. There are risks to sex, and it would be illogical to engage in a risky activity simply for temporary sensual gratification.
Spock, on the other hand, is half-human. And if he were to put aside Vulcan conventions for the sake of a particular human and their shared emotional connection…
