Continuation of discussion

[delmarsdoll]

This post grew from a reply I left to Spooky FBI. I felt I wanted to make it a post because it expands on the discussion I started and gets a little closer to the discussion I meant to start long ago

Comments

[doyle_sb4]

*here via the newsletter*

they (Culbreath and Marshak) were acknowledging Kirk and Spock's relationship as that of a deep bond like a brotherhood but not as lovers.

You know, this could just be me but - speaking of my own experience of having a brother? Were I to sit down to write a deep, brotherly bond between two characters, I would not envisage a plot that required them to dress as cowboys, then get naked and massage one another's thighs with 'healing foam'. In fact, that's something I would specifically avoid...

That said, there were plenty of fic writers even as late as the 90s churning out smarm - gen with heavy hurt/comfort where the central couple might hug or hold hands or cuddle in bed - but pitching a fit if anyone read anything slashy into the stories so it's quite possible Marshak and Culbreath had no idea of their own subtext.

[aqueousserenade]

Haha I also have a brother. Healing foam would not make it into any brotherly story I wrote either.

[delmarsdoll]

Would wishing to run away together so that you could be together always make it into a story? I thought not...

[delmarsdoll]

As I told another poster, I wasn't aware of smarm until I came into this fandom. All the other fandoms, it's slash or it isn't, ya' know. But the heavy hurt/comfort with hand holding and cuddling doesn't sound completely believable. I have a friend of 22 years; we call each other sister; we sometimes sleep in the same bed, but we never cuddle. I'm not saying it's not possible; it just feels unrealistic. Sometimes I wonder if they (Culbreath and Marshak) felt they needed to cover their a**es cuz they were afraid to say their true feelings on the matter. I mean, this was before Roddenberry came out with T'hy'la. Maybe they thought they would be booted out of the Star Trek world if they said they intended to present K/S as lovers. Who knows...

[delmarsdoll]

"but pitching a fit if anyone read anything slashy into the stories so it's quite possible Marshak and Culbreath had no idea of their own subtext."

I just watched a video today and one of the comments was "loved the video and song but could've done without the sex scenes cuz it somehow cheapens it". That is paraphrased of course. So, I wonder if some of the smarm writers felt the same way. They wanted the closeness of an intimate relationship without the sex. That feels unreal to me. Letting down that absolute last barrier is the pinnacle of an intimate relationship. To me it speaks of cultural and self imposed barriers that these writers would take their characters to the line, and in fact have them engage in behaviors that for most people would take them across that line, but then make their characters step back, and then get upset if others saw the characters cross that line cuz it would be the natural progression.