kvothe_arliden325

Harry bolted upright from his bed. What was it? Something had woken him up and whatever it was had left his heart racing and his breathing labored. Glancing around, he confirmed that he was by himself in his room. Thinking that maybe he had just been woken up from a nightmare, he lowered himself back down, only to jerk upright once more upon hearing scuffling and a crash downstairs.

"That sounds like a fight." he whispered to himself. Grabbing his wand from his nightstand, he opened his door and peeked downstairs, only to see one of the stranger sights he had ever seen. A young woman, probably around late high school age, was standing in his entryway fighting against a buff man with dark hair and eyes, deathly pale skin, and elongated fangs. As Harry stood there, the woman dealt the man a devastating kick, knocking it back and stunning it, at which point she withdrew sharpened stake from her pants pocket and stabbed it into the man's chest.

Harry gasped "No!" as he saw the murder take place, only to fall silent when the man turned to ash. However, the damage was done and the woman turned to face him.

Seeing a scared young man waving what appeared to be a stick at her, her lips curled up into a slight smile as she introduced herself, "Hi there. My name's Buffy. What's yours?"

February 12th, 2019
John Spilker


Breaking Down Icebreakers

“Icebreakers” by tooberjoober is a re-writing of captain Kirk’s and Mr. Spock’s first meeting. It takes place during a time frame wherein Kirk is still a lieutenant and Kirk is the first mate of captain Pike, under whom both of them serve. The name comes from the activity proposed by captain Pike at the beginning of their journey to help everyone learn about each other. This event holds significance because it proceeds and leads to all further interactions between Kirk and Spock. Said interactions lead to a dynamic and relationship that supports the writings of Constance Penley. More specifically, it supports her ideas about the retooling of masculinity in Kirk/Spock slash writing.
“Icebreakers” Begins with Spock’s thoughts upon seeing Lieutenant James T. Kirk for the first time. It goes on at great length to describe how Kirk’s lustrous looks and glittering demeanor intrigue and energize Spock. The author waxes rhapsodic on how Kirk has beautiful golden hair and, “a smile that lit up a room,” (Chapter 1). After that, Kirk is compared to the ancient Greek and Roman gods, which offers a unique meaning to it. When looking at the historical context, one might realize that, in much of Greek society, homosexual relationships between men were accepted. There was no implication of weakness or femininity because of it. Such a description fits closely to what is seen throughout “Icebreakers.” Descriptions of both Spock and Kirk go into great detail about both the amazing physical and explicitly masculine qualities that they each possess, as well as the qualities that are more often associated with women that they embody. Some examples within the text include the lines, “this gorgeous human man with hair like gold, and a smile that lit up a room (who frankly, brought to mind Spock’s faint knowledge of ancient Terran mythos of Greek and Roman gods that glimmered in the sunlight). This man was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen,” and, “I don’t know what it is exactly … But I know gorgeous when I see it. I mean tall and lean and those hands, I mean come on. There’s just something about him, right?” These lines express each character’s extreme favor for their partner’s physical bodies. Such words are very similar to those described and expressed in Constance Penley’s article, “Future Men.” She wrote, “In the slash stories, Kirk and Spock are sensitive, as well as kind, strong, thoughtful, and humorous. But their being “sensitive” carries with it none of the associations of wimpiness or smug self-congratulation that it does in the present day. Only in the future, it seems, will it be possible to conceive that yielding phallic power does not result in psychic castration or a demand to be extravagantly praised for having relinquished that power.” This is Constance Penley’s stance on how masculinity is portrayed in fan fics, especially slash ones. Men are shown to be both strong and well defined physically, while also taking on the more traditional womanly characteristics. Thus, “Icebreakers” stands in support of the article “Future Men.”

February 6th, 2019
John Spilker

Masculinity Redefined

In the essay, “Future Men,” Constance Penly discusses her opinions on the forces that motivate people, especially women, to read and write K/S zines. She argues that one of the main reasons that women write such homoerotic novels and stories is because of fear of and a sense of alienation from their own bodies. Thus, rather than reading stories that only reinforce negative gender stereotypes, many women choose instead to dive into literature that fulfills an important purpose for them. It restructures masculinity itself. In most K/S stories, Kirk and Spock share a relationship that embodies the ideals of what women look for in romance. It is one that engenders a strong bond and feeling of love, rather than the sexually driven and male dominated romantic affairs that are found more often in popular media. As Penly puts it, “In the slash stories, Kirk and Spock are sensitive, as well as kind, strong, thoughtful, and humorous. But their being “sensitive” carries with it none of the associations of wispiness or smug self-congratulation that it does in the present day,” (Page 178). In this line, she describes how Kirk and Spock are made to engender a relationship that many women would find pleasant. She then goes on to show how this fantasy motivates women to read and write K/S zines. In conclusion, Penly firmly believes that K/S articles serve as many women’s way to express their desire for a relationship that is impossible to achieve in the male dominated society of today.