Pon Farr - in Fan Fiction

In Fan Fiction

Pon farr also occurs, and has been extensively elaborated from what is canon, in fan fiction. One such fan fiction story is "The Ring of Soshern", which was probably written before 1976, and circulated as samizdat until 1987, when it was formally published in the anthology Alien Brothers. The story is denoted as a "K/S" story — the designation for fan fiction stories that feature an explicitly sexual relationship between Kirk and Spock. (See slash fiction.) In the story, Kirk and Spock beam down to an unexplored planet, and are marooned there when the Enterprise is forced away by an ion storm.

One element of pon farr in fan fiction that is typified by "The Ring of Soshern" is that Spock is unwilling to engage in sexual intercourse even when in the full throes of pon farr. This plot device allows stories to include many more occasions for erotic couplings. Other such elements include "plak tow" as the name for the blood fever; the fact that Kirk, because of his empathic bond with Spock, can sense when Spock is about to go into pon farr, and even suffers some of its symptoms himself; and "lingering death" as the name for the death of a Vulcan male in pon farr who is unable to claim a mate.