✨StarShips✨

I have four written pieces eligible this year! I would be honored if you would consider these among your nominations.

Daughter of the Dark

(eligible in the Long Fic category, rated M)

When Spock comes into contact with an extremely rare telepathic life form (psst... it's the Horta!) his decision to mind-meld with it has chaotic and unexpected results. His time in her mind will show him a new way of looking at the Universe, at love, at himself... and at his Captain.

For fans of the Devil in the Dark, pining Spock and telepathic mind-meld sex.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/72067526/

The Epistemic Theory of Miracles

(eligible in the Long Fic category, rated E)

On a diamond planet orbiting a quasar, the crew of the Enterprise joins an alien culture in celebrating a once-in-a-millenium astronomical phenomenon. Captain James T. Kirk knows that this culture believes that anything is possible on this sacred night. He might even believe it too... or he would, if Spock had not already left the party.

For fans of world music, exoplanets, and real science in the smut.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/74574321/

Wake

(eligible in the Ficlet category, rated T)

rise, rise, like the souls from the tombs at the blast of the aureate flugelhorn. No more remain prone upon the dripdripdrip of the impenetrable floor of the world, sleep no more on the bedrock ‘neath the wandering eye of the black-cowled reaper dragging scraping prone upon the ground to stalk its prey. One WHACK ‘fol the down, and no more, nevermore; never again arise.

A work of fanfiction written in the style of Finnegans Wake by James Joyce.

For fans of Kirk whump, unusual language, and literary allusions.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/81013421

Gold Fire

(eligible in the Medium-length fic category, Rated E)

Spock has just returned from a long mission where he went completely dark as a double agent behind enemy lines. Kirk has been worried sick about his bondmate. While the official Starfleet version of Spock's story is fairly cut-and-dry, Kirk knows there must be more to tell. But Spock is not talking. How can they ever reconnect as a command team -- and as lovers -- after all that has happened?

(Here's a hint: sex on the desk of their terrible boss who had the idea to send Spock on that terrible mission in the first place might help.) For fans of the beta canon novel Black Fire by Sonni Cooper (in which Spock gets whumped numerous times before he finds a Romulan prison boyfriend for a space pirate adventure).

https://archiveofourown.org/works/80940196

**********

The Philon Awards by KiScon honor excellence in Kirk/Spock fanworks. In each category, you can nominate up to 3 of your favorite fanworks that were published since August 1 of last year. You can also edit your nominations up until the deadline!

Above is a sneak preview of @eldar-of-zemlya's contribution to TZD, our print K/S fanzine. Ordering begins August 2026, so don't miss out: Follow @the-zine-directive for updates!

｡ ⊹₊ ⟡ ⋆ ⭒ ₊ ⊹ ✴︎

many of you have already had the (immense 😏) pleasure of experiencing @eldar-of-zemlya (he/him)'s art. if you have, you'll know why we're so excited, and if you haven't... well, you're seriously missing out. he's drawing for us from all the way from russia, and we couldn't be more thrilled about it! read more about him and his art below!

｡ ₊ ⭒ ˚｡ ⋆ ₊⊹ ｡

✴︎ Most important question: Kirk, Spock, or Bones?

I’m a sucker for blonde, muscular men (pun intended), so Kirk!

✴︎ What is your “specialty,” or favorite thing to draw?

Porn. Backgrounds! I absolutely love studying references of actual ST sets and trying to recreate their shapes and textures. Maybe it’s my filmmaker brain, but I feel like set design in artwork really helps me translate the scene from my head into something "real".

… Also, porn.

✴︎ What is something you've made that you're particularly proud of and why?

This comics page I did for the 2025 KiScon Zine, where Jim ends up in sickbay for the night and Spock is trying to find the silver lining 😏 I’m especially proud of it because this was when I started leaning more into a semi-realistic style, and I managed to nail Kirk’s famously elusive face on the first try :D Also, I love having my Spock a little flirty and adventurous in bed… especially when it’s a biobed.

✴︎ How has it felt to be a contributor in a fanzine?

I’m always excited to try new styles, so it was a really fun challenge to translate my quite detailed semi-realistic style into something that would work well in b&w print. It gave me a great excuse to explore halftones!

✴︎ What does K/S mean to you?

Comfort would probably be the best word to describe it. I rediscovered my passion for K/S when I became a refugee and was going through a difficult time in my life, and immersing myself in stories of the beautiful relationship between these two men wrapped me in a blanket of comfort, love, and belonging ❤️

✴︎ Any other information you would like to provide or be included?

Back in 2013, William Shatner used to follow me on Twitter and discuss Samstiel fanfiction with me, lol

✴︎ Where can people find you?

Tumblr | Ao3 | Instagram | Deviantart

KiScon is honoured to once again host the Philon Awards. Originally established by Jenna Sinclair and Shelley Butler in 1997, this annual event’s purpose is to honour outstanding authors and artists in K/S fandom.

Important dates: Nominations: 20 June – 15 August, 2026. Voting: 1 September – 31 October, 2026. Eligibility (works created & published): 1 August 2025 – 31 July 2026. There are 11 categories: Ficlet (word count under 1K) Short fic (word count 1K–5K) Medium-length fic (word count 5K–10K) Long fic (word count 10K–20K) Novella (word count 20K–50K) Novel (word count over 50K) Podfic Traditional Art Digital Art Poetry Zines For each category the voters will determine a Gold (first place) and a Silver (second place) winner.

Rules Nominating and Voting:

Nominations are open from 20 June to 15 August, 2026. Each fan can nominate up to 3 works per category, but you cannot nominate the same work twice.

For a work to make it onto the voting ballot, it needs at least 3 nominations. Before we add it to the ballot, we will get in touch with the creator to ask whether they are fine with this! 

Voting is open from 1 September to 31 October, 2026.

The winners will be announced during a special online event in early November that we will announce soon. Each winner will receive a certificate and a small prize.

It bears repeating: One person —> one submission of the nominations form. Same for voting: one person —> one submission of the voting ballot. Please do not attempt to game the system by using multiple accounts; we see this and it makes us question the future of the Philon Awards.

Nominating and voting both take place via Google Forms, and you need to be logged in and enter either your AO3 or your Discord name on the form in order to submit the nominations; this ensures that people do not nominate or vote multiple times for the same work. If we suspect sockpuppet activity, we will get in touch for clarification. We keep the nomination and voting process completely confidential! Only the KiScon concom will see the submitted forms.

While *we* won't talk about who nominated what, *you* can still discuss your faves and promote them, if you feel comfortable doing so. Making fellow fans aware of great works and sharing why you love and want to nominate them, is encouraged.

You can submit the nominations form only once, but you can edit your response if you need to add or change something (just follow the link in the email you receive after submitting the form). Please make sure to include every fanwork you want to see on the shortlist. You cannot edit your responses after nominations have closed (15 August 2026, end of day, timezone: Anywhere on Earth, i.e. UTC -12).

To answer a question we receive frequently: yes, you *can* nominate (and vote for) your own work(s). We won't judge you. ;-) 

Fanworks:

The work must focus on the pairing Kirk/Spock or Kirk & Spock. Slash (romantic and/or sexual relationship) and gen (friendship) are equally eligible. If a fic includes Kirk and/or Spock in relationships with other characters, be they canonical or original, this does not disqualify the work for the Philon Awards, as long as the focus is clearly on Kirk and Spock's relationship. 

Art must feature Kirk or Spock or both of them; additional characters in the artwork are allowed, but no depiction of Kirk/Other or Spock/Other.

All universes are welcome: TOS (series and movies), TAS, and reboot, Discovery and Strange New Worlds. AUs and mirror universe are equally allowed. Crossovers between different Trek franchises or between Trek and other media are permitted, as long as Kirk and Spock are the work’s main characters.

RPF works (e.g. Shatnoy) are not eligible.

All ratings and genres are allowed. If a work among your nominations includes strong elements that would merit a warning on the AO3 (e.g. rape, major character death etc.), we'd appreciate a heads-up on the nominations form, so that we can make sure to include the warning on the shortlist. 

The work must be complete. It can be part of a series, but the work itself must not be a WIP (missing chapters or a draft/unfinished sketch).

Eligibility: The work must have been created and published (print or online) after last year's nomination period. So, everything from 1 August 2025 onwards until the end of the current nomination phase (31 July 2026) is eligible. Reprints or uploads of earlier works (e.g. a fic you wrote and published a few years ago and uploaded to the AO3 only recently) cannot take part in this contest. If a multi-chapter fic was started earlier, but the date of completion falls within the eligible range, then it can also be nominated.

For podfic the creation/publication date of the actual podfic counts, not of the written fic that inspired it.

AI-generated works are NOT allowed.

Traditional art means that it was hand-drawn or hand-painted; scanning or photographing the finished work in order to publish it online is allowed, of course.

With digital art, we mean art that was created by a fan artist directly on a tablet or computer, or art that started out as hand-drawn and underwent significant digital alterations in the next steps. We do NOT allow AI-generated art! Manips based on still images or photos of the actors are not eligible in this contest.

Zines: Both e-zines and print zines published between 1 August 2025 and 31 July 2026 are eligible.

KiScon is honoured to once again host the Philon Awards. Originally established by Jenna Sinclair and Shelley Butler in 1997, this annual event’s purpose is to honour outstanding authors and artists in K/S fandom.

Important dates: Nominations: 20 June – 15 August, 2026. Voting: 1 September – 31 October, 2026. Eligibility (works created & published): 1 August 2025 – 31 July 2026. There are 11 categories: Ficlet (word count under 1K) Short fic (word count 1K–5K) Medium-length fic (word count 5K–10K) Long fic (word count 10K–20K) Novella (word count 20K–50K) Novel (word count over 50K) Podfic Traditional Art Digital Art Poetry Zines For each category the voters will determine a Gold (first place) and a Silver (second place) winner.

Rules Nominating and Voting:

Nominations are open from 20 June to 15 August, 2026. Each fan can nominate up to 3 works per category, but you cannot nominate the same work twice.

For a work to make it onto the voting ballot, it needs at least 3 nominations. Before we add it to the ballot, we will get in touch with the creator to ask whether they are fine with this! 

Voting is open from 1 September to 31 October, 2026.

The winners will be announced during a special online event in early November that we will announce soon. Each winner will receive a certificate and a small prize.

It bears repeating: One person —> one submission of the nominations form. Same for voting: one person —> one submission of the voting ballot. Please do not attempt to game the system by using multiple accounts; we see this and it makes us question the future of the Philon Awards.

Nominating and voting both take place via Google Forms, and you need to be logged in and enter either your AO3 or your Discord name on the form in order to submit the nominations; this ensures that people do not nominate or vote multiple times for the same work. If we suspect sockpuppet activity, we will get in touch for clarification. We keep the nomination and voting process completely confidential! Only the KiScon concom will see the submitted forms.

While *we* won't talk about who nominated what, *you* can still discuss your faves and promote them, if you feel comfortable doing so. Making fellow fans aware of great works and sharing why you love and want to nominate them, is encouraged.

You can submit the nominations form only once, but you can edit your response if you need to add or change something (just follow the link in the email you receive after submitting the form). Please make sure to include every fanwork you want to see on the shortlist. You cannot edit your responses after nominations have closed (15 August 2026, end of day, timezone: Anywhere on Earth, i.e. UTC -12).

To answer a question we receive frequently: yes, you *can* nominate (and vote for) your own work(s). We won't judge you. ;-) 

Fanworks:

The work must focus on the pairing Kirk/Spock or Kirk & Spock. Slash (romantic and/or sexual relationship) and gen (friendship) are equally eligible. If a fic includes Kirk and/or Spock in relationships with other characters, be they canonical or original, this does not disqualify the work for the Philon Awards, as long as the focus is clearly on Kirk and Spock's relationship. 

Art must feature Kirk or Spock or both of them; additional characters in the artwork are allowed, but no depiction of Kirk/Other or Spock/Other.

All universes are welcome: TOS (series and movies), TAS, and reboot, Discovery and Strange New Worlds. AUs and mirror universe are equally allowed. Crossovers between different Trek franchises or between Trek and other media are permitted, as long as Kirk and Spock are the work’s main characters.

RPF works (e.g. Shatnoy) are not eligible.

All ratings and genres are allowed. If a work among your nominations includes strong elements that would merit a warning on the AO3 (e.g. rape, major character death etc.), we'd appreciate a heads-up on the nominations form, so that we can make sure to include the warning on the shortlist. 

The work must be complete. It can be part of a series, but the work itself must not be a WIP (missing chapters or a draft/unfinished sketch).

Eligibility: The work must have been created and published (print or online) after last year's nomination period. So, everything from 1 August 2025 onwards until the end of the current nomination phase (31 July 2026) is eligible. Reprints or uploads of earlier works (e.g. a fic you wrote and published a few years ago and uploaded to the AO3 only recently) cannot take part in this contest. If a multi-chapter fic was started earlier, but the date of completion falls within the eligible range, then it can also be nominated.

For podfic the creation/publication date of the actual podfic counts, not of the written fic that inspired it.

AI-generated works are NOT allowed.

Traditional art means that it was hand-drawn or hand-painted; scanning or photographing the finished work in order to publish it online is allowed, of course.

With digital art, we mean art that was created by a fan artist directly on a tablet or computer, or art that started out as hand-drawn and underwent significant digital alterations in the next steps. We do NOT allow AI-generated art! Manips based on still images or photos of the actors are not eligible in this contest.

Zines: Both e-zines and print zines published between 1 August 2025 and 31 July 2026 are eligible.

Star Trek: The Voyage Home is absolute cinema imo 🐳 Yapping below if anyone wants to read all that

Legit mad someone even would even pitch a Captain Sulu series featuring Spock's son where Spock would have been an absentee shitty father. No.

Once again putting that degree to good use

Doing graphic design for fun should be a sign of a serious underlying mental issue

Spock is the galaxy because he is our universe but especially Jim's universe ❤️ trying to describe how damn gay this movie is and I fear it's impossible

KiScon is honoured to once again host the Philon Awards. Originally established by Jenna Sinclair and Shelley Butler in 1997, this annual event’s purpose is to honour outstanding authors and artists in K/S fandom.

Important dates: Nominations: 20 June – 15 August, 2026. Voting: 1 September – 31 October, 2026. Eligibility (works created & published): 1 August 2025 – 31 July 2026. There are 11 categories: Ficlet (word count under 1K) Short fic (word count 1K–5K) Medium-length fic (word count 5K–10K) Long fic (word count 10K–20K) Novella (word count 20K–50K) Novel (word count over 50K) Podfic Traditional Art Digital Art Poetry Zines For each category the voters will determine a Gold (first place) and a Silver (second place) winner.

Rules Nominating and Voting:

Nominations are open from 20 June to 15 August, 2026. Each fan can nominate up to 3 works per category, but you cannot nominate the same work twice.

For a work to make it onto the voting ballot, it needs at least 3 nominations. Before we add it to the ballot, we will get in touch with the creator to ask whether they are fine with this! 

Voting is open from 1 September to 31 October, 2026.

The winners will be announced during a special online event in early November that we will announce soon. Each winner will receive a certificate and a small prize.

It bears repeating: One person —> one submission of the nominations form. Same for voting: one person —> one submission of the voting ballot. Please do not attempt to game the system by using multiple accounts; we see this and it makes us question the future of the Philon Awards.

Nominating and voting both take place via Google Forms, and you need to be logged in and enter either your AO3 or your Discord name on the form in order to submit the nominations; this ensures that people do not nominate or vote multiple times for the same work. If we suspect sockpuppet activity, we will get in touch for clarification. We keep the nomination and voting process completely confidential! Only the KiScon concom will see the submitted forms.

While *we* won't talk about who nominated what, *you* can still discuss your faves and promote them, if you feel comfortable doing so. Making fellow fans aware of great works and sharing why you love and want to nominate them, is encouraged.

You can submit the nominations form only once, but you can edit your response if you need to add or change something (just follow the link in the email you receive after submitting the form). Please make sure to include every fanwork you want to see on the shortlist. You cannot edit your responses after nominations have closed (15 August 2026, end of day, timezone: Anywhere on Earth, i.e. UTC -12).

To answer a question we receive frequently: yes, you *can* nominate (and vote for) your own work(s). We won't judge you. ;-) 

Fanworks:

The work must focus on the pairing Kirk/Spock or Kirk & Spock. Slash (romantic and/or sexual relationship) and gen (friendship) are equally eligible. If a fic includes Kirk and/or Spock in relationships with other characters, be they canonical or original, this does not disqualify the work for the Philon Awards, as long as the focus is clearly on Kirk and Spock's relationship. 

Art must feature Kirk or Spock or both of them; additional characters in the artwork are allowed, but no depiction of Kirk/Other or Spock/Other.

All universes are welcome: TOS (series and movies), TAS, and reboot, Discovery and Strange New Worlds. AUs and mirror universe are equally allowed. Crossovers between different Trek franchises or between Trek and other media are permitted, as long as Kirk and Spock are the work’s main characters.

RPF works (e.g. Shatnoy) are not eligible.

All ratings and genres are allowed. If a work among your nominations includes strong elements that would merit a warning on the AO3 (e.g. rape, major character death etc.), we'd appreciate a heads-up on the nominations form, so that we can make sure to include the warning on the shortlist. 

The work must be complete. It can be part of a series, but the work itself must not be a WIP (missing chapters or a draft/unfinished sketch).

Eligibility: The work must have been created and published (print or online) after last year's nomination period. So, everything from 1 August 2025 onwards until the end of the current nomination phase (31 July 2026) is eligible. Reprints or uploads of earlier works (e.g. a fic you wrote and published a few years ago and uploaded to the AO3 only recently) cannot take part in this contest. If a multi-chapter fic was started earlier, but the date of completion falls within the eligible range, then it can also be nominated.

For podfic the creation/publication date of the actual podfic counts, not of the written fic that inspired it.

AI-generated works are NOT allowed.

Traditional art means that it was hand-drawn or hand-painted; scanning or photographing the finished work in order to publish it online is allowed, of course.

With digital art, we mean art that was created by a fan artist directly on a tablet or computer, or art that started out as hand-drawn and underwent significant digital alterations in the next steps. We do NOT allow AI-generated art! Manips based on still images or photos of the actors are not eligible in this contest.

Zines: Both e-zines and print zines published between 1 August 2025 and 31 July 2026 are eligible.

if one/both of your new roommates is a child you assume responsibility of that child

If they make Star Trek Prodigy comics, this is how the cover looks like in my imagination

Palette I'm using :