Kirk/Spock, commonly abbreviated as K/S or Spirk and referring to James T. Kirk and Spock from Star Trek, is a pairing popular in slash fiction, possibly the first slash pairing, according to Henry Jenkins, an early slash fiction scholar. Early in the history of Star Trek fan fiction, a few fan writers started writing about a romantic and sexual relationship between Kirk and Spock, highlighting a romantic or sexual element to the friendship between the men. As of 1998, most academic studies on slash fiction focused on Kirk/Spock, as Star Trek was by that point one of the longest-lived and most prosperous subjects of slash fiction, while its mainstream popularity made it one of the most accessible titles for academics and their audience. As the first slash pairing, K/S was created and developed largely independently from the influence of other slash fiction, with most of the conventions of the slash genre seeing their debut first in K/S slash. Origins and creators' responses Many homosocial scenes between Kirk and Spock have been interpreted by some fans as having significant homoerotic undertones. For example, in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Spock realizes that emotions "play an important part in the richness of life". In a particular scene from the film, Spock, lying down in sickbay, clasps Kirk's hand and says that he understands "this simple feeling". Woledge points out that both the gesture and the words are "ambiguous", and can be interpreted as homoerotic. Eye contact and gestures throughout the series have also been cited as being part of a homoerotic subtext in their relationship. In the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture written by Gene Roddenberry, he introduces the Vulcan term t'hy'la to describe Kirk and Spock's relationship, translating it as friend, brother or lover. Regarding this, a footnote was added where Kirk addresses the rumor that he and Spock were lovers: In an interview, after revealing that he had cast Shatner as Kirk partly on the basis of his performance as Alexander, Roddenberry talked about fans seeing a possible parallel between Alexander and Hephaestion and Kirk/Spock: In a similar interview, Roddenberry states: Another key scene which can be interpreted as homoerotic is in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, when Spock dies, and tells Kirk, "I have been and always shall be your friend." In 1985, Roddenberry recalled from publication Killing Time, a novel that suggested the existence