While the narrator of the story, who is being treated to some tender and then increasingly sexual caresses, is called “he” (it’s Spock), the second character’s actions are shown in an abstract that doesn’t require identification, or else referred to as simply “the other” (it’s Kirk, he of the “blond head”). Neither character is ever named, and there’s a gaming in the use of pronouns so that it’s never precisely clear in the text that it is two men having a romantic encounter. Now I can’t stop thinking about “A Fragment Out of Time” and how far fandom and particularly fanfiction with LGBTQIA+ themes and characters have come since Marchant’s story in the ’70s.įirst of all, its format is absolutely fascinating.
![slash fiction slash fiction](https://dryedmangoez.com/images/dryedmangoez/1011/SPN706-02.jpg)
They kept the ball rolling with letter-writing campaigns, zines, and conventions, and their tireless dedication was a big part of what would eventually turn Star Trek into a cultural phenomenon.Īs someone who has participated in online fandom since I was about 12 years old, I’d heard of “A Fragment Out of Time.” But it wasn’t until I was researching for our Flame Con panel that I gave the story a close read and investigated the history around its publication and reception. The Original Series had been canceled in 1969 after three seasons, but its wildly dedicated fanbase wasn’t about to let their favorite characters and Gene Roddenberry’s inventive universe fade into obscurity. The story appeared in the R-rated Star Trek fanzine Grup #3 in 1974. Marchant’s story is recognized, however, as the first Kirk/Spock piece of fiction to be published for consumption beyond a closed circle of friends.
Slash fiction series#
Marchant did not “invent” Kirk/Spock: the subtext and chemistry between the dashing Starfleet Captain and his stoic (when not in pon farr) Vulcan first officer was there onscreen for anyone who cared to see it, and Kirk/Spock stories, meta, and theories were already being traded between groups of Star Trek: The Original Series fans by letter in the 1960s. The consensus seems to be that slash fanfiction as we know it first emerged into the open with Diane Marchant’s 1974 Kirk/Spock story “A Fragment Out of Time.”
![slash fiction slash fiction](http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/26500000/7x06-Slash-Fiction-supernatural-26524129-1280-720.jpg)
Then I gave an overview of the rise of modern fandom in regards to LGBTQIA+ themes. Princess Weekes kicked us off with a background about how much that is literarily lauded from olden days-from the Aeneid to the works of Dante and Shakespeare and Milton and on and on-is essentially fanfiction, and we are continuing perhaps the oldest literary tradition of reshaping and retelling existing stories.
![slash fiction slash fiction](http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/26500000/7x06-Slash-Fiction-supernatural-26526833-1280-720.jpg)
At Flame Con in August, The Mary Sue hosted a panel on the LGBTQIA+ history of fanfiction.