A Fragment Out of Time

A Fragment Out of Time is a Kirk/Spock story and the first piece of published slash fan fiction in Star Trek fandom. It is a 2-page story that was printed in the September 1974 issue of Grup #3. 
The story was reprinted by Datazine Publications in 1984 in Best of Grup #1.
A columnist in Not Tonight, Spock! #2 (1984) calls this story "To Invite the Night." It is unclear if this is simply an error or if this was the original title of "A Fragment Out of Time" when it was in its underground form.
The story was written by Diane Marchant, who also wrote another (unrelated) series of story portions called Fragments. Regarding that later series, Diane spoke often about how she didn't like to write stories; she only wrote fragments and was happy for others to fill in the gaps (confirmed by Geoff Allshorn}. 
 
==Excerpt==
==About "A Fragment Out of Time"==
Klangley56 notes that:
The story also refers to someone with a "logical mind" and his partner has a "blond head". But it was written so obliquely that it wasn't clear to many readers that the two people having sex were both men, much less Kirk and Spock, until Diane's letter to the editor in the next issue, Grup #4. However, in the fanzine Legacy commentators have pointed out that:
A fan in 2012 wrote this description of the accompanying artwork: 
A second drawing appeared at the bottom of the story, offering readers another clue as to the identities of the two characters.
==The Follow-Up Essay==
Diane's submission in the following issue of Grup also raised the possibility of a close, sexual relationship between Kirk and Spock. It was an essay titled, "Pandora's Box... Again," and subtitled, "A Psychological Discussion of the Relationship Between Captain James T. Kirk and Commander Spock." As the author of Boldly Writing explains:
==The Splash it Made==
A year later fans were still debating the premise behind the story. In the letterzine The Halkan Council issue #12, Connie Faddis reviewed the story:
By the time the last issue was published in 1978, Boldly Writing claims that "Grup seemed almost tame compared to what was coming out elsewhere."Joan Marie Verba. Boldly Writing: A Trekker Fan and Zine History, 1967 - 1987, pg. 44.
==Diane's Later Views on the Story==
Diane attempted to distance herself from the story years later. On The Foresmutters Project page, they explain: While it is possible that original story ended up in print due to miscommunication, the subsequent essay was purposeful. Given the relatively small circulation of Grup, the reception, the increased visibility of her work and the ever expanding discussion in other letterzines such as The Halkan Council and Interstat may have been unexpected. 
 
From an interview done a few months before she died in 2007, Diane explained: 
In 2022, Sue Bursztynski wrote: 
==Inspired Fanworks==
* A Time Out Of Fragment, a Uhura/Chapel parody by Paula Smith (1976)
==Trivia and Other==
A complete copy of A Fragment Out of Time was worth 25 points in the 2011 University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt.Item 63 on Page 4 of the "The 2011 University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt List PDF" (Accessed 28 July 2013)
This story was translated into Russian in Логика сердца (2017).
==The Story==
Image:fragout-1.jpg 
Image:fragout-2.jpg
 
==Later Reactions and Reviews==
===1976===
===1998===
=== 2006 ===
===2009===
 
===2013===
 
===2015===
 by Tansy Rayner Roberts (2015)
===2016===
===2018===
 by Kaila Hale-Stern (2018)
===2021===
==References==
Category:Star Trek TOS K/S Fanfiction
Category:1974 Fanfiction