What is considered the first K/S fanfic? I always wondered how it all began 😀
Before we can talk about the first printed K/S fiction, we need to talk about the first “adult” Star Trek fanzine to appear.
Prior to 1972, all printed fan material was for a general all-ages readership. Then “Grup” came on the scene in 1972 (you will recall that “grup” was the word for “grownups” in the episode Miri), specifically to publish adult stories and art. It was considered pornographic at the time, though the stories were not very explicit by today’s standards.
The first nsfw art was published in Grup: the first edition had a nude centerfold of Spock!
In the first instance of a practice that would become standard for writers and publishers of adult — and especially slash — publications, one of the two editors of Grup was known only by a (male) pseudonym. (With a few exceptions, none of us ever published under our real names.)
Grup was hugely popular, as you might imagine, but the editors did very small print runs, not even trying to meet demand. Everyone was scared in those days of exposure and of being prosecuted for producing pornography. Just mailing Grup through the US mail was breaking the law!
In 1974, in the 3rd edition of Grup, Diane Marchant published a story called “A Fragment Out of Time.” It was very short and very, very vague, describing two unnamed people making love. Although the characters weren’t identified, the story was accompanied by a drawing showing Spock saying to Jim,
“Impossible?… No, Jim. I warned you about messing with aliens … especially Vulcans.”
Whoa, Nelly!
Fandom would never be the same.
Back then we had something called letterzines, which were named and numbered just like regular zines, but existed as a way for fans to discuss things about Star Trek and fandom. They typically came out every month or two. They were like pre-internet discussion boards, and of course, were a much slower means of communicating. But the system worked! And they were very popular.
Letters poured into the letterzine The Halkan Council, questioning if the two characters depicted in the story were, in fact, Kirk and Spock. The author wrote an essay in Grup 4 confirming that yes, “Fragments” was about Kirk and Spock, and exploring (again in very subtle and somewhat coded language) the nature of the relationship between the characters.
And a huge, raging debate started in the letterzines all over fandom about The Premise that Marchant had proposed: that Kirk and Spock were in a romantic, sexual relationship with each other. (This was when that term came into general use. Before that, there was no public discussion of the K/S relationship, and so no general name for it.)
Two authors, Gerry Downes (whom I wrote a post about) and Leslie Fish, wrote into (I think it was) The Halkan Council, asking Marchant if they could borrow The Premise to develop in fanzines they were inspired to publish, thanks to Marchant breaking this new ground.
Gerry Downes then broke new ground herself by publishing the first K/S zine, Alternative: The Epilog to Orion, in 1976. She printed only a very few copies (there was a HUGE risk to circulating porn with gay characters), and distributed them mostly to trusted fan friends in other states. She encouraged the recipients to copy the zine, using Xerox machines which were just becoming fairly widely available in print shops, and to circulate and distribute those copies locally.