X-MST3k

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Fanfiction
Title: X-MST3k
Author(s): Kielle and Doc Nuke
Date(s): 1997, 1999
Length:
Genre: Comedy, Parody
Fandom: X-Men, MST3K
External Links: Part 1, Part 2 on Wayback

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X-MST3k was a MSTing (or "MSTie" as they were known in comics fandom at that time) of a Self-insertion X-Men fanfic by Andrew Vincent which was written in 1995.

The story was written by Kielle and her then-husband, Doc Nuke.

The first part was published on Alt.comic.fan-fiction in 1997[1], with the second part coming (by demand) in 1999[2], and both parts being archived on Kielle's personal archive, "Camelot".

In her own words, Kielle described the story's history:

This is an excursion into the fringes of the dark side of my sense of humor. Previously this was ONLY distributed to friends and on request, but after a few months to chew on it I finally decided to...well, all right, the truth is that my co-writer/husband found out that I hadn't posted it publically [sic], and after the work he put into it, welllllll...here it is. In its glorious entirely. Ouch. Be forewarned: this story is heinously insulting to a tender young fanfic writer. Be it known here and now that I bear absolutely NO ill will towards Andrew Vincent -- it's the characters speaking through me, I swear! If anyone wants to do the same to my own work, I don't mind at all. Anyway, I'll give Vincent this much: in ways he's better than Gibby.[3]. ;) [1]

In the interval between Part 1 and Part 2, the original fanfic's author, Andrew Vincent, was given a link to the first installment. He was, as Kielle said in her acknowledgements to Part 2, "not only a terribly good sport when he found out about the original tale but gave me the go-ahead on this one without even insisting upon seeing it first."[2] The story then was named "Best Humorous" in the 1998 CBFFAs, which ensured its popularity (a fictional version of Andrew also "appeared" in the Award Ceremony for "Most Improved Writer", where he absconded with the award meant for the writer, Me, spawning a chase and a Disney filk [4]).

The MSTing became something of a legend among the comics fanficcer community and made Andrew himself something of a household name - what would later be described as a Meme. For years references were made to the MSTing and the original fanfic, with various in-jokes even making their way into in-person gatherings. A roundrobin sequel to the original fanfic, X3, was started by Dex Farkin (and featured parts by Kielle, Tangerine, Haesslich, Abyss and Laersyn) in 1998 and the foreword, written by Abyss, contained the perfect summary of the whole phenomenon:

`X3'? `X %#@*ing 3'??? Where were parts 1 and 2???"

An excellent question. Lurking at the bottom of the now gone but forever cherished `Hawk's Archive', 'X' and 'X2[5]' were the products of the mind of one Andrew 'Shadow' Vincent. The 'X''s were made immortal by two things:

1] Andrew wrote himself and his buddies in as the characters in a shameless act of fanboyism.

2] Kielle, aka 'The Scribe' decided to MST-3K the story. Even if you haven't read the original stories (which are still lurking on Hawk's FTP site, if I'm not mistaken) you really should read Kielle's X-MST3K. It is a classic, AND it introduces you to the characters you'll meet here. But even if you haven't busted a gut reading the MiSTie, you'll still be amazed at the story below.

References

  1. ^ a b X-MST3K: Prologue on the acff google group archive
  2. ^ a b X2-MST3K (1/4) on the alt.comics.fanfic google group archive
  3. ^ "Gibby" refers to Michael Gibby, author of "A Short Fanboy Story" which was posted to acff in April 1996. Two parodies were written in response: A 'FanBoy' Parody - by Martha (and cat); Fanfiction Science Theater: A Short FanBoy Story 2/? - by Tapestry (ficwriter). The original story was removed from Hawk's Archive at the writer's request.
  4. ^ CBFFA 1998 Award Ceremony, Part 1
  5. ^ Unfortunately, this archive is no longer available online or via the Wayback machine, having gone down in 1996.