A Trekkie's Tale

A Trekkie's Tale is a short 1973 Star Trek: TOS parody. It is the fanwork that formally introduced the concept of Mary Sue.
"A Trekkie's Tale" was published in the print zine Menagerie #2 and was "How's Treks #5," one of a number of short parodies in that zine series. Though the author is listed as Anonymous in the zine's table of contents, the author is Paula Smith.
Though the fact that "Mary Sue" originated from a short Star Trek parody fic is still far from common knowledge in fandom, "A Trekkie's Tale" has attained a degree of infamy in the decades since its publication with fans delightedly (or sometimes not-so-delightedly) discovering and sharing this piece of trivia. Some essays and analyses have been published that examine the evolution of Mary Sue from her Trek origins. Smith has also spoken about the specific inspiration for the fic (see: The Originator of the Term "Mary Sue"), further situating "A Trekkie's Tale" and Mary Sue within the fandom trends of the time.
=="A Trekkie's Tale"==
==The Originator of the Term "Mary Sue"==
It was "A Trekkie's Tale" that caused Paula Smith to create the term Mary Sue.
In March 1979, Smith wrote: 
In Winter 1980, Smith wrote: 
In a 2010 interview with Cynthia W. Walker at MediaWest*Con 30 that was later published in Transformative Works and Cultures, Smith recalled that the inspiration for her parody Mary Sue was: 
 
Smith went on to explain how "Mary Sue" became a shorthand for a particular character trope that she and others had identified in fanfiction:
==Star Trek Fandom and Beyond: The Evolution of Mary Sue==
In the essay A Historical Perspective on Mary Sue: Issues and Trends, posted to Fanfic Symposium, Laura Hale It was one of three essays by Laura Hale that were removed from the Fanfic Symposium site between July 2–23, 2008. The removal was most likely related to the controversy regarding Fan History Wiki, something that became very heated during the summer of 2008. traced the evolution of Mary Sue from her origins in A Trekkie's Tale (incorrectly referred to as "A Trekkers Tale") to a pop culture term:
==Some Transformative Works==
In a sense, all manner of fanworks that feature Mary Sues (whether as parodies, homages, critiques, or something else) could be considered transformative works of 'A Trekkie's Tale', but the work has also inspired some more direct transformations. One contemporary example is a series of fics in The Hole in the Deck Gang Newsletter, "The Adventures of Lt. Mary Sue", which featured the original Mary Sue interacting with con gofers. The newsletter was co-edited by Paula Smith.
Other works include a dramatic reading of the fanfic by TheDramaticReadings, as well as a meta essay, Ship's Log, Supplemental: A Trekkie's Tale that deconstructs Smith's intent with the (often misinterpreted) story and sets it in the context of 1970s Star Trek fandom. In 2019, Mr. Jackson created an 'animated film' version of the fic: Mary Sue story. "A Trekkie's Tale".
==Mary Sue Meta==
Many, many fans have expressed their opinions about Mary Sue. For some of them, see :Category:Mary Sue Meta and Timeline of Mary Sue Meta.
==Reactions and Reviews==
===The General Concept===
See Mary Sue for general reactions to the concept.
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==Further Reading==
*Fanfic / A Trekkie's Tale on TVTropes
*A reader's advice to writers: Beware of Mary Sue, a 2010 Salon.com article that referenced the origins of Mary Sue. (Accessed via the Wayback Machine as the original article link 404s).
==References==
Category:Gen Fanfiction
Category:1973 Fanfiction
Category:Mary Sue Meta
Category:2021 Featured Articles