(Untitled)

[_redux]

One thing struck me just now. People generally recieved my OCs pretty well, saying they were well rounded and not Mary Sues etc. But most of them were self inserts which is one of the main characteristics of a MS, right? No wonder I'm so fond of my rough, dysfunctional OCs - I'm perfectly aware of the fact that I'm extremely self centered.

Comments

[go_back_chief]

I don't think an MS is a self-insert. It's more like a "wishful thinking self-insert". If a character is a realistic self-insert, which has both your strengths and flaws, and reacts realistically to things and have people react realistically to them, it's generally a well-rounded character.

I still agree that Mary Sues, is probably a sign of a perfectly normal teenage fantasy. That doesn't generally make them all that interesting to read for others but of course you can learn a lot from writing them.

[_redux]

Hey! How's the asoiaf reading going? :)

No, they're not interesting. They're dull as hell, but why all the hate, the sporking communities, the hunting down of the authors, the flames...all of it? The selfrighteousness of the socalled fans who goes after these kids like rabid dogs, not satisfied until they've driven them out of the fandom in the name of fandom Darwinism? These people are the real problem IMO, a problem that isn't restricted to the net. Or maybe that's a part of 'normal' development too, the herd instinct - all my friends do it so I do it too.
It's puzzling - but maybe I'm growing old and can't really identify with the kids anymore. I'm an asshole myself but wouldn't dream of degrading someone who tried to express themselves creatively. Dunno... Been reading a lot of fandom secrets these days, and it makes me feel like an alien sometimes.

[go_back_chief]

It's going rather well, though I'm a slow reader! I finished Storm of Swords this weekend and was toying with the idea of maybe posting something about it, but I don't know, I've become posting-blocked, I think. Maybe after A Feast of Crows. I mean to take a little break, though, have other books I've borrowed that I want to return, but I don't know if I'll be able to, I've become pretty immersed and it's hard to put down these books and read something else instead. It almost feels wrong! :D

Yeah, I don't get the MS outrage either. I get finding bad writing funny -sometimes it really is hilarious- but from what I've seen of sporking comms, they get old rather quickly. I really don't get hunting down authors and flaming them. But there are a lot of things I don't get.

[kennahijja]

Hm... although I write them rarely, all my PoV-carrying OCs were self-insertions too. Or at least have some of my characteristics. I always thought self-insertions were a) normal and b) different from Mary Sues. I mean MSes are idealised perfection of what someone (usually someone of the teenage persuasion unless they're writing vampire romance, etc.) would *want* to be. The thing that would make the writer happy and everybody else gnash teeth.

Now self-insertion (unless you take it literally and put *yourself* as a person into a fic) is what I always thought everybody did when writing. Ok, well, maybe I'm just thinking that because I do? I don't think that you have to be fucked up to do it, more that it's hard to avoid when filtering canon characters (or OCs) through your personal perspective ;).

[eska_rina]

Well, you implied it yourself: your OCs are not classic Mary Sue.

The thing about Mary Sues aren't that they are self-inserts (I actually think that would be pretty damn interesting), but that they are idealized self insert/how the writer want to be (seen), who make the CCs act OoC :/

But yeah, totally sign of a perfectly healthy teenager brain. Is there anyone on this planet who didn't fantasize about joining their "heroes of choice" or becoming the hero's love interest and so on? I think we all did (still do?)