Of RP's and Mary-Sues, PART DEUX

[anderling]

Subtitled: Why there is no hope left for this person.

You all remember that girl from the original part whose Sue waltzed into Xemnas' room and demanded a job, right? Course you do.
You also remember Literate's sheer epic win at Xemnas and him telling her, basically, to fudge off right the fudge now.

You all seem want to know what's going to happen

Comments

[dark_puck]

..honestly? I write plenty of characters who can be considered Mary Sues.

The trick there is balancing them in a story, which the RP'er is not doing.

(Also I think "Mary Sue" is thrown around WAY too easily, but that's just me.)

[anderling]

Rule of thumb: When everyone drops everything in order to help/serve the OC and the world starts revolving around them twenty seconds after they show up, that's a Sue. From what you say, I wouldn't classify one of your characters as a Sue.

[kitsuneikkin]

The problem with the term "Mary Sue" is that it has about a dozen definitions, ranging from "self-insert whom everyone loves" and "character whom the universe bends over backwards for" (which are always problematic) to "comparatively overpowered" and "wish fulfillment character" (which are true of many well-loved characters in fiction).

The difference between "Mary Sues can be written well with enough work" and "Sueish traits can work as part of a non-Sue character with enough work" is where you draw the line for Sues. Which kind of goes back to what dark_puck was saying about the term being thrown around way too often.

TL;DR don't blame the illness you should be FIXING, Sue-mun

[yui_hime]

Having a mental disorder like bipolar or ADHD is one thing. Blaming everything on said disorders without doing anything to help yourself with them is another.

The fact that Sue-mun is blaming their dad for not getting them help for their supposed bipolar/ADHD (love how they can't even say which they have; hun, if you ain't diagnosed you ain't diagnosed), when there are in fact other ways to get help for oneself, suggests to me that Sue-mun isn't really afflicted, just careless and lazy and would rather blame a disease than man the fuck up and fix their problem.

/something that pisses me off whenever it happens

For relevant anecdote, I had a meltdown in fifth grade that resulted in pretty much every authority in the school suggesting child psychologists to my parents. I was eventually diagnosed with a mild case of ADHD and a major case of "going through puberty". The latter eventually subsided, and the former turned out to be so mild I didn't really require treatment, just an attitude adjustment.

- - - - -

In more relevant news:

Re: TL;DR don't blame the illness you should be FIXING, Sue-mun

[anderling]

EXACTLY! If she was saying that with an official diagnosis I'd be more tolerant, but I don't think she even knows what 'bipolar' MEANS. A while ago she said she's bipolar and I asked her about it and her reply seemed off compared to how she usually talks, so I googled it. She quoted that off a website. You could claim that she just can't explain it in her own words, but since I learned/was taught how to explain 'autism' to someone when I was seven, that seems unlikely, moreso when you know I asked her how she handles it specifically and she changed the subject.
Fun fact: after no one replied to that post for ten minutes, she double-posted the text equivalent of "Okay, I've been acting like a total bitch and throwing temper tatrums just now and I'm sorry, so can you please stop ignoring me?" The exact move I made is difficult to replicate, but it held the middle ground to a facepalm and flipping the bird.

[shoshele04]

Okay, 3 quotes I have to mention because, seriously?! SERIOUSLY.

1. It doesn't matter what you meant, it matters what you sounded like. ...Ummm, what? Uh, no, NO, you have it precisely backwards and are possibly the biggest moron I've met in a few years. Congrats.

2. Damn you possible ADHD-ness, damn you possible Bipolarity, damn all you people who don't understand, and DAMN YOU MY STUPID DAD WHO WON'T GET ME ANY HELP!! LOLWHUT. I always feel bad for these parents, having to raise such depraved monsters who go bashing them on the internet where they won't see. But it might just be that I think anyone who thinks Twilight is a valid piece of literature is fucking insane.

3. Mary-Sues are cool because anyone can pull them off... Um, no. You fail once again. Something that anyone can do is probably not as cool as what only a few people can do, like writing enduring, truly believable characters, unlike your sometimes-when-angry-I-forgot-to-mention-cause-it-only-just-occurred-to-me-berserker Sue

[trilies]

[anderling]

The discussion mentioned in the rant starts about here
RP: the part where Sue goes "And I thought I had an attitude" is here. Xemnas serving the Sue a big slice of humble-pie is here. I reckon that if you joined the site and the clan, you can be there too. XD
Just for fun, check out the emotastic post here. I think we've got ourselves a winner almost able to compete with Enoby herself! *Awed.*

[anderling]

*Head in hands.* Just when I think she can't RP any worse, here she goes and proves me wrong.

I quote: I am a Nobody, but I don't really buy into the whole 'We don't have feelings' thing. Even if we don't have hearts, I was always taught that emotions were just thoughts like any others in your brain, and the heart was a pump that pulsed blood through your body... Of course, if that were true, how could people live without it? That leads me to believe that at least some Nobodies have hearts... They just aren't aware of them."
I just... I give up. *Stares at the ceiling.*

Even ignoring the fact we can make an interesting debate on physical hearts versus chemical imbalance symbolised by the Floating Pink Crystalline Hearts, Nobodies do not have emotions. It's part of the goddamn job description. It's been confirmed both in-game and by Word Of God repeatedly. I just... gah. *Picard facepalm.*

[trilies]

...I am actually pretty interested in this RP, now, 'tho. Especially because LJ is so wacky lately, I might sneak into a new RP somewhere. I'm checking it out for more than the carcrash value, honest. XD

[lightning_hope]

*winces in sympathy* I. I don't, I don't even.... what?

But don't you get it? Mary-Sues are cool because anyone can pull them off, and they don't have to be annoying. Like most of my characters who change the story for the better, or Xion, who just adds a sense of, 'Wow, there is a lot more to this than we thought', or Bella, who provides a fascinating romantic story.

WHAT? *splutters*. Yes, anyone can and does 'pull off' May Sues. Not usually because they want to. I was making them even at the ripe age of, uh, 7, I think. (Something about a high-schooler getting kidnapped by aliens and having to fight her way home or something. The archaic scribblings I found were hard to read.). I then gained knowledge and STOPPED making them (presumably).

Mary Sues =/= skill.