What's a Mary Sue?

[donnaimmaculata]

No, honestly. I entered aldalindil's It's All Been Done Fest with the pairing Lupin/OFC. Now, I consider all OFCs whose major (or sole) purpose is to shag the male character the author finds attractive a Mary Sue, regardless of how well she's written. I mean, no-one writes an OFC who ends up with Hagrid, right? They all get their chance with Snape/Black/Lupin/Harry/Draco. I don't mind such Mary Sues, either. I have read and enjoyed very well written ones, but still, following the definition of Mary Sue = author's self insert, I do think they are Mary Sues.

So what do you think? Does Mary Sue refer merely to half-elven, half-unicorn American transfer student with super special mega powers and a dark secret? Or is every OFC who shags the author's crush a Mary Sue?


And here, gacked from everyone and their sister, the Hottest Pairings Ever:

Hottest "Gods I hate you, let's shag NOW!" pairing:	Snape/Black
Hottest "All about teh Luff" pairing:	Padfoot/Crookshanks
Hottest "Kinky beyond reason" pairing:	Voldemort/Trevor
Hottest "This is so very sick but I LOVE it" pairing:	Dobby/Draco
Hottest "OMFG this is so illegal" pairing:	Dudley/Aunt Marge
Hottest "Master and Slave" pairing:	Albus/Argus
Hottest "Morally ambiguous" pairing:	Bill/Ginny
Hottest "So effing CLICHE, but I don't care" pairing:	Harry/Ginny
Hottest "Father and Son bonding taken to the next level" pairing:	Tom Riddle Sen./Tom Riddle Jr.
Hottest Threesome pairing:	Sirius/Severus/Remus
Hottest "The more the merrier" pairing (orgy):	Sirius/Severus/Remus/Bill/Kingsley
Hottest "We're just friends that happen to shag" pairing:	Sirius/Remus
Hottest "WTF that would NEVER happen" pairing:	Minerva/Sirius
Hottest "First Time" pairing:	Sirius/Harry
Hottest "They're both so deliciously evil" pairing:	Bellatrix/Mrs. Black

The Harry Potterverse Pairings Survey brought to you by BZOINK!

I actually read the Trevor/Voldemort one. It makes sense. Really.

Comments

[marksykins.livejournal.com]

Voldemort/Trevor doesn't hold a candle to Voldemort/Pikachu.

And though I'm generally intolerant of OCs, especially OFCs, as long as the character's flawed in some way, then I don't consider the character a Mary Sue.

Think of Tonks, for example. When OotP came out, a lot of people were saying, oh, she can change her appearance at will, she's JKR's Mary Sue, but I didn't see that. She's clumsy, has an anchor within the story (an Auror, Order member, and Sirius's relative), and doesn't appear to be there only for the romance. Therefore, for me, she's not a Mary Sue.

But yes, incredibly well-written stories can have Mary Sues. They're just easier to swallow if the writing's good. I think you'd do quite well at making an OFC not be a Mary Sue. I look forward to whatever you come up with.

[donnaimmaculata.livejournal.com]

Voldemort/Trevor doesn't hold a candle to Voldemort/Pikachu.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I still like Trevor. Toady *schnoogles*

as long as the character's flawed in some way, then I don't consider the character a Mary Sue

There are many half-elven-transfer-students writers who claim their character are no Mary Sues 'because they have flaws'. I think that Mary Sues are open for interpretation, and I don't make a great difference between Mary Sues and OFC. I make a difference between a well-written and a mind-bogglingly badly written character. Um. I think I'm not explaining it correctly. What I mean is: if "Mary Sue = author's self insert" then "OFC-who-gets-off-with-author's-crush = Mary Sue". If a well written OFC who gets the chance to get into Harry's knickers (in my case, Remus's knickers, or Sirius's knickers) is not necessarily a Mary Sue, then the definition of Mary Sue is not self insert.

I think you'd do quite well at making an OFC not be a Mary Sue.

Thanks a lot for your trust in my abilities! *g*

I don't intend writing a Mary Sue - apart from the fact that she will have to shag Lupin. But that's part of the challenge, so there...