What's a Mary Sue?
Jan. 19th, 2004 07:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
donnaimmaculataNo, honestly. I entered ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
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:
The Harry Potterverse Pairings Survey brought to you by BZOINK!
I actually read the Trevor/Voldemort one. It makes sense. Really.
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.
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no subject
Date: 2004-01-20 04:43 pm (UTC)The example you give with Fabula Rasa's shapeshifter gave the hint: Mildred/Jimmy was introduced into an existing story line, because the utilisation of a shapeshifter was necessary to evolve the plot. As opposed to this, there are OFCs who have not been develeoped to fit into a story, but who are the story.
When I write my Lupin/OFC fic, I consider the OFC to be a Mary Sue, even withouth any super special powers and elven ancestors, simply because she will be somewhat of a self insert, and because the character comes first. She comes before the plot.
I think that if an author writes a fic featuring an OFC who has been created to seduce the male character of the author's choice, the writing process does not begin with the creation of a plot. It begins with the wish to have the male character of choice fall in love (or lust) and then, the background of the female character is developed. The plot line is important to support the OFC and not vice versa. The plot might be excellent, and so might be the character development, but still, when this OFC has clearly been there before the plot, I will consider her a Mary Sue.
A Mary Sue is a fantasy. It's what the author writing them thinks is the perfect way to look and act. (Definition gacked from
The point is, I don't think it's a bad thing. Rowling inserted (many aspects of) herself as Hermione. D.H. Lawrence inserted himself as Birkin in "Women in Love". It is a valid literary device to blatantly model a character after the author.
I've strayed away from your comment and from what I originally wanted to say, but these ideas just formed themselves in my head and I felt the need to put them down.
Although I think that OMCs and OFCs present different challenges.
Oh yes. I go along with that.
And hey, the community is up? I haven't noticed yet. I'm very curious how it will turn out.
Talking about OCs is certainly very interesting, and there are good ones, who deserve getting a mention. I think, however, a distinction should be made between OCs who play a major role (i.e. are protagonists) and OCs who are minor characters, because they fulfill very different functions within the fic.