Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related Mary Sue?

I have never used the 'Gary Stu' format in any story. If I wanted to be in a fic, I just put myself, as Tank, in it.

Tank (who figures it's much simpler that way)

It might be simpler Tank, but then again I never saw you put an idealized version of yourself in the story. For example, you never describe Tank as an Adonis with rippling muscles and a mane like Fabio. The girls don't sigh and faint at your feet. Also, Superman rarely asks you for advice on how to deal with the current crisis. Therefore, even when Tank appears in your stories, it isn't a Mary Sue character. (Although you have lived out quite a few hair-cutting fantasies in the pages of your books.)

Elisabeth

Well, don't forget, as someone once calculated, the average reader age on ff.net is eight. Or, at least, it was back then. I haven't been there for a while, so it's possible things have changed.

LabRat

Really? I always thought it was at least twelve. Guess I was being overly optimistic.

Since I'd never visited ff.net, I decided to pop over there and see if there was anything I might like. I found this:

There are five comments posted in response to this message. Two of those are from Laryx, one of the board operators.

I wonder what Laryx and sunspark originally envisioned that site being? Judging from the lack of outcry over the closing, I'd guess that there aren't many people posting to it or reading anything there, unlike this MBS.

Still, it's sad when something that's been around for a while goes away.

Actually, Terry, it looks like that was for another site. Although people often refer to it as ff.net or ffn (for convenience), it is actually www.fanfiction.net

And it is growing constantly. Several of our own best writers post there, either simultaneously or after posting here on the boards/archive. And I believe, on more than one occasion, a new author has posted there, someone here has seen the story and contacted them, and then this new author came and joined our happy band as well.

Right now there is a fascinating story "what-if" story in progress there called "Freedom of the Press", which takes off on TGGGOH and what might have happened if Trask hadn't been killed. I just discovered it yesterday, and devoured all three chapters posted thus far.

I only dabble in a couple of fandoms there, but the place is vast.

Kathy

My apologies, Kathy. I'm glad to hear that fanfiction.net is thriving. In fact, I plan to check it out this week. What the hey, I can sleep next month.

You're right, Terry, definitely not worth losing sleep over.

Truthfully, I would imagine that in many of the fandoms there you would find a lot of garbage, as well as some real gems. Unfortunately, the only way to find out is to wade through it.

Kathy

Getting back to Mary-Sues:

Interesting article on the 150-year history of Mary-Sues
Short but very pointed Harry Potter Mary Sue comic strip
Longer and VERY silly Harry Potter Mary Sue comic strip

That's funny. I put Tank in one, too.

I think I used Knat Nosliw a time or two... I know Missy and I used it in the 'Tank hates Jimmy and Lois needs a haircut' fic we wrote...


Carol

Marcus, I remember reading that history when I was puzzled about what the heck a Mary Sue was, too. <g> It was pretty long, but interesting... and enlightening!

I don't think I've written original Mary Sues, but I'm probably guilty of Sueing a canon character here and there in my early WIPs. (Actually, I did have an original Mary Sue a couple of times, but it was in my indulgent original stories when I was 13-14, heh.)

I can't help thinking that there is a justification for Mary Sues: most main characters in the shows I watched when I was a pre-teen and younger were Mary Sues. A beautiful girl with a tragic past, a huge heart, and courage to top any dashing hero's, who has several men fall for her while she only has eyes for one - sounds familiar. This is what a lot of young teenagers end up thinking a heroine should be like, through no fault of their own. Mostly.

Many canon characters can be argued to fit the profile (certainly many that match the above description), but they're particularly disliked in fanfic, and I think the reason is that when fans (can't speak for everyone, but at least some of us) seek out fanfic, they're mostly looking for stories about the characters already known to them, and don't care for OCs (which can still done well, of course, as in many L&C fics). I'm talking about OCs that take over as main characters, of course, not secondary ones.

Then there's the issue of popular romantic relationships. I'll admit it - I'm a total sucker for romance in fanfic and though I enjoy a well-written fic that doesn't have any, I'll still go back to romance. And I like Lois to end up with Clark. So I would probably not want to read a fic in which Clark meets Winter Sparkle Sunshine, falls in love with her and shoves Lois to the side. Again, to each their own, but this is me, and true for many fans.

If anything here makes less sense than it should, it's because I should be asleep right now. <g>

Julie

This is a really good article on the Mary Sue phenomenon.

I think the closest I've come to a Mary Sue story is probably "Sick Day"... but I didn't put 'myself' in that story (well, not really) I put Sue S. in the story. Hee hee... And it was mainly to cheer her up because she was sick.

Side note -- I only began posting at fanfiction.net because I started writing a Heroes fic and I had absolutely no idea where else to post the story except there. I haven't found any awesome place like we have here... well... anywhere. So I took what I could get.