Andreth
Joined: 24 Oct 2003
Posts: 1211
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 Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Viv wrote: |
One of my all-time favorite Mary Sues is Luthien from The Silm.
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Good one. Let's not forget Galadriel, either. 'Man-maiden'? That sounds pretty Xena-ish to me.  But she was still her own character and her own person, and I think the only reason she doesn't read better is because Tolkien was still playing around with the specifics of her character's past. She had a lot going for her, but not too much, I guess.
Everybody's brought up some very good points, but I do have to say, there really is a true definition of a Mary-Sue. It's basically a character who waltzes into a story that's little more than a set for her and her brilliant beauty and flawless character traits. The other characters aren't developed to their own potential, they're only props for her to play off of and to fall madly in love with her. Usually all of them, but she will only grace one with her all-fulfulling love. If you don't know, the original Mary-Sue came from a Star Trek fan fiction, and what I just explained was basically what this character was, and just damned annoying.
That's the key here, to know that there really is such a thing as a Mary-Sue, but also to know that it's a term A LOT of people misuse either out of selfishness or ignorance. If you know what a Mary-Sue is and know your character isn't that, then don't worry about it. Just write and enjoy it. In this fandom there's likely always going to be somebody who gives you crap about something and you can't please everybody.
Heck, I wrote a Mary-Sue without realizing it for a while. Granted, she wasn't 100% Mary-Sue, but enough that it eventually got to me and I scrapped the story. Not because anybody else didn't like the way the story was going, but because I didn't.
So, Bitten Buggy, that's what really matters...if you like the story and you're enjoying writing it, then write it and have fun with it.
Now, I'm going to tuck my soapbox back into the closet and sneak out the side door...... 
Andreth/ Anna |
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