Mary Sue

aka: self-insertion, OFC (original female character), avatar

Definition: Strictly speaking, a badly written female character that draws
the focus of a fanfic away from its canon characters. (See the "Mary Sue
Society" at http://www.subreality.com/marysue.htm for more details, and a
lot of fun stuff.) In this lesson, any fanfic with a strong original
character may be called a Mary Sue; don't be insulted if your definition and
mine don't agree.

(Lecture I: Where Celli attempts to explain the attraction of Mary Sue-ing
by Talking About Herself.)

So, here's the thing (Celli says with not a lot of shame). I write Mary
Sues. A lot. My first real fanfic, a Highlander Mary Sue called "Surrender,"
had it all. Hard-to-pronounce name, gorgeous red hair, admirable fighting
skills, great sense of humor, blah blah blah. And we won't even mention the
good sex she had with Richie (although I *swear* at the time I didn't
realize they were having sex...but it's obvious when you read the dialogue
between the two of them) or all the bad stuff that happened to her.

Erm. Yeah. Well. I read it with a fond smile now, but there are a lot of
things I could have done to make it a better story.

Compare that with another self-insertion story I wrote, called "Overtime."
This was a Stargate story where my character (Lt. Miriam Risk--okay, I'm
working on the name thing) had to deal with an unusual pay request from Jack
and Teal'c after the events of "Window of Opportunity." However, this time I
attempted that crazy little thing called (wait for it) restraint. There is
absolutely no description of Lt. Risk anywhere in the story. And she doesn't
sleep with anybody.

But?

But she's me. I have an accounting background and an addiction to Excedrin
Migraine. That's what made the story so fun! What would I do if my job was
to deal with Jack, Danny, and the rest of SG-1? (We don't see Lt. Risk
drinking heavily, but I'm sure she does.) And if I ever write another story
with her, you can darn sure bet she's gonna have a thing for Major Davis,
because I find the character...rather attractive.

We won't even get into the UC: Undercover Mary Sue...we just won't. *g*

(Lecture II: Where Celli defends Mary Sues.)

Readers like romance. At heart, most romance novels are Mary Sues: a female
character the writer strongly identifies with gets involved with an exciting
male character. And if the writer does their job well, the audience
identifies just as strongly with said female character, falls in love with
said male character, and three hundred pages later, everybody's happy. Works
for me. (I have--I kid you not--nearly every Nora Roberts novel. Ever.)

If you don't like Mary Sues, that's okay. A) Not everyone likes romance. B)
A lot of people will only read romantic fic if it involves two already
established characters (Mulder/Scully, Paris/Torres, Buffy/Angel). Also perfectly fine.
I also love to read something that could clearly happen on TV, and imagine
characters I already know instead of getting to know a new one.

But Mary Sues have a lot to offer too.  Introducing a new character into an
established show is a good way to get a fresh viewpoint and a new
perspective into the situation.  If you're going to have to explain a lot of
things, it helps to have someone to listen to them.  It avoids the "As you
know, Bob" trap.  ("As you know, Sam, we travel through a wormhole to other
planets..."  "As you know, Cordelia, we run a paranormal detective agency in
the Hyperion Hotel...")

It's also fun to imagine yourself in the middle of your favorite book,
series, or movie.  Most actors and writers and directors started out that
way.  We just write it down.  There's a good argument that it's no fun
reading someone else's thinly veiled fantasies--but isn't that what fiction
is, fantasy done well enough that an audience buys into it?

(Lecture III: When Mary Sues Go Wrong)

I read a lot of stories to find the fics I recommended later in this lesson,
and I have a few firm opinions on what makes a good and a bad Mary Sue.  To
wit:

* Really, really, it's okay if your OFC is not universally popular.  I read
one story where, I swear, the plants grew better because this girl was
around.  (!!!!)  It's like having Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, float
into your story.  Look at the established characters in your favorite
fandom.  Both Angel and Buffy have flaws, big ones, but we love them anyway.
Duncan MacLeod has some serious issues, plus people are trying to kill him
weekly.  Someone told me once that about two percent of the people you meet
will love you unconditionally, two percent will hate you unconditionally,
and the rest will be indifferent.  That's a good rule-of-thumb when creating
a character.

* She doesn't have to be either perfect or awful in every category. Don't
mention her perfect counted cross-stitch unless she's going to strangle the
bad guy with embroidery floss later.

* Humor, humor, humor.  Okay, I think everyone who writes fanfic should be
aware of this, but it still bears repeating.  Don't take her too seriously,
and don't let her take herself too seriously.

* Think carefully about the name. It's such a cliche now that Mary Sues have
overly romantic names that some readers will delete a story at the first
hint of a funny name.

* Think of your character as a guest star on the show.  You don't want to
upstage all the regular characters.  Readers especially revolt when Mary Sue
gets the smart-ass lines that their favorite character would usually get.

* So, you're going to avoid the Mary Sue problem entirely and just write
about two established characters?  Hm...take another look.  Make sure you're
not writing a Mary Sue with cosmetic surgery.  Characterization is always
something to keep an eye out for, but in romantic stories
especially...Scully always has been and always will be a tough chick.
That's not gonna change just because she's sleeping with Mulder (or Skinner,
or whoever).  Trained lawyer--and Marine Colonel--Sarah MacKenzie isn't
going to blow a cross-examination just because she had a fight with Harm.
(He's more likely to do that, if you ask me. *g*)  Having a romance doesn't
automatically turn someone into a missish Regency heroine.

(Homework)

Note: These authors don't necessarily classify their stories as Mary Sues.
Technically, I'm not recommending any MS's here, because by definition those
are bad, and all these stories are really good. I'm recommending stories I like
that happen to have strong original characters. If I have a link to your story and
you don't want me to recommend it, let me know and I'll take the link down.

If you're not sure about OFCs, or haven't found a good one in your
particular universe, here are some of Celli's suggestions:

Babylon 5
Three warnings: One, these are AU (Alternate Universes...I'll explain it in
another lesson). Two, these authors are three of my best friends. (So you
may not believe me when I tell you the stories kick ass.) Three, two of the
three stories are WIP (Works In Progress)...and the third is begging for a
sequel, so fat lot of help that is. But they're worth reading even if they
never get finished.
At any rate, the site is Babylon 5.14159
(http://perriverse.dreamhost.com/babylon5/scenes/index.html)
and the stories are "Freedom Network" by Christina Kamnikar, "Scenes From a
Spaceside Bar" by Perri Smith, and "The Power of Persuasion" by Elizabeth
Ann Lewis.

Harry Potter
"His Majesty's Secret Service" by Gwendolyn Grace
(http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=163925) is a good example of an
OMC (Bobby Sue, Harry Stu...nobody's come up with the perfect phrase for
an original male character yet). It's set in Harry and Co's fifth year.

Highlander
* "Moments of Weakness" by Marina Frants is really a Richie story, but the
original character of his wife is important enough that it qualifies.
(http://www.sff.net/people/frants/moments.htm).
* Lisa Krakowka's "MacGreggor Saga" (http://www.lightlink.com/norfleet/fic/)
would be an example of how *not* to write a Highlander Mary Sue...except
Lisa does it so well.

JAG
No, not every fic is Harm/Mac.  (Just most of them.)  My favorite OCs
in this fandom are all connected to the supporting characters--especially Clayton
Webb.  Go to the "Under Surveillance" website
(http://www.mojober.com/UnderSurveillance/index.html) and check out Paula
Bilyeu's "Dancing in Blue Neon" and its sequels, MoJo's "Dodging Bullets"
and sequels, and Sweet Pea's "Spooked" and sequels.  WARNING: Pay attention
to the story ratings.  Some of them are NC-17.  Don't go wandering into a
sex scene and come crying to me because you didn't read the disclaimer.

Oh, and for a blatant, no-holds-barred, fun set of real Mary Sues--click here. (Thanks to MoJo for the link.)

The Magnificent Seven
"Four Corners Wedding" by Lissa Grinstead.
(http://www.thewateringhole.com/4cwed.html) No, it's not what you think. *g*

The Mummy/The Mummy Returns
There's so many OCs written in this fandom, I keep threatening to
start a page called "Mummy Sues." But hey, if Stephen S. can't be bothered
to give Ardeth a "true love," somebody's gotta, right?
* The Avatar Of The Gods series takes a great approach to the concept. The
heroine really *is* an avatar (in this case, the representation of the
goddess Isis on earth)! Also, there's very little romance, so I developed an
affection for Rhiannon, and am currently waiting for them to get over the
UST (Unresolved Sexual Tension) and get on with it, already! *g*
(http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=294245, and don't forget its
sequels.)
* "I watched her sleep" by Cat (http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=311175)
is a future story dealing mostly with Alex, and was so entertaining I didn't even notice
a few writing and formatting things that would normally bug the heck out of me.
* One of my favorite Mummy stories of all time is a Jonathan story called
"Secrets of the Valley of the Kings" by Jonathan's Baby. Unfortunately, it's
not available online right now...the author is revising it. She promises
it'll be back up eventually, and I'll put a link up then.

Stargate SG-1
Most romantic fic for Stargate involves characters we've already met--which
is understandable, given the show. But Werrf's "Why Doctors Don't Get Guns"
(http://www.sg1-heliopolis.de/archive/romance/whydoctors1.html) has a great
original character that gets involved with Janet.

The West Wing
Jane Harper has written a whole series with the best example of a
well-written OFC I have ever read. Sarah Cooper is a completely original,
completely compelling character. There's even a few comments from Jane on
the site, dealing with the whole "Mary Sue" question.
(http://www.leomcgarry.net/cablereadyfic.html)

Celli's stories mentioned above (in a vain effort to be humble):

"Surrender," by Sheila Marie Lane (yes, my real name, I *told* you it was my
first story), not available online, mostly because I don't have it saved
anywhere. You can order the 'zine it's in at http://www.agentwithstyle.com:
look for "Richie Forever" in the Highlander category. And don't make snarky
comments about the fact that I was the editor of said 'zine. I was young.

"Overtime," by Celli Lane. Also in a zine (and what, exactly, does that say about me?).
See the Iris Code webpage for ordering info.

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