I don't think so. In LFN I actually think self-inserts are a *potentially* bigger pitfall (r) -- La Femme Nikita Fan Fiction Message Board

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, [10] ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: Tuesday, February 01, 04:19:48pm
Author: Nell
Subject: I don't think so. In LFN I actually think self-inserts are a *potentially* bigger pitfall (r)
In reply to: Genevieve 's message, "Is an Original Female Character always doomed to be a 'Mary Sue'? (r)" on Tuesday, February 01, 02:04:07am

It is true, of course, that many self-inserts are *also* Mary Sues.....

In general, like most readers of fanfic, I tune in to read more about my favorite characters doing their thing - and am not interested in other's moving into the staring role AND taking the place of one of hte canon characters. If they are more beautiful and more rebellious than Nikita AND smarter and better at psych ops than Madeline AND better than Birkoff with computers, Walter with weapons, Michael at leading teams in the field,.....you get the picture.

However - I also like stories that flesh out the environment (Section et al) and I think that OC's can work extremely well in this role, so even when some OCs may end up being a little (to a lot) like personal avatars for the writer, they still can offer a interesting new take on how Section operates in the day to day - and sometimes get off some marvelously wry observations of the core six, or other canon folk.

I actually think that there are a number of OC featureing stories at Ranma's that are quite good for this reason....everything from MLN's Becky Moran to sk's nameless but always distinct OCs.

So - um - yeah. Mostly, I'm in favor of OCs - male or female, until they start tripping the Mary Sue/displacement of canon characters buttons.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Mary Sues do have their uses.... -- Rox, Tuesday, February 01, 05:41:47pm

Agreed (r) -- JayBee, Tuesday, February 01, 06:13:42pm

It is an experience "thing" -- Rox, Tuesday, February 01, 08:49:28pm
- I think only partly. (r) -- JayBee, Tuesday, February 01, 10:02:41pm