Originally found at this link minus the otaku smilies and that "universe" stuff. Added in some emoji indicators for content identification.
🆔📛Name: Gramarye
📧E-mail address: gramarye@mailandnews.com
🔗Homepage URL: gramarye.freehosting.net
❓1. Do you write Mary Sues? If yes, is it conscious or unconscious? Have you later modified stories that you found you had a Mary Sue in? If yes, why and how did you change the piece?
💬A: In earlier works, when I had just started toying with the idea of writing short stories, I did write a Mary Sue. Original plot, but the main character was so close to me that it might as well have been a Mary Sue. I haven't even tried to modify those stories--I just shudder and close the document.
❓2. Do you read Mary Sue fics? Why do you or don't you read Mary Sues? When you give feedback to authors whose stories have Mary Sues in them, do you mention the Mary Sue?
💬A: I really try not to. It's painful, even when the fic is intended as a parody. What's even worse is when the author tries to make an ESTABLISHED CHARACTER into a Mary Sue, impressing all of the negative traits that come with Mary Sue writing onto the author's favourite character. That really makes me angry. Since I generally don't read Mary Sues, I won't usually give feedback to the authors. I probably should, though.
❓3. What is the allure of Mary Sues?
💬A: The allure? Throwing yourself into the middle of a fantasy world, where you can do whatever you want and get tons of praise from your favourite characters, where all of your insecurities vanish, and doing it under cover of fanfiction writing? What isn't alluring about it?
❓4. Do you think that Mary Sues appeal only to a limited audience of friends of the author? What does it take to make a Mary Sue appeal to a wider audience?
💬A: I don't know if the true Mary Sue appeals to anyone BESIDES the author. To make a self-insertion character appeal to a wider audience, she needs to be a "normal" (within the confines of the fic genre) character. She needs human flaws, something that we can identify, but which is not blatantly stated.
❓5. Have you seen a Mary Sue in pro fiction? Which books and which authors? Which characteristics of the character made you realize that you were looking at a professional Mary Sue?
💬A: Wesley Crusher springs instantly to mind, and is immediately beaten down with a large mallet. The fact that he can never do anything right, makes more trouble than he's worth, and yet is never called on it is the sign of a glaring Mary Sue.
❓6. What is your favorite web site about Mary Sues or your favorite essay about Mary Sues?
💬A: Most of the litmus tests I've read are spot-on accurate. There should be more of them.
❓7. What is your personal definition of Mary Sue?
💬A: A "mysterious new character/transfer student", usually female, nearly always young, who manages to worm her way into the established setting and turn everything on its end. She boldly flaunts the customs and set pattern of the story, somehow wins the adulation of almost all the main characters, and usually hops into bed with the author's favourite character. If she dies (which she often does), she is mourned as a great hero--though she added absolutely nothing to the plot in terms of character development or exposition.
Monday, December 24th 2001 - 01:49:12 PM
🆔📛Name: Random Artemis
📧E-mail address: cath_6@hotmail.com
❓1. Do you write Mary Sues? If yes, is it conscious or unconscious? Have you later modified stories that you found you had a Mary Sue in? If yes, why and how did you change the piece?
💬A: Yes, I have written a Mary-Sue before, once to mock the genre, and a few times going through my earlier work. *cringe* I cannot BELIEVE I wrote some of that! Though I'll probably be saying that in a few years when I read my current stuff. Yes, I did modify if the plotline seemed worth saving, otherwise, I just trashed it. I changed it because, in frank, it was stupid. Badly written, not believable and trite. For one, I gave my character flaws, both phychological and physical. I put one in a wheelchair, I gave one the ability to fly, but a crippling fear of heights, I gave them enemies that hated them for founded reasons, and made them be bitchy, snippy, and stupid. Basically giving them the opportunity to screw up and not be forgiven for it.
❓2. Do you read Mary Sue fics? Why do you or don't you read Mary Sues? When you give feedback to authors whose stories have Mary Sues in them, do you mention the Mary Sue?
💬A: No, I don't read Mary-Sue fics. I don't know why exactly, probably that most of them are badly written, or make the other characters horribly OOC, but mostly that if the main character never screws up, where's the plot?
❓3. What is the allure of Mary Sues?
💬A: The allure to write or to read? Personally, I find no urge to red Mary-Sue fics, but it's hard to resist the urge to write the perfect character who the author (me) wishes s/he could be/do in that scenario.
❓4. Do you think that Mary Sues appeal only to a limited audience of friends of the author? What does it take to make a Mary Sue appeal to a wider audience?
💬A: Mary Sues can appeal to a wider audience if there is plently of humor and twisting plot lines. Like the Anita Blake series, Anita is most-probably a mild Mary-Sue 9being incredibly powerful, having guys fall all over themselves for her, impressing everyone), but she does make some mistakes, and have some flaws and is terribly funny, which makes the books hugely popular.
❓5. Have you seen a Mary Sue in pro fiction? Which books and which authors? Which characteristics of the character made you realize that you were looking at a professional Mary Sue?
💬A: Okay, um, see above answer. I have seen others too, just nothing that comes to mind. Being very powerful, having others publicly admire the character, and having many members of the opposite sex at each other's throats to win the character, usually denotes a Mary-Sue.
❓6. What is your favorite web site about Mary Sues or your favorite essay about Mary Sues?
💬A: I really like the bit Katsu wrote on her site about the evils of Mary-Sues.
❓7. What is your personal definition of Mary Sue?
💬A: Usually female, incredibly powerful, many members of the opposite sex (or same sex, whatever) fall into love or lust with the character, doesn't make any mistakes, the characters who oppose him/her are unmistakibly evil (no real reason to not like the person) other characters are written out of character to immeadiately like him/her, etc, etc.
Wednesday, December 5th 2001 - 08:34:10 PM
🆔📛Name: summer
📧E-mail address: blossom846@hotmail.com
🔗Homepage URL: geodities.com/greyblizzard
❓1. Do you write Mary Sues? If yes, is it conscious or unconscious? Have you later modified stories that you found you had a Mary Sue in? If yes, why and how did you change the piece?
💬A: I am sad to say that I, once upon a time ago, have written of the dreaded Mary Sue. This was when I first got introduced to the fanfiction world, and was innocent and ignorant. Of course, it was no ordinary Mary Sue. It was the feared 'author-insertion' Mary Sue, plague of the fanfictions. A perfect version of me, set into the Harry Potter world. But, it was an unconcious action, and when I realized what I had done I was horrified. Did I change the piece? Yes, by putting it in the re-cycle bin. And then pressing 'delete'.
❓2. Do you read Mary Sue fics? Why do you or don't you read Mary Sues? When you give feedback to authors whose stories have Mary Sues in them, do you mention the Mary Sue?
💬A: Sometimes I read Mary Sue fics on accident. The summaries sound really interesting, but when I click on the story-alas! Mary Sue has come to stalk me. When I give feedback, I do mention the Mary Sue. And I try to give them some tips to take away from the, er, 'Mary Sewage'.
❓3. What is the allure of Mary Sues?
💬A: The allure? Hmm.. I think that most Mary Sues/Gary Stus are the product of what the author feels is a perfected version of his/her self. Therefore, the author can portray a fake sense of reality that is pleasing to them, possibly an escape from the 'real world'.
❓4. Do you think that Mary Sues appeal only to a limited audience of friends of the author? What does it take to make a Mary Sue appeal to a wider audience?
💬A: It depends on the overall value of the story. I have encountered some authors who can make Mary Sue seem like a real and actually likable character. However, it the idea is poorly executed, it might appeal only to a select group of people who know the author.
❓5. Have you seen a Mary Sue in pro fiction? Which books and which authors? Which characteristics of the character made you realize that you were looking at a professional Mary Sue?
💬A: Yes. Sara Crewe in 'A Little Princess'. I don't know who wrote it. She was just so wonderful and perfect and good, it was pretty annoying once you realize it.
❓6. What is your favorite web site about Mary Sues or your favorite essay about Mary Sues?
💬A: I don't know, I don't seem to have encountered one yet.
❓7. What is your personal definition of Mary Sue?
💬A: Mary Sue/Gary Stu- 1.Character created by the author who has no physical or emotional/mental flaws. 2.Perfection incarnate. 3. Character who has many other characters fall in love with them, change their personalities for them, etc.
Sunday, December 2nd 2001 - 02:21:40 PM
🆔📛Name: Traci
📧E-mail address: janus_melina@yahoo.com
❓1. Do you write Mary Sues? If yes, is it conscious or unconscious? Have you later modified stories that you found you had a Mary Sue in? If yes, why and how did you change the piece?
💬A: Every once in a blue I do one on purpose (usually an American abroad, because traveling w/Americans is very embarassing ) just to prove how heinously annoying they are. I usually feed them to large carnivors or send them to law school where they die of boredom and from being around people just like them. I usually have the decency not to show them to anyone dead or alive.
❓2. Do you read Mary Sue fics? Why do you or don't you read Mary Sues? When you give feedback to authors whose stories have Mary Sues in them, do you mention the Mary Sue?
💬A: Accidentally. --I usually don't enjoy them mainly because the plots that revolve around such poorly developed characters are just as sugar-coated and unbearable as the MS. --I most certainly do mention Mary, usually in the same context as I have above.
❓3. What is the allure of Mary Sues?
💬A: She's fun to write. Sometimes she's fun to read (just so long as the story is interesting.)
❓4. Do you think that Mary Sues appeal only to a limited audience of friends of the author? What does it take to make a Mary Sue appeal to a wider audience?
💬A: Most of the time yes, because it's almost like you don't understand the story (ie inside jokes and the such) because you don't know the writer.
❓5. Have you seen a Mary Sue in pro fiction? Which books and which authors? Which characteristics of the character made you realize that you were looking at a professional Mary Sue?
💬A: You better believe it. Any main character in any of Tami Hoag's novels. Every female lead in every book by Anne Mc Caffery I have ever read. With these two writers, you have the "I know it all" headstrong, beautiful, massively intelligent, attractive, sexually inactive, overly masculine acting woman who lands her sexy hunk of a man, saves the world/solves the case/looses everything she has worked so hard for/dies/is loved anyway. . . .and a gratuitous sex scene is a given by page 150. I realised that these were pro-MS's a long time ago, because they were the same person over and over and over again!
❓6. What is your favorite web site about Mary Sues or your favorite essay about Mary Sues?
💬A: Anything here or at gawdawful.
❓7. What is your personal definition of Mary Sue?
💬A: See Tami Hoag/Anne Mc Caffery rant.
Wednesday, November 7th 2001 - 12:43:49 PM
🆔📛Name: Darth Maligna
📧E-mail address: darthmaligna42@aol.com
🔗Homepage URL: geocities.com/darthmaligna
❓1. Do you write Mary Sues? If yes, is it conscious or unconscious? Have you later modified stories that you found you had a Mary Sue in? If yes, why and how did you change the piece?
💬A: No, I don't think so. I have a self-insertion character, but she's meant to be the author and has more personality problems than Zaphod Beeblebrox.
❓2. Do you read Mary Sue fics? Why do you or don't you read Mary Sues? When you give feedback to authors whose stories have Mary Sues in them, do you mention the Mary Sue?
💬A: I read Mary Sue fics because they're amusing in a sick, twisted sort of way, and I usually try to give the author some advice on improving their characters.
❓3. What is the allure of Mary Sues?
💬A: I don't think there's any author that didn't start out writing Mary Sues. I know I sure did; I had the worse Mary Sue in history for an RPG character when I was younger. Fortunately, I got rid of her before I got around to writing any actual fanfic... ; It's just fun for the author, I guess.
❓4. Do you think that Mary Sues appeal only to a limited audience of friends of the author? What does it take to make a Mary Sue appeal to a wider audience?
💬A: I don't think a Mary Sue appeals to anybody but the author, really. In order to improve the character, you really have to get her out of the spotlight, first off. I don't like reading fics that center around ANY original character, Mary Sue or not. Of course, you also have to give her some flaws, etc., but not centering the fic around her is, for me at least, the most important thing.
❓5. Have you seen a Mary Sue in pro fiction? Which books and which authors? Which characteristics of the character made you realize that you were looking at a professional Mary Sue?
💬A: Bria Tharen from the Han Solo Trilogy. Gah, she was AWFUL. Those novels were the only hope for Star Wars EU, and she went and dashed my hopes of finding any decent SW pro fic away. *cries* She was perfect! She was beautiful, she was smart, Han fell in love with her on sight, she had a wonderful singing voice, and boy, was she ever tragic! And the worst part is the fact that those books had the potential to be GREAT! *sobs*
❓6. What is your favorite web site about Mary Sues or your favorite essay about Mary Sues?
💬A: Mary Sue Whipple's homepage, all the way.
❓7. What is your personal definition of Mary Sue?
💬A: Any perfect character, self-insertion or not, in fiction. Disney princesses are a good example. They're all equally irritating.
Wednesday, October 3rd 2001 - 02:40:32 PM
🆔📛Name: anonymous
📧E-mail address: anonymous@mail.net
❓1. Do you write Mary Sues? If yes, is it conscious or unconscious? Have you later modified stories that you found you had a Mary Sue in? If yes, why and how did you change the piece?
💬A: I have gone over my (thankfully unposted) fanfic and found Mary Sue, much to my personal horror. It was completely unconscious, and those stories will live in a dark drawer forever more, at least until I can think of a safe way to burn them.
❓2. Do you read Mary Sue fics? Why do you or don't you read Mary Sues? When you give feedback to authors whose stories have Mary Sues in them, do you mention the Mary Sue?
💬A: I occassionally find myself accidentally reading Mary Sue fic. I always go in thinking I'm going to be treated to a neat original character, or (worse) a neat variation on a familiar character, and I'm generally disappointed (though not always, which is why I haven't given up the practice yet). I haven't yet mentioned to an author that I thought she was writing Mary Sue, but I have offered suggestions on improving characterization - very daintily worded, of course.
❓3. What is the allure of Mary Sues?
💬A: Personally, I love it when I find the rare gem in which an author has succeeded to altering a familiar character or inserting a new one and it just clicked. I'll risk wading through the dreadful work to find that one good story. As to when I wrote it, I think I was trying to explain myself to myself.
❓4. Do you think that Mary Sues appeal only to a limited audience of friends of the author? What does it take to make a Mary Sue appeal to a wider audience?
💬A: I've stumbled across sites featuring stories dedicated to a Mary Sue, and it does seem to me that those authors are writing for people they know, if their update pages are anything to judge by. The authors who write damned good Mary Sue nearly always post on archive sites. That little dose of humility is reflected in their characterizations. That's what it takes to make Mary Sue readable - humility.
❓5. Have you seen a Mary Sue in pro fiction? Which books and which authors? Which characteristics of the character made you realize that you were looking at a professional Mary Sue?
💬A: Someone's going to flame me for this, but I think both Callista and Mara Jade are Mary Sue, with Mara being the well-written one and Callista being the barely-disguised one.
❓6. What is your favorite web site about Mary Sues or your favorite essay about Mary Sues?
💬A: My favorite essay about Mary Sue is TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE: 150 YEARS OF MARY SUE by Pat Pflieger, currently located at merrycoz.org/papers/MARYSUE.HTM.
❓7. What is your personal definition of Mary Sue?
💬A: I think a Mary Sue is a character who represents the author in a markedly obvious way, and I agree with several assessments I've read that the character type is a natural starting-off point for young writers.
Saturday, September 29th 2001 - 08:18:47 PM
🆔📛Name: The Plaid Adder
📧E-mail address: plaidder@mindspring.com
🔗Homepage URL: plaidder.com
❓1. Do you write Mary Sues? If yes, is it conscious or unconscious? Have you later modified stories that you found you had a Mary Sue in? If yes, why and how did you change the piece?
💬A: 1) Yes, but with a difference; 2) Oh, it's conscious all right; 3) No, that's the kind of thing I normally keep hidden in a desk drawer so no one ever looks at it.
❓2. Do you read Mary Sue fics? Why do you or don't you read Mary Sues? When you give feedback to authors whose stories have Mary Sues in them, do you mention the Mary Sue?
💬A: No, but I don't read much fanfiction at all any more. When I do, it's the canon characters that I go for.
❓3. What is the allure of Mary Sues?
💬A: Ophidia outlines my crackpot theory on this subject in her interivew at Joan the English Chick's Badfic site: englishchick.com/badfic
❓4. Do you think that Mary Sues appeal only to a limited audience of friends of the author? What does it take to make a Mary Sue appeal to a wider audience?
💬A: A bad Mary Sue--and that's what people normally mean when they say "Mary Sue"--is by definition a character that only her mother can love. If a Mary Sue appeals to people who aren't the author and don't know the author, she ceases to be a true Mary Sue.
❓5. Have you seen a Mary Sue in pro fiction? Which books and which authors? Which characteristics of the character made you realize that you were looking at a professional Mary Sue?
💬A: Mary Sue is all over pro fiction, disguised in various forms. My favorite canonical example is George Eliot's *The Mill On The Floss.* The major tipoff is a completely lack of critical distance on the part of the author.
❓6. What is your favorite web site about Mary Sues or your favorite essay about Mary Sues?
💬A: I get a huge kick out of Mary Sue Whipple's site, mainly because of the people who sign the guestbook without realizing it's a parody. I still can't believe that happens.
❓7. What is your personal definition of Mary Sue?
💬A: A character who's too closely identified with the author to allow any of the readers to identify with her.
Sunday, September 9th 2001 - 11:36:07 AM
🆔📛Name: Kiri Aradia Morgan
📧E-mail address: tiamat@tsoft.com
❓1. Do you write Mary Sues? If yes, is it conscious or unconscious? Have you later modified stories that you found you had a Mary Sue in? If yes, why and how did you change the piece?
💬A: I don't write fanfic any more, haven't for years, but my original fiction began, long ago, as a "Mary Sue" story. The character is now much more human and has become very different from me. I didn't know she was an MS when I created her, and she changed as I grew up and became a better writer.
❓2. Do you read Mary Sue fics? Why do you or don't you read Mary Sues? When you give feedback to authors whose stories have Mary Sues in them, do you mention the Mary Sue?
💬A: Do I read Mary Sue? I think we all read or watch Mary Sue sometimes, but we don't necessarily like it. I mean... do YOU like Wesley Crusher? Ugh! I'll read anything I think is good, and I don't mind self-insert characters if they're well-written (and if I don't know the writer, I don't necessarily know that's what I am reading, lol). I think I am more likely to complain when giving feedback that "this character is too unbelievable, no one has time to do their job and have that many hobbies" or "hmm.... this character is always perky and chirpy and too nice, and is good at everything and everyone likes them... but do you know anyone like that that people actually LIKE?"
❓3. What is the allure of Mary Sues?
💬A: For the writer, wish fulfillment. For the reader, not much.
❓4. Do you think that Mary Sues appeal only to a limited audience of friends of the author? What does it take to make a Mary Sue appeal to a wider audience?
💬A: If you want a Mary Sue to be interesting to anyone who doesn't personally like you, you'd better make her human and believable. Self-insert stories aren't that bad if the character is actually as human as you are.
❓5. Have you seen a Mary Sue in pro fiction? Which books and which authors? Which characteristics of the character made you realize that you were looking at a professional Mary Sue?
💬A: I'd have to think about this one for a while. I think Mercedes Lackey writes nothing but Mary Sue. It's all about how abused she is.
❓6. What is your favorite web site about Mary Sues or your favorite essay about Mary Sues?
💬A: The Mary Sue Appreciation Society is awfully cute.
❓7. What is your personal definition of Mary Sue?
💬A: Any character who is too much like the writer AND too unbelievable for words.
Sunday, August 19th 2001 - 11:12:58 PM
🆔📛Name: Sebastian Weinberg
📧E-mail address: bastian@enterprise.mathematik.uni-essen.de
🔗Homepage URL: enterprise.mathematik.uni-essen.de/~bastian
❓1. Do you write Mary Sues? If yes, is it conscious or unconscious? Have you later modified stories that you found you had a Mary Sue in? If yes, why and how did you change the piece?
💬A: It depends on your definition of Mary Sue. I once wrote a story featuring my RPG character as the protagonist (about a decade ago), but even upon re-reading it now I still believe it is mostly free of the things that annoy people about Mary Sues.
On the other hand, I found with horror that the main character of my largest fanfic series was getting dangerously close to becoming a Mary Sue, if she wasn't one already. This is much harder to spot when your protagonist is the actual main character of the original work (or a parallel version, in my case) - They are supposed to be in the spotlight, and usually they are heroic in some way and just a bit larger than life. However, if the original work is worth its salt, the protagonists will also have their flaws and foibles, and will make occasional mistakes, both big and small - it makes them more human and less of a Mary Sue.
❓2. Do you read Mary Sue fics? Why do you or don't you read Mary Sues? When you give feedback to authors whose stories have Mary Sues in them, do you mention the Mary Sue?
💬A: Definitely. My closest friend writes delightful self-insertion stories where the Mary-Sue-isms come fast and furious - but always with a bit of self-deprecating humour and without ever relegating the main characters of the original series to second fiddle. That kind of respect for the canon characters can buy a lot of leniency from me, and it's a hallmark of pretty much every other Mary Sue or Self-Insertion story I liked.
I have given feedback to several of those stories, and in the case of my friend, the feedback is half the fun of reading it.
I do point out Mary-Sue-isms in commentary, unless I'm sure that the author already knows they're there and decided to keep them anyway. I usually don't go to the effort of critiquing those stories.
❓3. What is the allure of Mary Sues?
💬A: For authors? To tell the world how great you think you are (or wish you were) without looking like a braggart or pathetic loser. Too bad that most readers see right through it and think you are a pathetic bragging loser.
For Readers? None whatsoever.
❓4. Do you think that Mary Sues appeal only to a limited audience of friends of the author? What does it take to make a Mary Sue appeal to a wider audience?
💬A: By the working definition I use, there is no way to make a full-fledged Mary Sue appealing, because I define Mary-Sue-ism as exactly those parts of new characters and self-inserts that are unappealing to the readers. What is often called a "good Mary Sue", i.e. one that is enjoyable to people other than the author, I would call a character that shares some traits with common Mary Sues (like being a self-insertion) without exhibiting the annoying bits. Also, Mary-Sue-ism is a gradual thing. The more Mary-Sue-isms a character displays, the more annoying they are - and if they outweigh whatever good and appealing traits the character may have, you've got a complete Mary Sue.
If you want to know if there's a way to make a new character, a self-insertion or even a wish-fulfillment story appealing, then the answer is yes. Simply leave out all the annoying bits. ;)
❓5. Have you seen a Mary Sue in pro fiction? Which books and which authors? Which characteristics of the character made you realize that you were looking at a professional Mary Sue?
💬A: Sure. Peter David's Cap'n Calhoun, Wesley Crusher (interesting question here: was it Roddenberry, who made the character so annoying through idealized self-portrayal, or was it the writers of the episodes, clumsily trying to pay homage to him?), and of course Jonathan Levinson on _Buffy_. I laughed all the way through the episode _Superstar_, which was a delightful parody on Mary Sues and their ilk. A friend who was watching it with me just grumbled about the annoying bastard who was stealing the show. I guess you must know the original to enjoy the parody.
❓6. What is your favorite web site about Mary Sues or your favorite essay about Mary Sues?
💬A: Difficult to say. There are a number of good sites that mostly feature the same bunch of essays, though they all have one or two bits that are nowhere else - so I'd rather recommend you visit them all. If pressed, I'd probably point you to Melissa Wilson's site at missy.reimer.com, simply because that was the place where I first became interested in analysing my feelings about Mary Sues - the "good" and the "bad" ones, and what makes the difference.
❓7. What is your personal definition of Mary Sue?
💬A: I call a character a Mary Sue, if they exhibit an overhwelming number of certain traits I call Mary-Sue-isms. These are specific traits that are well-catalogued in many fine essays around the web - basically I'd summarize them as "scene stealing", "overperfection", and "dishonesty". They make identification with the main character hard or impossible, while shoving all other characters into the background or off-screen.
Thus I do not call some characters Mary Sues that others would. Those "good Mary Sues" I call simply "new characters" or "Self-Insertions".
Wednesday, August 15th 2001 - 11:09:54 AM
🆔📛Name: Adam Kanuchok
📧E-mail address: akanucho@css.tayloru.edu
🔗Homepage URL: css.tayloru.edu/~akanucho
❓1. Do you write Mary Sues? If yes, is it conscious or unconscious? Have you later modified stories that you found you had a Mary Sue in? If yes, why and how did you change the piece?
💬A: I will not write a Mary Sue if I can help it. If I find that I have written a Mary Sue into one of my stories, I will do my best to revise the character, as long as it doesn't destroy the integrity of the plot (sometimes the plot relies too heavily on a Mary Sue to withstand changes of that measure, and I hate to throw away a good plot).
❓2. Do you read Mary Sue fics? Why do you or don't you read Mary Sues? When you give feedback to authors whose stories have Mary Sues in them, do you mention the Mary Sue?
💬A: Yes, I read Mary Sue stories. Unless the story contains either objectionable material or an astounding lack of basic grammer and spelling rules, I will read almost any story that I find in a genre I enjoy. Sometimes, a Mary Sue can be the best possible candidate for a certain plot.
A few of my favorite fanfics are Self-Inserts (UF and HL by Eyrie, Oh My God ?? by Darkwind) which most people strongly categorize as a sub-category of Mary Sue-ism. Even though they are extremely hard to find, reading a good SI can be a wonderful time if the author is not trying to convince the reader that the author's character is, to use a cliche, the best thing since sliced bread.
❓3. What is the allure of Mary Sues?
💬A: I think my definition of a Mary Sue is a bit different from the usual. What I find attractive about what I consider a Mary Sue is the fact that a Mary Sue best represents the fancies of the author, and in the case where I enjoy the same subjects as the author, a liking for the work is very often almost automatic.
❓4. Do you think that Mary Sues appeal only to a limited audience of friends of the author? What does it take to make a Mary Sue appeal to a wider audience?
💬A: Not at all. A Mary Sue can be attractive to anyone who can accept the author's point of view. A Mary Sue will be more widely accepted if the tastes of the author are closer to the preferences of the general audience.
❓5. Have you seen a Mary Sue in pro fiction? Which books and which authors? Which characteristics of the character made you realize that you were looking at a professional Mary Sue?
💬A: Because most professional authors have learned that in order to be successful, one must keep the preferences of the audience in mind, Mary Sue-ism is much harder to find in professional fiction. I have tried to recall any books in which I noticed a Mary Sue, and I cannot.
❓6. What is your favorite web site about Mary Sues or your favorite essay about Mary Sues?
💬A: I have particularly enjoyed reading Sebastian's 'Essay: Self Insertion and Mary Sue'. It is available at writersu.s5.com/history/mse03.html
❓7. What is your personal definition of Mary Sue?
💬A: Let me first state that a Mary Sue can only exist in a work that the author creates with intention to distribute.
In such cases, a Mary Sue is a character that is constructed by the author with a level of disregard for the preferences of the intended audience that borders on flagrant. Such a character is usually, but not always, disliked on the basis of the obvious self-gratification of the author.
Under this definition, an author that either writes without intent to distribute or writes for a specific audience and takes into consideration the preferences of said audience cannot create a Mary Sue.
Wednesday, August 8th 2001 - 08:22:28 AM
🆔📛Name: Jon
📧E-mail address: man_in_black@mailandnews.com
❓1. Do you write Mary Sues? If yes, is it conscious or unconscious? Have you later modified stories that you found you had a Mary Sue in? If yes, why and how did you change the piece?
💬A: Yes, I have consciously written a self-insertion. It was a Power Rangers fic where I transplanted it to LA - where I live - and made my friends and myself Rangers. But, I avoided extremes, unlike Mary Sue authors. I've also used original characters in MSTs.
❓2. Do you read Mary Sue fics? Why do you or don't you read Mary Sues? When you give feedback to authors whose stories have Mary Sues in them, do you mention the Mary Sue?
💬A: I read them, for MSTs. I usually mention the Mary Sue when giving feedback.
❓3. What is the allure of Mary Sues?
💬A: I think it satisfies a fantasy for a lot of people. Star Wars Mary Sues, for example, are usually pilots, bounty hunters, smugglers, etc., and usually end up in bed with Luke Skywalker and/or Han Solo.
❓4. Do you think that Mary Sues appeal only to a limited audience of friends of the author? What does it take to make a Mary Sue appeal to a wider audience?
💬A: Mary Sues appeal to a limited audience, unless you stay away from extremes. For example, when I write self-inserts, I keep myself out of the spotlight.
❓5. Have you seen a Mary Sue in pro fiction? Which books and which authors? Which characteristics of the character made you realize that you were looking at a professional Mary Sue?
💬A: Every Hollywood movie. NO ONE's that perfect.
❓6. What is your favorite web site about Mary Sues or your favorite essay about Mary Sues?
💬A: Mary Sue Appreciation Society. It shows that a Mary Sue can be redeemed, though it is VERY difficult.
❓7. What is your personal definition of Mary Sue?
💬A: A Mary Sue is an empty character, loosely based on the author, who's always in the spotlight.
Wednesday, July 11th 2001 - 11:49:45 AM
🆔📛Name: The Lorax
📧E-mail address: thelorax@rcn.com
❓1. Do you write Mary Sues? If yes, is it conscious or unconscious? Have you later modified stories that you found you had a Mary Sue in? If yes, why and how did you change the piece?
💬A: I have several I am currently working on. She is a composite of myself (I guess), and other people I have known. Suffice it to say we shared a common exprience.
❓2. Do you read Mary Sue fics? Why do you or don't you read Mary Sues? When you give feedback to authors whose stories have Mary Sues in them, do you mention the Mary Sue?
💬A: Sometimes. If I think the story particularly compelling and well written, I don't care about figuing weather it's a Mary Sue fic or not.
❓3. What is the allure of Mary Sues?
💬A: The attraction for me is that an oriignal character can cover certain issues that cannon charaters cannot. This is my specific reason for writing these fics.
❓4. Do you think that Mary Sues appeal only to a limited audience of friends of the author? What does it take to make a Mary Sue appeal to a wider audience?
💬A: Only if the readers are of a closed mind. There are all kinds of badly written fiction. It isn't limited to Mary Sue. What does it take to make her appealing? The simple answer: good storytelling technique.
❓7. What is your personal definition of Mary Sue?
💬A: In days long past, what we now call Mary Sue used to be called a "goody two shoes" cahracter. The expression comes from a notorious ninteenth century novel in which a young waif having only one shoe finds another shoe lying in a gutter, picks it up, and happily skips away exclaiming, "Goody! Now I have two shoes!" Beyond that, I think the term Mary Sue is more a subjective value judgement than it is meaningful, or even useful way to evaluate a story. I am tempted to say that it has become vague, as wellas overused. Saturday, June 16th 2001 - 12:58:52 PM
🆔📛Name: gabe ricard
📧E-mail address: darksideblues@masakishrine.com
❓1. Do you write Mary Sues? If yes, is it conscious or unconscious? Have you later modified stories that you found you had a Mary Sue in? If yes, why and how did you change the piece?
💬A: I write amongst many other things an FF7 series in which I am one of the characters. I actually had no idea of "Mary Sues" when I started putting the FF7 episodes into a note book (early 98) and didn't find out until I began translating the series to computer (mid 2000). Personaly I still haven't given the matter much thought because I learned I could get the odd fun that comes with including yourself in a fan fic simply by making myself a supporting character rather then one who dictates the series. Though I'll openly admit I make myself a focus in the series once in a while. But by and far I consider my character to be pretty weak as a Mary Sue character.
❓2. Do you read Mary Sue fics? Why do you or don't you read Mary Sues? When you give feedback to authors whose stories have Mary Sues in them, do you mention the Mary Sue?
💬A: I read whatever comes into my path. Sometimes it's Mary Sue, sometimes it's not and I always review and will only mention the mary sue if I feel like it brought down a potentially good story.
❓3. What is the allure of Mary Sues?
💬A: Escapism for some...a chance to fuel a tiny ego is another.
❓4. Do you think that Mary Sues appeal only to a limited audience of friends of the author? What does it take to make a Mary Sue appeal to a wider audience?
💬A: To make Mary Sue characters appealing to the casual reader, the character has to avoid being the center of attention. If you still insist otherwise then there are still things you can cut which can make it readable by the wider audience. Things like character realtionships, personality, looks.
❓5. Have you seen a Mary Sue in pro fiction? Which books and which authors? Which characteristics of the character made you realize that you were looking at a professional Mary Sue?
💬A: All authors use Mary Sue even if it's on a very minor level. Stephen King for example often included characters who had fears or problems very similar to his own. Some well known by the general public
❓6. What is your favorite web site about Mary Sues or your favorite essay about Mary Sues?
💬A: I don't have either.
❓7. What is your personal definition of Mary Sue?
💬A: A writers ideal version of what they think the perfect person is.
Friday, June 15th 2001 - 10:00:49 PM
🆔📛Name: SwirlyHead
📧E-mail address: swirly.head@btinternet.com
❓1. Do you write Mary Sues? If yes, is it conscious or unconscious? Have you later modified stories that you found you had a Mary Sue in? If yes, why and how did you change the piece?
💬A: The first fanfiction that I ever wrote was motivated by what you may call the worst sort of Mary Sue: I used my own name. It was the result of agnashing of teeth that no character on the show I was writing for seemed to be RIGHT for my favourite character. So I made him a girl, and called her Stephanie. I then found out about Mary Sues, paniced, had my story exstensively beta read and found out that she wasn't a Mary Sue. At leats, the beta readers didn't think so.
❓2. Do you read Mary Sue fics? Why do you or don't you read Mary Sues? When you give feedback to authors whose stories have Mary Sues in them, do you mention the Mary Sue?
💬A: I do read them. Some are just awful, but I think that there's nothing wronfg with an original character. Sometimes you NEED original characters.
❓3. What is the allure of Mary Sues?
💬A: A Mary Sue is yor own. Otherwise you're just playing with someone else's characters. There are some great original characters. MAry Sues are when you just go a bit overboard.
❓4. Do you think that Mary Sues appeal only to a limited audience of friends of the author? What does it take to make a Mary Sue appeal to a wider audience?
💬A: You have to make your Mary Sue well rounded, and not perfect. Then she becomes a real character.
❓6. What is your favorite web site about Mary Sues or your favorite essay about Mary Sues?
💬A: have no idea. If anyone would like to read MY fanfic MS, please e-mail me and I'll be glad to send you it.
❓7. What is your personal definition of Mary Sue?
💬A: Too perfect. The girl/boy you never liked when yo were younger, but always wanted to be.
Tuesday, April 17th 2001 - 06:47:14 AM
🆔📛Name: Mark Stanley
📧E-mail address: mrs260@sk.sympatico.ca
🔗Homepage URL: geocities.com/mrs260
❓1. Do you write Mary Sues? If yes, is it conscious or unconscious? Have you later modified stories that you found you had a Mary Sue in? If yes, why and how did you change the piece?
💬A: I've written one "Mary Sue" story in my adult life. (Or as I call him, Marky Sue.) It was completely conscious, intended as satire. I wouldn't modify my dear Stark Manley for the world. :0) He's Elim Garak's shop assistant on DS9, and he was Ezri's roomate before she went to Starfleet Academy, and before she was joined to Dax and became straight. He hangs out with Ezri and the station's flamboyant gay hairdressers. He and Ezri executed a nefarious (in reality, ridiculously transparent) plan to get Garak and Bashir to see how much they love each other. Garak thinks Stark is nice in a flaky way, and is a little patronising towards him. Stark doesn't notice.
When I was younger, I had not one, but two "Mary Sue" characters, completely unconscious ones. One was a human cousin of Spock's, Richard Coleman, who had been orphaned and subsequently raised on Vulcan by Sarek and Amanda. He was a science officer on the Enterprise and he was a bit of a brat. He had long black hair and was very short. (As am I.) His lover was a human male nurse on the Enterprise, Brad Payne. He was about 15 years older than Richard, had lived on Vulcan at the same time, and was something of a mentor to Richard as well. He was also a huge hunk of man meat. These stories were bad, bad, bad. Pretty much irredeemable in fact. (I was 12.) If I still had them, I doubt I could change them enough to make them presentable to the general public.
❓2. Do you read Mary Sue fics? Why do you or don't you read Mary Sues? When you give feedback to authors whose stories have Mary Sues in them, do you mention the Mary Sue?
💬A: I do read unconscious Mary Sue fics, but only if it's a writer I have my eye on to help them learn and improve. I read them to help, not for my own pleasure. Mary Sues are a neccessary step on the road to good writing, but usually IMHO they're written by someone who is not a good writer *yet*.
Satire Mary Sues, OTOH, are great fun. Any Mary Sue that's written with style, flair, and a sense of fun, with the full knowledge on the part of the author that that's what the character is, can be a scream. One of my favorite Garak/Bashir authors, the great Plaid Adder, had a wonderful Mary Sue character who *knew she was fictional*. It was great fun.
❓3. What is the allure of Mary Sues?
💬A: They can do stuff that the regular characters can't -- either help a developing author get a grasp on the basics of writing without making her stretch beyond her current abilities, in the case of the dead-serious Mary Sue, or help an experienced author try something different without distorting the characterisations of the other characters, in the case of the self-conscious Mary Sue.
❓4. Do you think that Mary Sues appeal only to a limited audience of friends of the author? What does it take to make a Mary Sue appeal to a wider audience?
💬A: I think that the dead-serious sort has a very limited audience indeed. Ideally, this stage should be seen only by those who have committed to helping the author improve and gain experience.
I think also that once an author has gained enough experience to do the regular characters *and* the Mary Sue well, she will also have the skills to make Mary Sue appeal to a wider audience. Basically, it just takes practice and a good sense plot, characterisation, dialogue, and the art of comedy.
❓5. Have you seen a Mary Sue in pro fiction? Which books and which authors? Which characteristics of the character made you realize that you were looking at a professional Mary Sue?
💬A: Ooooooh yeah. Most certainly. One of my favorite Trek novels, Uhura's Song, has a *huge* Mary Sue named Evan Wilson. Fortunately she's a fun Mary Sue, with wide appeal. I do know that some people don't like her for the very reason that she *is* a Mary Sue, but I think she's likable enough to be classified as a self-consciously done Mary Sue.
Basically, she comes in and immediately Kirk is incredibly impressed with her, though he was prepared to resent her presence. Even Spock seems infatuated. She inspires the crew with catch-phrases, charms the aliens, and turns out to be a mysterious, not-who-she-seems person who apparently goes around impersonating people, and inventing things or saving the day in their names.
❓6. What is your favorite web site about Mary Sues or your favorite essay about Mary Sues?
💬A: Hmm. Can't really think of any.
❓7. What is your personal definition of Mary Sue?
💬A: A Mary Sue is a character who embodies the author, or the author's fantasy of her/himself. There are, of course, secondary characteristics, but this is the primary one.
She often takes over the story, either as an object of desire or as the epitome of excellence in something that one of the regulars should be perfectly capable of doing without her help.
She need not be an original character -- I've read stories where one of the regulars is *obviously* an author stand-in. And certainly not all original characters are Mary Sues.
Wednesday, April 4th 2001 - 04:12:41 AM
🆔📛Name: Ailie McFarland
📧E-mail address: aixla@juno.com
🔗Homepage URL: geocities.com/aixla/buffy.html
❓1. Do you write Mary Sues? If yes, is it conscious or unconscious? Have you later modified stories that you found you had a Mary Sue in? If yes, why and how did you change the piece?
💬A: I have written one Mary Sue, kinda, and it was intentional. It is possible to "write yourself into" a story without making that character a techinical Mary Sue. In this case the story was a form of therapy for myself. I was going through a very hard time in my life and wrote a story in which my physical problem was turned into one that involved demonology and magic, thus allowing the entrance of Angel Investigations. The story is archived at fanfiction.net if anyone would like to read it (under this name, and the title is Take These Broken Wings). But if I didn't *tell* you it was a Mary Sue, you would never know.
Another good discussion on this topic can be found at the BtVS Writer's Guild. I wrote an essay and several responses were posted along with it .... here's the link. http://www.redrival.com/btvswriters/writing.html
Saturday, March 3rd 2001 - 06:36:56 PM
🆔📛Name: Wallwalker
📧E-mail address: Wall_fanatic@hotmail.com
🔗Homepage URL: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Frontier/9720/">geocities.com/TimesSquare/Frontier/9720/
❓1. Do you write Mary Sues? If yes, is it conscious or unconscious? Have you later modified stories that you found you had a Mary Sue in? If yes, why and how did you change the piece?
💬A: I do consciously write self-insertion, although I try not to make them what most would consider a Mary Sue. Once I did unconsciously write a Mary Sue, when I was first writing fanfiction. I've since given up on that story; the plot was entirely too weak, and I couldn't figure out how to continue it.
❓2. Do you read Mary Sue fics? Why do you or don't you read Mary Sues? When you give feedback to authors whose stories have Mary Sues in them, do you mention the Mary Sue?
💬A: I'll read them; I enjoy any fics that are well-written and well-characterized, whether they've added a new character or not. I don't usually mention the Mary Sues.
❓3. What is the allure of Mary Sues?
💬A: Hasn't everyone wondered what they would do if they could somehow teleport to their favorite world? And it takes a lot of willpower not to bend the rules a bit. >:)
❓4. Do you think that Mary Sues appeal only to a limited audience of friends of the author? What does it take to make a Mary Sue appeal to a wider audience?
💬A: Well, to appeal to a wider audience it has to be kept realistic. A lot of readers prefer to read about the cast of the story, not the original characters, so it's best of the Mary Sue doesn't dominate the story (they can still have screen time, but they can't become the *main* characters and make everyone else look stupid.) And the other characters can't be forced OOC. If you think about it, making everyone like one person is OOC, because not everyone is going to be friends with any particular person; you're always going to have people who just don't get along. The writer has to know the characters well enough to know how they'll react to this new person. As for the character, they have to be believable - not overly powerful, but believable, someone that makes sense in the story. Someone that could exist there.
❓5. Have you seen a Mary Sue in pro fiction? Which books and which authors? Which characteristics of the character made you realize that you were looking at a professional Mary Sue?
💬A: Hmmm, not really. :)
❓6. What is your favorite web site about Mary Sues or your favorite essay about Mary Sues?
💬A: Can't think of any...
❓7. What is your personal definition of Mary Sue?
💬A: Well, a self-insertion is any putting of a character that represents yourself into a story. A Mary Sue is the kind of SI that makes the character that represents you more powerful, perfect, and likeable than a real person in the story would be. It generally makes you better than the cast, and that's usually bad storytelling to me. (I don't comdemn the urge to write yourself as a kind of demigod - I understand it. But you really can't expect anyone else to love your attempts. I sure don't. -_^)
Wednesday, February 28th 2001 - 10:19:38 AM
🆔📛Name: Michela Ecks
📧E-mail address: mecks@prodigy.net
🔗Homepage URL: writersu.s5.com
❓1. Do you write Mary Sues? If yes, is it conscious or unconscious? Have you later modified stories that you found you had a Mary Sue in? If yes, why and how did you change the piece?
💬A: Yes, and it is a conscious desicion to do so. I have gone back and re examined pieces where the main character had aspects of Mary Sue. Most namely, the Engineer's Daughter pieces that I wrote with Haven. I didn't change them because the stories were done.
❓2. Do you read Mary Sue fics? Why do you or don't you read Mary Sues? When you give feedback to authors whose stories have Mary Sues in them, do you mention the Mary Sue?
💬A: I read Mary Sue Whipple stories. I read some Mary Sue stories so long as the Mary Sue is believable. I don't mention the Mary Sue.
❓3. What is the allure of Mary Sues?
💬A: It's easy to write because it's you.
❓4. Do you think that Mary Sues appeal only to a limited audience of friends of the author? What does it take to make a Mary Sue appeal to a wider audience?
💬A: It depends on the writing. It takes good writing and an interesting Mary Sue to appeal to a wider audience. Some *N Sync stories I've read where *N Sync do it with five fan girls just don't cut it because the Mary Sue is more an evil self insertion run amuck and I don't want to read about some one I don't know having sex with some one I do know unless the writing can really support it.
❓5. Have you seen a Mary Sue in pro fiction? Which books and which authors? Which characteristics of the character made you realize that you were looking at a professional Mary Sue?
💬A: Yes, by Peter David and dang if I don't love his stories anyway...
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