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HistoryGal
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10 Jul 2018, 2:10 pm

I did it. I made a rating suggestion, said he provided in depth character development, good descriptions of scenes and the dialogue was engaging. I next said that I could tell that the main character was his alter ego and that it was quite common for writers to do this putting themselves in fantasy situations....and of course saying he gave his character all the best lines and the upper hand and perhaps could've given him a little more vulnerability.

I think this was fair and objective leaving my emotions out.



Fnord
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10 Jul 2018, 2:29 pm

HistoryGal wrote:
... the main character was his alter ego and that it was quite common for writers to do this putting themselves in fantasy situations... and of course saying he gave his character all the best lines and the upper hand...
Mary Sue strikes again!



HistoryGal
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10 Jul 2018, 3:05 pm

Who is Mary Sue?



Fnord
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10 Jul 2018, 3:33 pm

Not 'who' ... 'what'.

A Mary Sue is an idealized and seemingly perfect fictional character. Often, this character is recognized as an author insert or wish fulfillment. They can usually perform better at tasks than should be possible given the amount of training or experience, and usually are able through some means to upstage the main protagonist of the story, such as by saving the hero. A male can also be referred to as a Marty Stu, Larry Stu, or Gary Stu, but Mary Sue is used more commonly.

In fanfic, for instance, a 'Mary Sue' will beam aboard the Enterprise, stave off the Romulan attack, repair the ship's engines, perform brain surgery on the captain, reprogram the ship's computer, and lay in a new course for Risa, the Pleasure Planet, where she will very graphically seduce a fallen god while composing a Klingon opera and beating a Zakdorn master at Strategema and Data at three-dimensional chess.



HistoryGal
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10 Jul 2018, 3:45 pm

This guy is a definite Mary Sue. All the other characters look like shitbags due to his writing. He merely wrote an idealized version of himself. I find it to be a very stunted form of storytelling.

I've written stories with the main character having flaws and learning from them.



Fnord
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10 Jul 2018, 4:24 pm

I wonder how he would react to the term 'Mary Sue' ... :twisted:



HistoryGal
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10 Jul 2018, 4:41 pm

He would take offense and I would rather not indulge him further.

Thanks for the MARY SUE reference. Could be useful again sometime.