Friday, July 06, 2007

Mary Sue ...

There is a lot of on-line literature. Much of it (well, maybe only 95%) fits into the Mary Sue category:

  • http://www.onlyfiction.net/results.php
  • http://www.onlyfiction.net/marysue2.html
  • http://www.subreality.com/marysue/gsblolfc.htm

"You already know Mary Sue. Mary Sue is the perky, bright, helpful sixteen-year-old ensign who beams about the ship. Everyone on the ship likes Mary Sue, because Mary Sue is good at everything. Mary Sue is an engineer, a doctor in training, a good leader, an excellent cook, and is usually a beautiful singer. Mary Sue often has mental powers that may manifest themselves as telepathy, precognition, or magic. Her past is tragic, more so than any other character on the series. (Many Mary Sues have a backstory that reads like a V.C. Andrews novel. This is a clue.)"

A bit of humor, a bit of background, in case your teen or pre-teen is reading on-line stories. Now you know the gist of 95% of them.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wasn't quite aware of this genre. If you are going to have a heroine though, why not make her like Mary Sue so you can live vicariously through her accomplishments.

Stephen said...

I should have added one thing. A Mary Sue is added to someone else's stories. E.g. the 10th walker in the Lord of the Rings, the one Aragorn kills Legolas over the love of, that sort of added character.

Anonymous said...

Ha! I ran a Star Trek zine for a while (ConTrails, with transcriptions of the stars' talks from conventions I went to). I know Mary Sue very well. Haven't thought of her for a while, though. Thanks.