From Micro: What do you think of the term "Mary Sue"?--and I use the word term lightly.
Ah, you met her
too.
As someone who actually wrote a couple stinkbombs of a Mary Sue character, I'm obligated by court order to make an explanation why they exist: Have you ever come across someone driving a Corvette and thinking that he's overcompensating for something I won't describe in this forum? That's the person behind the creation of a Mary Sue character or story. I say that not out of denigration, however. I too had a time when I thought I was so lacking in life; zero friends, no social skills, whole body potmarked with acne...damn, my face is still acne-ridden today, sheesh...thinking that I'm some na'er do well with no hope for the future, you don't have to raise your hands to tell me that you know what I'm talking about. Some people turn to an inner world and make a story where the main character is the exact opposite of their precieved real live. Someone who has some decent talent, good looks, popular, and can actually accomplish something out of their lives. As you could sense from this point of view, the tendency for them to go too far into the other extreme, and make a Mary Sue, is frightingly sky high.
It takes some dicipline, some time with character development, and the realization that your character need not be in center stage 24-7-365, to de-Mary Sue your character.
Case in Point: I have a mouse character who's my answer to Mickey Mouse. His name's Johnny Briz. He's what you get when you combine the charm of Disney, the fluffiness of Bluth, and the attitude of Sonic the Hedgehog. He went through over two decades of development before coming up with his current, and cannonized backstory: A descendant of a bunch of lab mice who became evolved into human-like forms in both body and mind and busted themselves out of the lab they were in. (They know, and groan, over the movie "The Secret of NIMH," and so they named him after the film. It's the only connection to anything copyrighted, and it's derivative enough for it to be original.) Johnny investigated another laboratory experiment from the air vents above, discovering it to be a mere device that makes things bigger and smaller. An accident caused him to fall into the device in the 'larger' setting and turned him into a height of a Cartoon Character. He managed to excape and was eventually found by Amber Merichello, who will help achieve his dream of being a 'living Cartoon Character;' an action oriented version to what Kermit the Frog shared in the original Muppet Movie. The only
Good Muppet Movie, in my humble opinion!
Not only does Johnny boast an evolved body and the form of a cartoon mouse (in spite of being flesh and blood) he is also very agile, a parkour freerunner, as well as some athletic strength and durability. Sonic the Hedgehog might blow his doors off in the 100-meter dash, but Blue Boy will never make Stage Three in Ninja Warrior. Johnny will have his own course set up in the backyard. This was caused, of course, by his genetic heritage, and he doesn't consider himself as super-powered. Maybe it's because he's a practicing Buddhist, not so full of himself outside of him going, "Yeah, I know I'm cute." But then there's his major weakness: He's about the same height as BB-8. Little People look down and call him short. He picked up other skills during his time in "The Human World" such as some perstigitation, physical and verbal comedy (his favorite being a more clean version of Jackass stunts), and some good skillz with a Yo-Yo.
I'll tell you more about him later, maybe in my web blog (
http://foxfirestudios.net ) if some of you want to chat with me there. But there's an example of someone who isn't the love child of Goku and Serena Tuskino with every superpower known to Stan Lee and is so flawless that everyone would claim that she's fake. And that the author has a
Oh, you thought I was going to say it here, do ya? Ha ha ha.
Icon Croc: Why is your beard so gargantuan? I personally can't stand even a tiny amount of facial hair on my own face; I can't imagine like, a neckbeard.
What can I say? I love this beard! It's a great conversation starter. Respect the beard, folks.
I often pharaphrase Duck Dynasty: I believe that there are thee kinds of people who don't have beards: Women, Children, and those who don't know what THAC0 ("To Hit AC Zero") means. I'm none of them.
